Discuss the lives of artists in the Lyme Art Colony in the 1900s with this resource. Young historians write and perform a short scene depicting individuals who lived in the Griswold boardinghouse, used by the colony artists. They use the...

Does your class love reading cartoons? Use their talents and interests to examine the process of writing a story they wish to tell through a cartoon. They develop the beginning, middle, and end of a story based on their original...

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...

This may be a lot to ask of a high schooler, but then again, who knows? Pupils work in groups to explore, write, and then perform an original opera. They view versions of The Magic Flute and La Traviata, then compose a plot, characters,...

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...

Everyone can be an expert! After finishing Wendelin Van Draanen's book Flipped, divide your class into small groups. Then, assign each group a topic to become experts on. The resource suggests topics such as characters, themes, setting,...

Students discover the ideas of enlightenment by reading historical poetry. In this philosophical lesson plan, students read poems by Sir Walter Scott and Sergeant Joyce Kilmer while discussing the themes of the writing with classmates....

Seventh graders write scripts for scenarios to be "re-solutioned". One re-solution scenario will be role played for whole class. They also identify what personal responsibility means and who is responsible in taking personal...

Students explore language arts by analyzing a children's book in class. In this vocabulary activity, students read the book Slowly, Slowly, Slowly... by Eric Carle. Students identify the characters, setting and plot of the story before...

Students are introduced to the proper ways to deal with conflict at home. In groups, they define family based on what it means to them and identify factors that lead to a breakdown in communications. They participate in role-playing...

Students examine how to model story telling for their classes. They investigate how to learn, rehearse and share stories.

Students explore Shakespeare's portrayal of deception. In this plot lesson, students examine the use of deception in "Much Ado About Nothing." Students write their own mini-versions of the play that are limited to 3 minutes.

High schoolers examine the concept of the tragic hero in Shakespeare's King Lear and explore how it affects the plot of the play. In this theatrical analysis lesson, students investigate the redemption or defeat of King Lear and perform...

Students create masks from the Italian Renaisance theatre and use them in one-act plays they write. they analyze the role and development of theatre in world cultures.

The danger of mob mentality is on display in The Crucible by Arthur Miller. Get your class thinking with some challenging quickwrite questions, then assign characters from the play to be read aloud altogether. Links to worksheets...

How do modern adaptations of Shakespearean plays relate to their original source material? Middle and high schoolers focus on Shakespeare's play Othello and its screen adaptation "O" to explore how modern film adaptations of Shakespeare...

Students read and discuss The Black Cat and The Tell-Tale Heart. In this poetry lesson, students construct a Venn diagram to compare and contrast two pieces of literature.

Twelfth graders use an Internet scavenger hunt, vocabulary, sample essay questions, and short answer questions suitable for study and review of the play, The Crucible.

Seventh graders role play the position of someone in one of six different civilization groups. They research the group's development, advancement and fall of their civilization. They create a presentation to share the information with...

Students determine the age of a star cluster by observing, measuring, and plotting astronomical data. They examine the Jewe lbox cluster, located within the southern constellation Crux and determine its age.

Students study and perform Aesop's fables. In this Aesop's fables instructional activity, students read and/or listen to a number of the famous fables. They make masks based on the characters and perform a fable using the masks. They...

Students observe, identify and creatively express their ideas through literature and dramatize an original story that features a type of weather in the plot.

Students investigate the Middle Ages and it's relation to the theater.  In this acting lesson, students read Arthurian stories form the Middle Ages and practice using vocabulary words from the Medieval Times.  Students write a...

Students revise Spanish mystery stories. They sequence the events from a group's mystery story and suggest revisions for the setting. They revise their stories using the suggestions from classmates and describe characters in folktales....