Historical evolution of performance, technical stagecraft, and core acting techniques. Develops playwriting skills and fosters imaginative expression through script development and production management.
A high school Media Studies lesson exploring how cinema portrays mental illness, specifically dissociative disorders, and the real-world impact of these portrayals on social stigma. Students analyze horror tropes and rewrite scenes for clinical accuracy.
Students explore the historical significance and emotional weight of the Greensboro Sit-ins through drama-based activities and historical analysis, focusing on the theme of courage.
A comprehensive lesson on the art of storyboarding for short videos, teaching students how to translate their creative visions into structured visual plans. Students will learn the key elements of a storyboard and practice planning their own video production.
A lesson exploring the power of satire and political comedy through the lens of Ancient Greek playwright Aristophanes, featuring modern connections and a creative script-writing activity.
A lesson exploring the collaborative nature of digital media production, focusing on how different talents (writing, art, performance) combine to create complex projects like Crash Course. Students simulate a production line to experience how a script evolves through various creative lenses.
Students become weather reporters in this ELA and Drama lesson, learning the scientific requirements of a blizzard and performing a 'Breaking News' broadcast using domain-specific vocabulary.
Students explore how written text is translated into visual media by analyzing the relationship between a script and its illustration, culminating in a creative drawing activity based on descriptive prompts.
Students will learn to distinguish between narrative and non-narrative media before planning their own creative project (film or comic) and justifying their choices based on their personal strengths.
Students learn to convey character emotion and conflict using only stage directions, props, and setting. This hands-on drama lesson focuses on visual storytelling and the technical elements of playwriting without relying on dialogue.
A middle school drama lesson focusing on using asides and monologues to reveal character subtext, featuring a video on playwriting strategies.
Students explore how playwrights translate internal character thoughts and emotions into external dramatic action using dialogue, stage directions, and symbolic props. The lesson centers on a scenario involving two friends, Eli and Gianni, dealing with a difficult goodbye.
Students will dive into the world of theater by identifying the key structural elements of a play script, including character names, dialogue, and stage directions, through a hands-on 'Script Scramble' activity and a video comparison of 'Matilda'.
A lesson introducing 8th-grade students to the structural hierarchy of drama, focusing on the relationship between Acts and Scenes compared to novel structure. Students analyze the purpose of these divisions through a group story-mapping activity using familiar fairy tales.
A lesson for middle schoolers to master the difference between dialogue and stage directions, focusing on how parenthetical tone markers transform the meaning of spoken lines.
A hands-on introduction to script formatting and character development. Students brainstorm a chaotic lunchroom scene, learn theatrical terminology from a Khan Academy video, and draft their own 'Dramatis Personae' and initial script lines.
Students learn to use motion lines, onomatopoeia, and speech bubbles to transform static images into dynamic comic panels, focusing on how line quality conveys mood and intensity.
Students explore the visual language of comics, focusing on how the size and shape of panels act as a 'clock' for the reader, controlling the speed and rhythm of a story.
A drama-focused ELA lesson exploring how exclamation points function as stage directions for volume and emotion, featuring a scripting activity where students perform across distances.
A drama lesson for upper elementary students focused on blocking and physical storytelling, featuring a Khan Academy video and a collaborative script-writing activity.
Students will learn to distinguish between dialogue and stage directions by watching a humorous 'Ode to a Saucepan' and then writing and performing their own multimedia 'Ode' to a common classroom object.
A high-school media literacy and drama lesson where students explore how sets, costumes, and lighting transform a written script into a visual medium. Students will analyze a Khan Academy video and then design a 'remixed' vision for a classic fairy tale.
Students explore the art of sound design and Foley artistry, analyzing how sound effects (SFX) transform a script's narrative context and emotional tone. The lesson culminates in a hands-on recording activity where students use everyday objects to create a sonic setting for a dialogue-only script.
Students explore how sound effects and vocal performance transform written text. They will analyze a Khan Academy video and then work in groups to act as 'Soundscape Directors,' annotating and recording a literary excerpt with their own audio design.
