Drama Notebook Reviews

I am actually a high school principal, with a PE/Health degree. This is my 41st year in public education, with over 20 years in the administration side. Three years ago we lost our theatre/drama instructor and could not find another person to take that role over. I have always been a part of music, plays, drama, etc.... I did not want to see the program or activities get left behind, so I stepped in and took it on. It took myself, the superintendent and our school counselor to do what that one amazing teacher had been doing. Drama Notebook was amazing help all the time. I would highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in getting involved. Without the arts, what else really matters? This coming from an old PE teacher and 3-sport coach. If we want to touch creativity and problem solving, the fine arts are the best approach!

Drama Notebook has been an invaluable resource for me teaching and directing individuals and groups, drama clubs and co-curricular, with students of varying ages. From monologues to lesson plans, it has been endlessly useful and I would definitely recommend it to see if it can help you in the same way.

I do not hesitate to give this Drama Notebook a 5 star. I have paid out of my own pocket and sometimes even convinced the administration to pay. There are so many things to pick from. Year after year. I am a theater major. I love theater. I have theater books up the ying yang. I still think the simplicity and the way some of the activities are laid out are the best thing to use. Anyone interested in doing drama can use. Even if you are not a theater teacher and you want theater activities, this is the site to find something from A to Z. WELL WORTH THE MONEY!!!!!

What a fabulous resource! A mine of wonderful scripts and lesson ideas. You can tell that each one has been created with the teacher in mind and is a true labour of love. Thank you so much for all you do, Janea.

I just want to express my gratitude to Janea and the team at Drama Notebook. I feel incredibly supported during this uncertain time. They immediately opened up a whole section specifically for Distance Learning, and I am still getting emails with new things Janea has put together. Thank you for all you do. I'd be lost without this site.

Drama Notebook is an invaluable tool and it has really helped me save time and energy. The games are fun and my children have loved them. I honestly recommend it to every drama teacher that spends hours planning their lessons and tell them: "Yes, there's an easier way!"

These scripts were so helpful while my students prepared for a competition. They are perfect for young learners. I will definitely be using this service again!

Every year I need to have my students practice performing and speaking during May as part of their EFL portfolio. Both the scripts and the extra drama lesson plans have been really useful and fun. Thank you for your affordable yet high quality materials!

Drama Notebook is an essential part of my lesson planning for teaching drama. It is a wonderful source of games, activities, lesson plans, scripts, and more!
Thank you for providing this resource at such an affordable price.

This is a wonderful resource whether you are an experienced drama teacher or someone having to incorporate drama or language activities. As a teacher abroad in China, I have relied on these excellent materials for ideas and lesson plans. My students have low levels of English so it is always a challenge to find things that fit our learning. I certainly recommend Drama Notebook to everyone.

My name is Heba and I am an ESL teacher from Egypt. My kids and I loved the script I downloaded and loved that it was written by other kids with the help of their teacher. Unfortunately, school is off and the party is canceled but we can always do it next year. I will be back because I loved how versatile the website is. I also had a pleasant experience when I forgot my username and received a quick reply.
Thank you everyone at Drama Notebook!

I have run across this site before, but hesitated to sign up because I wasn't sure about the quality of the lessons because the price is so low. But since they had a money-back guarantee, I decided to give it a try. I AM SO GLAD I DID! Not only are the lessons fantastic, my students LOVE absolutely everything I use from Drama Notebook. I like the fact that they are written with very clear instructions, and I especially love finding things that I have not seen anywhere else. I'm currently downloading lessons I can use in case I have to switch to online teaching. Thank you, Drama Notebook. (I still can't believe the price, but please never change it, hahaha.)---Jasmine

I have been a member of Drama Notebook for several years. I've planned the bulk of my classes from lessons and activities that I have found on this site. But I'm writing today to thank you for providing very easy-to-use substitute lesson plans. I routinely hear that the sub had a wonderful, productive day with the students. Furthermore, if my school, or any school must switch to online learning due to the Corona-virus, I am confident that I can find plenty of things to keep my students engaged! Thank you, from the bottom of my heart.

I love Drama Notebook! I use the site regularly to find scripts, cold-readings, and sub activities for my middle school theatre students. I do tend to activate and deactivate my subscription because I don't need the resources every month. But it is always my first stop when searching for quality materials for my students. Thank you!

I love Drama Notebook! There are so many amazing activities and plays for students of all ages. I would highly recommend!

I found many useful activities in Drama Notebook for my middle school students. Lessons for improving expression were especially helpful, and I saw my students make great strides in this area. They enjoyed taking part in the activities!

Drama Notebook is an extremely useful tool for teachers. We all have times when we need inspiration for skits for assembly or other things and Drama Notebook has everything you need to do this. The website is also extremely easy to use and navigate.

