Students will evaluate their ability to design sound for a show by critiquing and adjusting their sound cue scripts for “You Can’t Take It With You”.
Materials Needed
Soundboard access (all sound cues entered), slips of paper with the names of each role written on it (enough for all students to participate if they wish), copies of the script You Can’t Take it With You—one for each student
Lesson Directions
Anticipatory Set/Hook
Have the pre-show music playing as the students enter the room. Have each student who wishes to read a part in the play draw one out of a hat. (Have students share larger parts between acts if there are more students than parts—i.e. Alice for Act 1 and Alice for Act 2, etc.) Have each group select a soundboard operator to run the soundboard cues during their section of the play.
Instruction
Explain that today will be a day to read through the play while listening to the sound cues, then reflecting and discussing whether they work or not.
Practice: Read through the play and have each group take turns playing the sound cues they’ve chosen. After each group’s section, take ten minutes to discuss what the students felt worked well. What possible changes could be made? What changes need to be made or what sound cues were omitted that should be present? Note any changes that should be made to the scene and have one person from each group volunteer to correct each change (so that hopefully there is one student each taking care of one change). Continue this process throughout the rest of the period, until the last ten minutes of class or until the play is finished, whichever comes first. (If they play is not finished today, repeat this same process tomorrow.)
Assessment
Students will use the last ten minutes of class to write a response to each group’s sound cues (maximum one paragraph each), which they will turn in to the teacher at the end of class
Author’s Notes
*NOTE: This lesson could take two or more days. It is meant to work at the pace of the students.
