Concepts And/Or Skill: Theme/Idea
Making the Thundercake Lesson
Making the Thundercake Lesson A roll of thunder. A pitter pat of rain. A creaky old door. What connects all these things? They are sound effects that evoke a mysterious, scary mood! Based on the book Thundercake by Patricia Polacco, this lesson is designed to teach students in grades 3-5 how to create mood using … Read more
Habitats, Needs of Living Things, and Body Details Lesson
Habitats, Needs of Living Things, and Body Details Lesson How can we keep students fully engaged through complex subject matter? Ask them to engage their bodies as well as their minds! This exciting lesson integrates Drama with Language Arts and Science by asking students to create habitats and settings using only their bodies. It also … Read more
Señor Coyote Acts as a Judge
Señor Coyote Acts as a Judge What better way to teach action-reaction than a story packed with mischievous animal characters, including a clever coyote, a sneaky snake, and a righteous rabbit? In this lesson, students in grades 3-8 can practice collaboration, imitation, transformation, and action-reaction skills. By presenting their dramas, students can get hands-on experience … Read more
Planning and Practicing: The School Crisis
Planning and Practicing: The School Crisis Lesson 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 … Read more
Painting Stories Lesson
Painting Stories Lesson Objective: Students communicate emotion and mood through story element choices. This lesson begins by giving students visual images as an inspiration for creating a drama. After identifying the emotional content in a piece of artwork, students use teamwork working in groups to develop a story based on their interpretation. This lesson provides … Read more
The Sleeping Lion
The Sleeping Lion story This story is for a group of four. Do a warm-up teaching “sounds.” This story can be used to stress the importance of sound in a drama–kids will enjoy personifying the creatures of the jungle. Some groups can make sounds with voices only, some with musical instruments only, some with … Read more
The Old Statue Maker
The Old Statue Maker story This is a story that works with the idea of friendships. You can use this as a warm-up: have the students enact this story in movement only as you tell it. It works with the skills of Imagination, Playwriting, and Story Elements: Theme.
Cubby Finds a Home
Cubby Finds a Home story This is an interactive story with the children creating the sounds or actions of the bold words. Before you use this story, you should do a warm-up activity with sounds and sound effects. It works with the skills for Concentration, Imagination, Repetition, The 5 Senses, Sounds: Vocal & Nonvocal, and Story … Read more
The Ghost Who Couldn’t Scare
The Ghost Who Couldn’t Scare story This story was inspired by an old railroad car and tracks I saw for years sitting on the prairie as I drove to visit my parents in Western Illinois. Weeds grew up around that railroad car and I’m sure people had forgotten all about it. This is the story … Read more