Fourth graders work in small groups and try the mediation process, taking turns as mediators and disputants. They discuss and review the handouts over the concepts of mediation. Students volunteer to participate in the class role-play.

Tired of those blank stares after your class reads a particularly complex passage from a Shakespearean play? Help high schoolers untangle that prose with a literature circle activity. Ten different roles prompt class members to focus on...

Raise the curtain to a class play that depicts the Civil War through both factual information and literary devices. The performance showcases the Battle of Antietam (Battle of Sharpsburg) and brings attention to women's roles,...

Students explore the connection between analyzing a character and the character plot conflict. In this plot conflict lesson students role play two characters in the story, The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum. Students also pretend to be a...

Students identify and compare similar characters and situations in stories and dramas from and about various cultures, illustrate with classroom dramatizations, and discuss how theater reflects life.

Third graders discuss ways to use words to solve a conflict. In this conflict resolution lesson, 3rd graders read the book Angela and Alice and discuss the conflict from the story. Students brainstorm ways to solve conflicts among...

Students practice dramatic 'living' through various drama activities. In this drama lesson, students define drama, view examples of dramatic elements in Cyrano de Bergerac and Roxanne, define characterization within the dramas, study the...

Even those experienced teachers of Hamlet can find much to like in a guide that offers many fresh ideas for activities. Class members may take on the role of FBI profilers that investigate Claudius and Hamlet as murderers, or...

Students consider how colonial citizens chose sides in the American Revolution. In this Revolutionary War lesson, students role play Loyalists, Patriots, and undecideds in a classroom simulation. Students research their positions so that...

Young scholars analyze the movement of the blues from rural Mississippi to urban Chicago and how place and the environment affected the development of the blues. They define the blues, where it originated and how and why it moved to...

If you could pick characteristics you would want your child to possess, what would they be? To better understand Okonkwo, one of the key characters in Things Fall Apart, class groups engage in an activity that asks them to consider this...

Second graders identify story elements in familiar stories from their lives. In this story elements lesson, 2nd graders act out familiar activities  by following directions. Students read a story and discuss the story elements....

Students explore world leader's quests for peace. In this world leader research lesson plan, students read a speech by Archbishop Desmond Tutu and view budget figures for the United States. Students work in groups to create an alternate...