A lesson where 7th-grade students visualize and draw a theatrical set based on stage directions from a play script. Students will learn the difference between set pieces and props while practicing text-evidence visualization.
A lesson designed for small group instruction focused on helping students visualize stage directions to build a 'mental movie' of the setting and action. Includes a video-based hook and a hands-on set design activity.
Students will learn how cinematography choices like lighting, framing, and angles influence mood and characterization. They will apply these terms to analyze a film clip in comparison to its written script.
Students will learn the language of cinematography by exploring how framing and angles impact storytelling. They will analyze film clips and create a 6-panel storyboard for a mystery scene, demonstrating their mastery of close-ups, wide shots, and specific camera angles.
This lesson explores how pre-production logistics influence screenwriting, teaching students that specific writing is a tool for professional collaboration and production planning.
A middle school media arts lesson focused on camera shot types (Wide, Medium, Close-up) and their narrative purpose, featuring a video-based exploration and a nursery rhyme storyboarding activity.
A lesson exploring why screenplays are the essential 'blueprints' of filmmaking, featuring a hands-on production challenge and a reverse-engineering script activity.
In this culminating session, students synthesize their technical skills and artistic vision into a professional design presentation. They defend their choices for a theoretical production, articulating how technical specifications support the thematic core of the script.
This lesson explores the convergence of lighting and video, utilizing media servers to map video content onto three-dimensional scenic elements. Students troubleshoot the challenges of balancing projector luminosity with stage lighting.
Students gain mastery over high-end lighting consoles, focusing on moving light attributes, effects engines, and timecode synchronization. The lesson involves programming a complex musical sequence.
Focuses on the physics of light behavior, beam angles, and inverse square law calculations for complex venues. Students select instruments based on precise photometric data to maximize impact.
A real-time simulation where students manage cascading technical and personnel crises to test their leadership under pressure.
Covers the Critical Path Method and complex logistics coordination, requiring students to solve departmental scheduling conflicts.
A deep dive into OSHA regulations, risk assessment writing, and the forensic analysis of stage accidents to prevent future negligence.
Focused on fiscal strategy, students learn to balance artistic vision with budgetary constraints through value engineering and strategic allocation.
Students analyze IATSE, AEA, and USA contracts to understand jurisdictional boundaries and labor laws. The lesson culminates in a high-stakes grievance simulation.
Students explore the cultural significance of Hula in Hawaii, learning about its storytelling power through rhythm and movement, and analyzing its influence and representation in musical theatre productions.
A short, impactful drama lesson centered around a school assembly script about Ruby Bridges. Students explore themes of bravery and segregation through performance, visual storytelling, and personal reflection.
In this lesson, middle school students analyze how performance, tone, and medium change the meaning of a text. Using a Khan Academy video as a case study, students move from reading a script to performing a neutral dialogue in various 'scenario' tones to demonstrate oral reading fluency and interpretative skills.
Students explore how physical action and decisions drive story and reveal character traits without using words, featuring a 'Silent Scenes' activity and a video analysis.
A lesson exploring how physical objects (props) can transform a speech from a simple reading into an authentic, engaging story. Students analyze a famous political speech and perform their own 60-second 'Prop Reveal' stories.
A high-energy Kindergarten lesson where students build confidence in their alphabet knowledge through a music-video-inspired performance activity. Students watch a rap video, practice vocal warm-ups, and perform the ABCs in groups using microphones and sunglasses.
A high-energy drama lesson exploring dramatic irony and information asymmetry through improv, video analysis, and small-group performances. Students learn how to create suspense by giving the audience information that characters lack.
Students explore how stage directions change the meaning of dialogue through the 'The Director's Chair' activity, using a Khan Academy video to understand the relationship between script text and performance.
Students explore the five types of literary conflict through physical acting and 'Freeze Frame' tableaux, using a Western-themed video guide to identify Character vs. Nature, Character, Society, Technology, and Self.
A high-energy 4th-grade lesson where students learn to distinguish between dialogue and stage directions through physical performance and script analysis. Includes a theatrical-themed slide deck, performance scripts, and a kid-friendly assessment rubric.
