Open Forum

Informal poll for my colleagues out there in the community:


What qualities do you associate with strong student interpretation in acting?

What qualities do you associate with strong student interpretation in directing/design? 

Or, put another way, if you were creating an assessment instrument (e.g. a rubric) to explicitly gauge students' abilities to interpret a text and communicate that interpretation to an audience through a performance or product, what elements would you include?

These are questions I've been chewing on for a few years, rooted in my frustration that my middle schoolers regularly view "success" in acting as a dutiful recitation of the words and execution of the blocking rather than a skillful use of words and actions to create meaning (the correlation in their directing/design efforts would be to attend to only the practical needs a of a scene without much regard for the aesthetic power of theatrical elements to express meaning).  My experiences teaching have increasingly convinced me that I need to lead students to an increased understanding of acting/directing/design as largely interpretive and communicative/expressive artforms, and I'm always looking for better ways to tackle this understanding head-on.  

I'm further inspired to put these questions out there by the following essential questions in the new national standards:

How, when, and why do theatre artists' choices change?

How do theatre artists transform and edit their initial ideas?

Why are strong choices essential to interpreting a drama or theatre piece?

The last question, particularly, is one I'm interested in exploring in further depth this year, and welcome your thoughts and/or suggestions of resources.

-------------------------------------------
Ryan Moore
Ferndale MI
-------------------------------------------

Ryan,

I don;t know if you will find this helpful or not, I hope so.  It seems to me you are really asking for how we evaluate our students, though with emphasis on interpretation, it's all tied together.  So that ties into the huge question of how do you grade a subjective art form such as acting?  I can tell you that I use a rubric which divides the scene or monologue - the task of acting into two broad areas: Technical & Characterization.  So in my case, the technical elements are: Memorization (20 PTS.) Projection (20 PTS.) and for scenes Work off Partner - 10 PTS. or monologues, Blocking 10PTS.  the last two are kinda gimmies - though sometimes students surprise me and make me take points away on them. The next half is the buit you are really asking about - what I include in Characterization: Vocal characterization - worth 30PTS. covers inflection, etc. everything that makes up  vocal acting (I have seen rubrics where people divide all this out infinitely, but I just don;t have that kind of time).  The final 20% is Physical acting.  

I hope that helps, it seems to me that this covers interpretation as well as the technical aspect they cling to at that age.  When i used to teach middle school, they used to be amazed when they got the rubric and the memorization is only 20%.  

I also do what I call "mock performances" which can help to open their eyes.  Every scene / mono etc. they rehearse, which might include performing for me and the class for feedback, but then the last two steps are Mocks, where everybody does it for the class as if they were doing it for real, I grade it as if it was for real, but it doesn't count, they get the grade sheet so they can see what they would have gotten and why.  Everybody gets one or two more days in class to work on the scenes, then we do it for real and I keep the grade sheet and it counts.  It can really blow them away to see a score that is low broken down, and I hope that it shows the the connection btwn. technical elements and character ones.  The kid who just memorizes sees that he still gets a horrible grade because that's ALL he did.  The kid who never projects or memorizes sees how all the characterization grades tank because I can't hear her, or she doesn't know her lines.  

Hope this answered your question.

-------------------------------------------
Jeffrey Davis
Plainsboro NJ
-------------------------------------------


Original Message:
Sent: 08-06-2014 10:16
From: Ryan Moore
Subject: assessing student interpretation

Informal poll for my colleagues out there in the community:


What qualities do you associate with strong student interpretation in acting?

What qualities do you associate with strong student interpretation in directing/design? 

Or, put another way, if you were creating an assessment instrument (e.g. a rubric) to explicitly gauge students' abilities to interpret a text and communicate that interpretation to an audience through a performance or product, what elements would you include?

