I feel that my unit title is fairly self explanatory. However I would like to briefly talk about it in terms of what it means to me. “Movement in literature” creates a very vivid and specific image for me. As a “teacher/director” or a teacher who has learned to direct, it means creating wonderful stage images and pictures for my students using them as the vehicles of my creation. This process allows students to physicalize the literature as well as visualize the Literary images so often lost to inexperience. I am talking about creative drama. The experience of observing, creating, analyzing, intellectualizing and performing.
In an article in the “Educational Theatre Journal” entitled “Teaching Dramatic Literature,” Miriam Gilbert talks about the many positive and powerful reasons for using drama and theatre production in the classroom. Ms. Gilbert writes, “Not only does the production method involve students in a total way and give them the opportunity of responding personally, rather than a response learned from a teacher, but it enables students to sophisticate their responses to the play.”
1
She also believes as I do, that the method of blocking students on a stage or performance area furthers the learning process and asks students in an enjoyable and meaningful way to reconsider what they have read by interpreting it, visualizing it, speaking it and finally moving to it. “Production continues the process past a class period into rehearsals and turns the entire thing into a life long experience.
To succeed with such a process a transformation must take place. This transformation from teacher to director is one of the objectives in this unit. For those of you reading this for the first time, don’t be discouraged. I was an actress first, a classroom teacher second, and by design, a director last. I will be the first to admit that I have a lot to learn before I can call myself a professional director. But, alas do not despair. We are all directors of one thing or another, are we not? If you have never directed a scene in your classroom but are dying to try it, you really should. I have made many discoveries over the years about myself, my students, and my methodologies. Whether or not you are technically correct is almost irrelevant to the actual exercise. You learn that the technical jargon and aspects of theatre can be learned as you work with a play and with your students. I found that in planning my lessons for class I was forced to research the technical elements I was unfamiliar with or uncomfortable with. I then incorporated this research into the lecture portion of my class which also gave me the opportunity to introduce new vocabulary terms, job descriptions, life-skills, historical data and much more. My most cherished find is a workbook which I use almost daily with my students and as a reference book for myself. This workbook like most theatre craft books maps out blocking, defines terms, offers further suggested reading materials and is invaluable to the amateur director. It is called
Basic Drama Projects
by Fran Averett Tanner.
I also discovered that the process of mutual sharing and learning is a positive approach to learning for everyone. While I continue to learn about directing plays and the creative process I am simultaneously assigning research assignments to my students. They learn by writing their papers and I from reading them.
As an English teacher I learned to incorporate drama, theatre and theatrics into my classroom. This was not an easy exercise. It took a while before
I
felt comfortable using real drama in my classroom and in essence merging my two personalities into one method of teaching. As an actress I knew my background could be invaluable to me as well as my students, as an English teacher I felt inhibited by what I thought was expected of me as an academician. I felt stifled and my teaching was flat and lifeless. All of this changed when I began teaching a Performing Arts class. I soon realized that my relationship with students was very different from those in my English classes. Why is this? I thought. The answer, which I suppose I knew all along was that drama was in my blood, it was home and it was what I did best. My English students were reacting to my uneasiness and stiffness in the classroom often misread as “cold”, “hard”, “strict”, etc. What better way to reach
all
my students than through the age old universal communicator, Drama. Granted, I began slowly to merge the two. I tried introducing Mime exercises, improvisations and role playing first. Some classes loved it, some tolerated it, and the rest looked at me as if to say “poor lady, both oars are definitely not in the water!”
After trying many combinations of exercises in different classes and in varying arrangements, I chose the ones that worked best and had the highest rate of success and acceptance.
What is so wonderful about using drama in the classroom is that I can clearly see growth patterns almost immediately. By “growth” I mean self-awareness, awareness of others, self-confidence, agility, versatility and a new willingness to try something different and unfamiliar. Once I observe this growth I begin to channel it into creative writing, thinking and speaking exercises, with my main goal being a unified theatrical performance of a play or scene.
In rereading the school and state objectives, I found I was achieving more goals than I was previously able to by using theatre techniques in my classroom, and I now had a tangible way to measure my students growth. In an article entitled “On Knowing: Essays for the Left Hand” Jerome Bruner writes “the best way to create interest in a subject is to render it worth knowing, which means to make the knowledge gained usable in one’s thinking beyond the situation in which the learning has occurred.”
