Unit Three: Building Improvised Scenes

Created by Lindsay Johnson

Students will understand the basic building blocks of a scene: The Who (characters/ relationship), the Where (setting), and the What (conflict – objectives/tactics). They will learn how to use both verbal and nonverbal (pantomime) clues to communicate these scene details to an audience. They will continue to work on voice clarity, while also learning to open their body to an audience. The unit culminates in a performance assessment in which students work in pairs to improvise a scene.

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Overview

The overview covers the essential question of the unit, lays out the 11-lesson structure, covers key vocabulary, time management, and assessment tools.

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1: Relationships

In this lesson we’ll look at how verbal and nonverbal clues communicate relationship to an audience. Students will improvise a short scene in pairs that shows a clear relationship between two characters using clue words and body language/expressions.

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2: Setting

In this lesson, we’ll look at how we use physical clues to help the audience infer a specific setting for a scene. Students will improvise a short, silent, pantomimed scene in small groups that shows a clear setting – using gestures and movements only.

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3: Conflict and Objectives

In this lesson, we’ll look at multiple perspectives that can lead to a conflict. In pairs, students will improvise a short scene in which each character has an objective that conflicts with the other character’s objective.

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4: High-Stakes Objectives

In this lesson, we’ll look at multiple perspectives that can lead to a conflict. Students will take an objectives quiz to demonstrate their understanding of objectives, conflict, and stakes. This could be graded as a daily work grade or an assessment, and will give you a snapshot of students’ current understanding.

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5: Tactics

In this lesson, we’ll look at multiple perspectives that can lead to a conflict and strategies employed to resolve it. Students will improvise a scene using 2+ tactics in partner groups. Some groups will perform for the class and receiving coaching and feedback on the Tactics Rubric.

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6: Scene Assignment and Brainstorm

In this lesson, students will use a variety of methods they’ve learned so far to communicate meaning in a scene: setting, pantomime, relationship clues, objectives, stakes, and tactics. Students will complete a Brainstorm Sheet to plan out their partner scene for assessment.

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7: Objective and Tactics

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8: Relationship and Setting Rehearsal

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9: Projection Rehearsal

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10: Final Scene Rehearsal

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11: Scene Performance Assessment

In this lesson, students will use a variety of methods they’ve learned so far during this unit to communicate meaning in a scene: setting, pantomime, relationship clues, objectives, stakes, and tactics. Students will perform their final partner scene in front of the class for assessment. They will also complete an Audience Feedback Sheet in which they give their peers feedback on Rubric skills.

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