Ask for a student volunteer to come scribe for the class on the board. Ask the class to review the elements they need to include in their final performance. Encourage them to consult their rubrics for hints. As the students brainstorm answers, the student scribe should record them on the board. If the class is hesitant to offer ideas, pass out the candy bars to the students who answer. If one of these elements is not mentioned, be sure to bring it up to remind the class about its requirements for their performances. After all of these have been reviewed, give the student scribe a candy bar as well.
o Creativity, honesty, confidence, sincerity
o Lines memorized
o Scored script: blocking, beats, tactics, obstacles, meaningful movement
o Character journal (make decisions about your character: props, costumes, voice)
o Effective communication with scene partner
Step Two—Guided Practice
Instruct the students to meet with their partners to review their scored scripts. Ask the students to identify one area of concern they have regarding their performance and to generate a goal for rehearsal today to achieve it. Visit with each pair to evaluate their progress. Guide them towards a reasonable goal if they are struggling to create one.
Step Three—Group Practice
Assign student partnerships to be peer-reviewed by other partnerships. Distribute the peer evaluation rubric to be filled out by the students about their group members’ performances. Encourage the students to give valuable, constructive criticism to each other.
Play a warm-up game first altogether as a class (spider, mingle, animal soup) then announce that the partnerships have fifteen minutes to rehearse their scene independently before they will be peer evaluated by another group. Call out timely reminders for the groups as they rehearse, directing them into the peer review portion of rehearsal when the time comes.
Step Four—Closure
After group members have viewed each others’ performances, ask them to trade peer evaluation forms with feedback. Encourage the students to talk with their scene partners about their rehearsal and the peer review comments to plan the steps they need to take to polish their scenes before final performance day. Ask the students to show by a raise of hands if they thought that they successfully achieved their rehearsal goal for the day.
