Open Forum

Hi everyone,

I'm currently in talks with administration to expand our theatre curriculum offerings. At present, we only offer one Theatre Arts course (one semester) that only runs once a year. It runs essentially like an introductory course, with units on comedy, tragedy, design, improv, monologue, and a little play writing. 

All of our fine arts kids take this class when they can, but there are no offerings after that. I currently have a brainstormed skeleton for an advanced theatre arts course (suggestions on the name are welcome) that is more of a portfolio based class that culminates in a one-act festival -- kids will take a script from pre-production through performance and submit a director's binder as their final. They will also be graded on their acting in their peers' production.

My question is this: do any of you have any curriculum materials, outlines, pacing guides, that you might share? I'm really looking for inspiration while moving forward. I'll certainly give credit where credit is due.

Please feel free to email me at morrisondb@vvsd.org.

------------------------------
David Morrison
English Teacher
Theatre Director
Thespian Sponsor
Bolingbrook IL
------------------------------

Hello,
What a fantastic opportunity to get to expand your program!  Our county offers 4 years/4 levels of theatre arts.  I've got both gen. ed. and IB theatre courses, but all my students do the same stuff.  After about 6 years, I got all 4 levels separated!  So, I've been working with 4 distinct levels of theatre students for the past 7 years.  woot!

In general, here's what the students do in each level:

Drama I/MYP level 4=  Intro to theatre terms and parts of stage/ Greek intro/ Read Oedipus/ do scenes from Oedipus/ Intro to Shakespeare/ Read Othello/ do scenes from Othello/ Intro to realism/ Read A Doll's House/ Do Scenes from A Doll's House/ Stage Combat Unit/Characterization Unit paired with monologue project/Using your Voice Unit/Intro to Tech Theatre Unit/Then students write original 5 minute skits to perform on the big stage at our end-of-the-year One Act Festival

Drama II/MYP level 5= Intro to Commedia De'll Arte and scenes/Intro to Moliere/Read The Hypochondriac/do scenes from The Hypochondriac/Intro to Expressionism/ Read The Hairy Ape/do scenes from The Hairy Ape/ Intro to Theatre of Consolidation/Read Cat on a Hot Tin Roof/ Hot Tin Roof Scenes/ Research presentation and paper/ Intro to Absurdist Theatre/ Read The Bald Soprano/Scenes from The Bald Soprano/Intro to Theatre of the Oppressed/Read Children of a Lesser God/ Lesser God Scenes (in sign language!)/ Then students write original 10 minute plays to perform on the big stage at our end-of-the-year One Act Festival

Drama III/DP Theatre Year 1= Intro to Method Acting/Read The Cherry Orchard/ Do Cherry Orchard Scenes 2 ways/ Dialect Unit- learn 4 common dialects as a class, then write an original screenplay using the dialects, film the screenplay, show films to class/Research Presentation on Non-Western theatre tradition/ Musical Theatre Project (students are given three random songs and must write original musical utilizing all three songs)/Collaborative Theatre Project (students devise and design a piece of activist theatre) that will be performed at our end-of-the-year One Act Festival

Drama IV/DP Theatre Year 2= Rehearse the student-directed show we take to our stage theatre conference each year (this takes nearly the entire marking period and we only use class time to rehearse)/Trailer Projects (students gather footage from musical rehearsals and put together trailers to advertise for our school musical/ SOLO Theatre Project (students write a piece around a common theme that we then manipulate to create our district competition piece) / Director's Notebook (students choose any play they wish to research and devise the set, costumes, lighting, feel, etc)/One Act Portfolio (students choose 10 min from a play or write their own to direct.  Students hold rehearsals outside of class but keep a portfolio of their design and directing choices/experiences.  Their 10 minute shows are presented at our end-of-the-year One Act Festival.   Seniors also use class time to devise and film the "senior video" that we show at our annual banquet.


I know this is a LOT!  If this looks like what you're looking for, I'd love to send you my syllabai or anythign else you think would be useful.  This will be year 15 for me, so I've gone through lots of trial and error and changes in the curricula.  This is just what I'm doing now.  
Best of luck talking with your administration!!!  


------------------------------
Lisa Dyer
Henrico VA
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 04-06-2018 09:08
From: David Morrison
Subject: Expanding Theatre Curriculum

Hi everyone,

I'm currently in talks with administration to expand our theatre curriculum offerings. At present, we only offer one Theatre Arts course (one semester) that only runs once a year. It runs essentially like an introductory course, with units on comedy, tragedy, design, improv, monologue, and a little play writing.

All of our fine arts kids take this class when they can, but there are no offerings after that. I currently have a brainstormed skeleton for an advanced theatre arts course (suggestions on the name are welcome) that is more of a portfolio based class that culminates in a one-act festival -- kids will take a script from pre-production through performance and submit a director's binder as their final. They will also be graded on their acting in their peers' production.

My question is this: do any of you have any curriculum materials, outlines, pacing guides, that you might share? I'm really looking for inspiration while moving forward. I'll certainly give credit where credit is due.

Please feel free to email me at morrisondb@vvsd.org.