3
I firmly believe this is the case when one uses theatre techniques as a teaching and learning tool.
In rethinking my goals and objectives for my English classes I began incorporating more and more of the exercises I was using with the Performing Arts class. Fortunately or unfortunately it was at this time that I left teaching English to join the Comprehensive Arts Program. The Comprehensive Arts Program does exactly this. It promotes and encourages the use of all art forms in the classroom as a teaching and learning tool for students and teachers. In the past the Summer Arts Institute sponsored by the Comprehensive Arts Program allowed teachers and administrators to participate in a week long experience with specialists in each art form. Last summer (1982) I worked with many teachers from a variety of city schools. These teachers became students of drama and learned through participation in theatre games, improvisations, and role playing that drama could be an integral part of their teaching. Many of these teachers carried the materials we developed together back to their students and became “teacher/directors”. These teachers had not become drama experts but they did possess the desire to try, and
that
is half the battle.
The Objective
of this unit is to achieve “The experience of movement in Literature” specifically the physicalization of a play through blocking and Theatre Techniques.
The Goal
of this unit is to work with one scene from a play and develop it into a teaching unit in terms of play production. (The director’s prompt book).
Strategies: I will first identify some of the elements which students should be made aware of which fall into the cognitive and effective domain. Some of these are:
-
1. The ability to concentrate.
-
2. The identification and use of imagination.
-
3. The discovery and use of imagination.
-
4. The awareness of and mastery of the physical self.
-
5. The use of speech to communicate.
-
6. The identification and control of emotion.
-
7. The discovery and use of the intellect.
-
8. The ability to work with a group.
I will reiterate these elements and further explain them as I proceed to introduce various theatre games.
I feel it is important to explain how they will be graded. There are many elements to consider and many guidelines which I found in my research. I have settled however, on the following:
I.
Characterization
(for students who have roles)
-
A. Believability—were actions believable?
-
B. Detail—gestures, expressions, costuming, makeup.
-
C. Movement—walk, gait (Did actor’s movements enhance the performance?)
-
D. Accuracy—based on
research
—homework.
-
E. Focus—was characterization focused or hazy?
-
F. Concentration—did the actor break character?
-
G. Interesting—did the character have a life of its own or was it dull?
-
H. Blocking—were my blocking instructions carried out or improvised?
-
I. Motivation—
-
____
1. was the dialogue motivated by the proper emotions?
-
____
2. were the emotions truthful?
-
J. Props—did the actor make use of props in a realistic, believable, and natural manner?
-
K. Voice—
-
____
1. was the actor loud enough to be heard?
-
____
2. was the actor articulate?
-
____
3. was the actor’s rate and pace of speech correct?
-
____
4. was the actor’s breathing controlled?
-
L. Environment—did the student create the correct atmosphere for his/her character?
-
M. Was the actor true to my overall philosophy of the production?
-
N. Did the actor memorize his/her lines?
-
O. Did the actor contribute to the proper dissemination of information to the audience in terms of tone, mood, atmosphere, climax, plot.
II.
Technical
-
A. Makeup
-
____
1. Did the student follow the correct steps in developing the proper makeup for their character?
-
____
2. Did the student know the correct names for the materials used in applying their makeup?
-
____
3. Was the final makeup believable?
-
____
4. Was the final makeup neat?
-
____
5. Does the student know the difference between “straight” and “Age” makeup?
-
B. Costuming
-
____
1. Did the student choose the correct period?
-
____
2. Did the student’s costume help reveal the character?
-
____
3. Were proper accessories chosen for the given period and play?
-
C. Sets and Props (Crew members)
-
____
1. Did the students research the period of the play sufficiently?
-
____
2. Were set pieces and furniture chosen to clearly represent the time, locale, style and mood of the play?
-
____
3. Were the set pieces properly placed?
-
____
4. Were props chosen that were workable and appropriate for each character?
-
____
5. Were prop tables clearly marked and set for the actors?
-
____
6. Were the prop and set crews reliable and prompt?
-
____
7. Did they work well with the actors?
-
____
8. Was there a floor plan used by the crews?
-
____
9. Were list of props and set pieces posted?
-
D. Lighting and Sound (Tech Crew)
-
____
1. Was a lighting chart created (after research on stage lighting for the scene or play?
-
____
2. Were students able to use the correct names for each lighting instrument in their planning and charting of stage areas?
