Issue 66
The Emergency Lesson Plan
Welcome!
In this newsletter you’ll find sample Emergency Lesson Plans to use in the drama classroom and also suggestions so you can make your own. Create your own plans to suit your particular classroom.
In This Issue
- WHAT
What makes a good Emergency Lesson Plan? - HOW
How do you create an Emergency Lesson Plan? - WHO
How do you present an Emergency Lesson Plan for a stranger? - WHERE
Where can you find Emergency Lesson Plan Resources? - STAY CONNECTED
Join us on Facebook and Twitter. - FREE RESOURCES
Some amazing (and free!) resources for drama teachers. - CONFERENCE ALERT
Meet us in person. - IN THE NEXT ISSUE
What you can expect next. - STAY IN TOUCH
How to reach us.
What
The Emergency Lesson Plan is a necessary teaching resource. Life does not always run smoothly. You could be called away from class. You could fall ill. You could have something planned that just isn’t working out. It’s nice to be prepared for the unexpected.
What makes a good Emergency Lesson Plan?
A good Emergency Lesson plan...
- Relates to your curriculum BUT could be used at any point in the year.
- Is straightforward for a substitute to follow.
- Is self-contained and can be completed in a class period.
- Has an element that can be handed in at the end of class.
It’s important to have a variety of plans, there is no one size fits all. A good plan should also be useful. Sure a substitute could play games with your students or have them read silently, but you could also use the time as an opportunity to instill vocabulary, reinforce comprehension in a text, or practice writing. To that end, a selection of plans could include:
- A reading exercise: Read a scene, a story, a theatre history resource.
- A writing exercise: Writing prompts, journaling, letters.
- A vocabulary exercise: Crosswords, word searches.
- A comprehension exercise: Respond to a passage, monologue analysis, character collage, theatre history time line.
- A group exercise: scene work, group newspaper.
How
Further down we’ll include resources on where to look for Emergency Lesson Plans. But what if you want something more tailored to your needs? There aren’t a lot of drama plans out there. How do you make your own? It’s not as hard as you think. Simple and straightforward is going to work in your favour. Don’t worry about being too simple either – remember these are plans to be used in the case of an emergency, not something you turn to every day.
Lesson Plan Instruction Template
Having an instruction template to follow makes creating your own Emergency Lesson Plans that much easier. It encourages you to be simple and straightforward as you lay out what's expected for your plan and gives as much information as possible to whoever is teaching your students. And if you set up a template, all you’ll have to do is fill in the blanks.
Consider these five headers to your Lesson Plan Template.
- Lesson Title: A title indicates the focus area for the lesson.
- Lesson Overview: A one sentence summary of the lesson.
- Objective: What’s expected of the student during the lesson. Think about what you expect the students to accomplish by the end of class and write it down.
- Instructions: Step by step instructions. Specify what will be handed in at the end of class and the required length(s).
- Materials needed: What the student will need to complete the lesson.
Attach this instruction sheet to every Emergency Lesson Plan and there should be no confusion as to what’s to be done during class.
Lesson Plan Categories
Let’s take a look at specific Emergency Lesson Plan categories.
Reading Exercise
Use a Reading Emergency Lesson Plan to have students either catch up or get ahead. The most efficient use of a reading exercise is to pair it with a comprehension exercise - students read the material and then answer questions about it. You could also combine a reading exercise with a vocabulary exercise. Once students read the material they have to complete a word search or crossword that uses relevant vocabulary.
Students can:
- Read a scene from a play.
- Read a selection of monologues and choose one to work on.
- Read resource material from which a play is going to be written.
- Read a theatre history resource handout.
Click here for a sample Reading Emergency Lesson Plan.
Writing Exercise
Writing Prompts: Using writing prompts for Emergency Lesson plans is both fantastic and flexible. Writing prompts can relate to a specific text and can be used to practice self-expression and journaling. They’re a great way to start off a playwriting unit.
There are two common mistakes when creating writing prompts. First, the prompt is too general and thus the writing that follows is very general. Second, the lesson lacks a specific length requirement. Students tend to underwrite when not given a specific length so they “finish” before the class period is half done. To that end:
- Direct students on what they should write. For example: If you’re using a picture as a writing prompt it’s not enough to present the picture and tell students to write. Ask specific questions for them to address as they contemplate the picture so they’re not just generally writing about the picture, they’re creating specific details. Like this.
- Tell students how much they are supposed to write for each specific prompt. For example: Complete a half page on this personal credo writing prompt: “I firmly believe...”
Examples:
- Self-Expression Tool: Provide a page of sentence starters in which students explore self-expression topics. These sentence starters encourage students to develop and expand on their personal opinions. Remember to provide an expected length.See this sample.
- Inspiration Tool: Instead of self-expression personal prompts, use fictional prompts to encourage writing inspiration. See this sample.
- Unit Preview: Create a question page that can be used at the beginning of a unit. For example: Before a playwriting unit have students answer questions about the craft of playwriting, what they think makes a good play, their opinions of their writing skills and objectives for the unit.
- Text Specific: Have students write letters between two characters in a text you’re currently studying. This also acts as a comprehension exercise.
- Picture Prompts: Provide a picture and a series of questions for students to answer about the picture. Next, have students write a monologue or scene about the picture.
Click here and here for two sample Writing Emergency Lesson Plans.
Vocabulary Exercise
Completing a word search or crossword is a great way to build vocabulary. These exercises can relate to a specific text, to basic stagecraft, to an upcoming unit, or to a past unit that could use reinforcement.
