Elementary
Student Teaching
Ages Served: 6th-9th Grade
Location: Rego Park, Queens
Organizational/School Mission: “Dedicated to preparing its students to become productive citizens by instilling in them a love of learning through enriched standard driven curricula that incorporates cultural sensitivity and a respect for differences which will prepare them for future challenges via a committed partnership with parents and teachers.”
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Facilities and Materials for Learning:
- Every student needs access to a laptop/tablet to access Google Classroom
- Smart board with laptop connection and Google Classroom access
- Chairs arranged around the edges of the room - seating charts to avoid disruption/talking between friends
- Auditorium with stage for extra space
- Cubes used for various set needs in scenes
Creating Characters Mini Unit
In this Creating Characters mini unit, students continued exploring their actor's instrument by learning about vocal expression, body language and character traits and apply it to creating their own characters to a "Fox in Sox" tongue twister.
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On the left, you will see the entire unit plan, and below you will see parts of each lesson including the PowerPoint presentations used as a visual in class and some student work throughout the unit.
Lesson #1: Vocal Expression
In Lesson 1, students learn and explore vocal expression. Students were asked to change one thing about their vocal expression from the vocabulary we learned (pitch, volume, tempo, quality and tone) and record themselves. Below are a couple examples of student work.
Lesson #2: Body Language
In Lesson 2, students learn and explore body language. Students were asked to change one thing about their body language from the vocabulary we learned (facial expressions, posture, gesutres, speed/quality of walking) and record themselves. Below are a couple examples of student work.
Lesson #3: Character Traits
In Lesson 3, students learn and apply character traits to their "Fox in Sox" tongue twister. Students were asked to identify character traits for various characters and then apply them to their own characters. They were also asked to explain the "why" of their character traits. Below are examples of student work.
Group one's character traits for Goo-Goose
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"the goo-goose is this:
dramatic
they are dramatic because they repeat words a lot and wail in despair
sad
they are sad because they are begging for the other to chew goo with them
poetic
they are poetic because a normal person wouldn't say "if sir, you, sir, choose to chew, sir"
tired
it is tired because it doesn't finish it's own sentence
lonely
they are lonely because they want someone to chew with them"
Group two's character traits for Goo Goose
"Some characteristics that go with the "door-to-door sales person traits" are:
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Confident- The character, if they are selling something, needs to let the customer know that they know what they're doing, selling the product
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Inquisitive- The character should ask questions to the customer, like in the phrase, "Do you choose to chew goo too, sir?"
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Charismatic- The character needs to draw attention to themselves if they want to sell the chewy goo."
Lesson #4: Creating Character Choices
In Lesson 4, students applied what they learned about vocal expression, body language and character traits to start to create their own characters for the "Fox in Sox" tongue twister. Students were asked to fill out a worksheet and then reflect on their choices.They were also asked to explain the "why" of their character traits. Below are examples of student reflection.
Lessons #5 and #6: Sharing/Performing Characters
In Lessons 5 & 6, students applied what they created for their "Fox in Sox" characters and shared to their classmates. In lesson 5, they did a "Hot Seat" activity with their groups where students asked each classmate a question that they had to answer as their character. In lesson 6, they had the opportunity to put it altogether and share in front of the class. Below are samples of performances from the final lesson.
Stand Alone Lesson: Posture
In this lesson, students were beginning to learn how to use their actor's instrument. This was an introduction to how they can use their body in theatre, starting with posture. Students explored how posture can affect emotions. They used a Padlet, as shown in the photos above, to assess their own posture and then used a Google Form, as shown below, to reflect and assess their knowledge of the lesson.
The Google Form reflection shows the student's knowledge of the content and what they got out of the lesson. In these responses, students make the connection between posture and emotions and they reflect on their own posture as they build self-awareness. Click on the images to make them bigger.