Group Work

In this activity, students will demonstrate their knowledge of a selected play or musical and combine it with their creative and artistic skills to make their own theatrical board game. They’ll design and present a racing-style board game, like The Game of Life or Candyland, complete with a customized game board and tokens and an entertaining storyline based on important moments from the show. This activity is great for partners or small groups. An evaluation rubric is included at the bottom of this article. 1. Decide on a game journey.Have students select a show you’re currently studying or performing, or a different show of their choosing. Students will create a timeline of the major events in the play or musical, which they will use throughout the game to tell the story of the show. Map out a list of the important moments throughout the play that they need to include, and put them in chronological order. Determine how these moments will fit onto the game board or into the game. For example, will the moments be written on game spaces for the players to read, or do the players need to solve a show-related riddle or puzzle to win? The goal for the “game journey” is for the student game designers to demonstrate that they know the important plot points from the show’s storyline, while making the game fun at the same time. 2. Determine the gameplay and rules.Students will need to decide how the tokens will move around the board (e.g., using dice, playing cards, or another counting method) and any special spaces, such as “lose a turn,” “move back ___ spaces,” or “advance token to ____ space.” Special spaces can be game-related or action-related. For example, if the group chose The Phantom of the Opera for their game board, some special space examples might be, “You receive a threatening note from The Phantom — lose a turn” or “You’ve joined the corps de ballet — demonstrate your best moves and gain an extra three spaces” or “Madame Giry demands that you answer a trivia question to earn an extra dice throw.” Some board games include drawing extra cards or gaining bonus tokens for various reasons. Students are encouraged to add a unique slant to their games, whether that be answering trivia questions, completing physical tasks, collecting bonus tokens from landing on certain spaces, or something else related to the play or musical basis for the game. A game based on Alice in Wonderland might have game players collecting vials of “Drink Me” potion throughout the game, while a game based on Peter and the Starcatcher might require game players to retrieve bags of starstuff. Students will type up the rules and include them with their board game, ensuring they are clear and concise. (Nobody wants to spend ages reading through the rules before getting into the gameplay!) 3. Design tokens and a game board.Using their design skills, students will create a colourful and elaborate game board and unique playing tokens for their game. If students are studying The Addams Family, they might choose to make tokens that look like Morticia, Gomez, Wednesday, and Lucas Beineke, with a board designed entirely in black and gray. A Wizard of Oz game might have the game board divided into different zones such as Munchkinland, the spooky forest, the poppy field, and the Emerald City — with the Yellow Brick Road as the game track of course! For this assignment, students must also include a three-dimensional feature to their game board, similar to a scale model set design. They might wish to design a game backboard that looks like the French Taunter’s castle from Spamalot, have high rise buildings in each corner for a How to Succeed in Business… game, or build a miniature bed stacked with many mattresses for tokens to climb for a Once Upon a Mattress game. The possibilities are endless! 4. Play the game!Have each group pair up with another group, and test play each group’s board games. Then, give each team notes. What worked well? What needed improvement? How well did the team integrate the source play or musical into the design of the game? As time permits, have students try out a few different games. If you wish, have them vote on their top three games!

In this small group exercise, students will write a creative summary of the plot of a play using the ABCB, or “simple 4-line” rhyme scheme. This exercise focuses on creative thinking and teamwork. If you wish to expand this exercise, you can add a performance component, where the group members will perform the piece they created as a dramatic reading. You may wish to provide your students with a rhyming dictionary and/or a thesaurus to assist them with creating their written pieces. There are also many free online resources available to assist students with finding rhymes and synonyms. Written ComponentThe ABCB rhyme scheme is common in English-language verse. The second and fourth lines rhyme, while the first and third do not. For example: Roses are red, (A) Violets are blue, (B) Sugar is sweet, (C) And so are you. (B) Let’s say your students are studying Romeo and Juliet. As a class, create a timeline of the major events that occur within the play. For example, Romeo and Juliet meet, they wed in secret, Tybalt is angered and kills Mercutio, Romeo kills Tybalt, Romeo is banished, and so on. From there, divide the class into groups of two to four. Each group will create their own rhyming summary of the play, using the ABCB rhyme scheme. Each group will decide what important events they wish to include in the piece, and what the overall tone of the piece should be. The piece will have a minimum of four verses (no maximum unless the teacher decides to have one). Here’s a sample piece: Romeo loved Rosaline Or so he claimed to do. But once he noticed Juliet, From Rosaline he flew. This made Tybalt angry, Revenge is what he sought, He challenged Romeo to a duel, And with swords they fought. Romeo was banished. Friar Lawrence tried to assist. Juliet would fake her death But the message to Romeo was missed. Romeo drank poison When he saw his unmoving wife, When Juliet arose and saw he was dead She also took her own life. Each group will submit a written copy of the piece, with all group members’ names on the paper. Additionally, each group member will submit an individual reflection, responding to the following: • Rate your contribution to today’s group exercise out of 10 (10 being an excellent contributor, 1 being not contributing to the project at all). Why did you give yourself the rating you did? Describe your contributions to the group. Performance ComponentEach group member will perform at least one verse. Give groups some time in class to assign their verses and rehearse. Depending on your preferences, group members can perform “on book” with script in hand, or you may wish to have students memorize their verses at home and perform later in the week, off book. Each group member should use gestures, vocal inflections, and facial expressions to create an engaging performance. Clear enunciation and good volume are always a requirement for a good performance. As well, the overall tone of the piece should be consistent from performer to performer. Even though students are each performing separate verses, they should think of themselves as presenting a single unified piece.

This exercise is inspired by the theatre game The Machine, where students work together to create parts of a factory machine with repeated movements and sound. In The 20-Step Process, we take this a step further by making a simple task comically complicated. This exercise challenges small groups of students to think critically, problem solve, and create and execute a plan. It’s also a creative challenge — students can present their process in a variety of performance styles. Instructions: 1. Divide students into small groups of 3–4. 2. Assign each group an everyday task, such as making a peanut butter sandwich, brushing their teeth, or filling up the car with gasoline. If you need some help with tasks, our outdoor prompt and food-related prompt lists are full of action ideas. 3. In their groups, have students write out a list of 20 steps — no more and no less — to complete the task. For example, making a peanut butter sandwich isn’t simply opening a jar of peanut butter and using a knife to spread it on bread. It might involve locating a magical pig to sniff out a peanut plant, digging up the peanuts, selecting only the peanuts with a particular set of measurements, washing the peanuts with special soap, extracting the peanuts from their shells, crushing the peanuts into a paste, adding salt to the paste, heating the mixture over a fire that is exactly 348 degrees… and so on for 20 steps, with the 20th step being the completion of the sandwich. The steps can be as silly and fanciful as the students wish, as long as there are 20 steps — no more, no less. If students have difficulty figuring out the steps, they might want to try working backwards from the final step, or breaking down each part of the task into ridiculously small micro-tasks. 4. Once they have created the list, students will figure out a way to present it as a performance. Some ideas might include: • Create a series of 20 tableau scenes (one for each step). • Mime the 20 steps. • Do an interpretive dance of the 20 steps while a narrator describes the action. • Present the list in the style of a step-by-step instructional video. • Turn the list into a poem or song. • Create a comedy scene in which a teacher shows their students how to do the task using the 20 steps, or a group tries to follow the instructions written on a piece of paper for the first time. Students may also pitch their own ideas on how they’d present their group’s list. All the movements and voices (as applicable) should be big and exaggerated. 5. Give students time in class to plan and rehearse their performances. If you want this exercise to be a larger project, you may assign part of the task as homework and have students practice at home and present the next day. 6. Students will present their scenes for the rest of the class. 7. After each group presents, students will complete and submit an individual reflection.

