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.

It's time to make a movie! Kids follow 15 steps to take their movie ideas from concept to script, following clear examples. The resource includes creative ways to guide learners into developing a few words and concepts into fully...

High schoolers examine the New York Times review of the film adaptations of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings and explore the elements of scriptwriting. They read the article about the film adaptation screenplay and examine a...

Learners critique the transition of "Holes" from a novel to screenplay and consider how the details in a book are brought to life in a movie. They then choose a scene in a book and transform it into an original script after brainstorming...

Introduce young thespians to all aspects of the theater. A syllabus for a one-semester drama course provides lessons that take learners from the history of drama to the many facets of play production.

Drama is ever-present in our daily lives and eloquently depicted on stage. Middle schoolers practice writing scenes based on different prompts and frameworks, and then perform those creative scenes for their classmates. The...

Young scholars inquire about the lives of the First Ladies in our country. In this First Ladies lesson, students build knowledge about the contributions of First Ladies and how their childhood made them the person they are. Young...

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.

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...

Fourth graders research famous Americans from the Westward Movement and complete an interview. In this Westward Movement lesson, 4th graders work in pairs to research someone who was important during this time period. They prepare and...

Lights, Camera, Action! Pupils read Little Women and create, act, and direct a melodrama that Jo March and her sisters would enjoy. The lesson plan comes complete with resources for the educator on melodrama as well as examples...

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...

Students write original plays based on supernatural explanations of existence. For this cultural creation myths lesson, students listen to five different stories about supernatural creation. Students record similarities and differences...

Students participate in activities to introduce them to drama. They mimic facial expressions, pretend objects are something else, and play "Chinese Whispers". They create puppets and theater boxes, masks and costumes, and write scripts...

Middle schoolers analyze and critique theater events by evaluating and constructing meanings from improvised and scripted scenes and from theater, film, television, and electronic media productions.

Students explore the art of shadow puppetry. In this performing arts instructional activity, students study the functions of lighting in the puppet theater as they examine the transmission, absorption, and reflection of light. As a...

Students collaborate in small groups to choose a scene that they write in place of a scene in Shakespeare's play "Julius Caesar". In this dramatic expression lesson, their scripts include roles, lines and stage directions. Students...

Students study a play and then discuss the mistaken identities, misrepresentations, and changes of mind that occur. In this discussion of plays lesson plan, students learn new vocabulary words and discuss and differentiate between...

Students use Shakespearean sonnets as part of a poetry analysis lesson. In this sonnet lesson, students perform a sonnet by Shakespeare but treat it as a script to be acted out. Students work in pairs to create motions for two lines from...

Students use the Jan Brett story, 'The Mitten,' to develop self-confidence and improve their oral language skills. They also practice performing in front of a group. Students take on the various roles that the animals play in the story.

Learners analyze text and utilize outside resources to determine Iago's fate, which is not addressed by Shakespeare in Othello; students present their findings in an organized trial scenario.

Distinguish the sound of musical notes and correctly name them. In this music lesson, participate in a game of musical twister where the circles are renamed with musical note names. Additionally, display recognition of eighth, quarter,...

Students dramatize a postwar reunion between people who held opposing views during the U.S. Civil War.