Students will explore how poetic delivery (tone, speed, and body language) shifts between lyric, ballad, and spoken word genres through video analysis and a 'Genre Switch' performance activity.
This lesson guides 7th-grade students through the process of transforming written poetry into a spoken word performance. Students will explore performance techniques like volume, pacing, and gestures using a specific video guide and hands-on practice.
Students explore the psychological impact of cinematography, focusing on how high and low camera angles communicate power, vulnerability, and character status through hands-on role-play and photo analysis.
This lesson shifts focus to the collective representation of apes as they form a community in the sanctuary and eventually rebel. Students analyze the portrayal of ape communication, social hierarchy, and the final shift toward agency.
Students explore Caesar's origin story, analyzing how the film represents growing ape intelligence and emotional complexity within a laboratory setting. The lesson focuses on the intersection of science and ethics through the lens of primate representation.
This lesson introduces students to the world of Macbeth through Act 1, focusing on the witches' prophecies and the initial characterization of the "brave" Macbeth. It includes slides for instruction, a graphic organizer for active listening, scene-by-scene summaries for reading support, and high-DOK guided questions.
A step-by-step guide for high school ESL students to record an animated Valentine's greeting using Adobe Character Animator. The lesson focuses on technical proficiency and creative expression through digital storytelling.
This lesson explores the tension between "Committed Art" and "Autonomous Art" through the lens of political theory and art history. Students will analyze how artists like Bertolt Brecht and Theodor Adorno approached social change, culminating in the creation of their own artistic manifestos and sketches.
Students will explore Bertolt Brecht's 'Alienation Effect' (Verfremdungseffekt) through improv, video analysis, and a creative 'Brechtian Remake' of classic fairy tales to understand the political power of theatre.
Students explore indirect characterization and subtext through the lens of theatrical performance. They analyze a mentor script for 'beats' and perform it using specific vocal and physical strategies to convey hidden motivations.
Students evaluate how Computer Generated Imagery (CGI) shifted film from practical constraints to limitless storytelling, culminating in a storyboard project for a scene that defies physics or scale.
Students explore how cinematography impacts storytelling by experimenting with low-key and high-key lighting using cameras and flashlights.
A lesson where students investigate real-world media to identify how cinematography persuades or influences viewers, culminating in a visual scavenger hunt activity.
A high school drama lesson where students learn to adapt stage plays into cinematic screenplays. The lesson focuses on the transition from theatrical constraints to filmic possibilities, emphasizing action lines, imagery, and camera shots.
Students will learn the core characteristics of spoken word poetry and apply their knowledge by acting as performance critics. Using a specific rubric, they will analyze the narrator's use of voice, body language, and facial expressions in the 'Voices Unleashed' video.
A lesson comparing the formatting and purpose of stage plays versus screenplays, featuring a video analysis and a script-sorting activity.
Students synthesize their structural experiments into a comprehensive outline or 'beat sheet' for a full-length play. The session focuses on pacing, intermission placement, and sustaining tension across a longer duration.
This lesson covers the mechanics of flashbacks, flash-forwards, and reverse chronology. Students write transitions that bridge time gaps fluidly, ensuring the audience can follow the temporal shifts without heavy-handed exposition.
Students conduct a comparative analysis of episodic (Brechtian) structures versus climactic (tightly compressed) structures. They then take a single premise and outline it twice: once as a sprawling epic and once as a real-time pressure cooker.
Focusing on post-dramatic theater, this lesson asks students to write scenes that prioritize atmosphere, image, or theme over plot progression. Students experiment with 'impossible' stage directions and non-narrative cohesion.
Concludes with a focus on non-naturalistic staging techniques for documentary theatre, culminating in a presentation of student documentary shorts.
Explores the controversial technique of composite characters, balancing the need for dramatic economy with the ethics of authentic representation.
A workshop-based lesson on the technical art of editing raw transcript data into rhythmic, dramatically impactful stage speech.
Students critique the traditional Freytag's Pyramid and explore alternative narrative shapes like spirals, collages, and the Kish\u014dtenketsu structure.
Focuses on archival research as a source for drama, teaching students how to bridge historical gaps and transform dry documents into compelling scenes.