These are questions I've been chewing on for a few years, rooted in my frustration that my middle schoolers regularly view "success" in acting as a dutiful recitation of the words and execution of the blocking rather than a skillful use of words and actions to create meaning (the correlation in their directing/design efforts would be to attend to only the practical needs a of a scene without much regard for the aesthetic power of theatrical elements to express meaning).  My experiences teaching have increasingly convinced me that I need to lead students to an increased understanding of acting/directing/design as largely interpretive and communicative/expressive artforms, and I'm always looking for better ways to tackle this understanding head-on.  

I'm further inspired to put these questions out there by the following essential questions in the new national standards:

How, when, and why do theatre artists' choices change?

How do theatre artists transform and edit their initial ideas?

Why are strong choices essential to interpreting a drama or theatre piece?

The last question, particularly, is one I'm interested in exploring in further depth this year, and welcome your thoughts and/or suggestions of resources.

-------------------------------------------
Ryan Moore
Ferndale MI
-------------------------------------------

In other places where I've worked, and where Drama is a reputable subject to take along with Maths or Biology or Music or English...The performance part of an assessment as very clear guides that quantify the work a student presents. In Australia, for example, while a student can choose to do a number of options for his/her Individual Presentation (e.g. design, research, film, etc) and while most choose Performance, ALL drama students at the 11th/12th grade level must present a Group Devised Playbuilt performance (groups of no fewer than three and no more than six) based on a stimulus topic chosen from six offered by the Board of Studies (the 2015-17 areas are: Keep me posted; Au revoir ... Arrivederci ... Adios!; A whirlwind of possibilities; Ticket no. 214; #trending; Vanishing point; First appearances ...; [the infinity symbol].  The three main categories for this (as well as for the IP of performance) involves three areas: Performance Skills (to include volume, diction, movement, etc), Characterization (to include focus, pacing, etc) and presenting a Complete Theatrical Statement (i.e. demonstrating a clear 'arc'). The first two are very clear cut: either you can hear them or you can't; either they sustain their character or they don't; the last one is a bit subjective but seasoned markers know that even a six minute IP performance must take the audience on a journey or some sort, even if it is back to where the character began. Those interested are welcome to check out the BOS site for more information. http://www.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/syllabus_hsc/pdf_doc/drama-st6-course-prescriptions-2015.pdf


-------------------------------------------
Lori Constable
Teacher; director of Drama
Independent District 112
Chanhassen MN
-------------------------------------------


Original Message:
Sent: 08-07-2014 10:10
From: Jeffrey Davis
Subject: assessing student interpretation

Ryan,

I don;t know if you will find this helpful or not, I hope so.  It seems to me you are really asking for how we evaluate our students, though with emphasis on interpretation, it's all tied together.  So that ties into the huge question of how do you grade a subjective art form such as acting?  I can tell you that I use a rubric which divides the scene or monologue - the task of acting into two broad areas: Technical & Characterization.  So in my case, the technical elements are: Memorization (20 PTS.) Projection (20 PTS.) and for scenes Work off Partner - 10 PTS. or monologues, Blocking 10PTS.  the last two are kinda gimmies - though sometimes students surprise me and make me take points away on them. The next half is the buit you are really asking about - what I include in Characterization: Vocal characterization - worth 30PTS. covers inflection, etc. everything that makes up  vocal acting (I have seen rubrics where people divide all this out infinitely, but I just don;t have that kind of time).  The final 20% is Physical acting.  

I hope that helps, it seems to me that this covers interpretation as well as the technical aspect they cling to at that age.  When i used to teach middle school, they used to be amazed when they got the rubric and the memorization is only 20%.  

I also do what I call "mock performances" which can help to open their eyes.  Every scene / mono etc. they rehearse, which might include performing for me and the class for feedback, but then the last two steps are Mocks, where everybody does it for the class as if they were doing it for real, I grade it as if it was for real, but it doesn't count, they get the grade sheet so they can see what they would have gotten and why.  Everybody gets one or two more days in class to work on the scenes, then we do it for real and I keep the grade sheet and it counts.  It can really blow them away to see a score that is low broken down, and I hope that it shows the the connection btwn. technical elements and character ones.  The kid who just memorizes sees that he still gets a horrible grade because that's ALL he did.  The kid who never projects or memorizes sees how all the characterization grades tank because I can't hear her, or she doesn't know her lines.  

