About Danielle Kerr Middle school can be a really hard time for students to feel connected to their bodies, but embodying physical choices is a key part of being an actor! We devised this lesson to give students in grades 6-8 a fun opportunity to practice using their bodies to portray emotions, reactions and create character. Given the prompt of being strangers on a park bench, students work together to create a three-person improvised drama.
There’s no better way to get students engaged and in their bodies than animal work! In this lesson, students can practice imitating and transforming into a variety of animal characters. You may choose to have your students move on to crafting Animal Stories, giving them the chance to explore how physical choices can create character, relationships and meaning.
How can we get students hungry for more planning and practicing? Let them see what it’s like when they can’t plan or practice at all! In this lesson for grades 5-8, students can practice collaboration, cooperation, and Conflict/Resolution skills by improvising and then devising a drama of what might happen in a school crisis.
To maximize student achievement, download this drama journal for students to use as reflection or formative assessment. A drama journal allows participants to reflect on their learning and artistic growth (metacognition). It also allows you, the teacher, to see how students are using the drama vocabulary, thinking about big ideas, and perceiving their own strengths and weaknesses.
Are your students planning and practicing pros yet? This lesson is a great way to encourage students in grades 6-8 to be more thorough in their planning and practicing process and hone their collaboration and cooperation skills. This builds upon other planning and practicing lessons by including a special challenge for students: devise an original story about a group of tightrope walkers encountering an obstacle during their act!
To maximize student achievement, download this drama journal for students to use as reflection or formative assessment. A drama journal allows participants to reflect on their learning and artistic growth (metacognition). It also allows you, the teacher, to see how students are using the drama vocabulary, thinking about big ideas, and perceiving their own strengths and weaknesses.
Creating a drama is one of the best ways to identify the most essential events in a story! In this lesson for students in grades 3-12, students can practice collaboration, imagination, and identifying story elements as they plan a drama of the three most important scenes from a selected book. This lesson is a fantastic way to integrate Language Arts with Drama, by enhancing students’ understanding of the text through character exploration and analysis of key plot elements.
Students will love this globe-trotting poem, packed with action and humor! The narrator wants to run away but can’t decide where to go: Tokyo or the Midwest? Timbuktu or the Florida Keys? In this exciting adventure for grades 2-6, students could practice transformation, narrator skills, body objects, and settings. Additionally, students could practice geography skills by locating places on the map. We have also included some recommended step-by-step delivery ideas to help you turn the poem into a full lesson.
To maximize student achievement, download this drama journal for students to use as reflection or formative assessment. For each poem, we have created a corresponding journal page for your students. A drama journal allows participants to reflect on their learning and artistic growth (metacognition). It also allows you, the teacher, to see how students are using the drama vocabulary, thinking about big ideas, and perceiving their own strengths and weaknesses.
What are the essential building blocks of every story? In this lesson, you will have the chance to lead students through a simple yet engaging tale about a boy and his mysterious magic hat. This story is a wonderful way to teach students in grades K-2 about important story elements such as character, conflict and transformation. Students will also get a chance to hone their imagination, concentration and careful listening skills. We have also included a journal assessment tool to help your students reflect on the drama skills they practiced during this lesson.
Whether or not you are new to Reader’s Theater, this lesson will provide you with innovative ways to bring it into your classroom. Providing a bridge from drama to theatre as well as an excellent opportunity for vocal work, Reader’s Theater is a versatile learning tool and tons of fun for all! Adaptable for all age groups, you can even extend this lesson to introduce public speaking to older students. There is also a rubric available which can be used to teach up to 7 different skills of your choosing. Inflection, tone, pitch, rate, and projection are all skills introduced through this lesson.
To maximize student achievement, download this drama journal for students to use as reflection or formative assessment. A drama journal allows participants to reflect on their learning and artistic growth (metacognition). It also allows you, the teacher, to see how students are using the drama vocabulary, thinking about big ideas, and perceiving their own strengths and weaknesses.
This tarantula proves to be a very loyal pet… perhaps to a fault! In this poem, the narrator has a very sweet friendship with their pet tarantula, until a bullying cousin comes to visit and things take an unfortunate turn. Students in grades 2-7 can practice animal characters, movement, problem solving or transformation. We have also included some recommended step-by-step delivery ideas to help you turn the poem into a full lesson.
To maximize student achievement, download this drama journal for students to use as reflection or formative assessment. For each poem, we have created a corresponding journal page for your students. A drama journal allows participants to reflect on their learning and artistic growth (metacognition). It also allows you, the teacher, to see how students are using the drama vocabulary, thinking about big ideas, and perceiving their own strengths and weaknesses.
Will this kid ever put down the game controller? It seems unlikely, until they meet a new friend who changes everything. This thrilling poem describes what happens when two children bond over their shared love of video games and bring their virtual worlds to life through imagination and play. Students in grades 2-6 can practice collaboration, imitation, or transformation. We have also included some recommended step-by-step delivery ideas to help you turn the poem into a full lesson.
To maximize student achievement, download this drama journal for students to use as reflection or formative assessment. For each poem, we have created a corresponding journal page for your students. A drama journal allows participants to reflect on their learning and artistic growth (metacognition). It also allows you, the teacher, to see how students are using the drama vocabulary, thinking about big ideas, and perceiving their own strengths and weaknesses.