York Catholic
Elements of Drama
Introduce young actors to the key elements of performance with this handout that defines key staging terms and activities.
Orlando Shakes
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde: Study Guide
Can science ever go too far? Learners explore this topic with the Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde study guide. They read about the connection between scientific experimentation in fiction and real life and then compare a scene from the novella...
Thalian Association Community Theatre
West Side Story: Teacher Resource Guide
West Side Story is widely known as a modern-day Romeo & Juliet. Learners read a list of characters from the play and list their counterparts from Romeo & Juliet before completing a vocabulary enrichment activity and word jumble....
Curated OER
I WILL NOT HEAR THAT PLAY: PERFORMING A DUMB SHOW
Students perform a "dumb show" based on a short passage from either A Midsummer Night's Dream or King Lear. This technique allows students to explain the action taking place on stage and the variety of different ways that action can be...
Curated OER
Eugene O'Neill on Page and Stage
Students investigate the life and works of Eugene O'Neill. In this American theater lesson, students read biographical information about O'Neill and review Long Day's Journey into Night. Students then analyze the play in order to deliver...
Curated OER
Drama-Dialogue
Use drama to study and practice dialogue. Creative minds discuss what dialogue tells about a character, and how it can be used to advance the plot. They read a play, think about what they gleaned from dialogue, and record their...
Curated OER
What's so hard about saying no? Refusal Skills Role-Playing
Students practice refusal skills to cope with peer pressure. For this refusal skill lesson, students work in groups to create their own skit about pressure to use tobacco. They show how they can use the 7 refusal skills taught on the Dig...
Curated OER
"Such Affection Move": Finding Staging Clues in A Midsummer Night's Dream
Students perform various scenes from the play, A Midsummer Night's Dream. They examine and discuss the text and stage directions, then perform their scenes in small groups for the class.
Curated OER
The World's a Stage
In this Cleopatra and Ancient Egypt activity, students learn about Cleopatra and the succession of Egyptian rules through the present day. Students watch a clip from the movie Cleopatra, read about events in the life of Cleopatra and...
ReadWriteThink
Beyond the Story: A Dickens of a Party
It's time to party like it's 1899! Incorporate a research-based celebration of the Victorian Era into your unit on A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. After learners read the novella or view a production of the play, they craft a...
Prestwick House
Death of a Salesman
Arthur Miller's work of American tragedy and frustration is as relevant today as the first day it premiered on stage. Learners review character names and details from Death of a Salesman with a crossword puzzle that contains 27 clues.
Star Wars in the Classroom
"Shakespeare and Star Wars": Lesson Plan Days 13 and 14
How important are sound effects in films? In stage plays? In radio programs? To gain an understanding of the impact of these special effects, class members watch a short video spoof of the sound in a scene from Star Wars: A New...
Digital Public Library of America
A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry
A set of 14 primary sources provides background for a study of Lorraine Hansberry's drama, A Raisin in the Sun. Featured are images from stage productions of the play, white supremacy protests, a clip from a television interview, and...
Advocates for Human Rights
Refugees and Asylum Seekers
To gain a deeper understanding of the plight of refugees and asylum seekers, class members read stories written from the point of view of an emigrant, map the individual's journey, and note the human rights affected by each stage of the...
Constitutional Rights Foundation
Naturalized Citizens and the Presidency
Article II, Section 1 of the U.S. Constitution takes center stage in a lesson plan that asks class members to assume the role of state senators, debate a resolution to amend the U. S. Constitution to permit naturalized citizens to run...
Royal Shakespeare Company
King Lear Teacher Pack 2010
Every production of Shakespeare's plays is different—the director and designer must decide upon a theme. For his 2010 production, David Farr and his team decided to emphasize the conflicts that follow a regime change. The materials in a...
Royal Shakespeare Company
RSC Activity Toolkit: Much Ado About Nothing
Are you frustrated by searching for activities to engage readers in their study of Much Ado About Nothing? Sigh no more. Young thespians will find much to do in this Royal Shakespeare Company 23-page Toolkit. Included in the sections are...
K20 LEARN
Can You Tell Me Tales? Themes In Literature
"The Wife of Bath's Tale" and "The Pardoner, His Prologue, and His Tale" from Chaucer's Canterbury Tales take center stage in a lesson that asks scholars to update the tales, craft a script, and either video their version or act it out...
Curated OER
This Was the Noblest Roman of Them All
High schoolers analyze the problems with staging and character using the play Julius Caesar. They summarize the final scene of the play and view film versions of the scene. Additionally, they prepare a promptbook for the final scene and...
Curated OER
Metamorphosis Magic
Students play rock-paper-scissors and create a play to demonstrate the butterfly life cycle. In this butterfly life cycle lesson plan, students also plant a butterfly garden with plants that attract butterflies.
Curated OER
Conflict Resolution
Students discuss situations where they would demonstrate conflict resolution. In this conflict resolution lesson plan, students role play, review angry body clues, learn how to make compromises, and more.
Curated OER
Giving an Outdoor Play
Students reenact a popular book while using their outdoor playground as the stage. For this dramatic interpretation lesson, students follow oral narration to act out events in a story. They use monkey bars as the setting for the story,...
Curated OER
Pirate Plays
Pupils performing a scene about pirates and spend time making a measuring meters incorporating the main character, Captain Blood to add interest. They use meter sticks measuring items from the play and record their answers in meters.
Curated OER
From Page to Stage
Young scholars, 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...