Students, after reading one-act plays or scenes from plays, compose a short, one-act play which involves two characters.

Bring history to life through literature. The first in a series of three challenge activities designed to accompany Theme 5: One Land, Many Trails does just that through unique projects connected to historical fiction and nonfiction...

The first of a three-part series on bullying, this plan has class members present skits about bullying, write and sign an anti-bullying pledge, and complete a service project. For the skit, learners use information from previous lessons...

Did you know that modern Chinese literature “grew from the psychoanalytical theory of Sigmund Freud”? Designed for a world literature class, seniors are introduced to “One Evening in the Rainy Season,” Shi Zhecun’s stream of...

Connect a scene from a class play to events in your middle and high schoolers' own lives. First, they act out a scene from A Midsummer Night's Dream in pairs. They work to role play a scene as an extension of the one they have read,...

This 4-question handout addresses key elements of Act 4.4 of Taming of the Shrew. It is intended for small group discussion, followed by individual written reponses. The prompts require critical thinking and analysis.

Just as the title says, this quiz covers the second half of William Shakespeare's The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, specifically Acts IV and V. Multiple-choice questions focus on the events and characters.

Young scholars describe to a partner theater experiences they have had in their lives that were memorable, and analyze why. They study about one director's original artistic choices for staging Shakespeare by reading and discussing...

Studying Hamlet in your class? This helpful resource provides ten questions on plot understanding and quote identification. While you might not use this quiz verbatim, you might use the given questions to create your own quiz. Keep in...

Everyone loves a great riddle, right? Everyone except for the characters in Shakespeare's Pericles, who will be killed unless they answer the king's riddle correctly. With the study guide, scholars use words coined by Shakespeare to play...

The work of Langston Hughes opens the door to research into the origin and legacy of the Harlem Renaissance and how the literature of the period can be viewed as a commentary on race relations in America. In addition, groups are assigned...

Students research the lyrical and dramatic structure of opera through Internet sources and audio examples, cooperatively discuss elements of opera stories vs. their own lives and create one-act opera based on their own life experiences.

Do figures of speech enhance a play or story? In small groups, learners locate and describe figures of speech they find while reading a reader's theater play. After making predictions, they describe how the figures of speech make the...

Develop a world-wide, email chain on which class members can showcase their acts of kindness. After defining the meaning of random acts of kindness through discussion and through a reading of Random Acts of Kindness,...

What teenager can't relate to the drama of a love triangle? Scholars put their literary skills to use in a gripping role-play drama. William Shakespeare's Two Gentlemen of Verona unfolds as the classroom becomes a stage of...

Learning about literature can be so much fun; it can also be made more accessible through projects and dramatic play. As they explore theme, character, and setting, the class gets creative and makes a dramatic recreation of a classic...

Collaborate with your class after reading William Shakespeare's The Tempest with a group labeling activity. As you note key concepts or words from the play on the board, class members suggest associations and connections...

Scholars explore Act 5.2 of Shakespeare's Hamlet, in which Hamlet and Laertes injure each other with a poisoned blade. To finish the lesson plan, pupils also write about two central ideas from the play.

Class members begin their study of Romeo and Juliet by examining the words Shakespeare chooses in the Prologue to Act I to create the tragic tone of his famous play about star-crossed lovers.

"It is my lady, O, It is my Love!" Provide class members an opportunity to develop their skills reading difficult text with an exercise that focuses on the balcony scene from Romeo and Juliet (Act II, scene ii). Using the provided...

Students identify words that can be used to describe Mark Twain's character Tom Sawyer. Students explore stage production of "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" by reading and discussing "An Older (and Calmer) Tom Sawyer". They develop their...

If you want to test your class' reading comprehension on the first half of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, this online interactive quiz may benefit you. Be aware that it requires no critical thinking or analysis.

After reading Act II of The Tragedy of Macbeth, give your class this prompt to complete. One other question is listed along with information regarding the divine right of kings. A full plan is not written out here, but the prompt is a...

Cultivate young performers while teaching them about helping one another with this interactive storytelling instructional activity. Elementary schoolers read or listen to the story The Little Red Hen by Mike Lockett and then act out the...