The following exercise gives students the opportunity to practice active listening, teamwork, taking direction, and problem solving as a group. Acting as an ensemble with a student director, group members will create a tableau scene illustrating three moments from a familiar story, using every member of the group in some way. The word “tableau” comes from the phrase tableau vivant, or “living picture.” Students will use their bodies and imaginations to create frozen pictures to tell the story — no words or sounds allowed. Blinking and breathing are always acceptable — and necessary! You may laugh, but every time I play this game with students, there is always one person who asks, “Can I still blink when I’m frozen?” You’ll need a stopwatch or clock to indicate how much planning and rehearsal time is available. Optional: A smartphone or digital camera to take a photo of each tableau scene, so students can see their work Warm-UpTo get students in the tableau mindset, use Tableau Scenes from a Book or Numbered Tableaux as a warm-up exercise. Instruction1. Divide students into large groups of 8–10. Adjust as necessary depending on how many students you have, but try to have at least 2 separate groups. 2. Select one director per group. This student will be in charge of the final look of the scene but is welcome to take suggestions from the group members. They must also participate as a member of the tableau scene. 3. Give each group a familiar nursery rhyme or story prompt with a limited number of named characters, such as The Three Little Pigs, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, or Sleeping Beauty. Groups will choose three memorable moments in the story to portray in three frozen onstage pictures. Let students know how much time they have to plan and rehearse. 4. Each group member must be included in the tableau scene in some way, despite there being fewer named characters than students. What else can the other students portray? They might be props (such as the spinning wheel in Sleeping Beauty or a bowl of porridge in Goldilocks), set pieces (such as one of the Three Little Pigs’ houses), atmosphere (sun or moon, trees, background creatures), or whatever else makes sense for the scene. Encourage students to make creative, thoughtful choices that add to the overall picture, but don’t forget that the director is to make the final decisions for the look of the picture. 5. Another thing students will have to think about is the transition between the pictures. How will the group move from each tableau? 6. Students will present their tableau scenes to the rest of the class. 7. Optional: Take a photo of each tableau scene so students can see what they look like in the frozen picture. Ask your students: what worked well in this scene? What didn’t work so well? If you’re showing the photos to students, ask them: when you look at the photos, does the scene look like you imagined it would look? What might you change if you were to attempt the exercise again? 8. A reflection is provided (see below) to allow students to think about their participation in the exercise. Additional Options: • Have students plan their tableau scenes silently. How will they communicate non-verbally? • Tell each group secretly what story they are portraying, and have the other groups guess what the story is. • Tell only the director what story their group is portraying. The director must instruct the rest of the group without revealing what the story is. • Try the exercise again, switching some of the group members, with less planning time.

We do TONS of group work in drama class, and it’s important for students to have the opportunity to work with a variety of their peers. Working with different classmates allows students to get to know each other better, find common interests, observe different learning styles, hear new ideas, practice problem solving, and make new friends. While it may be the most practical for the teacher to assign groups, or the most fun for students to choose their own groups, sometimes it’s amusing to mix it up and try a different or unusual way of arranging students into groups. Here are ten ways to divide your students into groups. Some of the prompts are quite basic and some are more time consuming, but novelty can keep your students intrigued and on their toes! 1. Teacher’s Choice: The teacher assigns groups, either in advance or in the moment. This is the most practical for the teacher, but the least fun for students. 2. Students’ Choice: Students choose their group members. This may lead to students only working with their friends or some students feeling left out. 3. Students’ Choice Switch: Have students form their own groups. Have one member of each group volunteer to be captain. The captains must switch groups. 4. Count Off: Have students stand in a circle. Number off each student according to the number of groups you wish to have. All 1s are a group, all 2s are a group, and so on. You may wish to mix up your counting schemes so students don’t try to reorder themselves to get into a particular group. 5. Schoolyard Pick: The teacher assigns two captains (or directors, if you want to keep it more drama class-esque). Captain A chooses a team member, followed by Captain B. Team Member A then chooses the next member, followed by Team Member B. Each newly picked team member chooses the next team member. Be sure to mix up team captains so the same people are not always picked last. 6. Height: Have students line up across the room from shortest to tallest. (Bonus points if students can do this silently.) Count off the number of group members down the line starting with the shortest student, or go from each end to have a variety of shorter and taller students together in a group. 7. Alphabetical: Have students line up across the room in alphabetical order according to first name. (Again, bonus points if they’re able to do this silently.) Amber, Benicio, Cassandra, Dave, Emil, and so on. If two or more students have the same name, use their last initial to put them in order. Count off the number of group members down the line, starting with the As. 8. Random Name Generator : Input your students’ names into a random name generator site such as Wheel of Names or Picker Wheel. Click the wheel and see what names get randomly chosen. 9. Sorting Hat : Write down students’ names on slips of paper and draw them out of a hat. 10. Playing Cards: Arrange a deck of cards to have the same number of cards as students (for example, if you have 20 students, you’ll need 4 aces, 4 twos, 4 threes, 4 fours, and 4 fives). Deal out a card to each student. Have students match up the numbers to form their groups. At the end of class, you may wish to use the following exit slip question for students to reflect on: Share your thoughts on today’s group selection process. What did you like or dislike about it? Suggest a new or different way of dividing students into groups.

Some students take drama class with the intention of becoming an actor, director, or playwright in the future. Many others take drama class simply because it’s fun. Some students take it because they think it’ll be easy, and of course there’s the group of students who are only in your class because all the other classes in that time slot were full. The goal of the following group exercise is to help students (particularly your more reluctant students or nay-sayers) learn about transferrable or “soft” skills that are taught and developed through studying drama, and how they can be applied to any career path or job they may choose to pursue. Even those students who think they’re not creative or only there because they have to be will be able to grow and develop useful skills that will serve them in the future. Instructions:1. Introduce the concept of transferrable or “soft” skills. These include skills like teamwork, communication, problem solving, time management, leadership, self-confidence, emotional awareness, and more. Discuss with your students what soft skills they can learn and develop while studying drama, and how. You can use these posts for reference: How Studying Drama Can Benefit Students Outside of the Drama Classroom and What Skills Do You Need to Work on a Show?. 2. Divide students into pairs or small groups. Give each group an occupation: doctor, lawyer, lifeguard, chef, prime minister, retail service associate, visual artist, esthetician, teacher, custodian, etc. Use the Tons of Occupation Prompts resource for more ideas. 3. Have students brainstorm or create a mind map of at least five skills learned and practiced in drama class that are related to the occupation, and how they are related. For example, in drama class, you practice time management skills by learning your lines promptly and completing your homework assignments on time. A doctor must have good time management skills to treat all their patients in a timely manner. An esthetician also must have good time management skills to see all their clients on time and clean their tools and work stations in between, so their appointments don’t run late. 4. Have each group present their lists to the rest of the class. After each group has presented, students will complete an individual reflection. Additional Resources: • Teaching Life Skills Through Virtual Drama Class • Finding Theatrical Opportunities Outside the Drama Classroom • Common Assumptions About Drama Class

