In this totally revised 4th edition, Larry Swartz digs deeply into the riches of the past three books and considers the experiences of language arts teachers who have used all three versions for almost three decades. Full of engaging new ideas, the book includes many new sources and carefully chosen strategies for exploring challenging issues with students, including identity, poverty, diversity, bullying, and immigration. Literary sources are at the root of this amazing book, and encompass picture books, novels, poetry, scripts, and photographs. Compelling strategies throughout the book are designed to enrich interactive possibilities amongst learners in the language arts classroom. By reading, writing, and talking both in and out of role, students can develop and share their responses, stories, and ideas. A bestselling classroom resource for almost thirty years, Dramathemes is an ideal book for teachers who want to put drama into literacy programs, and literacy into drama programs.

The Routledge Companion to Drama in Education is a comprehensive reference guide to this unique performance discipline, focusing on its process-oriented theatrical techniques, engagement of a broad spectrum of learners, its historical roots as a field of inquiry and its transdisciplinary pedagogical practices. The book approaches drama in education (DE) from a wide range of perspectives, from leading scholars to teaching artists and school educators who specialise in DE teaching. It presents the central disciplinary conversations around key issues, including best practice in DE, aesthetics and artistry in teaching, the histories of DE, ideologies in drama and education, and concerns around access, inclusivity and justice. Including reflections, lesson plans, programme designs, case studies and provocations from scholars, educators and community arts workers, this is the most robust and comprehensive resource for those interested in DE’s past, present and future.

"This is a collection of ten long essays arranged around the primordial subject of realism and non-realism, or anti-realism, in the drama, as this subject manifests itself in modern Europe and contemporary America from Ibsen to Shaw to the symbolists, expressionists, surrealists, dadaists, futurists, and absurdists. This book treats not only the issue of realism versus anti-realism in theater from a practical as well as a theoretical point of view. It also treats at least two subjects related to this issue: the superfical or bourgeois realism that has long crippled the theater versus the critical and sometimes poetic realism that liberates it; and the avant-garde, the rearguard, and the middle-to-advanced artistic ground in between claimed by Bertolt Brecht and Harold Pinter. Special attention is paid, moreover, to the first thoroughgoing American avant-garde dramatist, Gertrude Stein. In sum, this book treats the subject of realism and non-realism from the point of view of the theater's ability to create not only the illusion of reality onstage, but also the reality of illusion"--Publisher's description, back cover.

This timely book shows teachers how to make learning joyful as they translate successful classroom strategies to virtual learning. More than 60 step-by-step strategies encourage interaction, foster inclusion, and spark imagination. Each activity is presented in a consistent format, ready-to-use in-class and for online learning. Whether teaching virtually or adding digital activities to in-class instruction, this book explores effective ways for students to present, communicate, and collaborate. Innovative activities range from discussing hot topics and sharing personal stories to visual boards and digital storytelling. An up-to-date glossary of digital tools helps to make sense of the shifting landscape in today’s classrooms.

"Play Analysis: A Casebook on Modern Western Drama is a combined play-analysis textbook and course companion that contains twelve essays on major dramas from the modern European and American theaters: among them, Ghosts, The Ghost Sonata, The Doctor’s Dilemma, A Man’s a Man, The Homecoming, The Hairy Ape, The Front Page, Of Mice and Men, Our Town, The Glass Menagerie, and Death of a Salesman. Supplementing these essays are a Step-by-Step Approach to Play Analysis, a Glossary of Dramatic Terms, Study Guides, Topics for Writing and Discussion, and bibliographies. Written with college students in mind (and possibly also advanced high school students), these critical essays cover some of the central plays treated in courses on modern Euro-American drama and will provide students with practical models to help them improve their own writing and analytical skills. The author is a “close reader” committed to a detailed yet objective examination of the structure, style, imagery, and language of a play. Moreover, he is concerned chiefly with dramatic analysis that can be of benefit not only to playreaders and theatergoers, but also to directors, designers, and even actors—that is, with analysis of character, action, dialogue, and setting that can be translated into concepts for theatrical production, or that can at least provide the kind of understanding of a play with which a theater practitioner could fruitfully quarrel."

Stop the Hate for Goodness Sake shows teachers how to confront racism and disrupt discrimination in order to deepen students’ understanding of social justice, diversity, and equity. Background information, statistics, and reports on incidents of hate will help students consider ethical and moral behavior. Forty step-by-step lessons involve discussion, oral and written narratives, case studies, assumption charts, and more. This thoughtful examination of today’s world will help teachers encourage reflection, foster inclusion, and inspire students to take action. This in-depth guide will show teachers of 8- to 14-year-olds how to start and manage important conversations that will lead to change.

This thoughtful book is rooted in the belief that teachers can lead their students to develop their reading tastes and grow in their love of reading at the same time as supporting and stretching students in their meaning-making experiences. This practical resource highlights more than 50 instructional strategies that invite students to work inside and outside a book through reading, writing, talk, and arts experiences. It highlights the work of guest voices that include classroom teachers, occasional teachers, special education teachers, and librarians who share their best literacy practices. Take Me to Your Readers uses 5 essential areas to structure classroom experiences through children's literature: Motivation; Theme Connections; Genre Connections; Cross-Curricular Connections; and Response. Extensive booklists, teaching tips, a wide range of activities, and reproducible pages provide practical support. Ultimately, this book is designed to take teachers to their readers and start them on a lifelong journey through great books!