Acting lesson plans and activities.
Beginning Acting Nine-Week Lesson Plan
42 pages. You read that right. A forty-two page awesome Beginning Acting lesson plan comes with a membership to Drama Notebook.
Beginning Acting Lesson Plan for Younger Students
18 pages. If you are working with students, ages 5-8, this lesson plan will dramatically reduce your planning time!
Printable Classroom Art – Acting Terms
Brighten your classroom with these seven graphics that define common terms used in acting.
20 Practice Scenes for Pairs
Twenty one-page scenes that can be acted out immediately in drama class.
20 More Short Practice Scenes
20 more one-page scenes for pairs or three actors!
Another 20 Practice Scenes
Another 20 short practice scenes for pairs.
Practice Scenes for Three Young Actors
Short scenes for three actors. Best suited for elementary and middle school.
Scene Study for Teens Lesson Plan
25 pages. Are you teaching scene study to teens this year? Enjoy eight sessions already planned for you!
How to Coach Individual Drama Students
Helpful guide for acting coaches, and those teaching individual drama lessons.
Activities for Coaching Individual Drama Students
Fantastic collection of activities to use when working with individual drama students.
Drama Activities for Small Classes
Six pages of warm-ups and activities, plus links to other titles on Drama Notebook that work with smaller groups. Great for older elementary through high school.
Physical Warm-ups
19 pages. Here are 22 ways to warm up the body before rehearsal/acting class!
Breathing Exercises and Warm-ups
11 pages of breathing exercises that cover: exploring the breath; warm-ups; technique; relaxation; and overcoming stage fright.
Tips for Student Performers
Handout of ten tips for students who are putting on a play!
Facing the Audience
Two page lesson that teaches a specific theatre technique that will finally get your students to face the audience!
Vocal Warm-ups
4 pages. Includes twelve fun ways for actors to warm up their voices!
Memorization Strategies
12 techniques for helping your students memorize their lines. 11 pages.
7 Levels of Tension
Movement-based acting technique with accompanying 7 Levels of Tension video!
Emotions and Feelings Prompts
60 emotions and feeling scenarios for young actors.
Character Names-A Fun Group Bonding Game
Fun group bonding game that includes printable list of four types of distinctly different characters.
Me Poems
Three versions of fill-in-the blank poems that can help your students bond with each other and develop self-awareness.
Mirror
3-page detailed tutorial of the classic theatre exercise ‘Mirror.’ Includes ten variations and discussion questions.
Space Walk
11 pages, includes instructions for 13 different versions of this exercise, complete with over 100 prompts.
Statues
5-page detailed tutorial of the classic theatre activity ‘Statue.’ Includes eleven variations, discussion questions and nearly 100 suggestions for types of statues.
Become
Classic drama activity in which students ‘become’ appliances, household items, flowers, and even weather! 10 pages. Includes three pages of prompts!
Tableaus
Five-page tutorial on this classic theatre exercise. Includes a description of tableau work, tips for creating successful tableaus and over 100 prompts.
Status Lesson
8 pages. In theatre, status refers to the power difference in the relationship between characters. This drama lesson includes ten drama games to teach status along with prompts for improvising scenes where status changes
Extreme Bonding Games
6 pages. Is your group having trouble getting along? Here are 15 super-charged bonding activities that will help bring your group together!
Activity Pantomimes
30 easy pantomimes for younger students and 36 more difficult ones for older students.
Pantomimes for Pairs
22 pantomime suggestions for pairs and 22 character pantomimes for pairs ready to print out, cut apart and put in a hat! Includes four ways to use them.
Scene Starters for Pairs
Here are 28 imaginative scene starters for younger students and 28 scene starters for older students! Print them out and start the activity immediately.
More Scene Starters for Pairs
Here are 28 more scene starters for improvisation for younger students and 28 more scene starters for older students! Print them out and start the activity immediately.
30 More Scene Starters for Younger Students
30 more playful prompts to use as improv starters or inspiration for writing short scenes and monologues with younger students (elementary).
30 More Scene Starters for Older Students
30 more playful prompts to use as improv starters or inspiration for writing short scenes and monologues with older students (ages 11 and up).
Advanced Scene Starters
Here are 28 complex situations with characters to use in improv, character work, or as prompts for students to write their own short plays or skits!
Emotions List
Fantastic list of 37 distinct emotions ready to print out and put in a hat for use with improvisational situations/games.
24 Improvisations with Obstacles
24 short, solo scenes to assign to your advanced or older students!
Phone Conversations
42 engaging situations for actors to improvise a one-sided phone conversation. Incredibly fun and perfect for coaching individual actors!
Motivations Improvs
25 improvisational situations that prompt students to develop their own character’s motivation for wanting a specific thing.
Motivation Walks
34 reasons to cross the stage. A super-fun activity that teaches the importance of motivation in stage movement.
Entrances
Here are 24 locations and situations that can help young actors practice making their entrances meaningful!
Characters
Awesome list of over 100 character types on three printable pages!
Stage Business
Help your actors become believable onstage by having them practice performing stage business authentically. Here are over 40 suggestions and four ways to use them.
Treasure Hunt Game-An Original Stage Business Activity
Actors practice being authentic onstage by searching for hidden items. Included are complete instructions and 25 obstacles.
Meisner Activities
Over 100 suggestions for Meisner independent activities. You will not find this anywhere else!
How to Write Blocking Notations
Quick and easy guide to teaching students how to write blocking notations!
Traverse Staging PowerPoint
A thirty page PowerPoint presentation that teaches about traverse staging!
Two Lines Game
Lesson that teaches how lines can change meaning in different situations. Included are sixteen sets of lines for pairs, with four different situations for each set of lines.
Subtext Lesson
Fun, easy way to teach the concept of subtext! 6 pages. Ages 10 and up.
Open Scenes
Here are nine short scenes for two that are designed to be interpreted in a myriad of ways. 9 pages. Ages 10 and up.
Auditioning for Film Commercials
Ten-page lesson plan that offers a fantastic introduction to acting for film! Includes commercial scripts for kids.
Audition Form for Elementary
Editable audition form template for elementary or primary school productions.
Audition form for Middle School and High School
Editable audition form template for middle school and high school productions.
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