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
Open Scenes Lesson Challenge students to read between the lines and play distinctive characters in these open-ended scenes. With dialogue that purposefully leaves details up to the imagination, this lesson can be used with students to work on collaboration, imitation, transformation, and planning and practicing skills. You may also integrate Language Arts by challenging students … Read more
Inferencing and Questioning in “The Daydreamer” Lesson Inferencing and Questioning in “The Daydreamer” Rubric Want a way to get students to make inferences and ask questions about a text while addressing bullying issues? This lesson for fourth through eighth graders is the first in a series that makes up a longer unit based on McEwan’s … Read more
Careful Spider Poem What happens to a careful spider when they confront a big bird? Nothing good! Students in grades 1-3 can practice animal characters, imitative action, and dialogue skills in this exciting poem. This piece includes opportunities for integrating Language Arts through discussing story elements and drawing inferences. We have also included some recommended … Read more
Food Poem Is the narrator a picky eater, or are they being served green mold on a silver platter? This poem tells the hilarious tale of the trials and tribulations of mealtime. Students in grades 1-7 can practice playwriting skills, dialogue, transformation, and/or using the five senses. Language Arts can be integrated by introducing inferred … Read more
Emotion Emotion Lesson Objective: Students analyze artistic choices used to communicate emotion. In this lesson, students learn about communicating emotions by studying and imitating works of art (ideas & examples provided). Particular attention is paid to the way posture, gesture, and facial expressions can reveal how characters feel. Working in small groups, students have the … Read more
Do Not Open (Part 2) Lesson: Transformation and Prediction Objective: students discuss how transformation reveals the message of a story while applying C.I.T.I to play out the story elements. Miss Moody has a cat that is afraid of storms–but why isn’t she? What is she afraid of when she finds a mysterious bottle on the … Read more
Do Not Open (Part 1) Lesson: Putting Action Verbs in Acting Objective: students demonstrate character actions, C.I.T.I.(concentration, imagination, transformation, imitation), and identify story elements. Miss Moody has a cat that is afraid of storms–but why isn’t she? What is she afraid of when she finds a mysterious bottle on the beach after a terrible storm … Read more
Yo! Yes? Lesson: Communicating Ideas Objective: students identify and communicate author’s message. Looking at the book Yo! Yes? by Chris Raschka, students gather context clues about the story of two strangers who meet from different backgrounds. Students draw inferences from the illustrations and the text to determine what the author is trying to say at any … Read more
The Mirror Lesson: Building Concentration Objective: students practice concentration and observation while work together with other actors. Students have fun following the movements of a partner in this very traditional exercise called The Mirror. With this lesson, they move deeper into the use of C.I.T.I. (concentration, imagination, transformation, and imitation) in drama (part of the … Read more