Star Wars in the Classroom
"Shakespeare and Star Wars": Lesson Plan Day 1
"Now is the summer of our happiness/Made winter by this sudden, fierce attack!" Luke Skywalker meets Hamlet in a 10-lesson plan unit based on Ian Doescher's William Shakespeare's Star Wars: Verily, a New Hope. Using Star Wars® as source...
Curated OER
Integrated Social Studies and Drama Lesson
Learners study the Civil War. They conduct research in order to find out more information about the Battle of Corydon. Using this information, they create accurate props and sets for a play about this battle. They perform the play in...
EngageNY
Grade 9 ELA Module 2, Unit 2, Lesson 10
The slow curse of realization begins to sink in during the tenth lesson in a literary analysis unit on Sophocles' Oedipus the King. Ninth graders carefully read the selected lines for evidence of Oedipus' feelings during a turning point...
EngageNY
Grade 9 ELA Module 2, Unit 2, Lesson 15
The terrible truth begins in a lesson plan that focuses on the final act of Sophocles' Oedipus the King. As ninth graders collect evidence that details the origin of Oedipus and how his birth relates to the prophecy everyone tried to...
EngageNY
Grade 9 ELA Module 2, Unit 2, Lesson 7
The accusations begin in Sophocles' Oedipus the King, with troublemakers and enemies abound. As learners delve deeply into the sights unseen, they review textual evidence from their readings to write about the importance of timing in the...
Curated OER
Drama: Learn A Lesson from the Lion
Reading is reading, whether it's for drama or English class. Boost reading fluency, accuracy, intonation, and comprehension while fostering creative acting skills. Kids read the provided tale of "The Lion and the Mouse" several times in...
Roald Dahl
The Twits - Mr Twit Gets a Horrid Shock
Mr. and Mrs. Twit do not treat each other very nicely. The sixth instructional activity in an 11-part unit designed to accompany The Twits by Roald Dahl explores the way the characters talk to and treat one another. Role play and writing...
Star Wars in the Classroom
"Shakespeare and Star Wars": Lesson Plan Day 4
Class members have an opportunity to compare how a film and a play handle the same source material by viewing the opening chapters of George Lucas's Star Wars: A New Hope and acts I and II of Ian Doescher's play, William Shakespeare's...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Dramatic and Theatrical Aspects in Thornton Wilder’s “Our Town”: A Common Core Exemplar
“So I’m going to have a copy of this play put in the cornerstone and the people a thousand years from now’ll know a few simple facts about us.” Our Town is used as the text in a Common Core exemplar that examines the dramatic and...
Roald Dahl
The Twits - The Twits Get the Shrinks
Turn readers into investigative journalists. The 11th and final lesson that accompanies The Twits by Roald Dahl asks the question "What happened to Mr. and Mrs. Twit?" The lesson uses mind maps and group discussion to help answer the...
Curated OER
MTV and Othello
After reading Acts III and IV of Othello, give your class a fun, interactive, music-related activity. Begin by asking high schoolers about songs they have heard in movies or plays. Let them look up the lyrics online and ruminate about...
Curated OER
"Romeo and Juliet" English Lesson Plans
English lesson plans focusing on "Romeo and Juliet" can be a great way to introduce students to Shakespeare's plays.
EngageNY
Mastering Factoring
Math class is full of drama—there are so many problems to work out! Pupils work out factoring problems. They use quadratic methods of factoring higher degree polynomials, in addition to factoring the sum and difference of two cubes.
Curated OER
Mountains: A Drama Exploration
Learners dramatize the formation of mountains. In this earth formation dramatization instructional activity, students read Anne Issacs', Swamp Angel, and research the how the layers of the Earth move to form landforms. They work in...
Curated OER
Lessons from the Holocaust
Students investigate the horrors of World War II by participating in a role-playing activity. In this holocaust instructional activity, students read handouts describing the atrocities committed against the Jews in Germany during the...
Curated OER
Lights, Camera, Action...Crossing the Delaware in 9 Scenes
How does reading a drama differ from reading a novel? Middle schoolers become playwrights and explore these differences. After viewing the A&E movie,"The Crossing," groups create stage directions, write dialogue, and design sets and...
Curated OER
Drama: The New Friends
Reader's Theater is a great way to build fluency, intonation, and dramatic flare. The class reads the theater piece, "The New Friends" paying attention to how they express emotion and feeling as they read. They discuss the use of plot,...
Curated OER
The Time Has Come: Poetry and Drama Use in the Geography Class
Middle schoolers use drama and poetry in their Geography class. In groups, they role play an interviewer or the interviewee in various plays that were presented to them. In their role, they must locate and label where the countries...
Curated OER
Beginning The New School Year
Third graders investigate the concept of living in a community of learners. They engage in a variety of activities with the highlight being a story about a meerkat and a lion. Students read a play related to the story and discuss the...
Equality and Human Rights Commission
Empathy
Scientists discovered empathy is a learned behavior, not an instinct or inherited behavior. The second lesson in a 12-part series focuses on teaching empathy, an important life skill. Scholars use discussion and role playing to practice...
New York City Department of Education
Myself and Others
Self reflection is an important skill to reinforce in our children, and it's especially helpful to help them realize who they are in the context of their environment. A collection of lessons about self image and community encourage...
Trinity University
Julius Caesar: The Power of Persuasion
"Friend, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears..." Those words begin one of the most persuasive speeches in literature. Explore the elements of persuasion in a series of lessons related to William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. In addition...
Curated OER
African-American Civil War Soldiers Lesson Plan
Students interpret historical evidence presented in primary resources. In this Civil War lesson, students examine the service of African Americans in the Civil War and consider their plight to secure the rights and...
Curated OER
Exploring A Streetcar Named Desire
Students investigate the dramatic elements of a Streetcar Named Desire. In this drama lesson, students explore the theme of the Tennessee Williams play as they read the play and watch performances of some of the acts. Students then write...