Hope this answered your question.

-------------------------------------------
Jeffrey Davis
Plainsboro NJ
-------------------------------------------


Original Message:
Sent: 08-06-2014 10:16
From: Ryan Moore
Subject: assessing student interpretation

Informal poll for my colleagues out there in the community:


What qualities do you associate with strong student interpretation in acting?

What qualities do you associate with strong student interpretation in directing/design? 

Or, put another way, if you were creating an assessment instrument (e.g. a rubric) to explicitly gauge students' abilities to interpret a text and communicate that interpretation to an audience through a performance or product, what elements would you include?

These are questions I've been chewing on for a few years, rooted in my frustration that my middle schoolers regularly view "success" in acting as a dutiful recitation of the words and execution of the blocking rather than a skillful use of words and actions to create meaning (the correlation in their directing/design efforts would be to attend to only the practical needs a of a scene without much regard for the aesthetic power of theatrical elements to express meaning).  My experiences teaching have increasingly convinced me that I need to lead students to an increased understanding of acting/directing/design as largely interpretive and communicative/expressive artforms, and I'm always looking for better ways to tackle this understanding head-on.  

I'm further inspired to put these questions out there by the following essential questions in the new national standards:

How, when, and why do theatre artists' choices change?

How do theatre artists transform and edit their initial ideas?

Why are strong choices essential to interpreting a drama or theatre piece?

The last question, particularly, is one I'm interested in exploring in further depth this year, and welcome your thoughts and/or suggestions of resources.

-------------------------------------------
Ryan Moore
Ferndale MI
-------------------------------------------

If you're looking for a rubric for grading, I think it's most helpful to be clinical.  The first 4 categories are pretty cut and dried, and the last category is the fluffy critique-y one.

Also you can give a scorecard to the other students in your class and let them have some input to you, though I wouldn't let them be the final arbiter, nor would I let them give notes unless you are teaching them how to give notes and grading them on that process as well.

20% 1-5 points for blocking(being in the right place on stage)
20% 1-5 points for speaking the right words ( 0-2 mistakes = 5, etc...)
20% 1-5 points for timing (speaking too fast or slow, using pauses and beats correctly)
20% 1-5 points for using body correctly (appropriate gestures, glances, posture)
20% 1-5 points for displaying the right emotional state without overacting

My 2cents,

-------------------------------------------
James Auld
Technical Director
Las Virgenes Unified School District
Agoura Hills CA
-------------------------------------------


Original Message:
Sent: 08-06-2014 10:16
From: Ryan Moore
Subject: assessing student interpretation

Informal poll for my colleagues out there in the community:


What qualities do you associate with strong student interpretation in acting?

What qualities do you associate with strong student interpretation in directing/design? 

Or, put another way, if you were creating an assessment instrument (e.g. a rubric) to explicitly gauge students' abilities to interpret a text and communicate that interpretation to an audience through a performance or product, what elements would you include?

These are questions I've been chewing on for a few years, rooted in my frustration that my middle schoolers regularly view "success" in acting as a dutiful recitation of the words and execution of the blocking rather than a skillful use of words and actions to create meaning (the correlation in their directing/design efforts would be to attend to only the practical needs a of a scene without much regard for the aesthetic power of theatrical elements to express meaning).  My experiences teaching have increasingly convinced me that I need to lead students to an increased understanding of acting/directing/design as largely interpretive and communicative/expressive artforms, and I'm always looking for better ways to tackle this understanding head-on.  

I'm further inspired to put these questions out there by the following essential questions in the new national standards:

How, when, and why do theatre artists' choices change?

How do theatre artists transform and edit their initial ideas?

Why are strong choices essential to interpreting a drama or theatre piece?

The last question, particularly, is one I'm interested in exploring in further depth this year, and welcome your thoughts and/or suggestions of resources.

-------------------------------------------
Ryan Moore
Ferndale MI
-------------------------------------------