Students will be able to create characters by participating in a Where Space activity and recording their experiences and character discoveries on paper.
Characters stem from who the actor is and what he/she brings to them.
Enduring Understanding 2:
We must use our bodies to take on the physical attributes of a character.
Essential Question 1:
How can we create our characters to fit us?
Essential Question 2:
Why is it important to consider ourselves in the creation of character?
Materials Needed:
Paper for students to write on.
Hook:
‘Where’ Exercise – One student will choose a space and interact with that environment. Without talking, other students will enter the space, observe the first student and interact with the same environment. Goal: to be present in the space. To use body to explore the environment. Step 1 – Discussion: Where were you? How did you interact with that environment? How did the other people around you influence how you interacted with that environment? What does this have to do with performing? What does it have to do with character? Lead to interacting with environment. Step 2 – Choose Character: Students will decide which character they would like to portray. In Partners they will share why they chose this character and what they hope to gain from it. Then we will go around as a class to the partners and the partner will describe the other person’s character, and what they found interesting about it. Step 3- Instruction: On a piece of paper, write down the physical descriptions of your character that you’ve chosen. Write an acrostic poem and have each letter of their name be an adjective that describes them. Step 4- Character Walks: Explore space: Go into neutral body: Take on character: Play with heavy, light, slow, fast. Freeze into shapes if desired. Students will not be interacting at this point. Just like the where exercise they are exploring their space and discovering themselves. Step 5- Discussion: Think back to what you wrote down about your character’s physical description? Does that descrition fit you? If not, how can you become that character? How can that character change to look like you? Or what can you do to yourself – hair, makeup, costume etc to look like the character? Step 6 – Reflection: What have you learned about your character from the activities we’ve done today? Write 2 well-composed paragraphs down about it and turn it in. (5-7 sentences per.)
Final Assessment for Lesson 2:
Students will turn in papers at the end of class.
Homework:
Rubric:
25 points: Acrostic – 5, Physical description – 5, Format – 5: 2 paragraphs, at least 3-5 sentences per, Content- 10. The student has thought about the physical aspects of his/her character and made discoveries as to how he/she can embody that character themselves.
