Hi Christopher---welcome to my life 7 yrs ago. I was hired at a school who had a Drama Club, I was told a Theater class, but as I kept asking, found out it was a Chorus teacher who also taught or at least produced a production. All that is to say, I walked into a classroom with Theater posters, but nothing else and a group of students who would much rather play in traffic, get a root canal without sedative, or something else that would take them OFF the stage and out of the limelight. Oh, and can I also add I teach at a school that is 6-12 and they were ALL in my class at the same time! Talk about fun times....
I used Teacher pay Teacher a lot just to get them used to doing something---I lectured a ton--not so much fun, but I made it interesting. When I taught Greek history, I used Greek Reader's Scripts to just get them started. Crash Course Theater is my go to ---now for Sub work or testing days, but I used it extensively--again TpT has a book that has the questions and answers...
The 2 biggest things I found I could afford on my own, was
playsmagazine.com and
dramanotebook.com both do not charge royalties, as long as you either have a membership or give acknowledgement in your program and/website. Playsmagazine is all online now, and you can print to your hearts content, it comes with different styles, ages and lengths. I love it---
| Plays Magazine offers a diverse range of play scripts for students of all ages. Gain access to thousands of plays for only $69.00 a year. Subscribe today! |
Fast forward to now--I finally got my Middle Schoolers in their own class and slowly but surely they are coming into the class wanting to perform. I do a lot of Theater Games, Drama Circles (again TpT) and now they are working on learning a script with a partner, eventually I will go to Monologues and then full production--but with Playsmagazine scripts. As a matter of fact, I'm battling the 'we want to do a massive production' vs. the ones who are terrified of the stage still. My High Schoolers are in 2 different classes--Theater Technical and Stage (I do more computer work with that group than actually building) and Improv class. I also have 2 different Musical Theater classes.
I teach at school who does a College style block scheduling --so I have them everyday for 18 wks for 1 1/2 hrs---then in Spring I have all new classes.
You can also reach out to Don Zolodis, he sends out emails about plays he's just finished and getting ready to send to the publishers, he typically offers them up for $100-150 per performance and digital copies that you can make the copies or share with your students.
Good Luck with your adventure
Lauri Quick
Theater-of all Varieties
Somerset College Preparatory Academy
Port Saint Lucie, FL
O. 772-343-7028
F. 772-343-7029
www.somersetcollegeprep.org
*PLEASE NOTE THAT YOU WILL RECEIVE A RESPONSE WITHIN 2 BUSINESS DAYS, PER SCHOOL POLICY.