Class & HOMEWORK

Drama Classwork

Classwork in Drama depends on student collaboration and ensemble building. As the Arts subjects consider thinking creatively [Creating Criteria] important to create ensemble, a student’s contribution and focus in class or group work is essential. Students should involve themselves wholeheartedly in practical games, group activities and scene exercises to ensure that they are understanding the dramatic concepts and skills being explored in class.

Concentration and collaboration are key concepts of Drama, especially in rehearsals and performance in which students have to portray believable characters and make worthwhile connections with their audience. Unfocused performances show little skill and only limited understanding of the process.

There will be many times when students will rehearse and perform scenes based on the skill work they have learnt in class in preparation for major assessed performances. Both thinking creatively [Creating Criteria] and developing skills [Performing Criteria] are graded components. Drama follows sustained levels of achievement. This means a student’s grade is based on their progression through the course with their latest achievement levels being the most relevant for reporting.

Lesson Framework

In lessons, students focus on a dramatic skill such as mime, movement, characterisation, role-play, improvisation, puppetry and mask work. They do this through games, small group activities and simple group presentations. Drama activities or games give students a chance to explore:

1. co-ordination

2. movement

3. posture

4. vocal clarity

5. concentration

6. listening

7. improvisation

8. teamwork

MS Drama (Grade 6-8)

There is one lesson of 80 minutes each two day cycle.

MS Drama Lesson Plan

Warm-up Game

Focus Skill Activity

Whole Group Activity or Demonstration

Small Group Work on Topic

Short Presentation and Debrief

HS Drama (Advanced Drama-Drama I/II Grade 9 to 12):

There is one lesson of 80 minutes each two day cycle.

HS Drama Lesson Plan

Warm-up Game

Focus Skill Activity

Whole Group Activity or Demonstration

In-depth Exploration of the topic for the rest of the lesson

Presentations and Debrief

All practical classwork and performances are filmed and uploaded to a SIS Vimeo site and links to the videos of each class grouping are provided on the class pages of this site.

Drama Homework

Drama is a practical subject and much of our work depends on students physically and vocally exploring theatre. From time to time students will be asked to complete written or oral homework to reflect on or evaluate practical exercises or performances in class, usually by embedding their practical classwork or performance video on their blog and writing about it. There is usually one major written piece per unit either a plot, plan, script, research paper, analysis or design – usually more in high school than in middle school. All written or homework is a graded component [Responding/Connecting Criteria].

As MS Drama is only a one semester (Grade 6,7) or one year course (Grade 8) – homework may not be every week but depending on their progression in practical work fortnightly or perhaps done immediately in class before or after a performance or skill activity.

As HS Drama classes cover a two year course – the student requires a more in depth and consistent approach to homework, so they must keep an online journal of their progress through the course focusing on the areas of skill acquisition, evaluation of the process and connections to performance. A number of larger written projects or research papers are also given each semester to extend a student’s knowledge in key theatre ideas. HS Drama students will also be expected to keep both an online journal (blog) and written portfolio of their progress through the subject.

During the course of the year for both MS and HS Drama, homework will also involve spending time on planning, designing, rehearsing scenes and even learning lines. It is the responsibility of groups to also meet in their own time to rehearse for performances in addition to their practical work in Drama/Theatre lessons.

Students cannot expect to use all their Drama lessons to rehearse for their performances as many lessons are earmarked for practical exploration of drama techniques or theories. Class performances are usually staged after school for parents and the wider community to attend, as having an audience and experiencing their reaction/feedback is an essential component of learning the dramatic process

Homework exercises are delivered in a variety of means through email, in class and of course through online with Google Classroom.

All due dates for assignments or practical work, must follow regular school guidelines and be submitted on time. For guidelines about late or missing work, please see the appropriate document here.