The world is a stage, and so is your classroom! Hone the skills of the next generation of Tony® award winners with a set of exercises, reference pages, writing prompts, and excerpts from famous plays.

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...

Drama is ever-present in our daily lives and eloquently depicted on stage. Middle schoolers practice writing scenes based on different prompts and frameworks, and then perform those creative scenes for their classmates. The...

Students demonstrate their knowledge of panthers by writing a play on the subject.  In this animal life lesson, students view a slide-show on school computers of a veterinary exam of a panther.  Students utilize this...

Even an outline can give you enough information to execute an awsome project. The tasks for each of the seven weeks of this project are defined, as well as the objective and specific content facilitated through the project. Learners will...

Develop novice script-writers. Small groups sift through a sample script, noting any script-writing conventions to share with the whole class. Using these conventions and plot structures, these groups compose a script for a 10-minute...

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.

Scholars become familiar with tagline literature with the help of the story, Alexander and the Horrible, No Good, Very Bad, Terrible Day by Judith Viort. After a read-aloud and whole-class discussion, leveled groups complete...

Have your class conduct research to learn all they can about simple machines. They use the web, take notes from a video, write a script, then make a film describing various simple machines found in real life. These videos are then...

In this writing worksheet, students read a short description of a play script. Then, students read a fable and write a play script of the fable.

Using research notes on feudal roles in medieval Europe, learners work cooperatively to write a play about one day in the life of a boy or girl in the Middle Ages.

Who were some of the popular playwrights of Elizabethan England? Using the provided fact sheets, scholars research playwrights, explore three different types of plays, and learn about censorship in Elizabethan England. 

A fancifully illustrated guide to Roald Dahl's Fantastic Mr. Fox, this series of lessons, activities, and tasks could be used in its entirety or picked apart and used piecemeal. Have young readers investigate the role of dialogue in...

Three creative activities follow reading a fiction and nonfiction book about heroes. Scholars build hero action figures out of clay for make-believe play, explain in written form how they show bravery, kindness, patience, thoughtfulness,...

Learners forecast the weather. In this weather lesson, students are assigned a day to give the weather forecast. Learners write a script and video their weather forecast.

Here is an authentic assessment task for Shakespeare's Macbeth. Young literature scholars prepare, perform, and record a news broadcast about the major events in the play. For example, groups may choose to report on the death of Lady...

This may be a lot to ask of a high schooler, but then again, who knows? Pupils work in groups to explore, write, and then perform an original opera. They view versions of The Magic Flute and La Traviata, then compose a plot, characters,...

Following a reading and thorough discussion of books—Anansi the Spider: A Tale from the Ashanti by Gerald McDermott and The Moon Book by Gail Gibbons—scholars complete three activities. First, they use playdough or cookie dough to create...

Pupils listen to a play, or perhaps, take turns reading portions of it aloud. Afterward, they thoughtfully analyze and discuss the components of a well-written play. Next, a theme is assigned, and each person writes a play in conjunction...

Students explore play writing.  In this literacy and technology instructional activity, students choose a familiar historical event and write a play with the corresponding setting.  Students write text and dialogue, produce...

Pupils work in pairs to interview each other. They identify interviewing skills and methods, conduct a preliminary interview, develop a working script from the notes and participate in a final interview for the camera.

Students read and discuss the literary elements of "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" by C.S. Lewis. They explore the elements of dramatic performance and create a TV news program based on life in Narnia. They videotape their...

Introduce middle schoolers to playwriting and the elements of drama with a six-session storytelling unit that encourages kids to expand their acting and writing skills. The 12-page packet includes overviews of the lessons,...