Curated OER
Collective Poetry: Teaching Tolerance
Help your class create collective poetry following a simple, engaging model from Teaching Tolerance (tolerance.org). Each young poet writes five things on an index card: sayings from others, favorite sound, favorite place, favorite...
Curated OER
The Element of Color
Eighth graders study and analyze the elements of color by creating an personalized color wheel. Emphasis is placed on constructive criticism of student work by others for assessment. Students create short poems for their color wheel...
Curated OER
Reading Pictures, Seeing Poetry
Learners examine the painting, The Combat of the Giaour and Hassan based on a poem by Lord Byron. They compare how Romantic artists and writers made choices about visual elements and language to depict their subjects.
Curated OER
Dusty Locks and the Three Bears
Read this twist on Goldilocks and the Three Bears: Dusty Locks and the Three Bears by Susan Lowell. Kindergartners listen, predict, and discuss the story. They then participate in a dramatization of the story and draw a picture to...
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.
Hawaiʻi State Department of Education
Imaginary Creatures
Drama and movement are wonderful ways to cover story elements such as setting, character, and descriptive writing. Little ones listen to a poem about imaginary creatures. As they listen, they shape their bodies into what they think the...
Curated OER
Nature’s Fury—Myths and Drama
Fifth graders explore the elements of theatre. In this dramatic performances lesson plan, 5th graders discuss the structural elements of theatre and dramatize "The Origins of the Season," an explanation myth.
Curated OER
Global Peace Lesson Plan
Fifth graders recognize the characteristics of poetry. In this poetry lesson, 5th graders listen to poetry by Dionne Brand and discuss the meaning of the poems. Students construct their own poems and present them as an assessment.
Brigham Young University
Introducing the Text and Learning the Process of Script Analysis
Where do directors and set designers get their ideas so that the set they build creates the mood and atmosphere the director wants for a production? From the script! Introduce theater high schoolers to the script analysis techniques used...
Curated OER
Jazz Talk
Students analyze the origins of jazz music by examining work songs, spirituals, blues, and gospel songs as well as works of poetry from African American artists. They create their own poems from either the narrative, dramatic, or lyric...
Curated OER
Cyrano de Bergerac Nose His Terms
Students use the play "Cyrano de Bergerac" to identify and analyze drama vocabulary, literary terms and elements of fiction. They write an original version of scenes from the play and develop a character analysis for the lead.
Curated OER
Marian Anderson: From Page to Stage
Students become immersed in a compelling anecdote of the civil rights movement through the experience of constructing dramatic scripts. An added goal is to equip students, through this "hands-on" experience, to critique dramatic...
Curated OER
Comparing Characters Across Two Short Stories
Ninth graders listen to a read aloud of two short stories focusing on literary devices. The write about the settings and realism of the stories, and decide each main character handles the conflict he faces with nature.
Curated OER
Fairytale Cake
Students recreate characters from the story, "The Fairytale Cake." In this fairy tale characterization lesson plan, students first listen to fairy tales read aloud. They then use play dough and plastic bowls as pretend "cakes and icing",...
Curated OER
Being in the Noh: An Introduction to Japanese Noh Plays
High schoolers read a Japanese Noh play and discuss its structure and traditional characters. They choose a short myth and write a Noh play based on it.
Curated OER
Being in the Noh: An Introduction to Japanese Noh Plays
Students analyze the conventions used in Noh plays and write an introduction to a Noh play of their own. In this Noh play lesson, students identify the conventions of the Noh form and analyze the realizations the main character achieves....
Curated OER
The Sound of Calm
Learners examine the relationships that exist between ocean currents, wind and climate. Using those relationships, they discuss how they affect the oceans. They create their own music to represent the sounds of the ocean and share them...