Distance Learning Note: This blog post is written for an in-class scavenger hunt. But, this is an activity that can easily be adapted for distance learning. Students can work independently to get as many items as they can in a certain time frame. Perhaps they pull family members in to complete the tasks! You’ll have to make sure your scavenger list works for an at home situation. If you want to do this scavenger hunt as a group project, divide students into virtual groups and then have the groups discuss (e.g. through Zoom) and divide up the tasks. If you do this as a group project, I’d suggest providing a shorter time limit. Have them working and executing on the project quickly! In the download for this post you can find an in-class scavenger hunt list *and an example of an adapted at home scavenger hunt list. * A drama class scavenger hunt requires creative thinking, decision making, teamwork, and time management. Students will work in small groups to earn as many points from the scavenger list as possible within a certain time frame. Students won’t be able to complete every item on the scavenger hunt list; they’ll need to come up with a plan and make quick decisions as a group. Will they complete a bunch of easy tasks that are worth fewer points, or go for a more challenging task worth more points? The scavenger lists will combine items to find as well as tasks to complete. Sometimes students will need to take photos or videos for proof that the task was completed. All tasks should be related to drama or theatre, of course! Materials Needed (one for each group):• A scavenger list (You can create your own, or see below for a free list. If you create your own, you’ll need to come up with more tasks than your students will be able to complete in the allotted time.) • A smartphone or digital camera to take photos and videos (students will most likely have their own) • A bag to hold items • A pen or pencil • (Optional) A projector that can connect to the phones/cameras to show the photos to the rest of the class Instructions:1. Before starting the scavenger hunt, determine whether students will be allowed to go outside the drama classroom for their tasks, or if they must stay in the classroom. If necessary, obtain permission from the principal and make proper arrangements for students to be out of the classroom, such as arranging for hall passes and being able to connect to students digitally to give them a five minute warning. 2. Divide students into groups of 4-6. 3. Give each group a scavenger list. 4. Set a time limit for groups to hunt. Remember to allow travel time back to the drama classroom (if necessary) as well as time for groups to tally up their points and/or show their photos. 5. Set your students loose! 6. If they’re out of the classroom send your students a five minute warning for when they need to return to the drama classroom to share their findings and tally up their points. 7. If you wish, you can assign bonus points for completing the entire list or making it back before time runs out. The best scavenger lists have a variety of easy, difficult, funny and serious tasks. Some of the tasks will require students to bring back an item. Some might require students to look something up online. Some tasks will challenge students to think creatively about how to interpret the requirement, and some will require students to figure out a theatrical reference. Some tasks are just silly! If you wish, students can complete a reflection afterwards, using the following questions: • What was the easiest part of today’s exercise? The most difficult? • How were you an effective group member today? • How can this exercise be applied to the real world?

Encouraging students to work together is often a challenge. Some students worry that they’ll be saddled with peers who won’t pull their weight. Some students are super-shy and the idea of approaching others to work together can be terrifying. And still others don’t want to work in a group because their friends aren’t in the class, because they think the assignment isn’t worth their time, or because they’re just “too cool.” In such cases, students may decide that working in a group isn’t worth their time and that it would be easier for them to just do the work themselves. However, group work teaches a host of important skills that students can’t develop as effectively when working alone. Group work, particularly in the drama classroom, is important and necessary because: 1. It encourages students to listen to each other.Theatre is a collaborative effort, and each student will come to the group with different thoughts, ideas, goals, and expectations for the project. Just because one student has a whole bunch of brilliant ideas doesn’t mean that the rest of the group won’t have equally great ideas. Working in a group encourages students to keep their egos in check and to be open to new and different ideas on how to approach the project. 2. It develops students’ communication skills.Continuing on with the previous point, while students may have brilliant ideas, those ideas won’t be of any use if students can’t express themselves. Working in a group challenges students to communicate effectively. Whether it’s speaking up when another group member is steamrolling over everyone else’s ideas, solving a problem that has the group stumped, or dealing with conflict between group members, communication is key. How can students ensure that they are all heard and can contribute equally to the group work process? Here’s a method for brainstorming ideas (for a scene topic, a playwriting prompt, etc.). • Go around in a circle and have each group member add an idea to the brainstorming list, one by one. • Do this five times. • No editing or judgment – the point is for each student to contribute five ideas. However, going around in a circle and taking turns giving ideas ensures that one student isn’t left until the end with all the “good ideas” having been already suggested. As well, it’s important for students to communicate their expectations for success within the project. Students should take some time with their group members to describe what they feel are acceptable and unacceptable levels of participation and completion within the parameters of the project, as well as insight into other group members’ feelings about deadlines, the delegation of jobs, and so on. This gives them a greater level of understanding of each other and will help them to manage their expectations, both of themselves and of others within the group. 3. It helps students learn to delegate.As do-it-all directors and teachers, we know how stressful trying to do everything ourselves is. Now add on top of that additional classes, homework, part-time jobs, extracurricular activities, home life, friendships, and all the other worries and challenges facing students on a daily basis, and it becomes quite clear that students need to learn how to delegate group work. For example, if groups are staging a scene, perhaps one group member can be in charge of writing the scene while another one is in charge of editing. And another group member directs while a fourth group member is in charge of finding props and costumes. This way, each member is able to contribute – either in an aspect they feel confident about or in an aspect they want to learn more about. Both are beneficial! 4. It helps students learn to trust others.This can be a difficult one. Students can listen, communicate, and delegate. But when it comes down to the nitty-gritty of actually doing the work, students have to trust that the rest of the group is going to come through and complete their portion of the project. It’s not easy, but it’s part of the process! 5. It helps students develop empathy.Students need to learn to understand and work with students from different backgrounds, with different abilities, and with different levels of experience. Just because something is easy for one student doesn’t mean it is so simple for another. Furthermore, having different thoughts, opinions, and ideas in a group is a great thing because it encourages students to be more open-minded and develop a deeper understanding of others. It creates a richer, more diverse starting point for developing new and interesting theatrical creations.

