Arts Alive Drama Kindergarten Grade 3

Transcription

1 Arts Alive Drama Kindergarten Grade 3 Kindergarten - Grade 3 with age appropriate material OVERVIEW: Students will learn to work as a team working towards performance. Storytelling will be used to develop students' imagination and creativity, gain vocal projection and a clearly articulated vocal tone. Games are part of every class to teach specific life skills such as focus, picking up verbal cues, and gaining confidence to speak in public. Verse speaking as a group will be taught as well as scripts from diverse cultures. Character development will be taught through puppets, improvisation and pantomime, in order to develop physical and vocal skills. Performances are given throughout the school year. Students will learn to analyze their performances and help each other improve through constructive criticism. Over 3 8-week Sessions, each student should be introduced to - How to develop beginning, middle, and ends of a story with varying endings Speech work - How to ask questions, when to ask questions using pace, tone, inflection, pause and pitch Using the correct voice on stage and focus for an audience through games Developing characters through puppets, mask and physicality Devising stories from pantomime (one form each week), tableau, improvisation or using props games that develop the imagination and use different objects to create watchable scenes Working as a team and controlling the body and voice in all performances Learning to be a good audience member with constructive feedback skills to other performers Some musical theatre songs to develop ways to tell a story via music and script Activities Weekly Activity 1: Establish the students outside voice, stage voice with simple tongue twisters, breathing & vocal exercises. Practice the tongue twister once (written on board) break it down into smaller parts. Improvise the tongue twisters or exercise with different endings. Teach good posture and ask to go back to that if student are squirmy. Students should be taught to stand on two feet with good breathing habits and corrected every week. Weekly Activity 2: Students develop characters physically through pantomime, puppets, using masks and vocal changes. Often props such as hats are brought to evolve the creation of characters. Standards Grade 2 Comprehension and Analysis of the Elements of Theatre 1.2 Use body and voice to improvise alternative endings to a story. Grade Demonstrate skills in pantomime, tableau, and improvisation.

2 Storytelling: Story telling is told in three ways: Round circle with each student giving a phrase to add to the story Taking a fantasy or fairy tale story and adding new endings (what if?) Over three lessons take story points and focus on that area through a familiar story i.e. Red Riding Hood Physical Activity leading to vocal and acting exercises: Students act out a letter of the alphabet as pairs or individuals: have them make either horizontally or on the floor. Spelling the word DRAMA with their bodies continue as pairs for difficult letters to encourage team work. Choose other easy words (ACTORS) and have them decipher which word it is. This should lead to that student saying the word in their inside and outside voice. When the group has the full word have them repeat in different tones. Finally ask which is most effective and why? Group speaking is developed to help younger students to pick up cues and listen to each other. A wide range of literature should be used- poems, prose and their own creation. Group Speaking helps shyer students gain confidence with solo speaking. Within the group speaking the creation of mood is taught so students can make choices on the words to change the mood upon. Performance: The teacher reads the first line/verse of poem and has the students repeat (copies are not given out to younger nonreaders). The students act it out, repeat poem standing still. Ask "Which sounds better?" "Can we move and speak clearly?" Continue until you have four lines. Send home a copy. Theatre Vocabulary: Students learn how to move around a stage learning the stage areas with stage area game. They learn about action and the role of an audience. Teachers highlight how performers must not pull focus from others speaking. Acting Musical Theatre scenes are introduced where students are vocally able and the teacher can teach character through movement, and correct breathing for singing. Scenes start or Grade Retell familiar stories, sequencing story points and identifying character, setting, and conflict. Creation/Invention in Theatre 2.2 Dramatize or improvise familiar simple stories from classroom literature or life experiences, incorporating plot (beginning, middle, and end) and using a tableau or a pantomime. Development of Theatrical Skills 2.1 Perform in group improvisational theatrical games that develop cooperative skills and concentration. Critical Assessment of Theatre 4.1 Critique an actor's performance as to the use of voice, gesture, facial expression, and movement to create character. History of Theatre 3.2 Identify universal characters in stories and plays from different periods and places. Grade Perform in group improvisational theatrical games that develop cooperative skills and concentration Grade Use the vocabulary of theatre, such as character, setting, conflict, audience, motivation, props, stage areas, and blocking, to describe theatrical experiences. Grade 3 Careers and Career-Related Skills

