High School Performance Skills

Length: 1 Trimester Grade: 9-12 Elective/ Performance Arts Credit

Course Description

Students will explore the elements of a quality performance through acting, pantomime, singing, speaking, improvisation, critique, observation and drama games. Topics will include communication, self-awareness, community, voice, and elements of speaking and singing well, blocking and movement on stage, and the little things that make a good performance. Students will participate in a scene from a musical for an audience or recording.

Essential Questions

Units

Unit 1: Getting to Know You

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Unit 2: Body Language/Pantomime

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People communicate with their bodies all the time. An actor observes and studies the life around him/her and uses that for material. A good pantomime means that the audience understands all that you are doing. Characteristics of a good pantomime include: consistency, exaggerated expression, exaggerated movement, telling a story with a beginning, middle and end. Use your imagination and be creative with your pantomime. 

Major Content:

Students perform games, create group pantomimes, create duet pantomimes, and discuss or peer-review what they understood or didn't understand. Students perform a large variety of pantomimes starting with large-group pantomimes and moving to smaller groups, duets and eventually solo. Students are given a worksheet to help them brainstorm lots of ideas for one pantomime. Activities could include: "walking across the street" pantomime, "join in" pantomime, etc.

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Unit 3: Voice & Acting/ Monologues

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The voice is an instrument and we can work on our voice to improve it, change it, and to use it to help us better communicate. We will have a class discussion about the quote “Successful people are people who speak well and who speak clearly”.  Most people do not like their voice and that is normal. Using your voice alone is a very personal thing because it is coming from you. If you are aware of the different elements and characteristics of voice you can change your voice to better communicate. There are four elements of voice: diction, tempo, inflection, pause. The four characteristics of voice include: projection, expression, eye contact, poise. 

Major Content:

We begin with a big discussion about the importance of voice, speaking well, and the messages we get from others about our voice (people telling you not to sing). We discuss how using your voice well is a skill that can be taught and learned with practice. Students will do many in-class activities (games) using the eight elements and characteristics of voice. Activities might include: vocal warm ups using tongue twisters and applying the different elements, games such as Echo, Moody Words, Human Orchestras, Oh!Oh!, Stereo sounds, Soundscapes, SFX, etc. We then proceed to making up skits with talking. I will also split the group up and spend time on 10 minute plays or small skits that are written and students have to follow stage directions and start developing character. We spend time looking at a script, dividing the actions & tasks so we are being very specific and clear about what we are doing, and we work on motivation. 

Unit Assessments: 

Students are graded individually on their participation and willingness to try new things, going out of their comfort zone and their efforts to enhance the atmosphere in class. Students are graded on their skits with rubrics. Final assessment is to choose a monologue, memorize and perform that monologue for a video camera.  Students observe themselves, make adjustments and videorecord again or perform for the rest of the class. Assessment of the monologue is based on a rubric. 

Unit 4: Final Performance

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Theater is a performing art and therefore your work must be performed to be appreciated. Performing in front of others has its own qualities to add to the mix. The more you perform the better you get at it. Focus is a big element. When you put on a play or tell a story all the elements we have been talking about and working on are all important. 

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Students research and read through many one-act plays that have the same number of characters as people in the class. Students choose what they would like to perform and they choose who will play each character. We then work on  developing the characters, work on action/tasks, figure out blocking, set, costume and props. Students then perform for a live audience. Students each give written invitations to their friends who get permission from teachers to leave class and come to the performance. It is usually a small audience of friends and teachers. 

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