Here is a brainstorming exercise that you can use with your students when they have selected a broad topic and are trying to narrow it down or flesh out their ideas. For example, they may have selected a topic for a scene they’re writing together, but they need to delve deeper. The following brainstorming activity, “Add Three,” can be helpful for expanding students’ ideas and helping them to think of creative details. If you are familiar with mind mapping, this activity uses that method of organization. Here’s how to do it: 1. Divide the class into groups of three. 2. Give each group a large piece of paper, or use a mind-mapping computer application (there are lots available for free online, such as Lucidchart, MindMup, or Canva). Students will write their broad topic in the centre of the page and draw a small circle or rectangle around the word(s). • If students need help coming up with their first topic, have them go back and try this brainstorming activity first. 3. From the centre circle, students will draw six lines out (three on each side). On the left, the lines will lead to WHO, WHAT, and WHERE. On the right, the lines will lead to WHEN, WHY, and HOW. Draw a circle around each word. 4. From each point, add three new details. For example: • For the WHO section, students might list three new characters. • For WHAT, they might list three problems or plot points that occur during the scene. • For WHERE, they might list three different locations that the character references, or that they travel to during the scene. • For WHEN, they might list three different options for when the show could take place. • The categories WHY and HOW are a bit broader. Why does the character make the choices they do? Why do certain things happen in the scene? Why should the scene be performed in rhyme rather than tableau? How does the scene start or end? How do various problems occur or get solved? How should a character move, think, speak? How should the scene be presented – mime, radio play, as a comedy? These details can be listed underneath each topic circle, or students can add more lines and circles going out (your mind map will start to look like a satellite!). As with most brainstorming exercises, this is not the time to edit or eliminate ideas. Write them down as they come. Editing can come later. 5. From there, students can add on three more precise details to as many of the previous details as they can. For example, for each of the three characters listed in the WHO section, students can list three personality traits, or three details as to the character’s objective. If students brainstormed different methods of presenting their scene in the HOW section, they can include details as to WHY each method would be the most effective. Students are challenged to focus on three details each time because it’s a less intimidating number to try to brainstorm for, and it challenges students to look beyond yes-or-no and this-or-that answers. For example, for WHEN, students can’t just write “night” and “day” as their options – they have to be a bit more specific. Of course, students are welcome to include more than three details for each section, but the minimum is three. 6. Once the groups’ page is starting to get full, students should stop and take a break. (This doesn’t mean students should just write in big letters to try and fill up the page more quickly!) 7. After a set amount of time (perhaps even at the following class), have students re-visit their mind maps and see if there are any connections that can be made between the details they listed. Using a differently coloured pen or pencil, join those connections with a line. As well, if students want to add more details to any of the points or already know that they wish to eliminate or alter a detail, have them cross it out with a small X (don’t erase, and keep the cross-out small so they can still see what was changed) and write the amendment near the previous detail. I like to switch the colours each time I take a new pass at my mind map so I can see how my ideas have grown and evolved. The “Add Three” exercise helps students to keep those options focused rather than haphazard. Your students have created lots of options about where they can take their ideas. Now they can delve into their first drafts!

Group work is an enormous part of drama class. Students are always working in groups, whether for warm-ups, improvisation, scene work, playwriting, working backstage, and more. Even if your entire drama class was focused on monologues and one-person shows, students need to work in groups for dramaturgy, giving and receiving direction, assisting with technical needs, and feedback. So the ability to navigate group work is a skill that students need to develop. The tricky part of working in groups is often figuring out who the group members will be. Do you allow your students to select their own groups, or do you assign group members? Let’s look at some pros and cons of both selection methods. Assigned GroupsPros • Working in assigned groups gives students the opportunity to work with and get to know other students that they may not know as well. This could be the start of a new friendship! • Working in assigned groups helps students work on their communication and problem-solving skills as they learn to delegate the work and navigate different styles of learning. • Using assigned groups provides a sense of fairness. If the groups are selected in class by random grouping (such as drawing names out of a hat), then the students can see that the selection process was random and the same for everyone. Cons • Students may not be happy with their assigned group members, or even accuse you of “stacking” certain groups. They may think you put them with someone that they don’t get along with on purpose as a “punishment” or that a certain group member won’t pull their weight. • Students might feel shy or scared to do the vulnerable work in drama class with people they are less familiar with or don’t know. Despite the fact that they will eventually present their work in front of the rest of the class, it can be hard for students to open up during the work portion of the assignment. • Teachers can never know the full ins and outs of their students’ lives, and it is possible you could assign students to a group who you thought were best friends but are currently fighting, or students who used to date each other but have broken up, or any number of other conflicts. While your students will have to learn to deal with working with others in many different situations, it could cause problems in the short term. Class-Chosen GroupsPros • Students are generally happy because they get to work with their friends and appreciate being able to control who is in their group. • Some students also choose their groups strategically and select the people in class who they think are the smartest or most talented in order to benefit from those students’ skills and boost their own performance, marks, or overall group appearance. • Letting students select their own group members gives them the opportunity to demonstrate their decision-making skills and to solve problems on their own. They need to make smart choices about who they do and do not decide to work with. Cons • Inevitably, someone either always gets chosen last or doesn’t immediately find a group and needs help. This can be frustrating or embarrassing for the student who is left out, and potentially cause resentment for the other group members who didn’t necessarily want that student in their group in the first place. • Frequently, there are groups of students who really should not work together and it pretty much defeats the purpose of class-chosen groups if you have to go back and change the groups. • Particularly in younger grades, students of the same gender tend to band together, which can be difficult if you are working with scripts that require group members of different genders. (However, this could be turned into a pro if the group members find creative solutions to such casting challenges!) What do you think? What works best with your students? What works best for your curriculum?

The following exercise gives students the opportunity to pitch their dream show to the rest of the class. This is a great exercise to do with students after you’ve polled your class. Now that they’ve identified which shows they are interested in working on, they are going to take the next step: discovering what it takes to get the ball rolling towards actually producing a show. This exercise combines students’ theatrical knowledge with a useful technique taught in business class: SWOT analysis. SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. A SWOT analysis is used to specify the objective of a business venture or project, and to identify and evaluate different internal and external factors (both positive and negative ones) to achieve the objective. In this exercise, the objective of the project is to select the best possible show for your drama class to produce. Students will select partners and decide on a show that they wish to produce. As a team, they will complete a SWOT analysis, identifying the following aspects of their show: • Strengths: Characteristics of the show that give it an advantage over other shows. • Weaknesses: Characteristics of the show that place it at a disadvantage relative to other shows. • Opportunities: Elements in the environment (the class itself, the school, the stage, etc.) that the class could exploit to its advantage to produce the show. • Threats: Elements in the environment (the class itself, the school, the stage, etc.) that could create obstacles for putting on the production. Students will fill out the following table with answers to each section:

How do you communicate when you can’t talk directly?Have you ever been in a situation where you see something or someone and you want to comment out loud, but it’s just not possible? Perhaps you’re in public. Perhaps you don’t want the person you’re observing to know what you’re thinking. You desperately want to say something but it’s just not appropriate. How do you engage in the act of observation in public? How do you communicate when you can’t talk directly? Create a secret code of course! For example When I go to Disney World, one of the groups of people I like to observe are newly married people. More often than not, these couples broadcast their status by wearing bride and groom Mickey ears. The bride ears are ok. The groom ones are a little goofy. They’re fun to watch. It would be inappropriate to call out, “look at the guy in the goofy hat,” or “look, it’s newlyweds!” If I want to communicate these phrases, I need a secret code. 1. It has to be subtle. It can’t be obvious. You can’t shout out “Married People!” Not cool. 2. It has to be something you’ll remember. There’s a song about getting married in one of my favourite musicals, Sondheim’s Company. The song is called “Getting Married Today.” It’s a little ironic because the character singing the song is actually talking about not getting married to her fiance Paul. I know the song well and I know exactly what it’s about. 3. It has to be short. Instead of singing a whole line from the song, I chose a short phrase “Don’t Tell Paul!” If you yell out “Don’t tell Paul!” no one, except Sondheim fans, will have any idea what you’re talking about. Unless the guy’s name is Paul. Secret Code ExerciseHow can you use secret code observation language in the classroom 1. Divide the class into groups. 2. Each group has to come up with an observational phrase derived from a theatrical source. The phrase must adhere to the following criteria: • The phrase must be subtle. • The phrase must be memorable and the group has to explain why it’s memorable. • The phrase has to be short. 3. Remind students: the point is not to be mean, but to comment on something so no one else knows what you’re talking about. And remember, it can’t be obvious: Don’t Tell Paul=newlyweds in funny hats. 4. Once groups have their phrase, they have to create a scene which uses the phrase. Give students 10 minutes to create a 1 minute scene. 5. Groups present their scene. Ask the class to see if they can decode the secret phrase. What are they commenting on? 6. At the end, each group explains the origin of the phrase. 7. Reflection: Reflect on the exercise. What was it like to create a secret code? What was it like to communicate in secret?

