Alex: Following Stage Directions

What's the difference between set dressing and a prop? Between a costume accessory and a personal prop? As part of their study of set and prop design, class members engage in a series of activities that prepare them to design a prop for...

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.

Students read a scene from Hamlet, without stage directions. They recreate the scene using their own stage directions as they see fit for the scene.

Students rehearse a scene from Julius Caesar and analyze how the physical aspects of stage direction impact the audience. In this Julius Caesar lesson plan, students use blood in the scene and analyze the direction and where the blood is...

Bully, bullied, or bystander? Paul Langan's The Bully is the anchor text in a unit that examines bullying and violence. After a close reading of the text, readers imagine themselves as the characters and consider how they would react in...

Young theatre artists engage in a scavenger hunt to acquaint themselves with set design. The challenge is to search the site and match a separate maquette with each of the 24 clues.

Putting together information gained from their script analysis, their readings, and their research, groups create a conceptual design statement for their assigned scene. The statement explains how their scenic design creates the mood and...

Students create a baby quilt by following the directions in Alex Anderson's book, Baby Quilts with Love. Students use the knowledge they gain to create a baby quilt of their own.

students read the Ghost of Caesar scene and use prompt books to stage the scene. In this Shakespeare lesson plan, students read the scene and then stage the scene. Students make prompt books for the staging activity and then perform the...

Lights, Camera, Action! Pupils read Little Women and create, act, and direct a melodrama that Jo March and her sisters would enjoy. The lesson plan comes complete with resources for the educator on melodrama as well as examples for drama...