Authentic writing allows students to write for audiences other than the teacher for reasons that matter to them and that lead to changing how an audience thinks, feels, or acts. How can teachers prioritize authentic writing instruction and help students become successful writers? Lauren Esposito does this through improv, an art form that develops…

This article describes a teacher's willingness to perform an autobiographical spoken word poem in his classroom, which provided an important model for students as they composed and shared their own slam-style poems.

"Improvisational theater" is a collaborative art form in which performers co-construct unscripted narratives, often based on audience suggestions, and always guided by a set of central principles. One practice common in improv instructional settings is "side-coaching," the move of providing immediate, public, verbal feedback…

This article explores how choral reading can be used as a drama tool in a classroom setting to engage students with nonfiction rhetoric while adhering to the Common Core State Standards.

In this article, the authors describe how an embodied arts-based approach to teaching the story of Anne Frank enhanced eighth graders' experiences in three middle school classrooms. The article begins by framing the theories that guide the authors' perspectives on embodiment and drama-infused instruction to promote literacy learning. This is…

This article examines how to use performance-related resources to teach research skills. In particular, it focuses on Shakespeare's "Othello" and argues that linking research and performance helps students put their ideas in conversation with other sources to articulate research-based arguments about a text.

Whether novice or experienced, writers must come to terms with the daunting task of filling up a blank page, or screen, in an effort to produce writing. Student writers are no different. They enter teachers' classes having confronted similar difficulties with discovering what it is they want to say. In seeking to help students, they devote…

It is imperative that in conversations about literacy instruction teachers incorporate curriculum dedicated to youth empowerment, especially for emergent bilingual and LGBTQ youth, as recognizing and honoring students' linguistic and epistemic privileges entails taking their claims about the world seriously. In this article, the author discusses…

English teachers share the blame for the lack of imaginative responses from students to the texts they bring to students, given their penchant for focusing on the most technical elements of literature rather than on its emotional resonance. In classrooms, teachers often concentrate too heavily on what Janet Allen calls the "products" of their…

In this article, the author discusses how students create their arts projects by responding to Samuel Taylor Coleridge's "Rime of the Ancient Mariner." In creating their arts projects, students incorporate film, painting, performance, and other arts in their imaginative and innovative responses to Coleridge's classic work. The author discusses…

Includes approaches to pantomime, improvisation, expanding a character, role playing, reader's theater, live stage, and script writing. (DD)

Discovers the lack of attention given to plays for young adults in most published booklists, and follows with a list of recent works for junior and senior high readers. (CRH)

High school teacher John Golden provides a variety of literature, film scenes, and classroom activities to introduce literary, cinematic, and theatrical elements. He shows students how to move beyond basic comparisons as students learn to analyze the techniques and changes film directors choose when translating literature to the screen. (Contains…

In this article, the author discusses how to consolidate schools where enrollment have dropped significantly. In addition to financial concerns, effective and developmentally appropriate curriculum choices are important. The author states that the "core" academic courses must be offered no matter the configuration of the schools, but…

Describes a program of half-hour, lunch period, dramatic productions staged by high school students. (DD)