Teaching Tolerance
Act Up! Drama for Justice
A lesson turns young historians into playwrights to understand and speak out against social injustice. Pupils work individually or in groups to write and perform monologues that deliver personal messages on social justice. Writers then...
Star Wars in the Classroom
"Shakespeare and Star Wars": Lesson Plan Day 11
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...
Johnny Mercer Foundation
The American Musical
General music students learn about the history of popular American music by creating and performing a one-act musical. After researching and creating an American Musical timeline, class members write a song with lyrics using Jam Studio,...
Curated OER
Characters in Live Performance
Your intermediate or advanced thespians choose dramatic scenes to perform in duos, small groups, or solo to demonstrate vocal and physical characterization. Use class time to prepare and rehearse. Detailed rubrics work for peer assessment.
PBS
Act of Duty
PBS provides educators with this "Utilization Guide," a four segment program that covers the Civil War, World War I, World War II, the Korean conflict, Vietnam, and the Gulf War. The 42-page packet includes lessons, background...
Curated OER
Scene Writing
Eighth graders create an original scene or short one-act play within specified guidelines. Assessment is based upon the performance of student-created scenes during class time. Rubrics for assessment and connection to state standards...
PBS
Supernatural Shakespeare and Macbeth
"A drum, a drum! Macbeth doth come." The withered and wild witches of Shakespeare’s Scottish play launch an examination of the fantastical elements in Act I, scene iii, paying particular attention to the action, imagery,...
EngageNY
Grade 9 ELA Module 1: Unit 3, Lesson 17
Romeo and Juliet, Act 5, Scene 3, lines 139-170, is the focus of this day's lesson plan. Readers examine the dramatic irony in Juliet's comments and consider how "lamentable chance" caused by a "greater power" plays a role in the tragedy.
Pearson
Musical Theater Performance
Musical theater is a trifecta, requiring cast members to be actors, singers, and dancers. Help theater arts students develop these skills with a unit designed to prepare them for a staging of a musical.
Hawaiʻi State Department of Education
Characters from a Box
Character analysis is a skill we use when we read literary works or want to write a good story. Learners will use drama to practice character analysis while focusing on the details that make characters act the way they do. They'll each...
VH1
Lesson 2: Moulin Rouge
The pop movie Moulin Rouge was based on the opera La Boheme. Learners watch the last 30 minutes of each musical to compare and contrast social opposites. They'll first discuss the social differences of the main characters and how those...
Hawaiʻi State Department of Education
Creating Narrative
Plot, setting, characters, and conflict are common to both drama and narrative stories. Kids create narrated tableaus that show their understanding of the plot, setting, and conflict of a story they've recently read. The lesson...
Curated OER
Foreshadowing
Pupils read and discuss Act V, Scene 1. They define foreshadowing and identify examples of it from the text. They edit a partner's diary entry. They identify key ideas from the scene.
Curated OER
Rather Cut a Little
Young scholars create podcasts of Measure for Measure. In this Measure for Measure lesson, students decide which lines are the most important and edit scenes to create a shorter version of the play that includes the important concepts. ...
Curated OER
Ready, Set, Action!
Fifth graders explore sequential dramatization through children's literature. In this drama lesson plan, 5th graders act out and record scenes using digital and video cameras. Students create a digital poster using pictures from their...
Curated OER
Ancient Greece Podcast
In this writing a podcast lesson plan, 7th graders create a podcast involving Ancient Greece. Students follow a rubric and outline to create their podcast. Students present their podcast to their fellow students.
Curated OER
What Really Happened?
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...
Curated OER
Macbeth Madness
Students analyze Shakespeare's Macbeth in a variety of creative activities. For this Macbeth lesson, students read Act Two, Scene IV and Act Three, Scene I-VI. Students then complete the text given at the link.
Curated OER
Conspiracy after the Storm: Editing Dual Murder Plots in Shakespeare's 'The Tempest'
Students edit scenes from Shakespeare's The Tempest in documentary fashion and perform their edited scripts. In this play analysis lesson, students read through Act 2 and 3 and discuss how and why to cut lines in a play. Students create...
Curated OER
Macbeth Madness
Students analyze Shakespeare's Macbeth by completing the creative activities. In this Macbeth lesson, students discuss the timeline for William Shakespeare and identify the characters for Macbeth. Students read Act One, Scenes i-v of...
Curated OER
Macbeth Madness
Students analyze Shakespeare's Macbeth. For this Macbeth lesson, students read Act Two Scene iv and Act Three Scenes i-vi in the play and complete the test from the given link.
Curated OER
Step into the Painting: Social Studies, Literature, and Art
Travel back in American history to the era of slavery and abolition. After reading about the Underground Railroad, young historians examine a painting depicting the event, and write a narrative from the point of view of a person in the...
Curated OER
Editing the Conspiracy: Julius Caesar
Students practice close reading skills to edit the text of Julius Caesar as they read. They identify the features of the conspiracy. They discuss use of image of dark and light in the text.
Curated OER
Wars and Conflicts
Pupils explore the concepts of war and conflict. In this research skills instructional activity, students use Internet and print sources to research the causes, effects, main events, and significant figures of selected wars.