Educational Objective: Students will demonstrate their understanding of character relationships by writing a journal entry in their stereotype (from previous lessons) about another student’s stereotype.
Materials needed: 15 pieces of paper w/ character relations organized into 3 rounds, tape, powerpoint presentation ready to go. Lesson 7.Relationships PowerPoint
15 pieces of paper with tape: On one side, write the character relationship and on the other the corresponding round.
Round 1:
Your Mother
Your Sister/Brother
Your Best Friend
Your Worst Enemy
Your Favorite High School Teacher
Round 2:
A Police Officer
A Judge (and YOU are the Defendant)
A Mailman
A King
A Movie/Rock Star
Round 3:
The President of the United States
Your Ex
An Alien from Another Planet
Your Dog
A Convict
Hook: (15 minutes)
Have relations papers ready as students walk in. At the start of class, gather one ⅓ of the students and have them stand in front of the class. Don’t allow any of the students to see what is on the card while you tape index cards labeled ROUND 1 on the chosen students. Tell the rest of the students to walk around the room and interact with the chosen students according to what is on their card (without telling them what is on the card).
Allow 3-4 minutes per round (it is okay if students figure out what’s on their card early as this will be important later). At the end of each round, have chosen students guess what was on the card. Once everyone has guessed their card, play another round following the same process (this time ask for volunteers). Do three rounds, taping the corresponding paper with each numbered round. By the end of 3 rounds, all students should have had a chance to go (but not required that they do). After all rounds, have students return papers and sit down.
Step 1: Transition (5 minutes)
Ask the following questions in relation to the activity: How did you know what was on your card? Did your perception of these people change when you saw who they were? How were their movements and voice different with you compared to everyone else?
For those of you who figured it out early, did that affect the way you interacted with others?
Step 2: Instruction (10 minutes)
Open PowerPoint. Go to slide two and have a student read the quote. Then proceed to slide three and ask the questions on the slide. Then proceed to slide four: “The Principles Apply to Acting!” Have a student read the two quotes on the screen. Explain that relationships affect everything in acting. You are portraying a character, and that character has a unique set of likes, hopes, fears, etc. that determine how they interact with others. This goes back to the character worksheet they made. It affects their ability to love, to cope with challenges, and how much of themselves they’re willing to give to others. But your character isn’t the only one on the stage. Every other character has all of these things going on, as well.
Step 3: Movie Clips and discussion (15 minutes)
Proceed to slide 5 and view the clips on the slide.. Before viewing each clip, ask the students to think about how the relationship between the characters develop. Ask for what they observe in their physical actions as well as attempt to guess what they are feeling inside as well as how they feel about each other. Ask how each clip was different than the other.
Step 4: Guided practice (25 minutes)
Go to slide six labeled “Practice.” Remind students of the stereotypes students have been assigned for the past few lessons. Have students pair up and act out a first meeting between their characters. Then have them discuss (still in pairs) how their relationship will develop. Make sure students understand that relationships can develop positively OR negatively, or on a spectrum in between. Have them improv a scene that takes place six months later, then another one three years later. Have each pair take a turn individually with the rest of the class watching them. Conduct a short discussion on observations and thoughts on this exercise. What did they see? What sort of things transpired between scenes?
Step 5: Conclusion and assignment (10 minutes)
Have students take out their notebooks. Explain that their character has a journal. Have them write a character journal entry about the character they just did the exercise with. Journal should include a brief description of how you met, a brief history of how your relationship developed, and how the character feels about the other. this assignment will be worth 10 points. Dismiss class with the closing quote on PowerPoint. (slide 7)
