Curated OER
Elements of Drama: Vocabulary
Introduce your young thespians to the elements of drama! Key vocabulary helps them through their first week of class. The presentation outlines parts of a script, stage direction, and strategies for reading a script. Tip: The strategies...
Primary Resources
Drama Warm Ups and Circle Games
Circle games, energetic games, calming games, exit games. Whether used as ice breakers, warm ups, or exit strategies, or used in drama classes or content areas, the 28 games detailed in this packet deserve a spot in your curriculum...
Curated OER
the Little Red Riding Hood
Students respond to the story of Little Red Riding Hood. In this Red Riding Hood lesson plan, students retell and discuss story elements. Students practice phonic sounds. Students role play, make predictions, use picture...
Curated OER
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...
BBC
Tales of Hans Christian Andersen
Fairy tales seem like quick, fun children's stories, but asking compelling questions about characters, plot elements, and literary themes can transform them into rich and complex tales. Use a series of eight lessons on Hans Christian...
Curated OER
Act It Out!
An effective way to demonstrate understanding is by synthesizing one's own work. Use a creative lesson designed for a unit on Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun for small groups to show what they know about the play,...
Curated OER
Theater: Create a Script
Figurative language is the focus in the book Teach Us, Amelia Bedelia. After reading Peggy Parish's book, class members dramatize idioms from the text, using dramatic strategies such as characterization, exaggeration, and...
Roald Dahl
Matilda - The Platinum-Blond Man
Before reading Chapter Six, "The Platinum-Blond Man" in Matilda, readers preview the illustration of Mrs. Wormwood dropping her plate of food, and think about what may have happened to cause the scene. After reading the chapter, class...
Curated OER
Mountains: A Drama Exploration
Students dramatize the formation of mountains. In this earth formation dramatization lesson, students read Anne Issacs', Swamp Angel, and research the how the layers of the Earth move to form landforms. They work in groups to dramatize...
Curated OER
Lon Chaney: Three Faces of Lon Chaney
High schoolers watch the Lon Chaney episode of American Masters, read chapters from three original books on which Chaney's films were based, and use a reading strategy called Reader's Theater to adapt each chapter into a script. After...
Curated OER
Sequencing Stories
Students explore dramatization. In this literacy fluency and drama lesson, 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...
Curated OER
Interpreting Dramatic Works
Action! Delve into character development in the play Fences by August Wilson, setting the stage for learners to analyze character nuances. Thespians choose a scene from the script, responding with a written account of the...
Curated OER
Sound Effects
Students listen carefully so they can say their "part" during a reading of a Cinderella story. In this listening and speaking instructional activity, students saying their "part" on cue during a reading of a familiar story. They actively...
Curated OER
Impacting Indiana
Fourth graders become familiar with the culture and history of Indiana. In this James Whitcomb Riley lesson, 4th graders read poetry which includes the dialect of Indiana. Students analyze the poem. Groups memorize and...
Curated OER
Signing a Poem
Pupils interpret poetry though movement. In this poetry instructional activity students take a poem they've previously read and discussed in class and work in pairs to develop gestures for each line.
Curated OER
Exploring American Tall Tales
Students explore elements of American folktales and tall tales. For this literature lesson, students read examples of American folktales and tall tales and prepare a monologue or news report to present to the class based on their readings.
Curated OER
Four Contemporary Mexican and Chicano Plays-An Analysis
Young scholars read use their five senses to discover Chicano plays.
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Animal Actions
First graders act out a story. In this animal actions lesson, 1st graders listen as a story is being read and performs movements to represent the animals described.
Curated OER
Bill Irwin: All in a Day's Work
Students research and examine the various roles needed to put on a major drama production. Using this information, they role play one of these different responsibilities. As a class, they perform a play of their choosing and receive...
Curated OER
Street People
Students research homelessness including how people end up living on the streets and other related issues such as government response and charity. Using their research, students engage in improvisation, role-plays and monologues on the...
Curated OER
Goldilocks and the Three Bears Pantomime
Students investigate acting and performing arts by portraying a story in class. In this pantomiming lesson, students read the story Goldilocks and the Three Bears, and discuss the characters amongst themselves. Students portray the 4...
Curated OER
Color My World
Fourth graders write poems using color to describe their feelings and environment. After viewing a sample student poem imbedded in this plan, 4th graders utilize The Student Writing Center educational software program to type their poem.
Curated OER
A Famous Artist -- A Noted Musician
Learners are introduced to new vocabulary associated with an artist. Using this information, they use the internet to create a report on the artist along with a visual or audio aid. They present their material to the class and answer...
Curated OER
Narrative Pantomime: The Great Kapok Tree
Students pantomime the story of The Great Kapok Tree for younger students. In this The Great Kapok Tree lesson, students warm up with a game before volunteering for parts in the story. Students practice acting out the story in...