For many people, Barack Obama's presidency was the next step in Martin Luther King, Jr's dream of America's future. Explore the dreams of Americans past and present, as well as the young Americans in your class, with a set of activities...

Learners participate in a reader's theater about the Civil War. In this performing arts lesson, students review the Civil War through a reader's theater. They practice reading their parts to work on expression and fluidity before...

Launch a discussion of the creative process with a short video that features the daily ritual of Slobodan Dan Paich, a San Francisco artist. Slobodan models his approach to tea painting and shares his reflections on the...

Teaching about fiction genres can  be challenging. The lesson here, designed for library media specialists, offers a fun way to do it. In the lesson, learners visit the library and learn about the different types of fiction...

Students made oral presentations of a famous muscial theater performance. They research the musical, view selections, and listen to music.

Young scholars learn the historical context of mask-making explore the elements of the art form.

Students develop an appreciation for the musical theater form, the operetta. In addition, they present parodies of songs from The Mikado. Working in small groups and accessing provided Websites, they compose their parodies. Once...

Students act out the Civil War through reader's theater. In this performing arts instructional activity, students research the Civil War and find costumes, props and scenery appropriate to the time period. They become characters from the...

Learners create a painting that clearly exemplifies the use of primary pigments to make secondary pigments. They demonstrate the distinction between value and saturation. They explain the affect of adjacent colors on each other and...

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...

Students participate in various activities that help them build esteem, and explore racism. In this multicultural lesson plan, Students increase their awareness of, and appreciation for, cultural differences and similarities. This...

Students explore characterization in Little Women. In this literature instructional activity, students participate in written analysis and research in order to explore Alcott's characterization in the novel.

Students discover the group dynamics necessary to produce an American musical in this six day lesson. Themes and characterization techniques are explored during collaborative small group research projects.

Sixth graders present reader's theatre by improvising folktales from different countries. In groups, they produce an improvisation of a folktale story from an assigned reading of a folktale.

Students 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.

Second graders listen to the story Miss Nelson is Missing by Harry Allard and James Marshall. In this literature instructional activity, 2nd graders predict the story's ending with drawings and discussions within groups.

Students discuss the life of Louisa May Alcott and create an outline of a biography of her life and times.  In this Louisa May Alcott instructional activity, students explore the Transcendentalist involvement in the abolitionist...

Students explore the art of Chinese shadow puppetry. They create puppets, develop and rehearse scripts and perform a show in front of the class.

Students investigate the dramatic elements of The Crucible. For this drama lesson, students explore the elements and themes of the Arthur Miller play as they read the play and watch performances of some of the acts. Students then...

Students study the life and times of Shakespeare. They read and analyze one of his plays and use the Internet and videos to gain an understanding of how Shakespeare engaged his audiences, then and still today.

Learners investigate the dramatic elements of a Streetcar Named Desire. In this drama instructional activity, students explore the theme of the Tennessee Williams play as they read the play and watch performances of some of the acts....

Students experience through role-play the art of shadow puppetry and appreciate the role of oral traditions in Chinese history. They research the origins and history of puppetry as a part of a unit on China. They discover what Chinese...

Students explore Chinese culture by performing a shadow puppet play. They create the puppets, develop a script, and rehearse and perform a play which illustrates an understanding of Chinese stories and traditions.

Students analyze Antigone and its universal issues as well as explore ancient Greece. In this Antigone and Ancient Greece lesson, students read and complete activities for Sophocles' Antigone. Students reconstruct the experience of a...