Teacher Created Materials
The Tragedy of Julius Caesar
Bring Julius Caesar to life with a reader's theatre approach that engages the entire class. The opening exercises model the importance of reading with expression while choral reading exercises permit class members to practice their...
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Decades of Drama
Learners explore, examine and study August Wilson's 10-play series where each play focuses on a particular decade. They discuss each play in depth and then speculate on the possible plots for an eleventh play set in the 21st century.
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Patriotic Arts: Influencing Canadians At War
Students study how war has shaped Canadian life, patriotism, propaganda, and music. They research primary source documents, novels, videos, and songs before celebrating Remembrance Day.
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Tennessee Williams: Exploring the American Dream
High schoolers read and analyze selections of Tennessee Williams' work. They write journal responses, conduct Internet research, perform various scenes from one of Williams' dramas, and create a presentation.
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Acting Out The Story, Jane And The Dragon
Third graders reflect on and discuss the story, Jane and the Dragon, and portray their understanding of stereotyping through the actions of their character. Through the use of legends, drama can be used to educate understanding for other...
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Handprint Rainbow
Students find differences in handprints in a cooperative effort to make a rainbow. In a rainbow painting lesson, students use their hands to create the different levels of the rainbow. Students may choose their colors.
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Getting To Know You
Students listen to the book "I like me" by Nancy Carison, or a similar self-esteem book, and then create self-portraitswhile the song "Getting to Know You" is being played. This is an excellent ice-breaker for the beginning of the...
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Theatre Prop Design and Construction
Fourth graders construct individual props. In this theatrical arts lesson, 4th graders use the elements of art to create various props using paper mache. Students construct objects such as logs, fruit, and a picture frame.
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Paper Dragon Puppet
Students discuss the Chinese New Year and the importance of the dragon in Chinese culture. After examining pictures of dragon puppets, students create simple dragon puppets and have their own Chinese New Year parade.
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...
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The Great Gatsby
Students participate in a reader's theater, adapting scenes from The Great Gatsby. In this reading comprehension lesson, students interpret a given scene from The Great Gatsby in a readers' theater. Students analyze the scene...
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Arthur Miller and The Crucible
Students investigate the dramatic elements of The Crucible. In 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...
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Choose Your Path
Young scholars identify the plot and theme of cartoons. In groups, they discuss and compare the written and movie versions of popular fairy tales. Individually, they write their own fairy tale and share them with the class. They write...
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Playing with Puns
Learners examine the wit of characters in two plays. In this drama lesson, students read The Shakespeare Stealer by Gary L. Blackwood and Twelfth Night by Shakespeare. Learners analyze the puns used in both plays and write essays that...
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Tableau
Second graders view a video from United Streaming and design still frames of important parts of a story. In this story-telling from different cultures lesson, 2nd graders understand general vocabulary about performing. ...
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Commas
Fifth graders discuss when a comma is necessary in a sentence. In this language arts activity, 5th graders understand that commas are used as a pause and help the reader understand ideas better. Students find an example of each example...
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Conventions-Interjections
Fifth graders discuss interjections reviewing them to be words or phrases that express excitement or strong emotion. In this language arts lesson, 5th graders understand that commas or exclamation marks are used to separate interjections...
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Hamlet and the Elizabethan Revenge Ethic in Text and Film
Students discover how Shakespeare's play interprets Elizabethan attitudes toward revenge, as reflected in the structure of the Elizabethan revenge tragedy, one of the most popular forms of drama of that era. Students perform certain...
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Lon Chaney: Three Faces of Lon Chaney
Students 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...
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Act It Out!
An effective way to demonstrate understanding is by synthesizing one's own work. Use a creative instructional activity designed for a unit on Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun for small groups to show what they know...
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Rock & Roll through Literary Terms: An Upbeat Lyrical Adventure
Students participate in a variety of activities surrounding Rock & Roll music, lyrics, drama and visual art and how they all help demonstrate examples of literary terms. They use Rock & Roll as an effective aid to stimulate their...
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Ready, Set, Action!
Fifth graders explore sequential dramatization through children's literature. In this drama lesson, 5th graders act out and record scenes using digital and video cameras. Students create a digital poster using pictures from their...
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Dateline: 442 BC Antigone
Students create and videotape a newscast about the events that take place in the play, Antigone. They perform scenes describing the main events, the main characters and their conflicts.
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The Unraveling
High schoolers explore the role of tone in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. In this literature lesson plan, students perform scenes from the play inflecting the tone that they believe Shakespeare intended.