Download Centerstage Playwrights Festival Curriculum DRAFT

Unit #1: Theater and Storytelling
Grade: Middle School
Subject: Young Playwrights Festival
Knowledge and Skills
Time Frame: Two Class Periods
Prior Knowledge: N/A
SC Indicator:
 1.1 Describe and interpret characteristics of dramatic forms (Grades 6-8)
 1.2 Express a broad range of human responses to a variety of stimuli.
 1.3 Use a variety of theatrical elements to communicate ideas and feelings.
 1.4 Identify, analyze and apply criteria to assess individual and group theatre processes.
SC Objectives:
 1.1.1. c Identify roles and behaviors associated with characters in children’s literature.
 1.2.1. a Exploring how to recreate natural and human-made sounds using the voice.
 1.3.1. d Improvising roles and behaviors associated with a variety of animals and professions.
 1.4.1. b Viewing dramatic activities and articulating personal preferences and responses to observed performances.
We’ll bring this into closer/ more explicit alignment with the activities that you have listed below.
Assessment Limits:
 Students will engage in improvisational games and activities in order to understand oral storytelling.
 Through theatre etiquette students will learn proper behaviors and attitudes for live theatre performances.
 Students will learn the basic structure of beginning, middle and end. (Is this a middle school skill, or are you getting at tension and
release?)
VOCABULARY
Dialogue
Plot
Setting
Character
Ideas
ENDURING UNDERSTANDINGS:
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Theater is a form of storytelling that uses dialogue.
Beginning, middle and end is the structure of most storytelling.
Basic principles of who, what, where, when and how are components of storytelling.
Focus and observation are essential to improvisation.
.
ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS:


Baltimore City Public Schools
What kinds of stories are there?
What are the similarities and differences between plays and other stories?
CENTERSTAGE Young Playwrights Festival
GRADE 6-8
DRAFT
1
Unit #2: Theater Appreciation
Grade: Middle School
Subject: Young Playwrights Festival
LEARNING ACTIVITIES AND STRATEGIES
Suggested Learning Plan
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
What kinds of storytelling are there? (Make sure this language is consistent with above)
What are the similarities and differences between plays and other stories?
SC Objective:
1.2.c Describe
techniques and
conventions used in
the presentation of
characters, settings,
and action in film,
video, television and
radio.
2.1.d Analyze the
work of selected
representative
playwrights from a
variety of cultures
Baltimore City Public Schools
Activity
Description
Materials/Resources
Warm-Up Activities
and Theatre Games
Students will participate in a variety of ageappropriate warm-up games designed to break the
ice and begin to build ensemble in the classroom.
Brainstorm
Students will brainstorm different ways stories are
told in our culture.
Reading/Speaking
Students will read short plays written by prior
winners of the Centerstage Young Playwrights
Festival. They will also read a very short fictional
story.
Performance
Students will participate in “Yes, and…” storytelling
improvisational activities.
Brainstorm
Students will brainstorm on the differences between
a play and a short story. Examples include
Performance
Link to brainstorming protocol
Link to play and story texts
Link to “Yes, and…” storytelling
protocols
Link to brainstorming protocol
Students will read one of the Centerstage YPF plays
aloud, with a student reading stage directions.
CENTERSTAGE Young Playwrights Festival
GRADE 6-8
DRAFT
2
Unit #2: Theater Appreciation
Grade: Middle School
Subject: Young Playwrights Festival
and historical
periods by reading,
performing, and
attending selected
plays.
Baltimore City Public Schools
CENTERSTAGE Young Playwrights Festival
GRADE 6-8
DRAFT
3
Unit #2: Theater Appreciation
Grade: Middle School
Subject: Young Playwrights Festival
Knowledge and Skills
Time Frame: Two Class Periods
Prior Knowledge: N/A
SC Indicator:
 2.1 Analyze characteristics of dramatic works, spaces, audiences, and performers used for theatre in different cultures and
historical periods.
 3.2 Develop performance and production skills required for theatrical performance.
 4.1. Identify, describe, and apply crieteria to assess individual and group theatre processes.
SC Objectives:
 2.1.b Compare theatrical conventions of a variety of given cultures and historical periods.
 2.1 e Compare architectural characteristics of theatre spaces in different culturesand historical periods and the effects on
performance conventions.
 3.2.b Use collaborative theatre processes to create perform, and revise scenes and plays based on themes drawn from selected
sources
 3.2.d Design scenic elements, props,costumes, and environments that communicate character and establish time period, place, and
mood.
 4.1.a Observe selected theatrical works and describe personal preferences using language that incorporates theatre terminology.
Assessment Limits:
 Students will design sets for a YPF play.
 Students will master vocabulary.
 Students will learn the parts of the stage.
 Students will learn the basic styles of stages and theaters
 Students will learn theatre genres
VOCABULARY
Playwright
Director
Designer
Actor
Proscenium
Apron stage
Drama
Comedy
Tragicomedy
Tragedy
Baltimore City Public Schools
ENDURING UNDERSTANDINGS:



