The Actor’s Nightmare! Poem We’ve all woken up from this kind of dream… you’re on stage, you’re in costume, the lights go up, and everything goes wrong! This exciting and mildly terrifying poem details a school play gone wrong. Humorous and filled with vivid characters, this poem provides a great opportunity for students in grades … Read more
The Caveman Lesson Objective: students practice concentration while working with other actors using positive non-distracting behaviors. Building on the previous Mirror lesson, students continue working with partners and practicing audience behaviors (part of the kindergarten objectives). Students gain experience in practicing a drama as the traditional Mirror exercise morphs into a story called The Caveman … Read more
The Story of Rabbit, Elephant, and Whale In this story, the rabbit outsmarts the elephant and the whale, both of which use their physical size against the rabbit. Students like to act out the different parts in this story as they learn that sometimes being wise can counter physical size. This story is also designed … Read more
Sydney and Jojo story This story was written for third graders in an inner city Chicago Public school. In the inner city, it is important for brothers and sisters to look after one another because the parents are sometimes absent from their lives–the story works with that narrative. This drama story targets the concepts and … Read more
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
The Caveman story This story can be used to discuss concentration and is a partner story. A good warm-up would the The Wall Mirror activity. It works with the skills of Collaboration, Imagination, Imitation, Observation, Playwriting, Problem Solving, and Repetition.