Shadow puppetry has an ancient past, it is also a great way to build oral expression and reading fluency. Young thespians research folk tales, compare and contrast reality and fantasy, then create and perform a shadow puppet play based...

Students inquire about the lives of the First Ladies in our country. In this First Ladies lesson, students build knowledge about the contributions of First Ladies and how their childhood made them the person they are. Students do a play...

Here is an authentic assessment task for Shakespeare's Macbeth. Young literature scholars prepare, perform, and record a news broadcast about the major events in the play. For example, groups may choose to report on the death of Lady...

Lights, shadows, action, and inquiry await your artistic scientists. They explore the way light travels, absorbs, reflects, and transmits through shadow play. They create folktale-inspired shadow puppets, explore the science of light,...

Students write a creative essay from a pumpkin's point of view. They role play that they are pumpkin in a patch and need to convince a visitor to the patch that they are the best choice for a Halloween pumpkin. They focus on using...

How did World War I end? Tenth graders role play as experts from countries that were involved in World War I. They write a treaty to end the war and compare it to the Treaty of Versailles.

Comparing the more modern film Ten Things I Hate About You to The Taming of the Shrew leads to an understanding of how Shakespearean plots can be applied to modern-day situations and characters. As a culminating activity, groups select a...

Students create a play in which each person in the group is a "character" or part of a system.  In this creative lesson students are assigned a process in which they write a script about with characters. 

Different currencies, multiple armies, unreliable protection from thieves: class members experience these challenges playing a game that demonstrates life under the Articles of Confederation. After playing the game—which takes them on a...

Students, after reading one-act plays or scenes from plays, compose a short, one-act play which involves two characters.

Students explore the shape of things as they bend, twist, and turn. In this early childhood lesson plan, students develop social, creative-thinking, and language skills and spatial awareness as they use their bodies to create geometric...

Fourth graders research famous Americans from the Westward Movement and complete an interview. In this Westward Movement lesson, 4th graders work in pairs to research someone who was important during this time period. They prepare and...

Students read a play and create their own play using Thornton Wilder's Our Townas a resource. In this play lesson, students analyze how theatrical elements contribute to a play's meanings and effects. Students recognize differences...

Take a creative approach to teaching about community in a religious context. Learners read Acts 2:42-47 and choose the verse they feel exemplify the importance of community. They then pair share, write journal responses, and then...

Sixth graders recreate scenes from the theories about the disappearance of Amelia Earhart. In this history and theatre lesson, 6th graders review the story of Earhart using a flip chart. Students work on one act plays to depict one of...

Young scholars examine fairy tales. As an introductory activity, students play the statue game. In groups, they write statements that tell the plot of the story. Using props, and without voices, young scholars retell the story by...

An effective way to demonstrate understanding is by synthesizing one's own work. Use a creative lesson plan designed for a unit on Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun for small groups to show what they know about the...

The best part about this resource is that you've got four wonderful activities to choose from. Each of the projects can work together or on its own to help learners understand the history of math and how it can be seen every day. In...

Students research the surrealism movement and its primary artists. Language is also analyzed, and students will create their own original poem utilizing surrealistic techniques.

Students compare and constrast life in an 1830s family verses a modern family. They role play the position of a family member in 1830 while wearing traditional clothing for the time period. They write journal entries to show their daily...

Students perform a skit using creativity. In this role playing lesson, students are given a skit to perform in the "spur of the moment." Students use creativity to have the audience correctly guess the situation they are role-playing.

High schoolers are given an opportunity to role play a particular period of American History. They engage in a field trip that is then reflected upon and further research is done in the class. Their final project is to act out a play...

Creative kids read, discuss, play-act, and sketch to examine the cultural significance of Old Man Coyote. They listen to several stories involving Coyote, analyze the Harry Fonseca painting Shuffle Off to Buffalo, and write Coyote...

Students research Toni Morrison's life, work as a writer, and major contributions to the field of literature; students choose one of her novels to read, & perform a scene from it; each group member writes an autobiographical essay...