Download Middle School Drama - The Covenant School

Middle School Drama
The Covenant School
2014- 2015 Mrs. Jennifer Peart
[email protected]
(434) 951-9379
“Willkommen, Bienvenue, Welcome!”
With great enthusiasm, I welcome you back to school and to our Middle School
Drama class. I am very excited to have this opportunity to serve as your drama teacher
this year and hope this is just the beginning of a fun and fruitful relationship of creating
theater together here at The Covenant School. Together with your participation, I hope
to nurture an environment in which you can explore and express your imagination and
expand your knowledge of the stage and richness of the theater.
In middle school drama we will establish a playful and disciplined class climate to
give you and your classmates a chance to experience, practice, and enjoy the art of
drama. Who knows? We may even find ways to put your talents and new skills on
display for your friends and family at various times throughout the year! Through our
class activities and exercises, it is my hope that you will uncover a true interest in theatre
and want to stay on from semester to semester throughout the year!
---Mrs. Jennifer Peart
Course Description:
Middle School Drama is an elective course introducing students to the skills and
disciplines needed to be a focused and successful actor. Acting study is based on group
games, memorized scene work, monologues, improvisation, and imagination. This
course will provide a wonderful opportunity for the students to express themselves
creatively in an unintimidating and accepting class environment as students will be free
to try and fail, and will be challenged to try again! Some focus topics that students
explore include improvisation, pantomime, storytelling, Shakespeare, and selected
plays. Throughout the semester there will be opportunities for students to showcase their
talents both in and out of the classroom. We will meet on Wednesday during G period
block for eighty minutes.
Course Of
Study and
Calendar
Subject to change and adjustment
throughout the year due to pacing,
weat her cancellations, etc.
Through the course of our study, students will:
 Be introduced to theatre vocabulary, parts of stage, stage types, and the
mechanics of theater
 Explore basic movement, establish a balance of self control and expression, and
develop characters
 Develop their voices through exercises in vocal projection, articulation, and
expression.
 Foster a class ensemble of support, fun, and joy.
 Discover their inherent dramatic and expressive talents.
 Partake in solo and group performance activities.
 Participate and develop the skills of performer and audience member alike.
 Develop an understanding of stage production through work with costumes,
props, and basic stage scenery.
Special focus topics/course material for each semester may include:
 Theatre games and warm-ups
 Improvisation
 Pantomime
 Storytelling
 Reader’s Theatre/Story Theatre
 Shakespeare
 Musical Theatre
 Scene Study
 Playwriting
 Selected full-length plays
For class you will need:
 Energy, self-control, and an open and willing attitude--- please have these on
hand daily!
 Appropriate dress- We move, a lot, in drama. You may need to bring a pair of
sweatpants to change into for work with movement. Please plan accordingly.
 A spiral notebook to be left in class- please have these in hand along with this
signed syllabus for Tuesday, Sept. 2nd.
Classroom particulars:





We will meet in the wrestling room—do not touch anything unless you are instructed to
do so.
Be present. Please do not miss class if at all possible. We meet only one time each
week, so please make a concerted effort to schedule doctor’s appointments, make-up
tests, and the like for another time. Please remind me at the start of each class if you
will have to be absent for the next week or if you will be leaving early. If you have to
miss class, please see me during office hours the next day to see what you have
missed--- this is the central way I can keep you up-to-date with what we did in class
and what you may need for our next meeting.
NOTE: When Wednesday is NOT a block then we will meet for Tuesday G period the
day before! I will remind you about this!
No gum, food, or drink except for clear water in the work space.
Put your trash in the trashcan.
GRADING
Semester Grades will be
determined by student
performance in the following
areas:
Class Participation (33.3%): This is an active class. Your vocal and physical
contributions, concentration, enthusiasm, expression, and commitment will be assessed
each class period.
Homework and Line Checks (33.3%): This category embraces simple tasks such as
getting this syllabus signed, bringing in props/costumes, making observations outside of
class to learning your lines! You can expect one assignment from this category per
week. You do not typically have written homework. If you are sick and miss the class for
the week, please be sure to see me during office hours the very next day, so that I
can help you take care of whatever you have missed. Do not wait until the next week to
follow-up on what you missed.
Projects and tests (33.3%): This category includes the “big” moments in class such as
the presentations of scenes or monologues or even PLAYS for your friends and families.
Final dress rehearsals will also be included in this category---do not miss these days!
PLEASE NOTE: your grades will appear regularly on Net classroom. Please establish a
habit of checking your progress.
“There is more to heaven and earth, Horatio,
than is dreamt of in your philosophy.”
Middle School Drama
Parent and Student Signature DUE: Tuesday, September 2 nd
Please let me know that you have seen, read, and considered the
details of this syllabus by signing and returning the section below.
Don’t forget a single subject spiral notebook for T, Sept. 2nd!
Thank you again for this opportunity to share my love of performance
and theater with your student this year!
Many blessings for a wonderful and fruitful year!
Jennifer Peart
We have read and understand the expectations of this course.
__________________________
Student Signature
___________________
Date
__________________________
Parent(s) Signature
___________________
Date
PS: can you identify the theatrical pictures/quotes in this syllabus?
Give it a try…