Theater has been with us for more than 2,000 years
Different styles of theatre evolved over that time.
Theatre is a multi-artist art form
.
ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS:
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What is the history of theater?
Who are the artists involved in producing a play?
What does a designer do?
CENTERSTAGE Young Playwrights Festival
GRADE 6-8
DRAFT
4
Unit #2: Theater Appreciation
Grade: Middle School
Subject: Young Playwrights Festival
Satire
Set
Staging
Baltimore City Public Schools

What is staging?
CENTERSTAGE Young Playwrights Festival
GRADE 6-8
DRAFT
5
Unit #2: Theater Appreciation
Grade: Middle School
Subject: Young Playwrights Festival
LEARNING ACTIVITIES AND STRATEGIES
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
What is the history of theater?
Suggested Learning Plan
SC Objective:
Activity
Warm-Up Activities
and Theatre Games
2.1.b Compare
theatrical
conventions of a
variety of given
cultures and
historical periods.
Slideshow
Reading/Speaking
Description
Materials/Resources
Students will participate in a variety of ageappropriate warm-up games designed to break the
ice and begin to build ensemble in the classroom.
Students will learn the history of theater and the
variety of theaters today.
Students will create set designs for a Centerstage
YPF play.
Link to PowerPoint presentation
Link to play
2.1.e Compare
architectural
characteristics of
theatre spaces in
different cultures
and historical
periods and the
effects on
performance
conventions.
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
Who are the artists involved in producing a play?
SC Objective:
Baltimore City Public Schools
Activity
Description
CENTERSTAGE Young Playwrights Festival
GRADE 6-8
Materials/Resources
DRAFT
6
Unit #2: Theater Appreciation
Grade: Middle School
Subject: Young Playwrights Festival
4.1.a Observe
Warm-Up Activities
selected theatrical
and Theatre Games
works and describe
personal preferences Vocabulary
using language that
incorporates theatre
terminology.
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
What is the job of a designer?
Students will participate in a variety of ageappropriate warm-up games designed to orient
students to the stage and acting.
Students will be introduced to the vocabulary of
theater, including the titles and job descriptions of
artists involved in producing a play.
Link to Warm-up Games
3.2.d Design scenic
Design
elements,
props,costumes, and
environments that
communicate
character and
establish time
period, place, and
mood.
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
What is staging?
Students will create designs for costumes or set for
the YPF play read in the last unit, depending on
individual student interest.
Link to design activity
SC Objective:
3.2.b Use
collaborative theatre
processes to create
perform, and revise
scenes and plays
based on themes
drawn from selected
sources
Baltimore City Public Schools
Activity
Staging
Description
Materials/Resources
Students will work together in groups to block a
scene using staging vocabulary.
CENTERSTAGE Young Playwrights Festival
GRADE 6-8
Link to vocabulary
DRAFT
Link to play text
Link to staging diagram
7
Unit #2: Theater Appreciation
Grade: Middle School
Subject: Young Playwrights Festival
Knowledge and Skills
Time Frame: Six to Seven Class Periods
Prior Knowledge: Unit #1 and #2
SC Indicator:
 3.1 Apply a variety of dramatic structures to theatrical presentations.
 4.1 Identify, describe, and apply criteria to assess individual and group theatre processes

