English - Unit 4: Playwrights & Performers - LESSON PLANS - Year 4

Tired of spending your weekends planning? Transform your Year 4 English lessons with this complete, 9-week inquiry-based unit that brings drama, collaboration and the excitement of the stage to life!

Step into the world of "Unit 4: Playwrights and Performers," a comprehensive English unit designed to save you time and deeply engage your Year 4 students. This unit focuses on building a strong foundation in understanding the conventions of drama, writing play scripts collaboratively, developing characters through dialogue and action and bringing stories to life through performance.

Packed with creative, hands-on activities, this unit will transform your classroom into a dynamic, inquiry-based learning space where students don't just learn about drama—they become playwrights, directors and confident performers working together as a theatre company.

What's Inside?

This 9-week unit is meticulously planned to help you deliver exceptional English lessons with confidence. You will find:

• 9 Weeks of Engaging Lesson Plans: Guide your students through a journey of discovery, from becoming 'Script Detectives', performing 'Adverb Charades', exploring emotions through 'Gibberish Conversations', forming 'Production Companies' to write scripts, storyboarding plots and taking centre stage at the final 'Short Play Festival'.
• Australian Curriculum Aligned: This unit is fully aligned with the Year 4 English curriculum. It explicitly covers key content descriptors including AC9E4LA01 (Formal/Informal Language), AC9E4LA03 (Text Features - Scripts), AC9E4LA08 (Adverbial/Prepositional Phrases), AC9E4LA09 (Tense), AC9E4LA12 (Dialogue Punctuation), AC9E4LE05 (Creating Literary Texts), AC9E4LY02 (Listening/Collaboration) and AC9E4LY07 (Planning/Rehearsing/Performing).
• Play-Based & Experiential Learning: Foster genuine understanding with interactive and creative activities that make dramatic concepts memorable and impactful. Imagine your students engaging in Readers' Theatre, learning blocking techniques, designing simple props and costumes, giving peer feedback during rehearsals and experiencing the thrill of a live performance.
• Built-in Assessment & Differentiation: Effortlessly monitor student progress through natural observation opportunities embedded in each activity. Every lesson includes clear support and extension tasks to cater to all learners in your classroom.
• Early Career Connections: Expose students to potential future pathways by weaving career education into every lesson. Connect activities to the work of a Playwright, Screenwriter, Actor, Director, Stage Manager, Props Master, Set Designer or Producer.
• Summative Assessment Task: Conclude the unit with a comprehensive "The Short Play Festival Performance & Script" task, complete with a student-friendly rubric for marking.

Cover Your Entire Year of English!

This is Unit 4 of a comprehensive 4-unit bundle. Together, these four units cover all mandatory content descriptors of the Year 4 English Curriculum, providing you with a full year's worth of engaging, high-quality English lessons. Stop the endless search for resources and reclaim your time.

Download "Unit 4: Playwrights and Performers" today and ignite a passion for creative collaboration and the magic of the stage in your classroom!