Objective: Students will demonstrate their understanding and ability to be with someone, stand, breathe, and perform in Second Circle by completing a Sonnet performance, physical assessment, and written assessment.
Essential Questions
What are the three circles of energy?
Why is each circle of energy important?
Who is Patsy Rodenburg?
How is second circle used in theatre?
How does presence enhance performances?
National Standards
TH:Pr5.1.II.a. Refine a range of acting skills to build a believable and sustainable drama/theatre performance.
TH:Re8.1.II.a. Develop detailed supporting evidence and criteria to reinforce artistic choices, when participating in or observing a drama/theatre work.
State Standards
Standard L2.T.P.5: Use voice to communicate meaning through volume, pitch, tone, rate of speed, and vocal clarity.
Standard L2.T.R.4: Demonstrate the ability to receive and act upon coaching, feedback, and constructive criticism.
Standard L2.T.R.5: Analyze and assess a drama/theatre work by connecting it to art forms, history, culture, and other disciplines using supporting evidence and criteria.
Standard L2.T.R.7: Analyze why artistic choices are made in a drama/theatre work.
You are welcome to have the students do a fully mindfulness exercise, or you can invite them to sit and breathe in Second Circle for a few minutes.
Pass the Snap
Set-up: Invite students to stand in a circle
Instructions: Explain these rules to the students. This game is about sending and receiving a snap. You receive a snap by snapping towards yourself. You send a snap by snapping towards someone else in the circle. It is important to be clear who you are sending the snap to. The snap can jump around the circle in any order.
Practice passing (sending and receiving) the snap a few times. When you see students understand the basic concept, move on to these next instructions.
Instructions pt.2: As we get better, we will create a rhythm with the snaps. It is important to keep this rhythm going. If someone messes up, or if the snap is not sent clearly, try your best to keep on going. Stay focused and continue to send the snap
Play this game for a few minutes. Every so often, invite students to go faster
Side-coaching: Keep the snap going. Be clear to who you are sending it to. Be aware of the snap. Always be ready to receive. Keep the rhythm. Let’s go a little faster!
Discussion
What skills are you using to be successful?
Listening, responding, always being ready, keeping the rhythm, being clear in sending the snap
Theatre games can help us practice presence and clear communication which are necessary skills for performance.
Warm-up
Second Circle Prep – The purpose of this warm up is to prepare students to stand, breathe, and speak in Second.
Body centered
Instruct the students to stand in Second and breathe. Then, ask them to bend forward so they are flopped over with their knees slightly bent and their hips are at the highest point. While flopped over, students can sway slightly to release tension in their bodies. Tell them to roll up slowly, one vertebrae at a time with their heads coming up last, then return to standing in Second.
Breathe deep and natural
Invite students to practice sending their breath out in Second by pretending to throw a dart to a spot in front of them, or doing an underhand toss of an imaginary ball.
Next, tell students to curl their lips into an ‘ooo’ shape and breathe out of their mouth like they are breathing through a straw, engaging their diaphragm.
Warm up voice
Start by humming on different pitches to warm up the vocal cords.
Ask students to curl lips into an ‘ooo’ shape again. This time, they will vocalize with an ‘ooo’ sound on different pitches. Slowly, this will morph into an ‘Ahhhh’ sound.
Finally, students will speak “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day” practicing speaking with breath support and presence.
Share Rubric
Share the rubric (found below) with the student so they understand how they will be assessed. Inform them that they have practiced all the necessary skills multiple times throughout the unit.
Assessment Pt. 1
*During the assessment, use the rubric to grade each student’s ability to perform each task.
Walking in each circle
“Physicality of the 3 circles of Energy” Rubric
Instruct students to stand and breathe in First Circle. Now ask them to walk around the room in First Circle. Ask them to stop. Now repeat these instructions for Third and then Second Circle (Stand, Breathe, Walk, Stop).
Eye to eye
“Sitting in 2nd Circle” Rubric
Tell students that the last part of the pre-assessment is called eye to eye. Ask students to find the person they know the least and then sit across from them.
Their goal for this activity is to maintain eye contact with their partner for a few minutes. Ask them to take this activity seriously and try not to joke around with it. This is a silent activity.
As they sit, encourage them to continue keeping eye contact.
Side-coaching
Be present with this person. That means seeing this person and allowing yourself to be seen. This is vulnerable and can be scary, but I encourage you to take a deep breath and allow yourself to be seen. Look at this person in front of you. What do you see in their eyes? Who is this person? What brings them joy? What hardships have they experienced that have made them a more complete and empathetic person? Be aware of what it feels like to connect with another person.
Assessment Pt. 2 – Sonnet Performance
Peer Evaluation
Pass out the Peer Evaluation forms. Inform students that they will not fill these out until the performance, but that they can be helpful to review during the practice time
Practice time
Give students a few minutes to practice the sonnets a final time with a partner. Instruct partnerships to review the peer evaluation form so they know what to look for during the final performance.
Final performance
“Shakespeare Sonnet” Rubric
Determine the performance order and who will be evaluating whom. Evaluate each student as they perform, write down additional feedback to give to each student.
After all students have performed, collect the Peer Evaluation forms and review them. “Observation of the 2nd Circle” Rubric
Written Assessment
This written assessment can be done in class or assigned as out-of-class work. (Can be written or online format)
You made it! It is the end of the Second Circle Unit. This test is a comprehensive assessment of everything you learned this semester about the circles of energy. You only get one attempt for this final assessment. After everything is graded, you will have the opportunity to make up points if you missed them.