SC Objectives:
 3.1.a Use dramatic narrative conventions to write and perform monologues, scenes, and plays that are based on personal
experiences, real or improvised situations, or historical events.
 3.1.d Select a variety of sources, e.g., original ideas, fictional or non-fictional works, theatrical structures, and theatrical elements to
create and produce dramatic works.
 4.1.a Use given criteria to critique personal theatrical performances and the performances of others.
 4.1.c Describe formal and informal theatre productions using appropriate theatre vocabularyto demonstrate knowledge of the
principles and practices of theatre.
4.2.b Compare the presentation of characters, settings, and action in theatre, film, and television using selected criteria.
Assessment Limits:
 Students will learn vocabulary of playwriting.
 Students will learn playwriting structure and formatting.
 Students will use writing exercises and improvisation games to spark imagination and aid writing.
 Students will write monologues, scenes and short plays.
 Students will revise their work.
 Students will critique others’ work.
VOCABULARY
Act
Action
Archetype
Aside
Backstory
Beat
Biography
Causality
Baltimore City Public Schools
ENDURING UNDERSTANDINGS:





Playwrights use many different tools to help them write plays.
Playwrights’ process includes pre-writing, writing and revision.
The process of revision is as important as the process of writing.
Plays must fit the stage.
Not all plays that are written can be produced?
.
CENTERSTAGE Young Playwrights Festival
GRADE 6-8
DRAFT
8
Unit #2: Theater Appreciation
Grade: Middle School
Subject: Young Playwrights Festival
Character
Climax
Collateral damage
Comic relief
Conflict
Consequences
Criticism
Denouement
Dialogue
Dramatis personae
Earned conclusion
Exposition
Foreshadowing
Inciting incident
Monologue
Objective
Plot
Precipitating event
Resolution
Reversal
Rising Action
Scene
Setbacks
Setting
Soliloquy
Stage directions
Stakes
Subplot
Surprise ending
Baltimore City Public Schools
ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS:
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
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
What are the elements of playwriting?
How does one start to write a play?
How are plays formatted?
What is the critique process in playwriting?
How are plays revised and rewritten?
How is a play chosen for production?
CENTERSTAGE Young Playwrights Festival
GRADE 6-8
DRAFT
9
Unit #2: Theater Appreciation
Grade: Middle School
Subject: Young Playwrights Festival
LEARNING ACTIVITIES AND STRATEGIES
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
What are the elements of playwriting?
Suggested Learning Plan
SC Objective:
Activity
Warm-Up Activities
and Theatre Games
4.1.c Describe
formal and informal
theatre productions
using appropriate
theatre vocabulary
to demonstrate
knowledge of the
principles and
practices of theatre.
Vocabulary
Reading/Speaking
Description
Materials/Resources
Students will participate in a variety of ageappropriate warm-up games designed to reinforce
the elements of playwriting, to include character,
dialogue, setting, plot and ideas.
Students will learn the elements of drama through
theatre games and activities, as an extension of
warm-up activities.
Students will continue to review vocabulary through
rest of course.
Students will read the same or a different YPF play
aloud (including stage directions) and
analyze/discuss the elements of drama.
? Add Materials/ resources
Link to games
Link to play
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
How does one begin to write a play?
SC Objective:
3.1.d Select a variety
of sources, e.g.,
original ideas,
fictional or nonfictional works,
theatrical structures,
and theatrical
elements to create
and produce
dramatic works.
Baltimore City Public Schools
Activity
Warm-Up Activities
and Theatre Games
Videos
Writing
Description
Materials/Resources
Students will participate in a variety of ageappropriate warm-up games designed to orient
students to the elements of drama.
Students will watch several short video interviews
with playwrights on how they begin writing.
Students will begin writing monologues or scenes.
Students will share their writing with the group.
CENTERSTAGE Young Playwrights Festival
GRADE 6-8
DRAFT
Link to Warm-up Games
Link to videos
Link to vocabulary
10
Unit #2: Theater Appreciation
Grade: Middle School
Subject: Young Playwrights Festival
Writing
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
How is a play formatted?
Students will write rough drafts of their plays.
SC Objective
Activity
Description
3.1.a Use dramatic
Warm-Up Activities
Students will participate in a variety of agenarrative
and Theatre Games
appropriate warm-up games designed to orient
conventions to write
students to the elements of drama.
and perform
Hand-out/Discussion Students will review how plays are formatted,
monologues,
including margins, spacing, stage directions, etc.
scenes, and plays
that are based on
personal
experiences, real or
improvised
situations, or
historical events.
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
How does one critique someone else’s writing?
Materials/Resource
Link to Warm-up Games
SC Objective:
Description
Students will participate in a variety of ageappropriate warm-up games designed to reinforce
student understanding of the elements of drama.
Students will create the standards for critiquing
other students’ work. Standards will be displayed in
the classroom as a reminder for rest of course.
Materials/Resources
Link to Warm-up Games
Description
Students will participate in a variety of ageappropriate warm-up games designed to reinforce
student understanding of the elements of drama.
Materials/Resources
Link to Warm-up Games
4.1.a Use given
criteria to critique
personal theatrical
performances and
the performances of
others.
Activity
Warm-Up Activities
and Theatre Games
Brainstorming
Hand-out
Link to critique protocol
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
How are plays revised and re-written?
SC Objective:
3.2.b Use
collaborative theatre
Baltimore City Public Schools
Activity
Warm-Up Activities
and Theatre Games
CENTERSTAGE Young Playwrights Festival
GRADE 6-8
DRAFT
11
Unit #2: Theater Appreciation
Grade: Middle School
Subject: Young Playwrights Festival
processes to create
Coaching
perform, and revise
scenes and plays
based on themes
Reading/Critique
drawn from selected
sources
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
How are plays chosen for production?
SC Objective:
4.2.b Compare the
presentation of
characters, settings,
and action in theatre,
film, and television
using selected
criteria.
Baltimore City Public Schools
Activity
Festival Selection
Students will receive one-on-one coaching with
teacher to discuss critique of play and suggestions
for rewriting.
Students will share their works-in-progress through
a round robin reading. Students will critique each
other’s work verbally and using a rubric.
Description
GRADE 6-8
Link to critique protocol
Materials/Resources
Student plays will be chosen for production for a
school-based performance based on student and
teacher input and critique.
CENTERSTAGE Young Playwrights Festival
Link to coaching protocol
DRAFT
Link to recommended selection
process
12
Unit #2: Theater Appreciation
Grade: Middle School
Subject: Young Playwrights Festival
Knowledge and Skills
Time Frame: Five to Six Class Periods
Prior Knowledge: Unit #1, #2, #3
SC Indicator:
 3.2 Develop performance and production skills required for theatrical performance
SC Objectives:
 3.2.d Design and construct representational and presentational environments that communicate the intent of dramatic works.
Assessment Limits:
 Students will learn the process of producing a play.
 Students will play roles in the production process: actor, director, designer
VOCABULARY
Blocking
Props
Costumes
Designers
Actor
Director
Setting
Baltimore City Public Schools
ENDURING UNDERSTANDINGS:



There are many artists involved in producing a play.
Artists must work together to benefit the group.
Producing a play requires focus, listening, and commitment.
.
ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS:

What are the participant’s roles and responsibilities?
CENTERSTAGE Young Playwrights Festival
GRADE 6-8
DRAFT
13
Unit #2: Theater Appreciation
Grade: Middle School
Subject: Young Playwrights Festival
Suggested Learning Plan
LEARNING ACTIVITIES AND STRATEGIES
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
What are the play participants’ roles and responsibilities?
SC Objective:
3.2.d Design and
construct
representational and
presentational
environments that
communicate the
intent of dramatic
works.
Baltimore City Public Schools
Activity
Warm-Up Activities
and Theatre Games
Production Schedule
Role Assignments
Rehearsal
Design
Production
Description
Materials/Resources
Students will participate in a variety of ageappropriate warm-up games to develop acting
technique and character work.
Students will create a production schedule,
including deadlines and other important dates
Link to games
Link to sample production calendar
Students will complete worksheets to determine
what role each will have in the play production
process. Directors, actors and designers will be
chosen.
Students will work within their groups, under the
leadership of the student director, to block and
rehearse the plays.
Student designers will create/obtain set pieces,
costumes and props.
Students will present plays in a school assembly
setting for peers and family.
CENTERSTAGE Young Playwrights Festival
GRADE 6-8
DRAFT
Link to production protocol
14