A mixed message is when our words say one thing and our bodies/vocal tones say another. (tight, deadpan voice) _ I love you._ Good communication is all about being clear across the board. Use this exercise to explore the concept of mixed messages and what they communicate. Sometimes we want a character to present a mixed message! Instruction:1. Start the exercise with a discussion. What is a mixed message? What does it look like and sound like? Give this definition: Mixed messages say one thing with the body and another thing with the voice. 2. Have your students ever been on the receiving end of a mixed message? It would help the discussion if you could provide an example of your own. Has anyone given a mixed message but was surprised to find out? How did the message come across? What is it like to receive a mixed message? 3. Model an example of playing a mixed message. Start talking about a presentation that you have to give. Use confident words. So I have to give this presentation and I’m totally prepared for it. I can’t wait to get in front of the class and share my information. I’ve got this. Contrast these confident words with an insecure tone. Hum and haw. Sound nervous. Sound unsure. After you present this, ask students about what they heard. Did they believe your words? Why or why not? Get them to be specific about their doubts to your sincerity. Highlight the contrast. The message is confusing because the words say one thing and the vocal tone says another. 4. Use the same example and use a physical contrast. Contrast the confident words with a physical insecurity and anxiety: pace, run your fingers through your hair, hold your arms across your chest. Be physically anxious. After you present this, ask students about what they saw. Did they believe your words? Why or why not? 5. Now students are going to try this for themselves. Get everyone up and in partners. Tell students to decide who is Partner A and who is Partner B. 6. Instruct the pairs that they are going to start a scene. Everyone will go at the same time. Partner A will start the scene with the line. “Hey! It’s great to see you.” Coach them to be sincere with their vocal tone and their physical body. They are indeed happy to see the other person. Let this run for about a minute and bring everyone to neutral. 7. Instruct the pairs that they are going to switch. Now Partner B is going to start the scene with the line “Hey! It’s great to see you.” This time, Partner B is going to send a mixed message. Ask students to decide on their mixed message: if the words are positive, something has to be negative. They can choose a vocal contrast. They can choose a physical contrast. Have them do the scene for a minute. 8. Afterwards, discuss the exercise. How did it feel to be on the receiving end of a mixed message? Was it frustrating? Why or why not? How did it change the scene? What was being communicated? 9. Ask students to think about how presenting a mixed message might be useful in a theatrical context. What would it be like to be a character who delivers mixed messages? Can they think of a character in a play they’ve studied who presents mixed messages? 10. Reflection: Have students reflect on mixed messages. Get them to describe the concept in their own words. How do mixed messages affect communication? How can they use mixed messages in their future acting work?

“Devising: A project that starts with an idea/concept/source material rather than a completed script” The culminating activity for collaboration in the drama classroom is to have your students work on a devising project. It will definitely show you how well your students work together! More on devising in the next blog post, but here’s an exercise to get your students in the right frame of mind. To devise effectively, students have to not only be able to come up with ideas based on a topic, but to change, develop, and accept feedback on those ideas. The biggest misstep of a devised piece is to set everything in stone too early. Devising is a process and change is a part of that process. How can you get your students used to looking at an idea from as many different angles as possible? Exercise• Start by having three volunteers improvise a scene. Something simple with three characters, a relationship and a location. • Afterward, write the scene down as a class. Don’t worry if they don’t get it exactly right. The point of writing it down is to have a frame of reference. It’s not a script to follow. • Divide the class into groups. Each group should have a copy of the scene, so everyone starts on the same page: a three character scene with a relationship and a location. • Give each group a new directive for the scene. They’re going to completely turn it on it’s head in some way. Some suggestions are • Turn the scene into a dance. • Present the scene as animals. • A tornado is happening during the scene. • It’s now the future. They are all robots. • It’s the future, they’re all robots and no one can speak english. • It’s a movement piece. Every line has to be turned into a gesture. • Turn the scene into a song. • Turn the scene into an instrumental techno piece. • Turn the scene into art. • The first reaction is probably going to be “We can’t do this!” Let students have this reaction. But be firm. They have their assignment. The purpose of the assignment is to work with change. Some of the changes will be more successful than others. What you want to see is the effort in the change, not whether or not the change is spectacular. • Don’t give students too much time to make their changes. You want them to work and make choices instead of thinking about how their choices will fail. • After each group presents their version of the scene, discuss the process. Instead of talking about the final product, talk about the process of being forced to make a change. How did they work in their groups? How did they make choices? Was it frustrating? Were there fights? How did they deal with these issues? • You can also turn these questions into a written reflection where students talk about their experience with the exercise.