Drama Notebook gave me invaluable materials to structure a semester-long high school drama class!

Last year was my first year teaching theatre to high school and middle school public school students. Drama Notebook was a wonderful resource for me. It helped especially with game ideas and such for middle school. Thank you Drama Notebook!

I am brand new to teaching drama but the 4th grade class at our school asked to put on a play and I quickly found Drama Notebook. It's been extremely helpful when picking out a play for the kids that I'm working with. I appreciate the community and downloads and knowing that I'm not crazy for wading into this fun, dramatic world. Thanks for the service you are providing!

Every drama educator should have a subscription to Drama Notebook. The materials are current, fun, thorough, and great for students of all ages. Before I joined Drama Notebook, I had a hard time finding material that didn’t make me roll my eyes. I have taught K-12 and on this site I find strong material for all ages and socio-economic backgrounds which are challenging and fun. Plus, their scripts are plentiful! Lastly, they are always adding new plays and lessons. Best drama site for teachers!

After starting the first elementary drama club in my school, Drama Notebook came to my rescue! I was able to navigate the site easily and found two perfect plays to perform with my students. The first was performed last April and was a HUGE success. I am currently in the process of directing my second. Hats off to Drama Notebook for offering such a wonderful service for teachers who want to give students an enriching, positive experience in theater.

What a fantastic resource--it covers all age groups with an incredible variety of drama materials from games, to developing skills, to great plays! I will definitely subscribe again when I am teaching drama next year!

Excellent resource and lovely staff who respond very quickly to questions.

Great site. I just needed one play for a small group and the short Shakespeare ones were perfect!

This is a great resource for working with children who are experiencing Developmental/Relational Trauma. I work in an inner-city church where the majority of the children in our programs are in chronic traumatizing environments. It is helpful to them to work out trauma through drama. Thanks for this tool.

Beth, thank you for doing such important work in the world. It warms my heart that you are using DN materials in that way.

I love Drama Notebook! The admins are super helpful and it's always there when I need it. There's no more affordable, USABLE service for any kind of creative teacher.

I teach middle school drama, and this site is an absolute Goldmine! I pull nearly all of my lesson plans from this site. Everything that I present to my students is an absolute hit. Last week we used 20 Practice Scenes for Pairs. They were age appropriate and school appropriate, and got my kids trying new things right away--sometimes hard to do with this age group. Thank you, Janea and Drama Notebook for putting together such a wonderful resource!

I've never taught a theater class of any kind. I've never taken a theater class of any kind. So when I was informed that I was teaching theater this year to both HS and MS students my blood pressure may have spiked. Drama Notebook has saved my life this semester. One of my students-- one of those teenagers who is too cool for everything-- told the counselor that Theater is his favorite class. I'd love to take credit but almost all the material I'm using comes from Drama Notebook.

Thanks, Janea and team, for creating a comprehensive resource that allows me to start and end class with engaging, fun activities. My kids are becoming comfortable expressing themselves and learning how to do that in dramatic ways. Our little school hasn't had theater classes for a number of years, but suddenly there's a tremendous amount of positive energy about theater. Go ahead and spring for the 1 year membership... there's plenty here to keep your kids busy being AWESOME for a whole year. Totally worth it.

I am a middle school teacher in an urban school system and was in the process of building lessons and content from the group up. Drama Notebook help provide daily plans and sub plans that were easy and effective.

As a drama teacher for years, I am always looking for new material. Drama Notebook has provided some of the most fun and effective materials I have ever used. My 'Acting for Tweens' class especially loved the "20 Practice Scenes for Pairs." These pieces provided entertaining as well as a manageable training ground for characterization, humor, timing and working together. What a great resource!

I've taught drama for over 20 years, and I was on the verge of burning out when I found Drama Notebook. There is so much material here that I have never heard of! Only five hours after joining, and I'm beyond excited about returning from break and using what I'm downloading here. Thank you, Janea, for your creative genius. You've brought this old teacher back to life!

I got thrown into teaching high school drama this year (I'm a choir director by trade), and Drama Notebook SAVED ME! My students LOVE the activities on this site, and there is enough here for me to plan an entire year's curriculum and more. There is really something for everyone and every level of student here; not only scripts, but lesson plans, activities, and all the extra resources you need to do those activities! THANK YOU!

I enjoy the materials but when I could no longer afford it I could not find a way to cancel.

Hi Jody, I'm sorry that you had trouble. We try to make it as easy as possible to cancel your subscription. I have emailed you and refunded your last payment. Please come back anytime!--Janea

As a professional actor who has taught other professionals I was at a loss when asked to hold an after school Drama and Acting Class at a private school. I found Drama Notebook and thanks to this site I have just been hired for another semester. I felt totally in control and had so many wonderful ideas because of this company. Can’t thank you enough. If you teach Drama don’t hesitate. Save yourself the headaches and time and give your students fun and important lessons in a great art.

