The pop movie Moulin Rouge was based on the opera La Boheme. Learners watch the last 30 minutes of each musical to compare and contrast social opposites. They'll first discuss the social differences of the main characters and how those...

Learners work in groups to identify the major characters and events found in a Nevada Native American folklore story. Each of the groups takes on the role of a different tribe, and they are given a story from that tribe's oral history....

Learners read Spelldown, by Becky Mushko and consider how it portrays the Appalachian community. They define and discuss vocabulary presented in the story and write a comparison/contrast paper analyzing two of the story's characters. The...

Students read and analyze Iago's rhetoric in specific monologues and dialogues with other characters, examine what Iago says and how he says it, define some basic rhetorical terms, and discover the sometimes dangerous power of language.

Explore women's history through films and filmmaking. An innovative research project prompts class members to create their own screenplay about a figure in women's history. After outlining their characters, settings, and plots, young...

You might love this lesson, or you might not. Basically, high school scientists read through a script in which someone interviews a physicist, a biologist, and a chemist in regard to their use of nanotechnology. The names of the involved...

Twelfth graders learn art is an effective way to convey a political message. They learn how political messages are created to convey a message. They analyze a piece of artwork and then write a short paragraph from the point of view of...

Experiment with multimedia storytelling. After watching a segment of American Family, first, middle and high schoolers tell a story about their families, clarifying the setting, characters, and script. They work on setting...

Feeling conflicted? Work out those issues with a language arts lesson plan on internal and external conflict. Using "The Interlopers" by Saki, class members identify the conflicts between the characters before writing their own...

Learners identify characters and events from the Ramayana. They discuss ways in whcih the images convey non-verbal information and messages. They discuss similarities and differences in the visual and verbal tellings of the Ramayana.

Second and third graders explore point of view and read and discuss the book "Zigzag." They listen to the story "The Five Blind Men and the Elephant" and discuss point of view, identify the point of view of the main character Zigzag, and...

High school freshmen craft their own definition of honesty. They provide an example from their lives and reflect on the outcomes of their honest behavior. They also identify a time when they may have been dishonest in a relationship and...

Class groups collaborate to produce the storyboard for their video project. After determining the sequence of scenes, the camera angles, and characters in each scene, each group member is assigned a number of scenes to illustrate. When...

Give your class this hypothetical letter telling them that some Spanish speakers from Mexico are coming to your school. These kids don't know English, so small groups will have to brainstorm ways to provide support. What kinds of...

Eighth graders create flash cards of the leading historical figures of the Civil War. Using media center resources, they laminate their selections and use them to learn their names and faces and as review materials for a test. Along with...

Students examine what daily life is like for children living in other countries around the world. They read different books in the "Maya's World" series of books by Maya Angelou, write and illustrate an original story about a child in...

Students read fiction or nonfiction books that stretch their reading levels. They reflect on the books they read with classmates and select a dynamic scene, colorful setting, or appealing characters to illustrate in a visual book report....

Students participate in a book club in which they share the setting, characters and plot of the book they read. Individually, they make a list of the most important or appealing features of the book on construction paper to try to...

Learners develop fantasy creatures and characters, describing personalities in terms of gestures, actions, and expressions displayed. Then they make fantasy masks, focusing on shape, form, proportion, line, and emphasis to demonstrate...

Elementary students research the history and construction of movie theaters, read a book of their choice and portray its primary characters and plot in a visual, movie-style report. They design and create their own movie theater in which...

Students in a special education classroom use the internet to research the characteristics of the rainforest. Individually, they decide whether to write a short story or poem with a main character who lives in the rainforest. To end the...

After reading and describing the characters, setting, and plot in The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, class members write original Island Adventure narrative pieces including detailed descriptions of people, places, and things. Afterward,...

Here is a six-page worksheet packet that contains very nice black-line masters of the characters in The Three Little Pigs. These are meant to be colored in and used as hand puppets by the kids when they produce a play of the story. This...

It is rough trying to make your way through Romeo and Juliet with young readers. The language can set up barriers that prevent conversations about the conflicts and themes. Robert Swindells Daz 4 Zoe is similar in structure and theme,...