“All the world’s a stage,” exclaims Jaques in As You Like It, but it is the structure of the Globe stage and how that structure influenced Shakespeare’s plays that is the focus of an on-line research project. Class members visit a series...

Is the circus a form of theater? Read "A City of Clowns? What Else Is New?" to sway your class that a circus, is indeed, a theatrical performance. Critical thinkers compare/contrast various forms of theater and identify what makes the...

You needn't be an actor to stage this exercise in reading comprehension. Kids examine Jacques's "All the World's a Stage" speech from Act II, scene ii, of As You Like It, and explain the literal meaning of the figurative...

In this online interactive reading comprehension worksheet, students respond to 15 multiple choice questions based on The Worldly Philosophers. Students may submit their answers to be scored.

“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,...

Enhance your lesson on Shakespeare with this poetry activity. After reading lines 139-167 from As You Like It Act II, Scene 7 (provided on the first page), middle schoolers work on a graphic organizer to paraphrase each...

"All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players." Shakespeare provides the examples on this worksheet that asks readers to identify the two things being compared and to explain the characteristics the two share.

What could be better than a play within a play? A study guide for "The Farndale Avenue Housing Estate Townswomen's Guild Dramatic Society's Production of 'A Christmas Carol'" has theater-goers share their thoughts on the comedic...

Why do writers choose the language they do? Here's a resource that has the poet himself answer that very question. Joseph Coelho explains why he chose the words and images he used in his poem, "If All the World Were Paper."

Arthur Miller's work of American tragedy and frustration is as relevant today as the first day it premiered on stage. Learners review character names and details from Death of a Salesman with a crossword puzzle that contains 27...

To launch a unit study of the concept of diversity in World Literature, class members compare Chinua Achebe's essay, "An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad's Heart of Darkness" and Richard Rodriguez's essay, "The Chinese in All of...

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...

Considering a unit study of American Musical Theatre? What better way to start than at the very beginning. Eight pairs of cards provide class members with background information about the genre from 1893 through 2004. The cards are...

Shakespeare's Julius Caesar is, among other things, the study of a ruler's ambitions. Young scholars watch videos, read articles, and keep a Commonplace Book while studying the play. At the end of Act III, pupils stage the play that...

Young meteorologists examine the formation of a hurricane in a resource focused on severe weather conditions. Once they learn that a hurricane is also a tropical cyclone, and detail the different levels associated...

The Haitian Revolution takes center stage as class members analyze a passage from Sugar Changed the World and consider how the authors select, present, and organize events to show how the tensions between the concerns for freedom and...

Considering using Tolkien's The Hobbit for book circles or whole-class reading? Check out this packet that provides an overview of the novel, some interesting background materials, and links to additional resources.

William Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew combines three things that are sure to capture scholars' attention: love, deception, and clown attire. With the curriculum guide, learners hone their opinion-writing skills and...

Students, after reading Chapter 1 in the book, "Super Power: Americans Today," analyze the recognition of the quote, "Hunger does not breed reform; it breeds madness and all the ugly distempers that make an ordered life impossible," by...

Historically, members of the upper class provide plenty of fodder for comedic writers. Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest is no exception, and a study guide for the classic play discusses some of the Victorian social...

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.

The war against Communism and Joseph McCarthy’s place in it are the focus of a series of three lessons examining postwar America from 1945-1950. This first instructional activity asks groups to read an introduction that describes the...

Study some of the most prominent poets and works of poetry in history with a language arts poetry unit. From Virgil to Shakespeare to Dickinson to Angelou, the resources present biographies and examples of poetic elements to...