Professional Documents
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Subject: Drama
Grade Level: 9
PLANNING:
Academic Foundations/Standards or Benchmarks
TH.3.CR3.HS1: Students will explore physical, vocal and physiological choices to
develop a performance that is believable, authentic, and relevant to a
drama/theatre work.
- TH.4.PR1.HS1: Students will examine how character relationships assist in
telling the story of a drama/theatre work.
- TH.5.PR2.HS3: Students will use and justify a collection of acting exercises from
reliable resources to prepare a believable and sustainable performance.
Lesson Goal:
By the end of this class students will be able to identify Character, Relationship,
Objective, and Location in any theatrical scene.
Learning Objectives (include domain and level)
-Students will understand improv ground rules and answer accurately when
verbally asked what a rule means. (Domain: Cognitive 2)
-Students will participate in games designed to help them act on their impulses,
understanding that this is an essential skill of improvisation. (Domain: Affective 2)
-Students will demonstrate the basic rules of improv by playing the game Yes and
in front of the class. (Domain: Affective 2)
Prior Learning & Pre-planning
-Students will have possibly played basic improv based games in their past theatre
experience, but will all be treated as beginners for the purposes of this lesson.
Academic Language
Vocabulary (with definition):
Improv- Short for "Improvisation". This is a type of theatrical performance in which
performers create the story without the use of a script.
Complete Scene- An improvised scene containing characters, a relationship,
objectives, and a location.
Impulse- The first word or action that comes to mind in an improvised scene.
Objective- What a character wants in a scene.
Yes And- The act of accepting what a person has added to the scene and adding
your own piece of information.
Denying- The act of negating a piece of information added to the scene by your
scene partner.
Gift- A piece of information given to your scene partner to help create and further a
scene.
Language Function: The language in this lesson serves to allow students to discuss
and analyze improv scenes and their own performance.
Discourse: Students will use language to discuss scenes with each other and the
instructor.
Integrated Standards:
-None
Integration of other subject areas
English Language Arts may be somewhat integrated when we talk about character,
setting, and objectives because these are also literary elements.
Differentiation Strategies:
Student
1
Students Need
Vision impaired
(504 plan)
Attention Deficit
Disorder
Accommodation
Always seated
closest to any
video or
presentation.
Allowed an item to
fidget with
throughout class.
Modification
Safety considerations:
-All safety guidelines laid out in the Wilson High School safety manual will be
followed.
IMPLEMENTATION
Motivator: _5__ minutes
Explained in-depth here
I.
Game: 3 Things
a. Instructor will teach the game Three Things to show students that
they are naturally capable of thinking quickly, a vital skill for
improvisation.
i. The game involves students standing in a circle and all saying
together Three things!
ii. Then the first person (In this case the instructor) will turn to the
person next to them and give a prompt of three things for the
next person to list (i.e. Three things you wouldnt want to find
under your pillow or Three things dogs should never do). The
person they turned to then lists these three things as quickly as
possible and then the whole group shouts, Three things! once
again and the game moves on.
iii. After the whole circle has completed Three things the game
starts over with Two things! then One thing, rounding the
circle three times total.
ii. Dont try to be funny- Instructor will explain that the humor of
a scene does not come from actors intentionally going for jokes
or funny words, but from creating a believable reality and
sticking to it.
iii. Stay Away from Questions- Instructor will explain that openended questions can stop a scene cold. They put the
responsibility on your scene partner to come up with something
on the spot. Which leads to the next rule.
iv. Be GENEROUS to your scene partner- Instructor will explain
that the goal in an improvised scene is to make your partner
look good, not yourself. Good improvisers give gifts to their
scene partner. Instructor will explain the concept of gifts.
v. Tell a Story- Instructor will explain that improv scenes dont
work unless there is a story being told. Something has to happen
in other words.
II.
III.
Review
a. We will review all of the rules of improv one more time.
b. Homework will be assigned, due tomorrow.
i. Every student is to write a paragraph response to the following
prompt.
1. Pick one of the five rules of improv and explain why it is
a good general rule to follow in life
c. Instructor will tell class that next class we will be talking about what
goes into a good improvised scene.