Students watch the series "Unforgiveable Blackness". They examine the media's response to Jack Johnson in the film. They role-play the role of reporters to compose poems of headlines.

Students set up a pretend "apple stand." In this dramatic play lesson, students create an apple stand scene. Students pretend to pick and pay for apples.

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...

Have your ESL learners practice their written and oral English grammar skills, with this highly engaging ESL Lesson. Budding grammarians mingle across the room discovering what they each know about the Royal Wedding between Kate and...

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...

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.

Students role play different situations. In this respect lesson, students read Mr. Lincoln's Way, identify the story elements and answer comprehension questions. Students discuss how they can always treat others with respect and role...

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...

The first of a three-part series on bullying, this plan has class members present skits about bullying, write and sign an anti-bullying pledge, and complete a service project. For the skit, learners use information from previous lessons...

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

Students identify words that can be used to describe Mark Twain's character Tom Sawyer. Students explore stage production of "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" by reading and discussing "An Older (and Calmer) Tom Sawyer". They develop their...

Students participate in role-play activities to explain that emotional and social effects of prejudice discussed in the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird.

Students explore melodram as a form of theatre. They write about lucid and factual news accounts and about sensationalism. Students gain experience in relating one time period with another and with doing historical research.

Ninth graders brainstorm different situations in which formal English is used. Individually, they describe how people would act if they were invited to the White House for dinner and what they would do. To end the instructional...

Students are to discover ways in which to spark their interest in writing. As a class, they examine the purpose and function of political conventions. Individually, they role-play they are a page at a National convention and identify...

Students sing and read the old favorite song Wheels on the Bus, and write new song text for a poster and a class book.

Spend a few days discussing cyberbullying with an engaging lesson plan. Opening discussion questions get the conversation started while quotes and articles continue thoughtful dialogue. Small group activities and role-play scenarios...

Young readers practice looking words up in the dictionary. This lesson describes a simple, yet engaging, game that can be played as a whole-class activity.

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...

Groups of learners investigate the persuasive genre of writing as they research and present on an issue. They research the Internet (possible websites are included) for a topic and locate information to present to the opposing team. In...

Students examine a three-step process for making decisions and how their peers can influence them in different ways. They role-play different roles when making decisions and other students reflect on how they feel about the activity.

Use hypertext to make a multimedia choose-your-own adventure story! Young writers incorporate knowledge of story writing elements to write their own stories, and rewrite the adventure with various scenarios and endings. Use technology to...

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...

Five segements from Ken Burns' documentary series Prohibition, easily accessed on the PBS website, are at the center of a terrific short unit on the roots of America's ambivalent relationship with alcohol. Engage your secondary...