“The number one problem in the classroom is not discipline: it is the lack or procedures and routines. – Harry Wong, The Well Managed Classroom” The Drama Classroom is a unique place. Often there are no defined rows of tables and chairs. A loud boisterous class could be a sign of productivity not unruliness. And what other class includes warm-ups? There must be a balance between creative activity and structure in the drama classroom. It’s not unusual for students to act out or misbehave (especially students new to drama) because the expectations in drama class are so different from expectations in other classes. A drama teacher must have a plan in place to maintain control. This is to create an environment so that you and your students are able to spend as much time as possible learning and not managing disruptions. Each teacher will have their own definition of what that means, but elements to consider include routine, behaviour, co-operation via group work, and peer leadership. How do you set your drama classroom up for success?RoutineStudents like structure. They like knowing what they’re doing. Routine can be established even in the drama class, where you may move from loud group activities, to journal work, to scene study. How do you start and end each class? The easiest way to establish routine in the drama class is to set a routine for the beginning and end of class. This way, regardless of what activities make up the bulk of the class, there is start and a finish that rarely varies.  There are a variety of activities you can use: • Shed the outside world: have students take their shoes off, put their electronics on a shelf, and drop their bags. Follow these steps in exactly the same way, in exactly the same place every class. Make it a transition ritual to help establish that drama class is different. • Circle up and the beginning and end. Students know that when they walk in the room, they sit in a circle. Just before the bell rings, they know to return to the circle. • Bell work. Students know when they walk in the room they pull out their journals and respond to something written on the board. It could be a reflection, a response to a question, or an opinion. You can also end each class with a reflection. What happened in the class that day? • Warm-ups. Every drama teacher knows to make warm-ups a part of the class routine. It’s another great way to establish the difference between drama class and other classes. Also, drama warm-ups introduce students to the techniques and tools needed to perform. Routines take time to establish. You can’t chastise students for not knowing your specific routines on the first day of class. The way to set a routine is practice. Instead of telling students the routine, take them through it physically. Practice getting into a circle on an aural cue (e.g. the word “circle,” a specific piece of music, or a clapping pattern). Model the routine for them - show them how you want their shoes, phones and bags placed. Model how you want warm-ups taught and have students practice. It may seem like a lot of work but a semester is a long time. A few weeks at the beginning of the year will save tons of time and energy later. Peer LeadershipOne of the best ways to manage the potential chaos of the drama classroom is to establish peer leadership. Teach students to lead themselves and to lead one another. This way it’s not just your voice asking for quiet, getting students into groups, and repeating instructions. Students respond more quickly and consistently to their peers than they do to adults. A leadership role empowers students to further their communication skills, to make decisions, and to learn in practice what it means to take responsibility. How do you get students to take on a leadership role? • Create a sign-up roster for student-led warm-ups. Each student is responsible for teaching a warm-up to the class. • After you give instructions for an activity, choose students to re-teach the instructions. • Identify the leaders in the class and speak with them. Ask them to help you keep others on track during exercises. • Get students in the habit of asking one another for clarification of activity instructions. This way students learn that you will not repeat things just because they weren’t listening and they must turn to their peers for help. • Give students tasks: taking attendance, handing out / returning homework, and giving instructions.  Group WorkIf you find yourself with an overly large class, focus on project-based small group activities. These activities give students the opportunity to practice cooperation skills. While some groups work well together, others do not. Sometimes there are students who let others take control and do nothing. It’s not a given, even by the time they reach high school, that students know how to work together effectively and efficiently. How do you get your students to work together? • The teacher assigns the groups. And this goes beyond random groupings - spend time getting to know your students before you introduce group work. Then you can put the groups together like a recipe. Which students will fit together best? • One reason students won’t work together is because they simply don’t know each other well. It’s always easier to work with your friends. Use exercises that allow students to learn about each other. • Play an icebreaker game: Have students walk around the room until a designated signal. The first person a student makes eye contact with is their partner. The teacher calls out a category such as favourite movie, food you hate, best song, and the students share their info. Circle up after a few rounds. Students have to recall what others said. Give points for correct answers. • Set the parameters for what it means to work in a group before you give them a specific project. What is the expected outcome of group work? What’s expected from each individual within the group? What sound volume is appropriate for group work? Model your expectations; show students what an ineffective group member looks like. • Establish a designated non-verbal “quiet time” signal so you’re not yelling over the noise (e.g. a clap pattern that everyone repeats or a piece of music). Manage BehaviourHow do you manage behaviour when students are watching scene work? • Students will not instinctually know how to behave as an audience member. If performance is a constant part of class, students will need to learn the appropriate skills. • Create a ritual that announces the start of every performance. This could be lights actually going to black, a clap pattern, or a verbal cue such as “blackout” or “actors ready.” This routine gives students a clear indication as to when they need to go into “audience mode.” • Expect total focus on the performance space. This covers all the bases. If a student is focused on the stage they are not talking, texting, or staring into space. • Expect students to respond (e.g. it in a peer feedback form, a reflection or in a small group discussion) to each performance Proper audience behaviour is not just “looking” at the stage; it also requires you to engage with the performance. • Practice being an audience. Model good and bad audience behaviour for students. Prompt a discussion about why proper audience behaviour is important. A final word on structure.Establishing a rigid classroom structure (i.e. creating routines, modeling behaviour, and practicing how to work in groups) may seem like a creativity killer. In fact, the opposite is achieved. Classroom management in the drama classroom establishes a place for students to explore their creativity, learn unique skills, and get out of their comfort zone. The Drama Teacher Academy offers a full professional development course on classroom management. Click here to find out more about Matt Webster’s Organized Chaos: Discipline in the Theatre Classroom, and watch the course promo video below!

One of the keys to Classroom Management is getting students to work well together. Group work is tricky if students don’t know one another. Why should I share something with this guy who doesn’t say two words in class? Exercise: Round RobinDownload a printable PDF of this Exercise including Character/Conflict sheets at the end of this post. This exercise encourages students to work together and to think quickly. Tell students that they have to have a unanimously agreed upon product at each stage of this exercise. Outline • There are two stages in this activity: Character and Conflict. • Each group will complete a task three times for each stage: 3 times for character, 3 times for conflict. • Each group will then select one character and one conflict to use as the foundation for a short monologue. Materials • Character/Conflict Sheets (download these at the end of the post) • Each stage requires a variety of prompts. These prompts will be scattered throughout the room. You’ll need enough so that groups can visit three different prompts per task. (e.g. If you have 15 students in groups of 3 you will need 5 prompts for each task.) • Character: Individual pieces of clothing. • Conflict: Objects both natural and manmade. The objects should be small enough to hold in your hand (e.g. rocks, packet of letters, toys, stuffed animals.) Instruction • Students are divided into small groups. • Start with Character. Tell students that each group is to go an area of the room where they will find a piece of clothing. • Each group studies their piece of clothing. Students will create a character who might wear this piece of clothing. Groups must unanimously choose the following details about the character: Gender, age, name, physicality, job, hobby, family, where do they live, and significant relationship (e.g. a person, an animal, a plant, dead relative, imaginary friend). • Direct students that they have five minutes to choose their character details. • Once the time limit is up, groups rotate to a second area of the room and repeat the exercise: study the piece of clothing and create a character who might wear it. • Once the time limit is up, groups rotate to a third area of the room and repeat the exercise: study the piece of clothing and create a character who might wear it. • Groups now have 3 character descriptions. • Groups will repeat the process to create a conflict. The Conflict prompt will be an object. • Each group moves to an area of the room where there is a conflict object. They are to study the object and answer the following questions: • What is the object? • What problem has this object caused? • What emotion is attached to the object? Why? • Direct students that they have a three minute time limit to answer their conflict questions. • Once the time limit is up, groups rotate to a second area of the room and repeat the exercise: study the object and answer the conflict questions. • Once the time limit is up, groups rotate to a third area of the room and repeat the exercise: study the object and answer the conflict questions. • Groups now have three character descriptions and three conflict objects. Groups will choose one character and match him or her with one conflict. • Groups will write a monologue for the character about the conflict. The character is speaking to whoever or whatever was chosen as the character’s significant relationship. Direct students that they must use their chosen conflict. How does the character talk about the object and the problem the object has caused? How does the character try to solve the problem in the monologue? • Groups share their monologues with the class.

