1. Discuss with your students their experiences with television, asking them to mention their favorite shows, actors, and so on. Continue the discussion by asking students what they think goes into producing a TV show, from an original idea to the shows we see on the screen.
2. Tell students they are going to go through the steps of producing a television show themselves.
3. First, divide the class into groups, and allow group members time to research television on the Internet to get an idea of what goes into producing a TV show (see Links).
4. Have group members begin by developing an idea for their show.
5. Next, have them write a proposal, describing the plot, setting, and characters. The proposal should also specify the target audience for the show.
6. Once the group members are satisfied with their idea, they can proceed to write a script for one episode of the show. They might want to do some preliminary research to find out about the usual format for a television script.
7. After the script has been written, group members should create a storyboard, which shows the flow of the script in pictorial form.
8. If possible, have students choose actors for their shows and, after several rehearsals, film or tape their episodes. Then they can share their creations with other groups.