What would Ben do? Jumping off from the pseudonymous letters Ben Franklin fooled his older brother into publishing when he was still a teenager, young literary lovers dive into acting, writing, and addressing a local issue with wit and...

Students write their own folktales based on "Cathal O'Cruachan and the Cowherd." In discussions they examine the animal symbolism in the story, as well as the characters, events, problems, and solution. With partners, they select...

Class members take center stage as groups perform scenes from Ian Doescher's William Shakespeare's Star Wars: Verily, A New Hope. Actors are encouraged to add stage directions to the script, as well as create costumes and props to...

“All the world’s a stage…” What do Leonardo DiCaprio, Heath Ledger, and Kenneth Branagh have in common? They have all starred in modern adaptations of Shakespeare’s plays. After viewing a series clips from modern Shakespeare videos,...

The house lights dim, the curtain parts, lights slowly come up, revealing the stage. Before the actors appear, before a word is spoken, the audience is drawn in by the lighting, by the colors, by lines of the set, by the props, and...

The battle over same-sex marriage is a prevalent issue in the United States, and a valuable topic to be discussed in your social studies classroom. Here is a basic outline of introductory questions, focus questions, vocabulary, and media...

Through discussion and role-play, youngsters learn how to take care of their health. Stuffed toys become "patients" which are cared for by children and taught healthy habits. Having some medical props such as stethoscopes, tongue...

Glide into the study of flight. An engaging lesson has scholars research information on the Wright brothers. They develop props and produce a recreation of the first flight at Kitty Hawk. They then report on the event as if they were...

A slide show provides a variety of scenarios to challenge scholars to decide whether a good choice or bad choice was made. Colorful smiley faces act as props to signify what type of decision they chose. 

Size within the solar system is a difficult thing for pupils to imagine. Using everyday objects, they build models to show the scale between the sun, moon, and Earth. They situate their props in proportional distances between the objects...

Fifth graders chart the elements of drama. In this performing arts instructional activity, 5th graders discuss the role of a playwrite, practice doing some Reader's Theatre scripts, write a paragraph about a problem between two people,...

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...

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.

Invite your class on a ride through the American Revolution. Young historians travel through time as they explore the events that led to the foundation of the United States of America. Over the course of eight lessons, this unit...

Students discuss uses of a pumpkin. They fill out graphic organizers. Students listen as the teacher reads a story, and participate by repeating sounds the objects make as the story progresses. One student narrates the story while others...

Your young historians will square off as Loyalists dedicated to the English crown or revolutionaries fighting for a new nation in a role-play of a colonial town hall debate before the American Revolution.

Language learners receive support with the concepts in the Houghton Mifflin Harcourt thematic unit Our Earth from this 32-page packet of exercises and activities designed just for them

This packet, the first in the series of support materials for the Houghton Mifflin Harcourt thematic units on our earth, contains enrichment activities for learners who have mastered the basic concepts of the lessons. Kids...

Once upon a time are four words most children are familiar with when reading a fairy tale. But do they know that fairy tales are a great way to learn the literary elements of reading and writing? Use a thorough fairy tale unit...

Seventh graders produce a newscast from an Ancient Roman city. In this journalism and history instructional activity, 7th graders work in groups to dramatize a historical event from the Roman Empire. students sequence the events,...

Learners listen to and discuss story of Jesus calming storm, write script containing interview questions, create background with props, make video of newscast, and illustrate memory verse or symbol of peace using KidPix software.

Students analyze fairy tale characters and story elements. For this fairy tale lesson, students label two charts for the characters and settings of a fairy tale. Students view props in story boxes and answer questions about the story...

Learners comprehend how Dicken's set piece on snobbery. They discuss how Lean uses costume, actors' non-verbal communcication and props to convey Victorian class customs, distinctions, and snobbery. Students are shown "The Jolly Bargee"...

Students are told that chronanauts is a fascinating, whimsical exploration of time travel, causality, and possibility covering many fascinating and significant events of the last century or so. They work in small groups to create a...