How do you take a monologue (meant for one person to deliver) and act it out as a group? How do you create an Ensemble Monologue? Analyze the MonologueHere’s a monologue from my play Funhouse. “GIRL: You’re not good at this you know. I’ve had better. Much better. Sneakier. Sit beside me at lunch, pretend to be my friend. Bolder. They try to drag me into the bathroom. Meaner. Spit at me. Knock books out of my arms. Pinch me. Treat me like a piece of garbage, think it’s funny to try and make me eat garbage, be garbage, and I should be so grateful for any attention that comes my way – oh sure let’s go in the dark ride, gee what a great idea! Oh look who’s waiting for me with what, rotten eggs to rub in my hair? What a surprise! How funny! (as others) Why aren’t you laughing? It’s just a little egg. It’s just a joke. (mocking serious) But I thought you were serious. I thought we were all going to be best friends. (dead serious) I won’t eat garbage for you, friend.” So the first task is to analyze the monologue. • What’s the subject? • What do we know about the subject? • Who is talking, and who are they talking to? • Why are they talking? • Where does the monologue take place? • What images are in the monologue? If you’re doing this exercise with a class, divide them up into groups and have them answer these questions. At first read, it’s easy to see that the topic of the monologue is bullying. The Girl in the monologue is talking to another person, probably a girl. She also takes on the voices of other bullies. The Girl is standing up to one of her bullies. We don’t know where the Girl is, but she does talk about going “in the dark ride” which suggests a carnival or sideshow. The big image for the piece is garbage. Being treated like garbage, being forced to act like garbage – the suggestion is that if you’re garbage, you’re less than human. The Girl is standing up for herself and declaring herself human. Already there’s a lot to work with here. What seems daunting at first (how do I act out a monologue with a group??) becomes clear through question and answer. Visualize the SubjectThe subject here is bullying. Discuss the different types of bullying with students. Then visualize the subject: what are the pictures, scenes, and tableaux that visualize this subject? Have students create ten second scenes that illustrate bullying. Have students create tableaux in small groups. Create one huge tableaux. Be LiteralThere is a story here in the monologue. You could literally stage it – one girl delivers the monologue to another, possibly a group of girls with others as bystanders. How do those listening to the Girl react? Are they proud? Are they scornful? Are they bullied themselves? Be AbstractDon’t be afraid of the abstract! There is a very strong image of garbage in this monologue. To be bullied is to feel like garbage. Why not explore this in your scene? Brainstorm with your students how to use the image of garbage in your piece. For example: What if everyone was dressed up as garbage, acting very non-human (perhaps zombie-like) at the beginning of the monologue? As the monologue progresses, this garbage takes on more and more human characteristics, until they too stand tall and proud with the girl at the end. Vocal OptionsJust because the piece is a monologue doesn’t mean only one person gets to speak. What if the entire group delivered the monologue? Decide which lines are spoken in unison and which by individual speakers. You can create a lot of impact by how you deliver the lines as well: a shout, a whisper, a plead, a punch. Note: If you choose to deliver the monologue as a group, don’t just present the whole piece in choral formation. Think about the visual impact of your work as well the aural impact. This exercise is an excellent example of Project Based Learning. It takes theatre in one form and teaches students how to apply it to another form. It teaches students to visualize words, a very important skill for staging theatre.

““I’m just one hundred and one, five months and a day.” “I can’t believe that!” said Alice. “Can’t you?” the Queen said in a pitying tone. “Try again: draw a long breath, and shut your eyes.” Alice laughed. “There’s no use trying,” she said: “one can’t believe impossible things.” “I daresay you haven’t had much practice,” said the Queen. “When I was your age, I always did it for half-an-hour a day. Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.”” What does it take to be creative? Not talent, not drive, not even imagination. It’s the suspension of disbelief. If you believe you can solve a problem in a new way, regardless of what other people think, that’s being creative. Try this “Impossible Things” scene exercise with your students. How far can they suspend their disbelief? This may be hard for many students! Their school life is so often determined by facts, what is right and wrong, and what they can and cannot do. If you have students who are struggling with the wider boundaries of drama class, creativity, imagination, or simply thinking they can do something (how many of you have heard someone say “I’m not creative.”), try this exercise! 1. Divide students into groups. 2. Each group is to create a scene. In the scene, everyone is part of a family, or visiting the family. (For example, Jane’s friend comes to pick her up before they go to school). The scene takes place in the kitchen before breakfast. 3. In the scene, six impossible things have to happen. The catch is that no one is allowed to treat the impossible as a joke. It is part of their world. No winks to the audience, no breaking character. In the world of the scene, the impossible is part of the everyday world. 4. Start off with a class discussion on what “impossible” means. What’s impossible in today’s world? In any world? 5. Then groups use the provided brainstorm sheet (download it below) to get creative. They must come up with at least 20 impossible things. The only caveat is that they have to be school appropriate. Emphasize that they must brainstorm without judgement. Write every idea down. Don’t worry about whether or not it’s doable in the confines of the classroom. 6. Groups use their brainstorm as the jumping off point for their scene. An outline sheet is provided (download it below) if it will help students gather their thoughts. And if they come up with new ideas as they work on their scene, that’s fine too. 7. Give students 20 minutes to decide on their impossible things and incorporate them into their breakfast scene. They may have to get “creative” with how they present some of their impossible things. For example, no one is really able to fly so how will they present flying if that’s one of their six things? 8. Groups share their scenes. 9. Afterward, discuss the impossible with students. What is it like to act as if the impossible is part of your everyday world? Has anyone ever told you something is impossible?

Peer evaluation is a process whereby learners give feedback to other learners. It is key to the learning process for a number of reasons. Curriculum Understanding In order to assess an activity, learners have to understand the desired objective. What is this activity, and what represents a good example of this activity? Assessment Understanding Peer evaluation gives learners insight into the assessment process. Assessment Control Learners have more control over the grade they receive because they are playing an active part in the assessment process.They can apply the assessment criteria to their own work. The assessment duties are balanced between teachers and peers – it’s not just the teacher opaquely providing a mark. Critical Thinking Peer evaluation encourages learners to delve into further detail with their responses. It’s not enough to say “I like this” or “I don’t like this.” Learners develop their critical thinking skills to determine the “why” of their response. Personal Responsibility Peer evaluation encourages learners to engage in the process. If they expect to be marked fairly by their peers, then they have to return the same fairness. Assessing their peers against a set criteria encourages learners to take responsibility for their own work. They know what to look for in the work of others, and hold their own efforts to the same criteria. Peer evaluation also encourages learners to engage; in order to fully assess a product or performance they have to watch and listen with full attention. Classroom Management When teachers find themselves with an overly large class, individual presentations can take weeks. This slows the learning process to a crawl. In these situations, peer evaluation can be a useful classroom management tool. Have learners work in pairs or groups then present to and evaluate one another. Peer Evaluation IssuesAll of the above are excellent and worthwhile reasons to incorporate peer evaluation into the classroom. But not every classroom is an idyllic and respectful oasis. Several issues can crop up when using peer evaluation. Personal Dynamics For some learners, evaluations are tainted by personal opinion: If I say something bad about Jane maybe she won’t like me. I hate John, I’ll never say anything good. It’s hard for learners to separate “good/bad work” and “good/bad person.” The opposite is also true: Why did they give me a bad evaluation? Don’t they like me? It’s easy to feel judged by one’s peers. This can lead to dubious evaluations – will learners be truthful in their responses? I Don’t Get It Some learners will shut down rather than work toward comprehension. It’s easier to say, “I don’t get it” instead of identifying the issue and figuring out the solution. Lack of Maturity Peer evaluation requires a certain level of maturity from learners. It’s not inconceivable for some learners to resort to personal attacks, to not try, to provide a shallow assessment. These actions can undermine any peer evaluation attempt. Addressing the IssuesHow do we address peer evaluation issues so that assessment remains a worthwhile part of the learning experience? Clear Criteria Learners thrive when they know what they’re supposed to do. Learners often falter with peer evaluation because they have no idea how to properly evaluate anyone, let alone their peers. Establish a clear set of criteria for peer evaluation. What are the rules? What should learners look for? Decide whether to present an established set of criteria to learners (highly recommended for younger or unfamiliar learners) or to include learners in the process of establishing the criteria (i.e. come up with a list of evaluation guidelines together). Once you either review or create the evaluation criteria, make it visible. Learners should be able to see the criteria at all times either on a large poster, a bulletin board, or corner of the blackboard. If anyone says, “I don’t know what to do” point them to the rules. Include this in your criteria: • Evaluators should always provide a next step. What could the learner try next time? What next step could they take to improve their work? This feedback is the most important part of the evaluation process. • Be clear with evaluators that overly positive and overly negative comments must be backed up with explanations and examples. Evaluation is more than “I like / I don’t like.” Evaluators have to explain their answers. Modelling Giving effective feedback is a skill. The best way to make sure learners understand the process is to show them the difference between a good evaluation and a bad evaluation. Model examples of both. Teach learners the appropriate language to be used in an assessment. A model of a good evaluation gives learners something to reach for. Modelling a bad assessment is a great opportunity to incorporate levity into the proceedings – how bad is really bad? Peer Evaluation Sheets with learner assessment examples to use for modelling are available as a downloadable PDF at the end of the article. Rehearse Effective feedback takes practice. Rehearse evaluations with learners until they are able to demonstrate skill and understanding. Give the learners a “pressure free zone” to gain comfort and confidence. Start the process by having learners assess anonymously. Let them get comfortable evaluating a stranger’s work before evaluating one another. Exercises: 1. Divide learners into groups. Each group is given a piece of anonymous work and the learners evaluate together. Learners discuss the work, what they would say, what language they would use to suggest improvement. Groups present their evaluations, then compare them with the teacher’s evaluation. 2. Use the buddy system. Every learner is assigned the name of another learner. During the regular proceedings of class, their job is to watch that learner: What do they contribute to the class? What’s their attitude? Their effort? Emphasize that this evaluation is anonymous so they shouldn’t be obvious about their observation. At the end of class each learner writes out a brief evaluation of their assigned learner: one good thing they did in class and one idea for improvement, something they could try for next class. Next class hold a discussion where learners read their evaluations and talk about how it makes them feel. This is an opportunity to discuss how assessments should be objective and not personal. Take It Slow Effective feedback takes time to learn. Find opportunities within your class schedule to practice. Get learners used to the idea that they will be expected to give feedback. After a presentation or group work session, ask learners how confident they would feel assessing the work they just completed. Start with non-verbal responses, move to one word responses, then to full evaluations. Start with checklist evaluations, move to sentence starters to complete, then to freeform feedback. Start with anonymous reflections and work up to peer evaluation. Be Encouraging Be encouraging with this process. It will take time and learners will resist. But evaluation is a skill that will serve learners for the rest of their lives. The ability to effectively evaluate the work of their peers in a constructive manner is invaluable.