3 finish with dialogue and will be edited to make short performance tableau. Example Soldier, Soldier will you Marry Me? For the youngest students. The students are involved in simple costuming, props and staging of a group collaboration 5.2 Develop problem-solving and communication skills by participating collaboratively in theatrical experiences. Poems for Group Speaking: Spaghetti by Jack Prelutsky Going on a Treasure Hunt/Easter Egg Hunt Island of Lost Socks My Robot by Gareth Lancaster The Eleven Skeletons Jack Prelutsky The Dark, Dark House (Halloween) Age 9 and Under: The Rabbit with No Tail Cloud School Fish School The Hare and the Tortoise Duck on a Scooter Scenes from How to Eat Like a Child Stories to Choose from: Jack and the Beanstalk Hickory Dickory Dock Man in the Moon Aladdan and his Lamp Frozen Sister scenes Little Red Riding Hood Musicals: Annie (adapted) with Hard Knock Life Oh Soldier, Soldier Will you Marry Me? Bye, Bye Birdie ( Kids acted as parents) Part of Your World, Little Mermaid

4 Drama Voice Exercises This is a suggested list to be taught over an 8 week period session. Some exercises will be repeated during the year as new children join. Repeat favorable exercises with experienced students teaching their peers as a strategy. Beginners: Breathing Posture - Correct all students every week until they learn the actor position feet planted slightly apart and shoulders over feet. 1. Sumo wrestler - Students should be able to bend knees and not fall over; breathe deeply (test by patting on the back if they move, they are not strongly breathing) 2. Monkey can be used for students who do not know Sumo - a la Alexander technique (bring pictures or have on computer) I am I am a snow I am a snowman melting I am a snowman melting away (melting and sustained breathing to each phrase until they can say it in one breath). Teacher should check correct diaphragmatic breathing shoulders should not move (change to pumpkin at Halloween) 3. Mummy made me mash my M & Ms - ascending and descending scale 4. Ng Ah (breathing and soft palate together). Nin- jah works well too! CREATIVE VOWELS (This exercise helps teach inflection and emotional responses) HH ooo (something good to eat) HH Oh! (surprised) HH aw! (a kitten or a puppy) HH ay (someone has borrowed something without asking or taken your last slice of pie) HH ee (excited can t wait for.) have students fill in the event FRICATIVES (change out with P the second week) BAH Boo (Halloween) BAH Boh (balloon pops) BAH Baw (oh no I broke it) BAH Bay (Looking in the distance) Try Jazz chants book for teaching how to use intonation, pitch and inflection. Poems also good for acting out (Older students 8-14): My organs of articulation Were a definite vexation Until I said this silly rhyme Three times through! RESONATORS 1. Start with a song the students know like chorus of "Firework" by Katy Perry, "Let it Go" from Frozen (Hum the song). Follow by echoing to different parts of the room talk into cases make them aware of how sound travels as an actor they must know this.

