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Students explore Characterization and One Focus by participating in activities and playing Ding, Emotional Waiter and Party Quirks.

Students explore what makes a character interesting through the examination of physical objects. What do objects say about us? What can you infer about a person by the objects they carry with them? Students will role-play in process drama activities to explore characters and to create their own.

Students will use “Show and Tell” to create a detailed background for their contentless scene character and improvise a personal interview with that character.

To learn how status influences characterization and character actions by participating in “Status Monkeys” and other interactions based on status

Students discuss and apply aspects of what makes a voice a “good voice:” projection, articulation, posture, proper breathing.

In this lesson, students have an opportunity to practice vocal expression by reciting nursery rhymes with three different vocal varieties. They will receive instant feedback from their peers and teacher.

In this lesson, students will start their scene work first with a contentless scene, a one-minute scene, and then (for homework) write a one-page scene based on a real life experience.

In this ELP, students will examine pictures with a person in them, infer what the person in the picture is going through based on their body language, create a character profile for the person, and then write two monologues. If you have a longer class, a Reflection is provided for students to then compare and contrast the two monologues.

In this ELP, students will analyze the skills they learn and have learned in drama class. What impact do the identified skills have in drama class? What impact do the identified skills have in life? For students who finish early, there is an optional Reflection.

Greek Theatre is the ancestor of the Modern Theatre. It is the birth of the actor stepping away from a chorus of unison speakers. The building of theatres. We can look at the production of theatre in that time and see similarities to how we present theatre today. But where do we start? And how do we make theatre history more than just the collection of data? In this lesson plan, students will explore the connection between the way they tell stories in the 21st century and the way that the Ancient Greeks told stories. Students will also explore Ancient Greek vases and Homer’s The Iliad.

Students often rely on their verbal skills to tell a story. They “tell” us what’s happening instead of “showing” us what’s happening. “Show don’t tell” is a guiding principle in theatrical storytelling. We want to see what’s happening to characters as they experience it. We don’t want to hear characters explain the story or what they’re feeling. This lesson plan will put this principle into action through the exercise Silent Story.

Students will watch some of a workshop in acting for the camera and do some exercises that help them practice some of the differences between stage acting and film acting.

This can be a standalone lesson, or an add-on to the unit. It introduces the concept of the 3 V's: VIEWERS are looking for a VICARIOUS, VULNERABLE, and/or VISCERAL experience.

Introduce your students to Uta Hagen and the nine questions she uses for character development.

Students will create their own improvisational piece to an African fable called “Anansi: The Spider.” This lesson explores the different ways to tell a story through storytelling improvisation, which allows students to discover different movements, voices, and listening skills. In African theatre, there are many ways to tell a story; improv is often used when learning about fables.

In this sixth lesson, students continue to practice classroom norms and continue to practice giving strong feedback. In the performance task, students will give peers strong feedback through using body language and vocal tone to encourage and show eagerness for peers to improve.

Students will understand the importance of actively listening and using active listening to inform their character choices in performance. They will participate in listening exercises and apply active listening to their scene work.

Students use narration, dialogue and mime in this skit sequence where a character teaches the audience to be like them. Each skit has three scenes, two narration/acted out instruction scenes and one dream sequence. The teacher models this activity narrating different scenes of what it takes to "be" like him/her. They include students in the scenes, prompting them to act out his/her narration. The teacher emphasizes how the first two scenes include narration, and then dialogue when students "act out" the activity. The third scene, the dream sequences involves narration as the main character tells their dream, and mime as students act out the mime. Once students have participated in the teacher's model, they are divided into groups and put together a "Being Blank" scene sequences for themselves.

Part of the audition process is preparation. And that is not just memorizing a single monologue or one song. It’s preparing a wide variety of material for a variety of situations. By preparing an audition portfolio, students will be ready for any type of audition that may arise. The portfolio will also help students explore different genres of musical theatre.

Improvising in pairs is an excellent training ground to improve listening and cooperation skills, and to practice exploring character and conflict. Students will read and respond to a Duet Improv introduction sheet, then apply their knowledge through pairs Improv exercises and reflect on the experience.