Critical Thinking is a buzzword. It’s one of the keystone 21st century skills. How do we incorporate critical thinking into the drama classroom? Provide steps not buzzwordsCritical thinking is a necessary skill. But it’s one thing to know this and another thing to to say to someone “You must be a critical thinker in order to survive the 21st century!” Students don’t need to know that. They don’t even need to hear the word. Besides, the word critical is a little too close to criticize. If a student hears they’re supposed to be critical, it’s a short step from critical thinking to negative thinking. Critical thinking when properly applied, has little to do with being negative. What do you do instead? Reframe the term and provide action steps. What is a critical thinker? A critical thinker is specific. A critical thinker likes to learn about something they don’t know. A critical thinker has a point of view but can see value in the opinions of others. A critical thinker is able to draw conclusions. A critical thinker asks questions. A critical thinker challenges. A critical thinker reflects. A critical thinker is engaged. And in my mind, that’s what we want for our students – we want engaged thinkers. That’s something you can say to your students: I want you to be an engaged thinker. Because a student who is engaged, is going to be specific, is going to reach out to learn new things, is going to work to draw conclusions, is going to ask questions, is going to reflect. After you reframe the word, give your students steps to follow. What does an engaged thinker do? • They ask questions • They answer questions specifically • They draw conclusions • They have a point of view • They are open to the opinions of others How do I do this in the drama classroom? Start with one step at a time. Your class is preparing scenes in groups. During the post presentation discussion, have each student ask a question about the scene. That’s it. Get them in the habit of asking questions after every scene they present, after every play they watch, even after every new topic you present. Questions alone will improve your students critical thinking skills. Make your class a welcome space for students to give their point of view. Students hate being wrong and hate being laughed at. Because of that, giving their point of view on a topic or a scene could be terrifying. Maybe they’re reading a play like Waiting For Godot and they just don’t understand it. Start at the beginning of the year by modeling not only what it’s like to give a point of view but to respect the point of view of others. Get your students in the habit of saying the words I respect your point of view. Get in the habit of saying that it’s okay if students don’t like a play you’re studying (if they can then go on to get specific about their dislike). One tip: Instead of saying I respect your point of view but.. get in the habit of saying I respect your point of view and… That “but” signals students that their point of view is probably wrong. The thing is that a point of view is never wrong. It’s what somebody believes. Visualize and Dramatize the ConceptToday’s students are visual learners. They want to visualize concepts, not just hear them through instruction. What do you do instead? Get your students to visualize and dramatize what it means to be an engaged thinker. It’s drama class, so get your students on their feet and involved in a theatrical way. Discuss with students the opposite first. What is a trivial thinker? What are the characteristics of a trivial thinker? What do they look like? How do you see them? How do they sound? How do they move How do they approach class? Get students up on their feet and embody the trivial thinker. Focus on the character aspects of this person: Their physicality, the volume and pitch of their voice. Come up with a name and three personal details for this person: Tammy Trivial (Or Tim Trivial) who slouches, has goldfish (because cats are too much trouble) and microwaves all her meals. She never questions anything, she doesn’t care about anything and she doesn’t like to learn. Have students embody this character, move about the room in character, and interact with each other in character. Now have students pretend that Tammy Trivial is in their class. Ask for a group of volunteers to improvise a moment in which they are rehearsing a scene assignment. One of the students plays Tammy Trivial. Coach this student to “be” trivial and to dis-engage with the whole process. Discuss afterwards what it’s like to work with Tammy Trivial and what someone like Tammy Trivial does to class work. Once you’ve modelled someone who is dis-engaged, get students to visualized what an engaged thinker looks like. What does it mean to be an engaged thinker? How do you see them? What do they sound like? How do they move? What’s their name and what are three personal details: Eli Engaged (or Emmy Engaged) is always trying something new: he loves Ethiopian food, wants to visit the arctic and has tried stand-up, even though it didn’t go so well he wants to do it again. Get students to physicalize and vocalize this type of person. Encourage them to embody this character, move about the room in character, and interact with each other in character. Coach them to ask each other questions, in character. To share their point of view on something. To receive that point of view respectfully. You are having your students try out the aspects of the engaged thinker through character. At the end, prompt each student to ask a question about the exercise. Get into the habit of ending exercises with a question round. You may get a flurry of “Why did we have to do this?” And that’s ok. In this case, ask the question back, “Why might it be helpful to have a visualization of an engaged thinker?” Ask them to draw their own conclusion about the exercise. What inferences do they make based on the exercise? ExerciseStudents write a two person, one location scene between Tammy Trivial and Eli Engaged. They find themselves in a stuck elevator or maybe they’re on a first date, or they work side by side in two cubicles in an office. Remind students to keep the characteristics of each character in mind as they write. Focus on how each character moves, and sounds. Focus on how each character approaches situations – Would Eli ever be sarcastic with Tammy? Probably not. The point of the exercise is less about the scene itself and more about helping students solidify these two concepts (the dis-engaged thinker and the engaged thinker) as characters. It gives the concepts grounding. ReflectionStudents reflect on the exercise and explain what it means to be an engaged thinker in their own words. Reflect on how they approach classwork currently and how they can incorporate engaged thinking into their future work.