How to Manage Teaching Multiple Grade Levels in the Same Drama Class

Teaching multiple grade levels in the same class is fairly common in elementary school, but is also becoming more and more prevalent in high school. You might be growing a new theatre program at your school, dealing with declining student numbers, or trying to manage many other reasons for split classes. Grade 9 students are brand-new to the program, while your graduating seniors are likely seasoned performers, and all the students in between have various levels of experience, skills, and confidence.

The good news is: It’s possible to plan lessons that keep everyone engaged and make your theatre classes vibrant learning experiences. It’s not necessarily about creating completely different lesson plans for each grade; it’s about creating layers of challenge within the activities and projects and fostering an inclusive, collaborative environment. Here are some tips to help.

1. Start with ensemble-building, trust-building, and “getting to know you” exercises.

No matter what grade or experience level your students are, all theatre classes benefit from ensemble-building, trust-building, and “get to know you” games and exercises to help create a sense of community. When everyone feels like they’re part of the same team, grade differences fade into the background. We have lots of options to help you; check out the following blog posts:

• Warm-Up Exercises for Trust Building
• Community-Building Warm-Ups
• 5 Collaboration Games for the Drama Classroom
• 3 “Get To Know You” Games

2. Use similar lessons with tiered levels of requirements.

Rather than coming up with multiple assignments, use the same overarching assignment for all students, with increasing challenge levels for older and more experienced students. For example, you could teach a monologue unit and have the younger students start with shorter, modern pieces, while older, more experienced students can tackle monologues that are longer, more emotionally driven, or more technically complex.

For costume, props, or set design units, your senior students can be the lead designer or managing head of each department, while younger students do more of the creation and/or operations side (such as pulling or sewing costumes, painting sets, being a backstage dresser, assistant stage manager, or stagehand).

With written assignments, you could offer one choice board for all students and assign different completion requirements for different grade levels. For example, your choice board might have five different options on it. Grade 10 students must complete two of the five requirements, while Grade 11s must complete three of five and Grade 12s must complete four of five.

3. Or, have different focuses for each grade level on the same overall project.

This is most common in production drama classes, where the younger students work on the production side (technicians, builders, assisting) while the senior students appear onstage. Or, the senior students direct a series of scenes featuring the younger students. Then if students continue to take drama classes in subsequent years, they’ll get the opportunity to experience all three roles over their years in drama (e.g., tech in Grade 10, performing in Grade 11, and directing in Grade 12).

4. Senior students can mentor younger students.

Having multiple grades in one class gives older students a wonderful opportunity to lead and mentor younger students. Senior students can take on leadership roles such as student director, stage manager, or head technician. They can lead warm-ups, take on dance or fight captain roles, or give feedback to younger students when appropriate. You could establish a buddy system, where younger students shadow or work with more experienced students in various roles and experiences in the drama classroom. You could also assign senior students various theatre topics to research independently and teach the rest of the class (under your supervision).

5. Have time-filler activities ready, just in case.

There will likely be times when some students finish early or need more challenges, particularly in split-level classes. You’ll want to have some time filler activities in your back pocket for those moments, such as journal prompts (you’ll find additional journal prompts in the giveaway below) and reflections, playwriting prompts, or other low- or no-prep exercises that students can do independently or with their class buddy. This helps minimize downtime and keeps the class running smoothly.