Open Forum

 View Only

  • 1.  Turning a class around

    Posted 10-25-2017 14:56
    I've inherited a theater class.

    The teacher of our seventh-grade drama elective has been put on indefinite sick leave, and after a month of a non-certified sub with no theater experience and no lesson plans, I've been put in as a certified replacement.

    I'm looking for suggestions of ways to engage and enrich these seventh graders. They don't choose their 'electives' - this is the class for the kids that didn't want to do art, robotics, horticulture, or band, and frankly most of these 22 students don't want a theater class either. The last month with no lesson plans means they are now accustomed to spending those fifty minutes cruising YouTube or playing games on their computer.

    I've come up with some activities to pull them away from their laptops and get them engaged, but I have nine more weeks with them and I'm looking for whatever ideas are out there to provide theater to a bunch of kids who didn't choose it, in a way they will learn from and not resent. 

    I appreciate anything you can offer, colleagues, as I continue my searching and innovating!

    ------------------------------
    Josh Kauffman
    Teacher
    Winfield AL
    ------------------------------


  • 2.  RE: Turning a class around

    Posted 10-25-2017 17:19
    You might look at working a script like "How To Succeed In High School Without Really Trying" or something similar. It's fun a piece and, since they'll be heading to high school in a year and a half, they should hopefully connect to it. 

    I'd also look at imrov and simple theatre games to introduce them to what the art is really about.

    ------------------------------
    Shira Schwartz
    Chandler Unified School District
    Chandler AZ
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 3.  RE: Turning a class around

    Posted 10-26-2017 01:30
    Oy. I've been in this exact same situation. This may seem like a cop-out, but I had a lot of luck weaning my seventh graders onto theatrical design coursework for the following reasons:

    1. Seventh graders are the most self-conscious students in any middle school. If you don't have the time to build a strong classroom culture, then getting them up out of their seats and acting will be a challenge. You're probably going to have students who refuse to participate, which will impact morale. My seventh graders were always miserable until I made the switch to theatrical design, at which time they all decided that they loved theatre class because they were able to choose from a bunch of options that appealed to their interests (engineering, interior decorating, fashion/make-up design, etc.).

    2. If the students are used to playing on the computers during your period, great! Keep them on their computers! I ended up with a lot of students who'd go home and continue working on their classroom projects because they'd fallen in love with the design software (see below for recommended websites). Seriously, I never had a single behavior problem during my seventh grade classes, and all of my students worked consistently throughout the entire period. And I attribute 99.9% of that to the fact that computers are wonderful, and they're creating some mind-blowingly good design programs nowadays.

    So what was class like? We read and analyzed a short script together, and then I explained basic concepts of an element of design. Then I gave them each a Chromebook, and let them complete a design-related project online. For instance, when we discussed visual research, I let each of them create a Pinterest mood board for the play, and they emailed me the link at the end of the period. (I made sure to show them an exemplar in advance and continued to drive the point home throughout the course that they were looking for images that made analytical sense, not just images that "looked cool." By the end, they were really starting to understand what theatrical design was all about.)

    Some resources:
    Virtual Light Lab and Capture both have good (free) downloadable demo software for visualizing lighting. Since the Chromebooks wouldn't allow me to download programs, I actually ended up using Zvork with my students, which was a good basic platform that got them thinking about lighting color and position (but didn't do an especially good job of mimicking stage lighting, as the program was designed more for a photography studio). As mentioned in a previous post, there are some great free CAD programs for students, like 3D Slash (which is about as simple as playing Minecraft) and Sketchup. Also, Bootstrap Fashion is fantastic for teaching silhouette, fabric type, and basic terminology (and can literally waste hours of your life if you're not careful). RoomSketcher is a similar time-suck that's wonderful for the design classrooom.

    Hopefully, this helps a little. It's probably different than the direction in which you're planning on taking the class, but it might be worth considering.

