York Catholic
Elements of Drama
Introduce young actors to the key elements of performance with this handout that defines key staging terms and activities.
Curated OER
Harry Potter & the Sorcerer's Stone
Students read a chapter in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and define new words for their dictionaries. In this vocabulary lesson students choose two or three assignment from a list of projects and complete it using the text in the...
Curated OER
Creating Characters: Voice
Students participate in a drama character building activity. They view and discuss a video segment, discuss the differences between the two girls in the video, and compare the two characters by saying the same phrases while pretending to...
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Telling Stories Through Creative Drama
Students examine fairy tales. As an introductory activity, students play the statue game. In groups, they write statements that tell the plot of the story. Using props, and without voices, students retell the story by creating...
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Prairie Voices: Spare Time
Learners examine forms of recreation throughout the last 150 years. In this leisure time lesson, students investigate leisure activities in pre- and post-industrial society as they listen to a teacher-led lecture and discuss their...
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Readers Theatre using an Indonesian folktale
Young scholars read a short play based on the Indonesian folktale Cicak and Kancil and complete related activities.
Teaching Tolerance
Fairness Fair
How can we create a more fair world? Chances are, class members have some ideas! After reading a text about fairness, individuals create skits around the ideas of fairness. Extend the learning and make their presentations a...
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The Tone Map
Poems are meant to be heard. Hearing a poem being read enriches one’s understanding of the tone and mood of the piece. Introduce your class to the sounds of poetry with a packet that not only details how to use poetry recordings in the...
John F. Kennedy Center
Folktale Theatre
Introduce your middle schoolers to a performance and movement activity that uses their favorite stories from fairytales and folklore. They practice basic acting skills, create dialogues with a partner, and then as guided practice,...
New York City Department of Education
Theater Units for Lower and Upper Elementary Levels
Introduce middle schoolers to playwriting and the elements of drama with a six-session storytelling unit that encourages kids to expand their acting and writing skills. The 12-page packet includes overviews of the lessons, assessment...
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Alexander And The Wind-Up Mouse
Use drama techniques to recreate the story, Alexander and the Wind-Up Mouse by Leo Lionni. They engage in problem-solving as they identify the roles they will fufill in their groups for the performance. This is a motivating way to...
Mississippi Whole School Initiative
Dream Big...With Your Eyes Wide Open
For many people, Barack Obama's presidency was the next step in Martin Luther King, Jr's dream of America's future. Explore the dreams of Americans past and present, as well as the young Americans in your class, with a set of activities...
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Sound Effects
Students listen carefully so they can say their "part" during a reading of a Cinderella story. For this listening and speaking lesson, students saying their "part" on cue during a reading of a familiar story. They actively listen to the...
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Sequencing Stories
Students explore dramatization. In this literacy fluency and drama lesson plan, students listen to the story Mop Top by Don Freeman and add related sounds at the appropriate times. Students role play, pantomime, and add sounds to create...
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The Voice of the Individual
Students examine the role of the individual in society as a whole. Individually, they design and create their own calling card as used in the past. They put together an art kit in which they are able to use outdoors. To end the...
Curated OER
Reading
Students are introduced to various types of folk tales. During a read-aloud, they predict what they believe is going to happen next and practice following the story line. To end the lesson, they answer comprehension questions and...
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"No, You Can't Take Me!"
Students study imitation or pantomime. In this creative drama lesson, students pick an object to imitate and state the reasons why that object should not be taken out of the room pretending to be that object.
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Youth Helping to Elevate Awareness
Eighth graders read a book whose main character has a physical disability, and complete various related activities. They listen to a guest speaker, simulate experiences at school as a disabled individual through the use of wheelchairs,...
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ENDOWING SUPPORT ELEMENTS
Students demonstrate how an actor might engage sensate reaction using 3 sets of stage props. They imagine and use as many sense reactions as they can to make the props become endowed with a reality. They use one table and chair to...
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Alexander and the Wind-Up Mouse
Dramatic activities promote enjoyment of literature, increase reading comprehension, and help develop oral expression. It is important for children to engage in activities which help to develop their creative potential. Drama allows...
Curated OER
Shadow Puppetry in South India
Students read a variety of literature from India, including folktales and fables. They then select a scene or story to script, work together to design and craft shadow puppets of characters and scenery, narrate a story, manipulate the...
Curated OER
From Ordinary To Extraordinary Writing
High schoolers investigate the quality of writing while focusing on the use of sensory words to convey meaning and ideas. The power of similes and metaphors is emphasized while they create and edit works of writing. The skill of...
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Movement and Vocabulary Development
Students participate in various activities to use movement and body awareness to expand vocabulary and word meaning.
Curated OER
Impact on Your Essence
Students are introduced to the use of symbolism and how it can change one's view of a piece of art. Using a piece of art, they view it as if they were the artist and create a symbol that accompanies it. They discuss the impact of two-...