Curated OER
Put on a Happy Face!
Students explore using recycled materials. In this ecology/art lesson, students use recycled materials to create a Halloween mask. Students view folk art made of natural and available resources, and discuss possible cultural uses for...
Shakespeare Globe Trust
Othello
Emilia mocks Bianca, who is in a relationship with Cassio, who attacks Montano. Using the resource, learners explore profiles of the characters from Shakespeare's Othello. They also read a scene-by-scene synopsis and follow a weekly blog...
Curated OER
Good Book, Bad Book: Lesson 2
An interesting way to incorporate pop culture and the elements that make a book good. Kids watch a clip from MTV Cribs, they discuss how good or bad books are similar to good or bad homes. They are all different and not everybody will...
Brigham Young University
Understanding the Research Process
The second lesson in a unit on set design focuses on the importance of historical and stylistic research. Working in teams created in the previous session, groups consider what resources they will use as they consider design concepts for...
Curated OER
Sophocles' Antigone: Ancient Greek Theatre, Live from Antiquity
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...
Curated OER
Costume And Make-Up Shakespeare Style
Students create original costumes and make-up for a puppet presentation of a scene from Shakespeare in this week long creative project. Performances of the Shakespeare scenes end this lesson geared towards state and national standards...
John F. Kennedy Center
Acting Up, A Melodrama: Performing Like Jo March and Her Sisters in Little Women
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...
Curated OER
A Step Back in Time
Fifth graders study the Civil War, discuss the life and policy decisions of Abraham Lincoln and the concepts/issues that developed to create North vs. South. This lesson plan is meant to be used before visiting Ford's Theatre.
Curated OER
The Federal Theatre Project
Students research the Federal Theatre Project and assess its accomplishments. Working in groups, they identify both successes and failure of the project and record their findings on a chart. Students explain the credibility of the...
Curated OER
Ready . . . Set . . . Read! Teaching Reading Fluency
There are many activities and lesson ideas that teachers can use to reinforce reading fluency skills. This article brings a variety of strategies to light, including how to incorporate fluency instruction within novel units and...
Curated OER
Teaching Fluency Using Readers Theatre
Third graders listen as their teacher reads them a book. In groups, they are given a story and time to practice a skit. After taking suggestions from their teacher, they perform their skit and receive feedback from the class. They can...
Mississippi Whole School Initiative
Dream Big...With Your Eyes Wide Open
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...
Curated OER
The Starry Night Time and Day Time
Second graders complete a unit of lessons on the solar system. They complete various art projects inspired by Van Gogh's 'Starry Night,' create a moon phases book, create a moon phase wind chime, develop a timeline of space exploration,...
Curated OER
Comedia dell' Arte Paper Masks
Students create masks from the Italian Renaisance theatre and use them in one-act plays they write. they analyze the role and development of theatre in world cultures.
Curated OER
Cultural Creation Myths
Students analyze various cultural creation myths, write essays on three different societal stories, and create a play based upon one of those stories in this cross-curricular Theatre project for High School students. Cooperative...
Curated OER
Thornton Wilder's Our Town: The Reader as Writer
Students read a play and create their own play using Thornton Wilder's Our Townas a resource. For this play lesson, students analyze how theatrical elements contribute to a play's meanings and effects. Students recognize differences...
Curated OER
M.C. Bard: Hip-Hop and Shakespeare
What is poetry? Does hip-hop qualify as poetry? Do Shakespeare's monologues qualify as poetry? Class members grapple with these questions as they examine the poetic elements and themes presented in different texts. Groups of four study...
Brigham Young University
Introducing the Text and Learning the Process of Script Analysis
Where do directors and set designers get their ideas so that the set they build creates the mood and atmosphere the director wants for a production? From the script! Introduce theater high schoolers to the script analysis techniques used...
Brigham Young University
Problems? Working it Out
Working in pairs, set designers take turns sharing their sketches, explaining how their renderings articulate their concept, and receiving feedback on concerns and questions.
Curated OER
Movement
Young scholars experiment and explore a variety of instruments and movements. They play rhythms on instruments, spell words using their bodies, act out the movements of a song, role-play machine parts as a group, pantomime an activity,...
Curated OER
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.
Curated OER
Develop Your Own Interpretation
Learners use pieces of Andy Warhol's art to write critiques. Using different points of view, they answer discussion questions and share them with the class. They also interpret the art from a historian and artist point of view. They...
US National Archives
WWII: Western Europe 1939-45 – End of the War
You are Winston Churchill, and on May 9th, 1945, you receive millions of grateful cards and telegrams. How do you respond? High schoolers put themselves in the Prime Minister's chair with an activity that prompts them to respond to a...
Curated OER
Developing Characterizations by Creating Stereotypes
Students examine past and present cultures through theater. They interpret how theater reflects society. Students engage in the process that constitutes creation and performance in the theater. Students explore the forces that shape...