National Center for Families Learning
The Summer Fun Summer Learning Dramatic and Story Reading Unit
What's the difference between story reading and story telling? Participants in a summer enrichment program learn all about the difference as they listen to famous speeches, engage in dramatic readings, and craft their own short stories...
Orlando Shakes
The Farndale Avenue Housing Estate Townswomen's Guild Dramatic Society's Production of "A Christmas Carol": Study Guide
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...
Drama Teacher
The 12 Dramatic Elements
Plays are meant to be seen and so are these 12 elements that give plays the dramatic effect. Introduce young actors to these key terms and their explanations
Curated OER
Dramatic Outlines
Learners write about main characters. In this dramatic writing lesson, students brainstorm character ideas. Learners create actions and give the character a voice. Students act out the scene in groups and create a final draft.
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.
Core Knowledge Foundation
Unit 5: A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Fifth graders analyze William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, paying close attention to character development, plot, and dialogue. With daily reading and thoughtful discussion, scholars take pen to paper to respond to journal...
Curated OER
Dance and Writing
Fourth graders use dance moves to perform narratives. In this dramatic performing lesson, 4th graders use strong and soft movements to show what character's voice is portraying. Students also use movement to show the feelings in the...
Orlando Shakes
Richard II: Study Guide
Shakespeare loved to write plays about famous kings. A study guide for Richard II explores the drama surrounding the reign of King Richard while reinforcing important language arts skills. After attending a performance of the play,...
National Center for Families Learning
The Summer Fun Summer Learning Drama and Plays Unit
The play's the thing that puts the play in a summer learning drama program designed to combat summer slide and encourage family literacy. Participants learn about drama as an art form, engage in dramatic presentations, write scripts, and...
Curated OER
Shakespeare: Standing on the Bookshelves of Giant
A phenomenal lesson on Shakespeare! Middle and high school learners create WebQuests about the texts and authors that Shakespeare himself studied when he was in grammar school. They use a variety of media in order to create dramatic...
Midland Independent School District
Drama
Ten drama lessons are the perfect addition to your language arts or theater class. With a focus on script elements, plot development, and parts of a dramatic story, the lessons guide young playwrights through the steps of telling a story...
Learning to Give
Teaching Playwriting in Schools
The world is a stage, and so is your classroom! Hone the skills of the next generation of Tony® award winners with a set of exercises, reference pages, writing prompts, and excerpts from famous plays.
Curated OER
Soliloquy Performances
Students investigate soliloquies. In this performing arts lesson, students discuss figurative language within soliloquies and then perform a soliloquy to the rest of the class.
Curated OER
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead: Reader's Theatre
Plays are meant to be performed! After reading the entire play, invite your learners to choose a scene from Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead that relates to earlier class discussion about characters, motifs, and themes to interpret...
Shakespeare Globe Trust
Fact Sheet: Indoor Theatres
Pull up a cushion, grab an apple or some nuts, light a candle, and get ready to explore indoor theatres from Elizabethan England. Readers use a handout to distinguish between indoor and outdoor theatres and the types of actors who...
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
Character Attributes in Writing
Third graders analyze the importance of characters in fiction writing and performances. In this theatre lesson, 3rd graders identify the important characteristics of a fictional character and how to portray a character through many...
Orlando Shakes
Man of La Mancha: Study Guide
It's the end of the sixteenth century in the middle of the Spanish Inquisition when a group of prisoners decides to dramatize the story of Don Quixote. A study guide provides a summary and other important information about the play Man...
Orlando Shakes
Native Gardens: Study Guide
A study guide for Native Gardens, a dramatic play, introduces theater lovers to a set of a neighbors and the problems they face. Discussion questions in the guide tackle themes of racism, ageism, and classism.
Orlando Shakes
Hamlet: Study Guide
Hopefully, learners do not sleep during a performance of Shakespeare's Hamlet. A helpful study guide introduces theater goers to the popular Shakespearean tragedy and includes activities to accompany a production of the play. Activities...
Curated OER
Nature’s Fury—Myths and Drama
Fifth graders explore the elements of theatre. In this dramatic performances lesson, 5th graders discuss the structural elements of theatre and dramatize "The Origins of the Season," an explanation myth.
Curated OER
From Page to Stage
Students, utilizing video clips and Web sites, compare specific passages from original texts to moments in Broadway musicals on which they were based, analyzing similarities and differences between them. They adapt literature into a...
Broadway GPS
Dear Evan Hansen: A New Musical
A musical about society anxiety, loneliness, suicide, dysfunctional families, and the spread of posts on social media can open up deep conversations in a high school classroom. The 2017 Tony Award Best Musical, Dear Evan Hansen, takes an...
Brigham Young University
Computer Age
Theater arts class members get a chance to see how professionals employ tech tools. As they sketch, render, build models, and prepare presentations of the set design for a current show, learners either visit a professional theater or by...