-
____
3. Was the mood, season, locale, etc. of the play taken into consideration?
-
____
4. Were instruments properly drawn for each stage area?
As the teacher/director I must be well prepared and have thought out all apsects of the production which will take place in my classroom. I must first choose the play and the specific scene which will be developed. I must decide on the tone, mood, atmosphere, style, climax and language of the piece. I must visualize the scene not only in my mind’s eye but in the form of ground plans, set designs, lighting and sound effects, costuming, makeup and of course characterization. I must be able to communicate all of this to my actors and crews. My interpretation of scene must be clearly communicated to the cast so that their character development and performance is presented to the audience in a unified manner. My most difficult task next is creating my director’s
prompt book
.
My
prompt book
will contain notes on every possible element of the production. It will be my lesson plan book, for six or eight weeks. It will contain my personal notes and thoughts on motivation for each character, technical notes, prop and set lists, lighting cues, notes on costuming, suggested improvisations and daily comments. My prompt book will also contain blocking notes, floor plans, and set designs.
I think it is important to define my role as director to my students to avoid confusion. As an English teacher I will set aside a six to eight week period of drama and theatre techniques. To switch gears, as it were, in the middle of the year requires a certain amount of planning and forethought. I found the drama unit to be most effective in the Spring as it is the most physical. However, I have used it during the first term and found that it was one way to get to know my students well in a relatively short period of time.
I like to step into the “role” of director and maintain that “role” as an actor would for a character. This helps the students remain in “the drama”. I might enter the room after the students are seated with a clipboard and announced that I am Gordon Craig or the Duke of Saxe-Meiningen, or David Belasco, Stanislavsky, and so forth. I don’t expect them to know who these directors are, so their first assignment in preparation for the unit on plays and directing will be to research these directors and others and bring character sketches of each and their specific styles of directing to class for discussion. The director I would choose to become in “role” will reflect the style I will direct in as it relates to that director.
I feel obliged to tell them the plays they will be reading and specifically the one which we will all work on as a performance piece. I will also tell my students “in character” that as their director I will act as the unifying force behind the production. I will describe myself to them as their creative “Messiah” guiding, moving, motivating, teaching and encouraging them to achieve professional interpretations of their roles in the play.
Action Plan: to divide the eight week period into specific goals and objectives for myself and my students in terms of play production. The eight week period will be conducted not so much as an English class, but as a class of professional theatre students. This will provide the correct learning and performing atmosphere and at the same time teach professionalism, work ethic, responsibility, etc.
Lesson Plan I
.
Objectives
To create a calm and pleasant atmosphere within the classroom to help foster creative behavior.
Strategies
I will begin the first class with a variety of loosening up exercises, improvisations, physical warmups and vocal warmups. These exercises will be expanded daily until there is an established and ongoing routine. I will also mention the play which we will be working on. I will do this “in character” as their “director” at the end of class. (Because other Drama units have been written and to reiterate every improvisation would be redundant, I will simply give an example of each type and purpose.)
A. Daily Warmups
-
____
1. Head
-
____
____
a. down and back
-
____
____
b. left and right
-
____
____
c. circles to the left and right
-
____
2. Shoulders
-
____
____
a. up by ears and down
-
____
____
b. right shoulder: forward and back—4 times forward, up and back—4 times forward, up, back and around—4 times repeat on left shoulder
-
____
____
c. together: forward, up and back; back, up and forward
-
____
____
d. right shoulder forward while left shoulder is back
-
____
3. Arms
-
____
____
a. straight up and stretch
-
____
____
____
aa. reach for rope while stretching
-
____
____
b. arms out to the side: small, large, larger circle
-
____
____
c. reach over with one arm over head to the side and stretch, repeat on the other side
-
____
____
d. both arms over head tilted to left and push and breath. both arms over head tilted to right and push and breath.
-
____
4. Waist
-
____
____
a. washing machine: hold hands and twist to right then left saying washing machine
-
____
5. Thighs
-
____
____
a. plie in open second position and bounce
-
____
6. Legs and Feet
-
____
____
a. Leg kicks: front, side and back (both sides)
-
____
____
b. run in place
-
____
7. Ragdoll
-
____
____
a. Feet apart, stretch up tall. Bend over collapsing quickly and loosely from the waist with relaxed arms and hands dangling to the floor. Slowly raise up from the waist.
