Courses

PD COURSE
Serious Play: Theatre Games and Warmups for Rehearsal and Ensemble Building
by Todd Espeland
In this class, Serious Play, the instructor will lead you through a series of games in risk, movement, focus, and voice. You will get access to a series of all inclusive games that you can string together to make one giant game that is great to use in rehearsal. You will learn how and when to use these games.
You'll get ideas on how to craft your own warm-up lesson plan; and, most importantly, you'll learn about about a pre-class warm-up that you can do on your own so that you can get yourself into that third stage of the creative brain, so that you can begin trying out interesting, creative, and risky choices for yourself in your classes and in rehearsals.
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PD COURSE
Coaching Improv
by Jennine Profeta
Second City performer and theatre educator Jennine Profeta is back and ready to help you take your Improv classes to the next level. It’s all getting students to perform - and how to be a great improv coach who can keep them supported and grounded (and having fun!)
In this course, you’ll learn the golden rules of improv. You’ll learn a bunch of improv games (great for warm-ups, teaching tools, and even for competitions). You’ll learn Jennine’s tips and tricks for what to look for when coaching and how to troubleshoot common issues.
The course is designed to help you improv as an ensemble and give you the know-how to coach with confidence whether it’s in the classroom or on the stage!
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PD COURSE
Social Emotional Learning through Game Play
by Matt Webster
The skills identified in Social Emotional Learning are the same skills theatre teachers spotlight in the warmups, games, and activities, as well as group work and theater-related assignments found in the drama curriculum every day.
This course will break down the various games and activities in the drama classroom to identify, incorporate, and intensify the Social Emotional Learning outcomes we want our students to achieve. By the end of this course, you will be able to identify the five components of Social Emotional Learning and see the places in the curriculum where they intersect with basic games and activities in the drama classroom.
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Lesson Plans
LESSON PLAN
Status Monkeys
by Anna Porter
Students will understand how status affects characterization and character actions by participating in the “Status Monkeys” game as well as other status-based interactions.
The lesson begins with a status demonstration using students. It then moves onto an "unknown status" activity where students react to the status of others without knowing their own status. How do you treat a low status character compared to a high status character?
The final activity is an animal imagery exercise where the students are all monkeys in a jungle with an assigned status. They must explore survival tactics available to someone of their particular status.
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LESSON PLAN
Objectives, Tactics, and Emotional Shaping
by Anna Porter
Students will understand the importance of raising the stakes in their performance through their objective and tactics. Students will also understand how their choice of tactics, and their intensity, creates emotional shaping in their performance.
Students explore tactics choices, obstacles and emotional shaping while playing the “Candy Bar Game.” Students have an objective to get a chocolate bar, but have a variety of obstacles in their way to do so. They have to choose tactics to help them get their objective and explore the emotions that come as they get closer and closer to the goal.
An excellent activity to show students exactly what it means to have an objective, to employ a tactic and the emotions attached to doing so.
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LESSON PLAN
Pirate Ship Stage Directions
by Ruth Richards
Students will learn the basics of stage positioning through this fun, interactive game. Comes with guide to positioning and all "Pirate Ship" terms!
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LESSON PLAN
Stage Direction Tic-Tac-Toe
by Marisa Peck
To identify and physically locate the nine areas of the stage.
Students play a life-sized game of tic-tac-toe on the stage using stage directions to navigate the different squares. Lesson Plan comes with a stage positioning template for assessment.
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LESSON PLAN
Main Idea and Story Detail Improv
by Karen Loftus
Improvisation is a great tool for storytelling and getting important concepts across to all students including struggling readers and writers. In this lesson, you’ll use the improv game “Scene Redux” to help strengthen the students’ understanding of main idea and detail as it relates to storytelling.
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LESSON PLAN
Commedia dell'arte: High Status and Low Status
by Todd Espeland
When we think of Commedia dell’arte, we often think “mask.” But before we get to mask, it’s important to establish the foundation. Knowing the technical elements of playing comedy are essential before adding on the layers of mask, archetypal characters, and Lazzi. This lesson plan looks at one of the cornerstone tools for playing comedy: status. Status is at the heart of Commedia dell’arte. Students will explore high and low status through the game called Status Walks.
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LESSON PLAN
Improvisation: Characters
by Jennine Profeta
Characters have a lot of value in empowering your students’ improv. In this lesson, students will start to explore character in improv with the warm up game “Character Walkabout” and the improv game “Hitchhiker.”
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Resources
RESOURCE
Tongue Twisters in the Theatre Classroom
45 pages of tongue twisters and activities.
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RESOURCE
Exercise: The Celebrity Gift Bag
Use this exercise to inspire creativity and quick thinking in your classroom.
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RESOURCE
Duet Scene Scenarios
Use these duet scene scenarios during Improv work or warmup games.
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RESOURCE
Improvisation Feedback Tips
These tips will help you answer the question: What should you look for and what do you say afterward in an improv scene?
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RESOURCE
Moving Warm-Ups
Use these exercises when you want to get students up on their feet and moving around the room before your first activity.
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RESOURCE
Ten Rounds For Your Next Warm Up
Are you looking for a great vocal warm up that will improve their listening skills? Use rounds!
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RESOURCE
The Vowel Tree
The Vowel Tree is a great warm up because it gets students used to just making sounds and working the entire range from the low end of the voice to the high end. You can find a video demonstration of The Vowel Tree in Lesson Two of the Friendly Shakespeare Course. Watch the video and try the exercise for yourself!
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RESOURCE
Kitty in a Corner
This is a great movement and warm-up game, in which students need to communicate using eye contact as they move and switch spaces.
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RESOURCE
Improv Warm Up Games
This resource has a list and description of six different warm-up games, great for improv groups or any theatre class.
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RESOURCE
Character Projection Warm Up
Use this warm up to get students not only thinking about the physicality of a character but projection as well.
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RESOURCE
This Class is too Big!
Try these strategies and games when dealing with a large class size.
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RESOURCE
Positivity Tunnel
A game to encourage team building and positivity with your students.
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RESOURCE
Social Emotional Learning Through Game Play
Looking to implement Social and Emotional Learning into your program? This resource contains SEL connections to specific games and activities that are commonly played in the drama classroom, and the underlying actions, skills, or outcomes affiliated with those components.
Use the provided SEL Component Worksheets to identify SEL connections to other games and activities you use. Lastly, use the Reflection questions to reflect on your personal thoughts and experiences using SEL in the drama classroom.
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PLCs

PLC
School Startup - Session One
Hosted by Karen Loftus, Matt Webster, and Jennine Profeta
Learn about the most important things for the first week of school - from ice breaker games, to classroom procedures, to setting the tone from Day 1. Watch this replay to learn tips and tricks to start your school year off on the right foot!
Hosted by DTA instructors Karen Loftus, Lindsay Price, Jennine Profeta, and Matt Webster.
Recorded on August 14th, 2015 at 2pm.
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Attachments

PLC
School Startup - Session Two
Hosted by Matt Webster and Todd Espeland
Get your students to say "YES"
Tips for getting your classes started on the right foot by getting buy-in from your students. Learn how to start small, the importance of scaffolding, and some great first-week of school games to get your students engaged.
Hosted by DTA instructors Todd Espeland and Matt Webster.
Recorded on August 14, 2015 at 8pm.
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Attachments