Immerse yourself in the beautiful, twisted world of Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera. A detailed lesson plan provides important details about the writing, stagecraft, music, and literary elements of the famous musical,...

Elementary students research the history and construction of movie theaters, read a book of their choice and portray its primary characters and plot in a visual, movie-style report. They design and create their own movie theater in which...

Introduce young thespians to all aspects of the theater. A syllabus for a one-semester drama course provides lessons that take learners from the history of drama to the many facets of play production.

As part of their study of set design, theater arts students put together what they have learned so far and create a thumbnail sketch of a set that they feel captures the style and mood they want to project. 

Students practice fluency. In this reader's theater lesson, students practice their fluency by rehearsing a script with their group. Once the group is ready, they create a background and props and are videotaped performing their script.

A classic Japanese print is attached to this lesson and its up to your class to write a story about it. Pretending the image is an illustration, they use what they know about Japanese mythology to compose a short story describing the...

Chinese and Japanese calligraphy is beautiful and significant in both culture and tradition. Engage your class in this expressive fine art form through a lesson on using, holding, and creating brush strokes common to Japanese writing...

The 16 lessons in Teaching Musical Theatre: The Essential Handbook are designed to help actors enrolled in a theatre arts class develop the skills they need to be successful in musical theatre. Check out this sample lesson to see if you...

Teach young children that with a little perseverance and the help of a good friend, anything is possible. This two-part lesson series based on the book Giraffe's Can't Dance starts with a shared reading about Gerald and...

Take a trip to the farm with a fun preschool lesson! Kids decorate animal masks and participate in a reader's theater, based on different songs and additional props. 

Second graders listen to the story Miss Nelson is Missing by Harry Allard and James Marshall. In this literature lesson, 2nd graders predict the story's ending with drawings and discussions within groups.

What could be better than a play within a play? A study guide for "The Farndale Avenue Housing Estate Townswomen's Guild Dramatic Society's Production of 'A Christmas Carol'" has theater-goers share their thoughts on the comedic...

After reading Acts III and IV of Othello, give your class a fun, interactive, music-related activity. Begin by asking young scholars about songs they have heard in movies or plays. Let them look up the lyrics online and ruminate about...

Students explore the work of 3 for All. In this performing arts lesson, students watch a video segment about the improvisation group 3 for All, study improvisation, and participate in their own improvisation routines.

Young scholars create and perform folktale plays. In this reader's theater and Asian literature instructional activity, students work in groups to rewrite Asian folktales into scripts and perform the folktales for their class in a...

Fans of musical theater may know the title tune of Into the Woods well, but do they know what the show is all about? A study guide provides information about the classic musical, including details about the characters and a summary of...

Few aspects of life make better fodder for a comedic play than politics. A study guide introduces George Bernard's Shaw comedy Arms and the Man. Along with summaries of each scene and brief biographies of the main characters, two lesson...

Ten drama lessons are the perfect addition to your language arts or theater class. With a focus on script elements, plot development, and parts of a dramatic story, the lessons guide young playwrights through the steps of telling a story...

Chances are, you've got some precocious Matilda fans in your class! Use a thorough set of lesson plans to address Roald Dahl's classic novel about a bright girl who just wants to be understood. Vocabulary exercises,...

Anita's iconic rooftop ode to American life in West Side Story is the focus of a lesson on immigration. As class members listen to "America," they follow along with printed lyrics, and discuss whether they agree with Anita's...

Hearken! and observe how well a literary analysis unit can help ninth graders read closely and connect text structure to a central idea. Focusing on Edgar Allan Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart," learners take notes and track the development...

Need a musical lesson for your drama or performing arts class? VH1 has put together a really neat lesson, in which learners use biographical information about Alicia Keys to write and perform a one-act musical related to her life. This...