Curated OER
Analyzing Atmosphere: Macbeth Murder Scene and Dagger Speech
Shakespeare's Macbeth (Act II, Scenes I and II) lacks explicit details of the murder of King Duncan, yet the author creates an atmosphere that allows us to visualize the event. Readers interpret the "Dagger Speech" by writing stage...
Curated OER
Stage Movement/ Blocking
Students work in teams of two to introduce stage directions/ blocking into a basic dialog using the program Hollywood High.
Curated OER
Reader's Theater
Conduct a Reader's Theater. Third, fourth, and fifth graders rewrite books with a baseball theme to a Reader's Theater format. They form groups of four or five, practice reading the script, and then perform it for an audience.
Orange Public Schools
Stagecraft
The house lights dim, the curtain parts, lights slowly come up, revealing the stage. Before the actors appear, before a word is spoken, the audience is drawn in by the lighting, by the colors, by lines of the set, by the props, and...
Curated OER
Theater Arts/Creative Movement Lesson Plan
Here is a series of five exercises intended to bring movement, dance, and theater into the classroom. Intended for special ed classes, but appropriate for any grade, learners will pantomime, play pretend, dance, move, and create...
Honors College at Scholar Commons
From Start to Strike: A Lesson Plan for the Whole Theatre Experience
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.
Curated OER
Promptbook Act 2.1: Katherine vs. Petruchio
Compile a promptbook with your young theater designers using a scene from Taming of the Shrew. The instructional activity outlines several activities, though it doesn't provide any examples of a promptbook or text from the play....
Orlando Shakes
Two Gentlemen of Verona
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 young actors.
AQA
Teaching Guide: Set Design
The task of creating a set for a theater production may leave theater arts students asking where to begin. Set their minds at ease with a packet that not only provides information about the elements of design, but also guides them...
Curated OER
Careers on Stage And Air
Students create and perform a scene for play using a common fairy tale for the story line. They view and discuss a video on careers in stage and radio to identify the roles and responsibilities for each of their group members.
Midland Independent School District
Drama
Ten drama lessons are the perfect addition to your language arts or theater class. With a focus on script elements, plot development, and parts of a dramatic story, the lessons guide young playwrights through the steps of telling a story...
National Arts Centre
Create a Set Design
Groups create a set for a play or story they select, build a model, and share their stage with the class. The team explains the rationale for their choices and the mood they feel their staging creates.
Brigham Young University
Putting Ideas Together
As part of their study of set design, theater arts students put together what they have learned so far and create a thumbnail sketch of a set that they feel captures the style and mood they want to project.
Curated OER
Eugene O'Neill on Page and Stage
Students investigate the life and works of Eugene O'Neill. In this American theater lesson plan, students read biographical information about O'Neill and review Long Day's Journey into Night. Students then analyze the play in order to...
Curated OER
A Study Guide for The Phantom of the Opera
Immerse yourself in the beautiful, twisted world of Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera. A detailed lesson plan provides important details about the writing, stagecraft, music, and literary elements of the famous musical, as...
Curated OER
Reader's Theater Lesson Plans
Reader's Theater lesson plans get students reading in a fun and motivating way.
Broadway GPS
ALADDIN: Broadway's New Musical Comedy
Aladdin, Disney's Broadway musical comedy, is a magic carpet ride. Prepare your class for a field trip to the show with a study guide that is a treasure trove of activities, cultural connections, and background information.
BBC
Julius Caesar Teacher Pack
A great actor has the ability to make or break a play. A series of lesson plans related to William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar looks closely at the choices actors make during a production of the play to help provide insight into the...
Curated OER
The Odyssey
Students write a dramatic scene based on The Odyssey and perform it for the class. In this living literature lesson plan, students work in small groups to discuss the way the characters look, act, and sound. They then choose scenery and...
Brigham Young University
Computer Age
Theater arts class members get a chance to see how professionals employ tech tools. As they sketch, render, build models, and prepare presentations of the set design for a current show, learners either visit a professional theater or by...
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...
First Stage
A Charlie Brown Christmas
Charlie Brown may not feel the Christmas spirit this year, but your elementary students can use the season to practice important cross-curricular skills! A set of worksheets and activities based on A Charlie Brown Christmas guide apply...
Curated OER
"Such Affection Move": Finding Staging Clues in A Midsummer Night's Dream
High schoolers 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.
PBS
Broadway and The American Dream
Considering a unit study of American Musical Theatre? What better way to start than at the very beginning. Eight pairs of cards provide class members with background information about the genre from 1893 through 2004. The cards are...