The Basics Lesson Plans

Lesson 3 of 10 in Unit Eight: Theatre of the Oppressed Unit

Image Theatre, Day 1

by Lindsay Johnson

Students will be introduced to Boal’s Image Theatre. They will review the concept of tableau (frozen picture) from Lesson 1, and they will be introduced to the tableau rubric and the three tableau skills (frozen bodies, 3+ levels, and character). In small groups, they will create tableaux that capture an image of “Family” (whatever that word means to them).

# The Basics # middle school friendly

Lesson 4 of 10 in Unit Eight: Theatre of the Oppressed Unit

Image Theatre, Day 2

by Lindsay Johnson

Students will review the three tableau skills (frozen bodies, 3+ levels, and character). In small groups, they will analyze the tableaux from last class that captured an image of “Family” (whatever that word meant to them), as well as create and analyze new tableaux around a topical issue in society.

# The Basics # middle school friendly

Lesson 5 of 10 in Unit Eight: Theatre of the Oppressed Unit

Image Theatre, Day 3

by Lindsay Johnson

In groups, students will brainstorm a list of scenarios in which they feel power or oppression in their daily lives. They will then select a scenario from their list and turn it into a tableau.

# The Basics # middle school friendly

Lesson 4 of 7 in Unit One: Ensemble Building and Class Norms Unit

Intro to Feedback

by Lindsay Johnson

In this fourth lesson, students continue to practice classroom norms and are introduced to the concept of feedback. In the performance task, students will give peers strong feedback by using language from the Weekly Ensemble Rubric.

# The Basics # middle school friendly

Lesson 6 of 10 in Unit Eight: Theatre of the Oppressed Unit

Introduction to Forum Theatre

by Lindsay Johnson

Students will be introduced to forum theatre by researching a video example. Students will then try their hand at forum theatre by acting out a middle school scenario of oppression, becoming spect-actors, and improvising solutions.

# The Basics # middle school friendly

Lesson 1 of 10 in Unit Eight: Theatre of the Oppressed Unit

Introduction to Theatre of the Oppressed

by Lindsay Johnson

Students will participate in a tableau “Power Handshake” exercise that will give them some basic background experience with image theatre/tableau and nonverbal expressions of relationship and power. They will then work on their critical thinking skills by close reading an article that gives a brief introduction to Augusto Boal’s Theatre of the Oppressed.

# The Basics # middle school friendly

Lesson 2 of 12 in Aristotle's Elements Unit

It's Element(ary), My Dear

by Lea Marshall

To introduce students to Aristotle’s six elements.

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Lesson 3 of 3 in Front of House Unit

Marketing and Audience Experience

by Karen Loftus

Students continue their exploration by learning about the press release and creating a marketing plan for an original play.

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Lesson 3 of 8 in Our Town Unit Unit

Our Town Act One - Read

by Lindsay Price

In this lesson, students will read and analyze Act One of Our Town within the theme of the ordinary versus universality. The lesson format encourages students to explore text themes and concepts through scene work before they read, participate in a small group discussion post read, and then take on an activity to apply knowledge through a theatrical expression of the text.

# The Basics

Lesson 4 of 8 in Our Town Unit Unit

Our Town Act One - The Stage Manager

by Lindsay Price

In this lesson, students will continue to analyze the first act of Our Town with a focus of examining the non-realistic elements Wilder uses. What comes across as a play steeped in realism and realistic characters actually uses a number of experimental theatrical techniques.

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Lesson 8 of 8 in Our Town Unit Unit

Our Town Act Three - Being Eternal and Culminating Presentation

by Lindsay Price

In this lesson, students will continue to analyze the third act of Our Town with a focus of examining the concept of the eternal as it connects to valuing the ordinary.

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Lesson 7 of 8 in Our Town Unit Unit

Our Town Act Three - Read

by Lindsay Price

In this lesson, students will read and analyze Act Three of Our Town within the theme of death. The lesson format encourages students to explore text themes and concepts through scene work before they read, participate in a small group discussion post read, and then take on an activity to apply knowledge through a theatrical expression of the text.

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Lesson 5 of 8 in Our Town Unit Unit

Our Town Act Two - Read

by Lindsay Price

In this lesson, students will read and analyze Act Two of Our Town within the theme of love and marriage. The lesson format encourages students to explore text themes and concepts through scene work before they read, participate in a small group discussion post read, and then take on an activity to apply knowledge through a theatrical expression of the text.

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Lesson 6 of 8 in Our Town Unit Unit

Our Town Act Two - The Concept of Time

by Lindsay Price

In this lesson, students will continue to analyze the second act of Our Town by examining the concept of time. Why does the play use a wedding and the idea of marriage as a marker for time slipping away? How do characters react to the passage of time?

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Lesson 2 of 8 in Our Town Unit Unit

Our Town Introduction

by Lindsay Price

In this lesson, students will be introduced to Our Town through positive and negative reviews of the original production, examine and discuss a facts sheet on the play, and learn more about the world the playwright was writing in through a research activity.

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Lesson 1 of 8 in Our Town Unit Unit

Our Town Pre-Reading Exercise

by Lindsay Price

In this pre-reading lesson, students reflect on their day-to-day life and look for the connection between the ordinary and universality. It’s important to have them connect the ordinary and universality in a modern context, before moving to the same connections in the text.

# The Basics

Lesson 10 of 10 in Unit Eight: Theatre of the Oppressed Unit

Performance Assessment

by Lindsay Johnson

In this lesson, students will perform their final scene for assessment in front of the class. They will also complete an audience feedback sheet where they give their peers feedback on rubric skills.