B. Improvisations—(working together)
-
____
1. Energy Circle
-
____
____
a. stand in a circle and hold hands
-
____
____
b. close your eyes and gently sway from left to right (slowly)
-
____
____
c. begin a soft hum—gradually build and get louder, bring hands over head and yell.
-
____
2. Specific Warmups
-
____
____
a. The Machine (Science)
-
____
____
____
aa. One member of the group moves into a space and begins a machine-like movement. Each other member of the group joins the activity and “develops” the machine. This can be done by linking in some way. Add a noise.
-
____
____
b. Movement in Mime (Map Skills)
-
____
____
____
aa. In well thought out movements mime the following: lifting, pushing, pulling, rolling, hurling, carrying, stretching, chopping, bending, twisting, falling
-
____
____
____
Choose from.
-
____
____
____
rocks, boulders, stones, pebbles, logs, sticks, ropes, water
These exercises will be more than enough for the first day and each physical exercise and some improvisations will be repeated.
At the end of the first class I will speak my lines as “the director” of the soon to be produced play, “The Enchanted” by Jean Giraudoux.
“I know all of you have been through several days of preliminary auditions and I am pleased to see you here. As your director I will expect
total professionalism
at all times. By this I mean,
promptness
,
respect
and the
willingness to work
. I expect that you
come to rehearsal prepared
, lines and blocking memorized for actors, and sets, costumes, lights, props, etc. for those of you on my crews. I hope you will
accept
my
criticism
in good faith and know that we are working together toward one goal. That being a finished and professional production. I hope that if you feel strongly about certain things like your characterization or motivation, etc. that you will speak up. We must have open communication at all times. From now on all exercises will be conducted by the director and you will behave as professional actors. Because Giraudoux is not that familiar to our potential audience we must do our homework. It is essential that we present a clear and accurate picture for our audience. Thank you for being here, I will see you tomorrow. I would ask that each of you read the play again so that you are prepared to
audition for the
parts which will take place in another two weeks. In the mean time we will learn more about each other, the stage and theatre and of course the play itself. It is essential that we understand the play before we go on to auditions.”
Note: I would audition my students earlier in a Performing Arts class, but as this is primarily for an English class I must maintain a certain structure which will allow the academic side of play production to take place.
The rest of the first week would be a continuance of the same physical exercises with additions.
Lesson Plan II
(or supplementary exercises)
A. Vocal Warmups
-
1. Begin with breathing from the diaphragm (the muscle located between your abdomen and the bottom of your rib cage).
-
____
a. Place hands on diaphragm and concentrate on moving your hands out and in.
-
____
b. Lie on the floor with a book placed on your stomach. Try to raise the book up and then flat without moving anything else.
-
Suggestions: sounds like Ah, Eh, Ma, are good to begin with. Hay, hay, hee, hoo, hi.
-
2. Hold your breath
-
____
a. Count from one to ten or more on one breath.
-
____
b. Give everyone (or groups of students) a pitch and a sound to hold and control.
-
____
c. Whisper a sentence to the class, gradually repeat the same sentence getting louder each time.
-
____
d. Read two passages out loud from text books. Have students read the punctuation marks out loud.
-
3. Fun exercises for practice in speech and acting. Directions:
-
____
a. Read the sentence.
-
____
b. Speak the sentence dramatically.
-
____
c. Act out the sentence using arms only.
-
____
d. Act out the sentence using the entire body.
-
4. In pairs, face each other standing or sitting. One person begins telling a story. The other repeats “echoing the story.”
-
5. Over pronunciation
-
____
a. Stand in a line across the playing area shoulder to shoulder. Assign one sentence per person to be over pronounced and then pronounced with great feeling.
Improvisations
for observation and imagination.
I will chose three unrelated words and assign them to groups of four or five to act out for the class. They will have five minutes to prepare.
ex: Create a drama from your three words so that we can easily determine what they are.
I might pull elements of the play out to test students creativity.
ex: Ghost, Forest, Young woman.
The rest of the week would continue in the same way. Repeating and expanding the exercises which work and are most beneficial.
Lesson Plan III
Continue warmup and vocal exercises and one or two improvisations daily.
Objective
: Students will become familiar with the stage areas and be able to walk through basic stage directions.
Strategies
: Introduce the stage areas and discuss Blocking techniques. Pass out handouts for homework.
