Presents four brief plays which elementary children can produce: a Peter Rabbit musical and a Halloween story for primary children plus a February radio play and a situation comedy for the intermediate grades. (Editor/SJL)

This article presents guidelines to the elementary teacher for producing a class play. The script for a short adaptation of "Alice in Wonderland" is appended on pages 47-49. (SJL)

Social-emotional competence--it is a critical part of every child's school success, and just like any academic subject, children need instruction in it. Developed by a top expert, these proven curricula will help promote the social-emotional competence and resilience of children and adolescents. Divided into four age levels from kindergarten…

Designed to be used by teachers with varying degrees of dramatic arts experience and by students with limited English proficiency as well as native English speakers, this clear, simple guide familiarizes teachers and children with classic literature through the narrative-mime approach. The guide contains: (1) eight of Aesop's fables adapted and…

Useful to both beginning and experienced puppeteers and storytellers, this book provides step-by-step instructions for people who want to use puppets with familiar literature for children ages 2 to 8. The first section of the book (which introduces concepts basic to puppetry) contains 24 scripts with complete directions for successful activities…

Introducing students to the magic of theater and helping them develop dramatic skills, this book presents nine reproducible scripts for short plays (15 to 25 minutes) with characters and story lines that will appeal to young people. The scripts in the book encompass a variety of story types, from adaptations of well-known fairy tales to original…

The first article discusses three types of pair work activities in language classes: (1) role play, (2) "social interaction," and (3) "information gap." The second article describes semiscripted dialogues and dialogues that indicate the structure and direction of the discourse, but allow the speakers to improvise their language as they proceed.…

This teacher guide contains teaching and learning activities to accompany "Room for Five," a video series developed by Alberta Learning. The teacher guide is designed to give teachers ideas for using and connecting the videos from the series to the outcomes of the new Alberta curricular programs. It features student activities for the…

With the current education climate so focused on accountability, teachers need to ensure that their teaching practices are supported by today's content-specific standards. To meet this need, "A Comprehensive Guide to Readers Theatre" shows not only how to implement Readers Theatre in the classroom but also how to use it to meet current literacy…

Gives an overview of how one English teacher uses students' inherent understanding of film by asking them to write movie scripts. Advocates the use of screenwriting in the classroom. Details numerous reasons for such methods, and describes eight specific suggested class activities employing script writing. (HB)

This curriculum unit introduces intermediate grade and middle school students to the work of Stephen Sondheim, one of the most talented composers of the contemporary American musical theater, and teaches them about the process of writing an original musical. The unit notes that in his musical "Into the Woods" Sondheim incorporates (and…

Developed by classroom teachers during the development phase of Minnesota's Graduation Standards, this performance package is made up of locally designed assignments that, taken together, show whether a student has learned and can apply the knowledge and skills related to creating and performing original artistic presentations. It begins with…

Based on Jane Austen's novel "Pride and Prejudice," this lesson plan presents activities designed to help students understand that classics are those pieces of literature that continue to be popular long after they were written; classics tend to have universal themes; and Austen's writing has been updated and dramatized and, most likely, will…

The nine original one-act plays in this collection are meant to be performed in the classroom or at any social gathering where an informal reading or enactment by a group can take place. The plays touch on a number of conflicts that people may encounter when seeking independence; looking for jobs; trying romance; relating to family members;…

Describes the use of improvisation in English instruction, focusing on understanding the elements of fiction, writing monologues and playscripts, and collaborating. (RL)