    ------------------------------
    Victoria Chatfield
    Executive Director
    National Theatre for Student Artists
    www.nationalstudenttheatre.org
    vchatfield@nationalstudenttheatre.org
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 4.  RE: Turning a class around

    Posted 10-26-2017 08:32
    Hi Josh, 
    In my school, the 5th and 6th graders don't get to select their electives, so I have them all for one quarter. I have found that letting them write their own material and produce a short "play", costumes, props and all works really well. Enough of them get into that they drag their friends along. I begin with some Drama activities, warm ups and improv. During these activities I am adding instruction about simple stage directions, cheating out, volume - very basic stuff. Then in 5th grade we talk about stories and their common elements and the students write their own scripts in groups I have chosen. 

    In 6th grade we start the same way and then discuss plot, (this would be better for 7th in my opinion) the parts of a good plot and then they write a script with these elements and produce it. You could do something like this and the design element Victoria wrote about so students who want to perform can and those who don't can design. 

    Email me if you would like more details about my lessons, tina.tutt@mybga.org. 

    Break a Leg!

    ------------------------------
    Tina Tutt
    Middle School Theatre Teacher
    Middle School Theatre Director
    Battle Ground Academy
    Franklin, TN
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 5.  RE: Turning a class around

    Posted 10-26-2017 09:11
    I would work on rebuilding trust and relationship among the group itself through regular theatre games and then, possibly moving into creating a devised piece with them, though with this age group, I might use text from established sources - poems they find inspiring, a song, something from classical writers - Greek or Shakespeare - that resonates with them today.  If the group chooses a theme that resonates with them - something they want to speak about or is important to them as seventh graders, and then, you can find material - with their help - that could be worked around that theme - and then, you can form it into a simple structure so they discover how to make  a new piece of art from something already written by adding parts of themselves... 

     But, first I would spend a good deal of time building trust among them through theatre games, beginning and ending in a circle with an opening and closing exercise - make sure everyone knows everyone's names and so on... 

    I hope that helps.  It is hard to offer concrete examples from afar, but I know it is possible to turn a group around if one takes the time to build trust and connection among the group. 

    Good luck! 

    --
    Victoria Rhoades, PhD 




    Original Message


  • 6.  RE: Turning a class around

    Posted 10-26-2017 09:22
    Improv games!! There are a ton for students in this age group. It engages kids and gets them excited about trying to communicate with each other. It will take a couple of attempts to get them out of their shell, but give it a shot. Good luck!!

    ------------------------------
    Stephen Riordan
    Director, Performing Arts
    St. Petersburg FL
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 7.  RE: Turning a class around

    Posted 10-26-2017 12:57
    I also suggest Theatre games and improv. You might also try a unit on Comedy - What Makes Us Laugh and Why? It's a bit of research, but you can find cool clips of Greek Theatre, Commedia, Shakespeare (i.e. Two Gentlemen of Verona - the scene with the dog, or Comedy of Errors), physical comedy (Bill Irwin, David Shiner), or even Whose Line Is It, Anyway?

    If you want to try scene work, I've used Check Please and Superheroes...with this age group.



    Original Message


  • 8.  RE: Turning a class around

    Posted 10-26-2017 16:20
    I have also had success with similar classes using stage design, both digital and hands-on. Also, I did a very successful project that is more music than theatre, but worked well: I showed students some clips from Stomp! I then had them make instruments from found objects and then prepare performance pieces that used sounds made by their objects. I gave them a set of "challenges": one sound needed to be made from paper, one through their bodies only, one very loud, one that moved around the space, etc. They worked in small groups, and the final performances were quite exciting.

    ------------------------------
    Robin Share
    Teacher
    Los Angeles Unified School District
    Sherman Oaks CA
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 9.  RE: Turning a class around

    Posted 10-27-2017 10:26
    Some of the topics I use with middle school (5th-8th) that have been more successful with less engaged kids are clowning, spoofs (of children's shows - Dora, Blue's Clues used to be popular), and advertisements.  I start by teaching a bit about the form for a few classes (with practical exercises), then they work in a group to create a sketch/story/ad.  

    For advertisements, it is possible to film them and edit them, allowing the reluctant performers a different way to contribute (though sometimes the groups run out of steam by this stage).

    Usually I focus a lot on empathy, points of view, and dramatic conflict ... but with reluctant groups that is a tough sell.  These three topics can still challenge them, but in a different direction.

    ------------------------------
    Kristin Hall
    Drama Director
    Lincoln Public Schools
    Arlington MA
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


Related Content