I came across Drama Notebook after I was FRANTICALLY looking for theater classroom material.
I have my degree in performance, worked professionally on television and stage and Drama Notebook has a library of some of the best material online. If you stop here, put it in park! You've found your destination for all things acting.

As a middle school drama teacher in a rural community, my funds are quite limited. We were looking at doing a play in the spring, and the royalty fees were cost-prohibitive. I had considered doing a Shakespeare play, but felt it was probably beyond my student's ability. A quick Google search, and I found a fantastic adaptation of A Midsummer Night's Dream on this site that is only an hour long, and perfect for my students. Imagine my delight when I realized that the entire cost of this script is $10. No other fees whatsoever. All I have to do is post a link to this site on my teacher's page and send photos and a few notes about our show. This site is a game changer for theatre educators. Thank you! (I have also joined the site as a member, and am impressed by the quality of the lessons.)--Sincerely, Josh Acosta, TX

I have referred to Drama notebook for over 7 years now and am constantly finding new and useful classroom units, scripts, and even classroom management techniques. I have referred several new and experienced teachers alike to the site and they have all had the same success. Often as theater educators, we are the only ones at our school so it is wonderful to have a community to share ideas and learn from others. Thank you for the continued wonderful content.

I downloaded the Shakespeare Lesson Ideas book. The activities were only tangentially connected to Shakespeare. I canceled my membership immediately.

Hello Alexander,
I'm sorry that you were dissatisfied with your download. I do hope that you got at least one idea you could use out of the 13 pages of Shakespeare activities. I will happily issue you a full refund!
Warmly,
Janea

Not just for kids! We have a tour team that works with K-12 youth as well as youth/young adults at risk. We conduct summer theatre camps and we also teach theatre classes for adults with disabilities. This has become our Go To website for the variety of resources offered. From classroom management to Shakespeare in many accessible forms you find what you need! When planning our very first camp, I talked one-on-one with Janea who had great advice and calmed my fears! We have been doing summer camps for 3 years now which have doubled in size every year! We will be tackling Macbeth this fall with our adults with disabilities! Thank you Drama Notebook!

Thoroughly enjoyed this resource!! Very well organised and easily accessible - found navigating my way to find certain resources very easy! Lots of variety which catered so well to support my Year 5 and 6 students! Many thanks! Looking forward to re subscribing again in term 1.

An addictive resource! I started out with the monthly membership but realized within an hour that there was so much to explore and that i could use for my middle school theatre classes! I now have the yearly membership and still am finding countless items to use for my class!

Hi Candice! I'm so glad that you are inspired by what you are finding on Drama Notebook. We have refunded your first month's subscription, as you quickly upgraded to the yearly. --Janea

Coming from a music background, I was terrified when my administration asked me to teach a drama class this year. Drama Notebook to the rescue! Within an hour on the site, my nerves began to calm down. The lessons are creative and best of all, very easy to follow. In many instances, Janea even tells you exactly what to say when introducing a lesson. This site makes teaching drama foolproof!

I have never offered a review on any product or service but I am making an exception for an exceptional and excellent site. The resources and personal service enhanced my own life as well as the lives of young artists in my community. I was asked to reinstate the Community Children’s Theater in a small town in the heart of Appalachia. Drama Notebook Has been a “go-to” resource with games, skits, plays and videos-all worth every penny. Highly recommended!

Enjoy!

Drama Notebook has been a godsend for our community theatre. The scripts are high quality, the audiences love them and to top it all off, they're reasonably priced (usually just a link and some pictures!). The site is easy to navigate and is updated often. We're a fan!

Although I grew up onstage, I found myself struggling with putting together classes for young burgeoning actors. This place was an absolute godsend as I started to find my rhythm and this library of lessons, methodology, and scripts has sparked inspirations in me that I know will continue throughout my teaching career. Thank you for an invaluable resource and "holding my hand" through my new endeavor. I'll be back to refresh my toolbox!

I signed up originally because I had been drafted to teach Middle school and High school drama. This site was extremely useful and informative. I loved the lesson plans and even adapted some of the material for use in my English Grammar classes.

I've been teaching high school drama for 13 years, and was suffering from the doldrums. Another drama teacher told me about this site, and I can't thank her enough. There is so much material here that I have never heard of. It's completely refreshed my toolbox, and I can't wait to use these materials! Thank you, thank you, thank you Janea and Drama Notebook!

I was able to find some plays that will work very well with the MTSS class that I teach during the first period of the day. I have 18 3rd through 5th graders that need activities that challenge them.

I signed up as there is a huge wealth of original material available, from scripts to lesson plans. All are of very good quality. It's a really easy, colourful site to navigate. The illustrations are great! Would definitely recommend to teachers.