Grade Seven: A Model Unit
Continued
Unit Two: Developing a Collective Creation
Shaping and Refining the Collective Creation
(Note)
The students will:
- initiate ideas which contribute to the progress of their
drama
work
- willingly accept decisions reached by consensus
- recognize that drama combines many individual contributions
to
form a whole artistic expression
- become able to make purposeful choices from among the
strategies and elements to direct the course and the quality
of their drama work
- recognize that within their collective creations the
elements
of theatre form can be manipulated to help achieve their
intention
- create and analyse their collective creation in relation to
their lives, cultures and society
- begin to develop their understanding of how plays are made
- explore and express the purpose of their collective
creation
(C).
The students decide that they will develop a short collective to
present one afternoon during Education Week. Some of the students
say that they would rather not do any acting. The teacher says
that they will only have to do what they are comfortable doing and
that there will be plenty of tasks for everyone.
The teacher says that since last class she has read their
monologues carefully, taken a look at the brainstorm lists they put
together, and has been going through the notes she took as the
drama unfolded.(Note)
She says she is sure they have given their work
some thought and that they have some ideas as to what they might
like to include in a short collective. She also notes that one of
the students brought another tape to class this period and they may
decide to use this somehow as well.(Note)
Together the class
sifts through its ideas. They discuss the focus
of their work and what it is they want to say with their
collective. Through a process of negotiation, they choose four
improvisations that they think best communicate their intention.
These include three that were developed early in the drama from the
adolescent's point-of-view and one which was reworked in order to
illustrate both the points-of-view of the adolescent and the adult
about the same situation.(Note)
A couple
of the improvisations undergo
"cast" changes following the students' selection of monologues.(Note)
These monologues
provide a representative sample of both the ups
and downs of being the parent or guardian of an adolescent. One
student suggests use of the words "Parents" and "Teens" in a sort
of cheerleaders' cheer to begin or end the work. Another says they
might use music at the beginning and the end of the collective and,
perhaps, between each episode. One of the students whose monologue
has been chosen says he would rather not read his own. Another
asks whether the monologues should be read or memorized. The class
decides that if the "actors" are willing, the monologues should be
memorized. Three of the students who are going to learn the
monologues decide to do one another's. A couple of students ask if
they can bring some interesting costume pieces. The teacher asks
for a volunteer from among those who are not keen to perform to
make a few opening remarks to introduce the collective to the
Education Week audience. She also says that after their
performance, she would like this person to invite the audience to
ask the class questions about where they got their ideas and where
their "play" came from. She says she would like them all to be
prepared to participate in that.
Rehearsing and Performing The Collective Creation
The students will:
- sustain belief in the drama with confidence and concern
- sustain belief in their own role and in the roles of others
for an extended period of time
- identify and explore the responsibilities and contributions
of
various dramatic artists to the production of a collective
creation
- identify and explore the relationship of drama/theatre to
the
other arts
- use language, vocabulary and structures appropriate to
audience and purpose (C).
For the next two weeks the class dedicates both in and out of class
time to preparing for the performance of their collective
creation.(Note)
The teacher is the
director of the work and she works with five
assistant directors, one on each improvisation and one on the
monologues. As well, a stage manager, appointed earlier, uses a
storyboard to record and post the class's decisions about the order
of the episodes and the use of music and the "Give me a "P"...,
give me an "A"..., give me an "R"... etc." chant which the students
have decided to use. (Note)
A final run through and dress rehearsal are
scheduled for the last drama class before the performance date.
The students' simply-staged collective creation is presented to a
small audience of about twenty-five people in the drama room. A
large student-made banner displaying the title of the collective,
"Parents Just Don't Understand / Teens Just Don't Understand" hangs
over the playing area. Everyone who attends is delighted with the
students' work and many good questions are asked of the class.
Reflection/Discussion/Journal
Writing -- Whole Group/Individual
The students will:
- discuss and analyse the role and influence of drama in
their
daily lives
- record their reflections on their drama experiences in an
ongoing drama journal
- expand their use of the language and vocabulary of drama
when
reflecting upon their work
- examine the various functions of drama/theatre; for
example,
as entertainment, social commentary, celebration, education,
propaganda, etc.
- begin to perceive, describe, analyse and interpret their
own
works of dramatic art and to make informed judgments only
after reflecting on their findings
- recognize that cultural background and experiences affect
one's responses to the play and the understanding of meaning
and symbol in the work
- develop ways to evaluate creative processes (CCT)
- provide reasons (arguments related to principles and to
evidence) for their responses and choices (CCT).
(Note)
The first drama class
following the performance of the
collective
consists of a class discussion about the work. The students are
generally pleased with the experience and several of them share
feedback which they have heard from some of those who were among
the audience. The teacher congratulates them all on their work and
hands out the following list of questions which she would like
them to answer in their journals and hand in next class:
1. What did you learn about the relationships between
parents/guardians and kids through your participation in this
drama?
2. What did you learn about yourself? Others?
3. Which parts of the process did you find most beneficial?
Why?
4. Which parts of the process did you find most challenging?
Why?
5. Please assess your contributions to the work:
- What roles did you try?
- What ideas did you contribute?
6. Assess the quality of the performance itself. Which parts
were particularly effective? Why?
7. What would you like to do better in the next drama?
8. What advice would you give the teacher and another class who
were attempting doing a similar project?