Drama Teacher Resources

Massive storms, shipwrecks, survivors stranded on an island ruled by an aging magician, and strange creatures—Shakespeare's The Tempest appeals to today's middle schoolers. For this unit, seventh graders read selections from an adapted...

Here's an eight-page packet that describes 70 different improv activities to use as warm ups for drama classes. 

Compile a promptbook with your young theater designers using a scene from Taming of the Shrew. The lesson outlines several activities, though it doesn't provide any examples of a promptbook or text from the play. Additionally, it...

Learners of any age can learn to communicate using gestures and their bodies. They create a pantomime of a specific activity without using any words. This resource includes a link to an Off-Broadway Workshop for kids.

Readers of Shakespeare explore denouement in Macbeth and track the play's falling action in Act IV, Scene 1. They complete a worksheet/table noting the content and significance of each of the three apparitions granted Macbeth by the...

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.

Students discuss racial stereotypes.  In this racial stereotypes lesson, students develop a character from information given to them on an index card.  Students give their character a race different from their own and write a description...

After reading Act II of The Tragedy of Macbeth, give your class this prompt to complete. One other question is listed along with information regarding the divine right of kings. A full plan is not written out here, but the prompt is a...

Third graders act out a play called Jane and the Dragon. Students develop vocabulary through dialogue. They delve into the feelings of others through learning about the characters. They also identify the characteristics of various types...

Young scholars investigate world news and create a performance from their research.  In this current events lesson, students identify major political or news stories in the media and create a performance based on a character they will...

Students act like a famous explorer. In this explorer lesson, students research an explorer and act out persuasive arguments in which that explorer might be involved.

Students discover film making by participating in a music performance.  In this performance arts lesson, students perform music and physical acting to convey an already written script for their peers.  Students collaborate with their...

Pupils learn the idea of drama in their own lives; and then transfer that idea to the works of others in this series of lessons. They discuss the question of identity.

Twelfth graders examine all the descriptions of costumes, props, movement, lighting and music in the stage directions of A Streetcar Named Desire. They begin to imagine this drama as a production, not simply a script. Students perform...

Students review the Youth Criminal Justice Act and examine the consequences for young people who commit crimes. They investigate the rehabilitation and reintegration processes associated with the act.

Students examine different portrayals of African American women in poems and plays. Individually, they identify the character they want to play and reject the others. After acting out the scene, they hopefully realize that their...

Plays are meant to be seen and so are these 12 elements that give plays the dramatic effect. Introduce young actors to these key terms and their explanations

Students read a story by Dr. Seuss and create characters from the story. In this lesson about reading a story, students will read I Can Lick 30 Tigers Today! And Other Stories. Students make a tiger tail with a felt strip, attach it to...

For some schools, character-counts lessons are a big part of the curriculum. This resource focuses on following directions and the importance of being a cooperative team player. Learners role-play a variety of situations by being...

"Now is the summer of our happiness/Made winter by this sudden, fierce attack!" Luke Skywalker meets Hamlet in a 10-instructional activity unit based on Ian Doescher's William Shakespeare's Star Wars: Verily, a New Hope. Using Star Wars®...

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...

Learners read the play "The Oxcart" in its English form. After examining the author's life and works, they are given a part as one of the characters to act out the play. They dress in full costumes and acquire the correct props in...

Should Hamlet avenge his father's death? Is the ghost telling the truth or is it trying to trick Hamlet? Is Hamlet's inconsistent behavior a ploy or is he really insane? Something really is rotten in Denmark, and with the help of the...

How do actors so inhabit a role that viewers see that character and not the actor? Class members engage in a series of activities that ask them to observe the ways people move and speak and to consider how these external factors can be...