5 2. If students know the words implement the lyrics and have them identify changes in voice. Students should sit and lay on the floor singing. 3. Teach the inner smile for activating nasal and head resonance. Arts Alive Performance Acting (Drama) Grade 4 Grade 8 OVERVIEW: After a basic grounding in voice work the students will work on group speaking to improve their intonation and projection. Students will learn to block scenes with the correct theatre language and mark up a script with mood and motivations to create believable characters. Students will perform historical and modern drama scripts and sometimes musical theatre scenes. Collaboration is encouraged for all students both writing and directing their own and published scenes. All students should be able to enter high school ready to audition for a part in a production. CA Visual and Performing Art Standards Grade Identify a character's objectives and motivations to explain that character's behavior. 1.3 Demonstrate how voice (diction, pace, and volume) may be used to explore multiple possibilities for a live reading. Grade Demonstrate the use of blocking (stage areas, levels, and actor's position, such as full front, quarter, profile, and full back) in dramatizations. Creation/Invention in Theatre 2.3 Collaborate as an actor, director, scriptwriter, or technical artist in creating formal or informal theatrical performances. Grade 6 Development of the Vocabulary of Theatre 1.1 Use the vocabulary of theatre, such as action/reaction, vocal projection, subtext, theme, mood, design, production values, and stage crew, to describe theatrical experiences. Grade 7 History of Theatre 3.2 Compare and contrast various theatre styles throughout history, such as those of Ancient Greece, Elizabethan theatre, Kabuki theatre, Kathakali dance theatre, and commedia dell'arte. Objectives of the 8-Week Course Curriculum Grades 4-8 with age appropriate material Each student should be introduced and develop skills in: Ability through warm up voice exercises related to the work to use the voice in different intonation, inflection, accents and vocal projection for theatre work

6 Learn to use reactions, subtext, mood and have their characters develop motivation, setting of a scene, etc. for each script developed Study the manners and style of acting Shakespeare, Greek, Musical Theatre or commedia dell arte theatre Use improvisation and games to create believable theatrical performances Collaborate together to create formal performances for their school community and festivals with strong blocking and believable characters Ability to develop strong character work in monologues or duets Learn to block well written scripts and direct other short scenes for their peers As students advanced scripts can be written from different cultural themes and performed. Every 16 weeks a performance should be included within the course. Lesson strategies taught Through warm up voice exercises related to the scripts the students learn to use the voice in different intonation, inflection, accents and vocal projection for theatre work. Ability to develop strong character work in monologues or duets. Students rehearse play reading, which is regularly attempted for student audiences. Students collaborate to create formal performances for their school community and festivals with strong blocking and believable characters. Students learn to use reactions, subtext, mood and have their characters develop motivation, setting of a scene, etc. for each script developed. Use improvisation and games to create believable theatrical performances. Study of the manners and style of acting Shakespeare, Greek, Musical Theatre or commedia dell arte theatre. Students act and direct with their peers and the more experienced students can direct monologues and duets with others. If students have the writing skills they are also asked to script works for their peers to act. CA Standards Grade 6 Development of the Vocabulary of Theatre 1.1 Use the vocabulary of theatre, such as action/reaction, vocal projection, subtext, theme, mood, design, production values, and stage crew, to describe theatrical experiences. Creation/Invention in Theatre 2.2 Use effective vocal expression, gesture, facial expression, and timing to create character. Grade Demonstrate the use of blocking (stage areas, levels, and actor's position, such as full front, quarter, profile, and full back) in dramatizations. Grade Identify a character's objectives and motivations to explain that character's behavior Development of the Vocabulary of Theatre 1.1 Use the vocabulary of theatre, such as action/reaction, vocal projection, subtext, theme, mood, design, production values, and stage crew, to describe theatrical experiences. Grade 7 History of Theatre 3.2 Compare and contrast various theatre styles throughout history, such as those of Ancient Greece, Elizabethan theatre, Kabuki theatre, Kathakali dance theatre, and commedia dell'arte. Grade 6 Creation/Invention in Theatre 2.3 Collaborate as an actor, director, scriptwriter, or technical artist in creating formal or informal theatrical performances. Grade 8

7 2.2 Perform character-based improvisations, pantomimes, or monologues, using voice, blocking, and gesture to enhance meaning. Suggested scenes that may be used: Little Women, Slappy a Moral tale of a sign painter, Universe Communicate, Scenes from How to Eat Like a Child, Tom Sawyer, Greek plays The Birds, Helen of Troy, Witches by Roald Dahl, Three Witches from Shakespeare, All the World s a Stage from As You Like It, Servant of Two Masters Adapted Stories for Grade 5 and Up: Alice and Wonderland 7 (#) Chinese Sisters 3 Straight Lines The Queen and the Wise Men Emperor s New Clothes The Crayon Box that Talked Musical Theatre: The Boyfriend, My Fair Lady

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