Mystery is an exciting genre for young readers to investigate. The plots are so intriguing! Here is a series of lessons featuring Sherlock Holmes stories that invite learners to enter the world of the mystery genre.  Based on what...

Students read a tragic true story about personal safety and devise ways to reach a public audience with the message of personal safety in this Drama lesson for the high school classroom. Emphasis is placed on cooperative learning and...

Young scholars create costumes using recycled materials determined beforehand by the teacher in this High School Drama/Art lesson on costume designing. The example lesson is based around the title of "Water, Water, Water" but can be...

Students use the play "Cyrano de Bergerac" to identify and analyze drama vocabulary, literary terms and elements of fiction. They write an original version of scenes from the play and develop a character analysis for the lead.

Pupils explore the roles in Noh drama and the significance of Noh masks while creating their own version of a Noh play in this High School lesson plan adaptable for either the Language Arts or Theater classroom.

Before beginning F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, create a historical context of the Roaring 20s with this lesson. Set up a gallery walk with the provided PowerPoint, which features 10 topics related to the 1920s. Then begin...

Learners create storyboards based on Julius Caesar using the device of framing to convey character information. After examining framing techniques in photographs from the Folger Theater, they discuss how they influence character...

Students explore where Shakespeare exists in local community plays. In this Shakespeare instructional activity, students create a documentary to define the existence of Shakespeare in their community drama activities. Students...

Students create individual works of art using cow cut-outs as their canvas in this hilarious lesson ideal for the High School Art or Art History classroom. The lesson includes resource links and can be adapted for any animal or mascot.

Students become immersed in analyzing the influences on and development of an artistic paradigm; they also move into, through and beyond the literary piece.

Students explain how individual elements (e.g., plot, theme, character, conflict, etc.) comprise the structure of a play. They write an original one-act play with developed characters, specific setting, conflict, and resolution.

Students identify and research cultural, historical, and symbolic clues in dramatic texts. They demonstrate knowledge of research sources.

Students role play to become familiar with the life of Thoreau. In this Thoreau instructional activity, students view a video of the Walden play about Thoreau.  Students perform and promote the play as a school event.

Students design a newspaper after reading the play "Romeo and Juliet." They include an appropriate title, wedding announcement, an advice column, an obituary and classified advertisements.

After being read a story, the students attempt to identify one individual difference, and one thing about themselves that is similar to other students in the class and one thing that makes them special. For the art lesson, students...

Students in kindergarten and college students engage in dialogue designed to help them get to know each other. They meet at three discussion centers, where the students express what makes them happy, how they are seen, and how they are...

Students view video clips from the program NY VOICES: "The Public" at 50, which examines Joseph Papp's passion and commitment to bring theater to diverse communities of New York. They create a playbill highlighting productions for an...

Young historians examine the gestures of human subjects represented in Mannerist, Baroque and Renaissance paintings. After they play charades and attempt to match dialogue with body language, learners create a drawing that...

Students develop skill in utilizing line in a 3 dimensional context. They explore a variety of techniques for mounting sculptures to a base.

Learners write a coherent script based on characterization, theme, conflict and emotional tone as found in the songs' lyrics and develop an understanding of the enjoyment that comes through discipline and hard work leading toward a...

Seventh graders discover how to assemble and finish a lidded box-like form from slabs of clay between soft and leather hard. They gain an appreciation for ceramic art.

Students create a Senufo painting in the same style as the Fakaha tribespeople from West Africa. They listen to a teacher-led lecture on Senufo painting, develop a sketch of an animal and masked figures, and draw their figures on burlap.

Pupils observe the shapes and lines that make up Aztec sculpture, study Pre-Columbian art as they discover the Aztecs, Mayans and Incas. They create a small-scale Aztec tile using pasta. Creative, clever and engaging.

Learners cut out pictures from magazines and create collages that demonstrate the five senses.