Curated OER
Text Features of Fiction, Poetry, Drama: Story Matrix
How do novels differ from plays? Explore with your class the text features of fiction and drama by reading The Hidden One: Native American Legend and then performing a reader’s theater script based on the story. Class members create a...
Curated OER
Introduction to Drama
Introduce your class to drama! You cast each pupil as a different character from a story you have read. They are given a general outline of the scene, act out the scene multiple times, then discuss the weak and strong aspects of each...
Curated OER
The American Revolution: A Play
No instructional activity accompanies this drama about the American Revolution. With 13 speaking roles, the short script could be used for a class production, a instructional activity on the parts of a play, or to supplement your social...
Roald Dahl
Matilda - The New Home
Matilda finally gets her happy ending with a new home with Miss Honey. But first, Mr. Wormwood goes on trial for his wrong doings and bad car sales. Class members take on the role of a character in the trial and participate in a role...
Roald Dahl
Matilda - The Platinum-Blond Man
Before reading Chapter Six, "The Platinum-Blond Man" in Matilda, readers preview the illustration of Mrs. Wormwood dropping her plate of food, and think about what may have happened to cause the scene. After reading the chapter, class...
Curated OER
Hey Diddle Diddle: Play-script
For this "Hey Diddle Diddle" worksheet, students practice reading expressively as they take parts in this play and practice the script.
Roald Dahl
The Twits - Mrs Twit Gets a Stretching
A cork, a rubber snake, and a bucket of mud may not seem like the best materials for washing a car, but they are in The Twits. The fifth lesson in an 11-part unit designed to accompany The Twits by Roald Dahl has readers role play...
Roald Dahl
Matilda - Arithmetic
Mr. Wormwood, one of the characters in Roald Dahl's Matilda, is not the most trustworthy of characters. Have student groups take on the roles of car salespeople and play a game to see who can make the most profit by selling refurbished...
Curated OER
Reader's Theater, Get Ready
Students recognize what features make a play. In this reader's theater lesson, students read the play Master Man: A Tall Tale of Nigeria told by Aaron Shepard and determine what features make this a play and what the author's purpose was.
Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre
Peter Pan: Teacher Resource Guide
What are some of the pros and cons of staying young forever? With the Peter Pan resource, learners discover the magical world of Neverland. Scholars create advertisements that promote eternal youth, and then write persuasive pitches for...
Roald Dahl
The Twits - Mr Twit Gets a Horrid Shock
Mr. and Mrs. Twit do not treat each other very nicely. The sixth instructional activity in an 11-part unit designed to accompany The Twits by Roald Dahl explores the way the characters talk to and treat one another. Role play and writing...
Roald Dahl
The Twits - Muggle-Wump Has an Idea
If a bar of chocolate was on the floor, would you try to pick it up? What if it was covered with glue? The eighth lesson plan in an 11-part unit designed to accompany The Twits by Roald Dahl has scholars imagine crazy scenarios. The...
Curated OER
Brothers in Hope
Young scholars demonstrate their understanding of a book read in class. In this reading comprehension instructional activity, students participate in a process drama led by their teacher in order to demonstrate their understanding of the...
Roald Dahl
Matilda - Bruce Bogtrotter and the Cake
After reading the 11th chapter in Matilda, class members take on the role of Bruce Bogtrotter and re-enact the cake eating scene. Here's the catch: they must come-up with an impromptu re-enactment of the scene from the story, and use...
Curated OER
"Romeo and Juliet" English Lesson Plans
English lesson plans focusing on "Romeo and Juliet" can be a great way to introduce students to Shakespeare's plays.
Write Away!
Voices In the Park
Explore the impact a narrator's point of view has on a story with a reading of the children's book, Voices in the Park by Anthony Browne. Written in four different voices, the story is told and retold from different perspectives to...
Curated OER
How to Write Your 60 Second Shakespeare Newsletter
Students become playwrights. In this Shakespeare lesson, students paraphrase familiar Shakespearian scenes that they perform for their classmates in 60 seconds.
Curated OER
The Fisherman and His Wife
Engage conversation and explore the journey as you challenge young readers to interpret the german folktale, "The Fisherman and His Wife" written by literary brothers Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm.
Curated OER
A Light in the Storm
Examine the genre of historical fiction while reading A Light in the Storm. They extract events in chronological order to make a timeline. Then, they use information in the book important to the characters to create a presentation of an...
Curated OER
Heartsongs Poetry by Mattie Stepanek
Use Mattie Stepanek’s Heartsongs book of poetry to inspire young poets to write about their own lives, experiences, and feelings. After reading the introduction to Mattie’s book, in which he talks about himself and his reasons for...
Pottsgrove School District
Tall Tales
Young readers compare and contrast digital and print versions of tall tale text. The resource includes a character analysis in which pupils compare and contrast traits, and make inferences about what the characters do and say. They...
Roald Dahl
Matilda - Throwing the Hammer
Full truth, or an exaggeration? How can you tell when a storyteller is exaggerating a story? Readers analyze a story told by Hortensia, and identify the exaggerative language she uses. Then, learners write their own narrative story using...
Roald Dahl
Matilda - The Third Miracle
Magnus takes a visit to the classroom in the 20th chapter of Matilda. Or does he? After reading, learners interview the person in the hot seat to get a detailed account of what happened during this chapter. Then, they write individual...
Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment
Victorian Historians
Take the class back in time to the Victorian Era! The resource provides a plethora of activities that create experiences for scholars in class. Some activities include a fun fair, viewing the starry-night painting, and even experiencing...