Playwriting

# Playwriting # Shakespeare # playwriting # Shakespeare

Shakepeare's Words: Iambic Pentameter

by Kerry Hishon

The objective of the lesson is for students to learn what iambic pentameter is and to have the opportunity to create their own monologues using iambic pentameter. This lesson is a useful complement towards studying classical works by playwrights such as William Shakespeare.

Stage Directions

by Karen Loftus

Students continue their exploration of playwriting by learning about stage directions, applying the elements to create a stage-directions scene, and applying tools to an open scene.

Attachments

Slide Deck Lesson 3

# Playwriting # playwriting # monologue

Story vs Monologue

by Lindsay Price

Students will discuss and answer questions regarding the differences between a monologue and a story using The Legend of Sleepy Hollow as a model.

Strategy/Plan/Process

by Lindsay Price

Students will officially set their goal and discuss the differences between a strategy, action plan, and process. By the end of the lesson, students will have created a strategy paragraph, developed a framework for writing their play through a plan of action, and identified specific playwriting exercises to use.

Attachments

Structure

by Karen Loftus

Students begin their exploration of playwriting by learning about structure and applying the elements in a writing exercise.

Attachments

Slide Deck Lesson 1

Structured Spoken Word Performance Rehearsal With Feedback

by Quincy Young

Students will follow a structure to rehearse their spoken word poetry performances with peer feedback.

Attachments

Slide Deck Lesson 3

# Playwriting # Character Development # playwriting # character development

Subtext: Pass the Salt

by Lindsay Price

Subtext is the underlying meaning in a text. What is a character thinking? Learning to apply subtext to a scene is an excellent character development tool. It encourages students to think about “the why” behind a line. “Why does a character say this line? Why do they use a particular inflection? What are they really trying to say? In this lesson plan, students explore the meaning of subtext, practice applying subtext in dialogue and to create their own scene.

# Playwriting # playwriting # monologue

The Criteria of a Good Monologue

by Lindsay Price

Students will identify the elements of a good monologue through analysis and evaluation, focusing on a need to speak (Why does the character speak?), a specific character voice (Who is the character?) and a journey (Is there a beginning, middle, end?).

The Foundations of Playwriting

by Lindsay Price

Use this lesson plan as an introduction to a playwriting unit. This is a two lesson plan unit. Students complete exercises that demystify and reframe the four foundational elements of the playwriting process: Warm Ups, The Idea, Character, and Conflict. These plans are grounded in the statement: “You can’t build a house without a good foundation.” In order to write plays students need to know the basics first.

The Idea Process

by Lindsay Price

In Lesson 2, students learn and apply two topic areas to generate ideas

Attachments

The Masque of Red Death and Coronavirus

by Lindsay Price

In this compare and contrast lesson, students will read a dramatization of Edgar Allan Poe’s The Masque of Red Death. This story is the ultimate example of “social distancing.” Students will compare and contrast the dramatization to the current events surrounding Coronavirus and then write an adaptation focusing on modern viruses.

# Playwriting # Analysis

# Playwriting # devising # playwriting

The Ren Run

by Corinna Rezzelle

In this lesson, students will work in groups to create transitions in improvised tableaux and movement pieces. They will also participate in a “ren run” to practice improv blocking.

Attachments

Slide Deck Lesson 7

The Ren Run

by Corinna Rezzelle

In this lesson, students will work in groups to create transitions in improvised tableaux and movement pieces. They will also participate in a “ren run” to practice improv blocking.

Attachments

Slide Deck Lesson 7

The Story Mountain Framework

by Matthew Banaszynski

Students will understand the parts of a story and how it relates to a monologue through the story mountain framework.

Attachments

Slide Deck Lesson 2

# Playwriting # Acting # monologue # playwriting # acting

The Unities

by Karen Loftus

Students continue their exploration of playwriting by learning about Aristotle’s Unities of time, place, and action. They apply the Unities in an improv.

Attachments

Slide Deck Lesson 5

The Working Playwright

by Lindsay Price

This hyperdoc unit is designed to have students independently discover how a playwright turns creative expression into a career. The unit is broken down into three sections with multiple activities, videos, and research tasks, and includes a culminating activity.

Attachments

Three-Line Monologue

by Lindsay Price

In this lesson, students will work on a three-sentence monologue to address both issues. Everyone will do the same monologue, so there is also the opportunity to talk about individual character choice, physical expression, and verbal expression.

Attachments

Slide Deck Lesson 3

Unit Project

by Karen Loftus

Groups complete their scripts, format it properly, then hand it in. Next, they will perform their scene and complete a final reflection.

Attachments

Slide Deck Unit Project

Unit Project

by Lindsay Price

The final project for Part 1 of this unit is for students to write examples of what has been explored so far in the following way: • A two-person, one-location, one-page scene. • Each character has a want, there is an obstacle to their want, and they apply tactics to get what they want. • A separate (ie: not included in the scene) half-page monologue for one of the characters in the scene. • A character profile for each of the characters. The objective is for students to apply all the elements they’ve learned so far in dramatic writing.

Attachments

Unit Project