Stage Directions Teacher Resources

Stage direction is important to know for all people involved in a production. Watch this video to learn all of the different directions.

Learners review different film versions of the play, Hamlet, and compare what was presented to the actual stage directions given in the original Shakespearean version.

Shakespeare's Macbeth (Act II, Scenes I and II) lacks explicit details of the murder of King Duncan, yet the author creates an atmosphere that allows us to visualize the event. Readers interpret the "Dagger Speech" by writing stage...

Learners examine and discuss stage directions, stage area layout, and body positions. They complete a stage directions and body positions worksheet, and draw the body positions for each stage area layout.

Introduce your young thespians to the elements of drama! Key vocabulary helps them through their first week of class. The presentation outlines parts of a script, stage direction, and strategies for reading a script. Tip: The strategies...

Learners read a scene from Hamlet, without stage directions. They recreate the scene using their own stage directions as they see fit for the scene.

Develop novice script-writers. Small groups sift through a sample script, noting any script-writing conventions to share with the whole class. Using these conventions and plot structures, these groups compose a script for a 10-minute...

Learners work in teams of two to introduce stage directions/ blocking into a basic dialog using the program Hollywood High.

Six tasks make up a lesson plan designed to reinforce comprehension and language skills using the poem "The Pied Piper" by Robert Browing. Scholars discuss and define unknown words, identify adjectives and onomatopoeia, review complex...

Compile a promptbook with your young theater designers using a scene from Taming of the Shrew. The lesson outlines several activities, though it doesn't provide any examples of a promptbook or text from the play. Additionally, it...

Class members take center stage as groups perform scenes from Ian Doescher's William Shakespeare's Star Wars: Verily, A New Hope. Actors are encouraged to add stage directions to the script, as well as create costumes and props to...

Pupils rehearse a scene from Julius Caesar and analyze how the physical aspects of stage direction impact the audience. In this Julius Caesar lesson plan, students use blood in the scene and analyze the direction and where the blood is...

Sixth graders brainstorm various types of friendships prior to reading "Tezen," a tale about a young girl's friendship with a fish. After writing story reviews, they work in small groups to create dramatic skits based on the text and...

Fifth graders chart the elements of drama. In this performing arts instructional activity, 5th graders discuss the role of a playwrite, practice doing some Reader's Theatre scripts, write a paragraph about a problem between two people,...

Ten drama lessons are the perfect addition to your language arts or theater class. With a focus on script elements, plot development, and parts of a dramatic story, the lessons guide young playwrights through the steps of telling a story...

The house lights dim, the curtain parts, lights slowly come up, revealing the stage. Before the actors appear, before a word is spoken, the audience is drawn in by the lighting, by the colors, by lines of the set, by the props, and...

The task of creating a set for a theater production may leave theater arts students asking where to begin. Set their minds at ease with a packet that not only provides information about the elements of design, but also guides them...

Students act out a drama in this instructional activity on one aspect of the Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium. They are to follow all stage directions precisely and give it their best effort to get across the main points of the play.

How does reading a drama differ from reading a novel? Middle schoolers become playwrights and explore these differences. After viewing the A&E movie,"The Crossing," groups create stage directions, write dialogue, and design sets and...

Introduce scenic designers to stage-space awareness with three fun activities that demonstrate how placement on the nine stage areas convey emphasis and clarify relationships.

Young theatre artists engage in a scavenger hunt to acquaint themselves with set design. The challenge is to search the site and match a separate maquette with each of the 24 clues.

Groups create a set for a play or story they select, build a model, and share their stage with the class. The team explains the rationale for their choices and the mood they feel their staging creates.

How can a screenplay create meaning and drama in ways that other forms of writing cannot? That is the question class members must answer as they compare the cantina scene of the screenplay for George Lucas's Star Wars: A New Hope with...

What's the difference between set dressing and a prop? Between a costume accessory and a personal prop? As part of their study of set and prop design, class members engage in a series of activities that prepare them to design a prop for...