The actual creation of a word search or crossword is not as laborious as it might sound. All you have to do is come up with the list of words and visit one of the web resources listed below. You plunk in the words, they create the template, you save and print.
Web resources to create Word Searches and Crosswords.
- http://puzzlemaker.discoveryeducation.com/WordSearchSetupForm.asp
- http://www.armoredpenguin.com/wordsearch/
- http://tools.atozteacherstuff.com/word-search-maker/wordsearch.php
- http://puzzlemaker.discoveryeducation.com/CrissCrossSetupForm.asp
- http://www.armoredpenguin.com/crossword/
- http://en.puzzle-maker.com/crossword
Click here for a sample Vocabulary Emergency Lesson Plan.
Comprehension Exercise
Emergency Lesson Plans are ideal for evaluating if students understand what they’re learning. They can go hand in hand with a reading exercise and give you something tangible to assess what students did in your absence.
- Change a classical Greek myth into a modern version.
- Rewrite a Shakespeare monologue in modern language.
- Rewrite the ending of a fairy tale.
- Have students write letters between two characters in a play.
- Answer theatre history questions after reading the corresponding resource handout. You could also create a true/false page for students to respond to.
- Character Collage: have students create a collage of images, textures, words, and colours to show a visual representation of a character in a curriculum text.
One of the most efficient Comprehension Emergency Lesson Plans is to create a question page based on a reading resource handout.
Click here for a sample Comprehension Lesson Plan.
Group Exercise
Since we’re dealing with drama classes, having a group exercise emergency lesson plan is not out of the question. However, group exercises can be tricky. This is something you’re going to have to play by ear depending on the particular class and how well they work together on their own. Some groups can be left to their own devices. Some cannot. If you want to provide a group exercise, the same rules apply: make sure there is something in writing they can do and hand in at the end of class as tangible proof of work. Barring that, tell students that they will be expected to perform what they worked on as a group the next class period.
- Have groups prepare a piece of Reader's Theatre to be performed next class.
- Create a literature-based newspaper. In groups each student is responsible for a section of the newspaper and comes up with stories based on the characters and plot of the particular text. For example: What if the nurse in Romeo and Juliet was an advice columnist? Given her personality and actions in the play, how would she answer people looking for advice? How would you write a crime beat story on the deaths of Mercutio and Tybalt?
- Create and prepare a scene in groups based on a theme.
- Trivial Pursuit Game. Come up with curriculum questions and have students play in groups. This one will take time to put together, but then you’ll always have it!
*TIP: To assess students playing a game like Trivial Pursuit, have them write out their answers and hand it in.
Who
A substitute is going to walk into your classroom with nothing prepared. How do you make sure the work is done exactly the way you want?
Prepare an Emergency Lesson Plan folder: Keep all your Emergency Lesson Plan materials in one place, in one binder or folder, all the time. When the unexpected comes up you don’t have to scramble to put materials together. You just have to direct the substitute to the folder.
Write everything down: Give detailed and simple instructions. Do not assume anything – for example, if you want the work collected at the end of class, write that down. Don’t assume the sub will know to do this. Write down how students are to work (in groups, pairs, or individually). Write down students who can be trusted. Write down how you handle discipline.
Make copies: It’s easier for you to make copies of your plans ahead of time than to expect a substitute to walk into a strange school and figure out where everything is. If the copies are made, then the work can begin right away.
Where
Try these websites.
- Scroll to the bottom to see nine reading and comprehension drama emergency lesson plans.
https://sites.google.com/site/andrusspages/Home/emergency-lesson-plans - This one has a interesting exercise called Good Guys/Bad guys that could be adapted to drama. There’s also a Trivial Pursuit example.
http://www.richlandone.org/ipda/media/emergency_lesson_plans.pdf - This one has an exercise where students write a film script for the National Anthem.
http://www.jjohnnypress.com/books/elpslsns.html - A document about creating project based lesson plans
- http://getworksheets.com/samples/lessonplans/
- http://www.edhelper.com/
- http://atozteacherstuff.com/Lesson_Plans/The_Arts/Drama/index.shtml
Stay Connected
We’ve got big plans for this year, including giving away some free plays through our Twitter and Facebook pages. Now would be a really good time to friend us up!
Free Resources
Did you know we have a page full of free resources for theatre teachers? Check it out here!
Conference Alert
Here's our upcoming conference schedule. If you're attending, please drop by and say hi!
-
Arts Alive Conference
Mississauga Secondary School, Mississauga, ON
Feb 23, 2012 to Feb 23, 2012 -
OCTELA Conference
Worthington, Ohio
Mar 9, 2012 to Mar 10, 2012 -
Florida Thespians
Tampa, FL
Mar 16, 2012 to Mar 17, 2012 -
International Thespian Festival
Lincoln, NE
Jun 26, 2012 to Jun 30, 2012 -
NCTAE
North Carolina
Sep 14, 2012 to Sep 15, 2012 -
FATE - Florida Association of Theatre Educators
Orlando, fl
Oct 11, 2012 to Oct 13, 2012 -
CODE
Nottawasaga Inn Resort, Alliston ON
Oct 19, 2012 to Oct 21, 2012
In the Next Issue
Next month we have another Theatre History issue: Commedia dell’arte!
Stay in Touch
What do you want to see covered in this newsletter? Email stories, tips, suggestions, and questions to us. This newsletter belongs to you!