------------------------------
David Morrison
English Teacher
Theatre Director
Thespian Sponsor
Bolingbrook IL
------------------------------

It's always exciting to be at the start of a program. I've developed two programs from the ground up, each starting with only two classes. The first time I did it, after 8 years we had 7 sections of theatre, including a tech theatre and a musical theatre class. The second time (my current program) is currently still expanding - next year we will offer 10 sections of theatre classes.
Here's what I did. It may not apply to your situation, but hopefully will give you ideas: I had a beginning class and an advanced class, where once you took the beginning class you repeated the advanced class as many times as you wanted. So I broke down the advanced class into level 2, 3 and 4, mostly based on how many times you've taken the class.
Level 2 was more character-driven work; lots of monologue and scene work with an emphasis on scene analysis, physical & vocal choices, objectives/tactics, etc. Most of the work for level 1 was modern. Level 3 took the same principles but applied it to classical texts. This way, I could repeat assignments from someone who took the class before and teach both levels at the same time. Level 4 was like an independent study, where they selected their own work and came up with rehearsal plans for in-class study. Level 4's also ended up directing and/or designing major projects in the class.
When the opportunity for a third class opened up, I made it an intro class. That way, it fed into the advanced class until there were enough level 1's to create a fourth class. So then I could offer 2 intro, a level 2 class by itself, and a level 3/4.
Adding a fifth class (intro) eventually created the need for a second level 2 class. As you add more sections of intro, you can feed the upper levels.
You can do the same with musical theatre or tech theatre if you have the numbers. Next year, we will offer 3 Fundamentals (intro) classes, two Acting I (level 2), an Acting II (level 3), an Advanced Drama (level 4), a Musical Theatre I (intro), a Musical Theatre 2/3/4, an a Tech Theatre 2/3/4.
Hope it helps! Let me know if you need anything else.




------------------------------
Jake Dreiling
Grady High School
Atlanta GA
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 04-06-2018 09:08
From: David Morrison
Subject: Expanding Theatre Curriculum

Hi everyone,

I'm currently in talks with administration to expand our theatre curriculum offerings. At present, we only offer one Theatre Arts course (one semester) that only runs once a year. It runs essentially like an introductory course, with units on comedy, tragedy, design, improv, monologue, and a little play writing.

All of our fine arts kids take this class when they can, but there are no offerings after that. I currently have a brainstormed skeleton for an advanced theatre arts course (suggestions on the name are welcome) that is more of a portfolio based class that culminates in a one-act festival -- kids will take a script from pre-production through performance and submit a director's binder as their final. They will also be graded on their acting in their peers' production.

My question is this: do any of you have any curriculum materials, outlines, pacing guides, that you might share? I'm really looking for inspiration while moving forward. I'll certainly give credit where credit is due.

Please feel free to email me at morrisondb@vvsd.org.

------------------------------
David Morrison
English Teacher
Theatre Director
Thespian Sponsor
Bolingbrook IL
------------------------------

David, you have Theatre standards for what looks like the intro class you are teaching, then two higher level classes.  Go to http://illinoisartslearning.org/. 

What I have done in each state I've taught in is print out the standards, then decide how to structure each course so the standards are met.  If you want to end up with a performance, many of your standards can be met by the various learning activities that go into a production.    

And, unless you perform the last week of the semester, you'll have time to put in units after the production, such as playwriting.

CJ

------------------------------
C. J. Breland
Asheville High School
Asheville NC
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 04-07-2018 14:30
From: Jake Dreiling
Subject: Expanding Theatre Curriculum

It's always exciting to be at the start of a program. I've developed two programs from the ground up, each starting with only two classes. The first time I did it, after 8 years we had 7 sections of theatre, including a tech theatre and a musical theatre class. The second time (my current program) is currently still expanding - next year we will offer 10 sections of theatre classes.
Here's what I did. It may not apply to your situation, but hopefully will give you ideas: I had a beginning class and an advanced class, where once you took the beginning class you repeated the advanced class as many times as you wanted. So I broke down the advanced class into level 2, 3 and 4, mostly based on how many times you've taken the class.
Level 2 was more character-driven work; lots of monologue and scene work with an emphasis on scene analysis, physical & vocal choices, objectives/tactics, etc. Most of the work for level 1 was modern. Level 3 took the same principles but applied it to classical texts. This way, I could repeat assignments from someone who took the class before and teach both levels at the same time. Level 4 was like an independent study, where they selected their own work and came up with rehearsal plans for in-class study. Level 4's also ended up directing and/or designing major projects in the class.
When the opportunity for a third class opened up, I made it an intro class. That way, it fed into the advanced class until there were enough level 1's to create a fourth class. So then I could offer 2 intro, a level 2 class by itself, and a level 3/4.
Adding a fifth class (intro) eventually created the need for a second level 2 class. As you add more sections of intro, you can feed the upper levels.
You can do the same with musical theatre or tech theatre if you have the numbers. Next year, we will offer 3 Fundamentals (intro) classes, two Acting I (level 2), an Acting II (level 3), an Advanced Drama (level 4), a Musical Theatre I (intro), a Musical Theatre 2/3/4, an a Tech Theatre 2/3/4.
Hope it helps! Let me know if you need anything else.




------------------------------
Jake Dreiling
Grady High School
Atlanta GA

Original Message:
Sent: 04-06-2018 09:08
From: David Morrison
Subject: Expanding Theatre Curriculum

Hi everyone,

I'm currently in talks with administration to expand our theatre curriculum offerings. At present, we only offer one Theatre Arts course (one semester) that only runs once a year. It runs essentially like an introductory course, with units on comedy, tragedy, design, improv, monologue, and a little play writing.

All of our fine arts kids take this class when they can, but there are no offerings after that. I currently have a brainstormed skeleton for an advanced theatre arts course (suggestions on the name are welcome) that is more of a portfolio based class that culminates in a one-act festival -- kids will take a script from pre-production through performance and submit a director's binder as their final. They will also be graded on their acting in their peers' production.

My question is this: do any of you have any curriculum materials, outlines, pacing guides, that you might share? I'm really looking for inspiration while moving forward. I'll certainly give credit where credit is due.

Please feel free to email me at morrisondb@vvsd.org.

------------------------------
David Morrison
English Teacher
Theatre Director
Thespian Sponsor
Bolingbrook IL
------------------------------