Search the Drama Teacher Academy

Students will discuss and apply dramatically the theme of Traps vs Escapes in Tennessee William’s The Glass Menagerie. It is assumed that students have started reading The Glass Menagerie or know the story. Use this lesson as a supplemental to your study of the play.

Stage Managers have numerous responsibilities in the production process. This lesson will focus in on the things a stage manager does prior to and during blocking rehearsal from preparing for rehearsal, to taking blocking notation, to communicating important notes to other members of the production.

Lumber is expensive, so just letting the students have a go at building a stage flat could get pricey. Why not let them “try it out” by constructing the cheapest flat they’ll ever make. This lesson plan guides students through the identification and construction of the various elements of a stage flat (both Hollywood and Broadway) using paper, drinking straws, and glue.

In this lesson, students will first work in groups to create a pantomime called “Trapped.” The requirements of the pantomime mimic the elements of plot structure but shhhh, they don’t know that yet. Let them first enjoy the pantomime and then spring it on them that they just learned something.

Improvisation is a great tool for storytelling and getting important concepts across to all students including struggling readers and writers. In this lesson, you’ll use the improv game “Scene Redux” to help strengthen the students’ understanding of main idea and detail as it relates to storytelling.

This is a great exercise to allow students to create original stories. Students literally make a “human story board” by standing in a line and adding in various elements of a story. The story begins with a beginning, middle, and end and then the students add main ideas and details to round out the entire story.

Beware the the Jabberwock! Not really, it’s actually a wonderful poem to use with students to get them to use their imaginations, rely on context clues, and explore word sounds and basic imagery. In this exercise, students will analyze a stanza from Jabberwocky by Lewis Carroll in order to create a performance based on that analysis. This exercise is a great springboard into approaching Shakespeare.

In this ELP, students write a series of letters between two characters in a play.

In this ELP, students will study a handout on Ancient Greek Tragedy, take a short quiz and write a reflection.

In this ELP, students reflect on their relationship to theatre using quotes as a jumping off point.

Students will discuss and dramatize the theme “truth and lies.” This lesson plan can be used as a pre-study exercise before a unit on The Crucible by Arthur Miller. You could also use it as a general lesson on the verbal and physical characteristics of the act of a believable lie. A great theatrical exploration!

Sometimes it’s less intimidating for students to approach Shakespeare’s language with a goal in mind. In this exercise students are given a line from a Shakespeare play out of context and asked to create a scene using three tableaux that tell a story. By approaching the language with an active goal in mind, students delve deeper into the language’s meaning and take control of the story.

In this multi-class lesson plan students will construct a character from scratch. They will start with a name, decide on a physicality, come up with personality details based on that physicality and then answer interview questions in character.

Students will compare and contrast a scene from Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol and Lindsay Price’s adaptation Humbug High.

In this ELP, students build comprehension of a play and it’s characters through an external exercise.

Students will use sentence starters to set goals and expectations for their time in class. What do they expect to learn? What do they expect from their classmates? What is the purpose of drama class? Have students fill out an expectations and goals form at the beginning of the year and you can use it to compare and contrast their work at the end of the year.

Many students dream about becoming a professional actor. But what are the steps? How do you start? It’s not as simple as saying “I want to be an actor.” Students will move beyond this vague statement to research and present specific aspects of starting an acting career.

Many students dream about becoming a professional actor. The headshot is one of the most important calling cards of the professional actor. A bad headshot can get an actor rejected before they step through the door. Students will complete exercises that respond to the question What makes a good Headshot?

In this ELP; students study a picture, create a character profile for the person in the picture, and then write an inner monologue for that character.

Students often rely on their verbal skills to tell a story. They “tell” us what’s happening instead of “showing” us what’s happening. “Show don’t tell” is a guiding principle in theatrical storytelling. We want to see what’s happening to characters as they experience it. We don’t want to hear characters explain the story or what they’re feeling. This lesson plan will put this principle into action through the exercise Silent Story.