Objective: Students and teachers will be able to familiarize themselves with one another by participating in get to know you activities.
Students will be able to demonstrate their ability to trust their peers and open up by sharing a personal story about themselves.
Informal. Participate in get to know you activities.
Formal. Participate in Storytelling activities.
We will be looking for things like story structure, engagement with the audience, characters, motivating action, vocal and physical techniques so we know where they stand as actors, but will not be grading those elements today.
Adaptations:
As we decide which games will be appropriate for the specific students in our class, we will adapt them accordingly. For students with special needs, we can shorten the time requirement or have them tell their story to just the teachers.
Facets: Interpretation, Perspective, Empathy
Standards: TH.PR.4.HSI b. Apply pacing to better communicate the story in a theatrical work.
Ask each student to think of a movement that goes along with their name. Preferably, something that describes them.
Explain that they will say their name and action, and then we will repeat the name and action. We will do this for all of the students, and we will occasionally repeat the names that have already been said. Continue this game until everyone in the room has gone.
Step 1:Storytelling
Ask students to gather on one side of the room.
Explain that we will be doing a storytelling activity that involves one actor and one storyteller. One actor will stand in front of the class, while the student next in line begins to tell a story.
The actor will act out the story, until the storyteller says switch (usually after about 30 seconds). They then become the actor (in the same story) and the next student in line becomes the storyteller.
Continue this until all of the students have gone. Encourage the last student to finish up the story.
Step 2:Discussion
What was effective about our story?
What could have made the story more engaging?
Did we have a clear beginning, middle, and end?
Why is it important for stories to have a clear beginning, middle, and end?
As we tell stories, how can we work to achieving a clear story structure?
Step 3:Writing Prompts
Ask students to pull out a piece of paper. Tell them you will give them one prompt and they will have 30 seconds to write down ideas or details about a short story in their life (that connects to this question). Do this with three different questions.
Questions:
What is one of your most embarrassing moments?
Was there a time where you did something you were told not to?
What’s the best gift you ever received?
Encourage students to respond quickly with some of their initial reactions. They will not have time to think about an extended response. This should be a fast response
Upon completion, ask student to circle the idea/story that they would like to continue working on.
Step 4:Pair and Share
On the board, write the qualities that students should be paying attention to in the story (story structure, engagement with audience, characters, motivating action, vocal and physical techniques). Explain that these are things we will be learning about throughout the unit, and we would like to see where they are at with these stories.
Give students 3-5 minutes to flesh out the details of their story so that they have a more full structure, characters, conflict, etc.
Ask students to turn and share their story with their partner.
Ask the partner to share one thing that they liked and one question that they had about the story, to get feedback.
Step 5:Group Share
Ask students to gather into groups of about 4 people, preferably with people they did not share their story with already.
Ask students to share their 1-2 minute story with their groups.
If there is time left in class, invite the students to have one person in their group share their story with the whole class.
Ask students what made these stories effective.
Step 6:Wrap Up
For a unit about monologues, why did we spend the whole first day telling stories?
What connections or similarities are there between stories and monologues?
What are the differences?
Step 7:Exit Slip
Before they leave, ask students to briefly write down on a piece of paper: their name, what they know about monologues, and one of their favorite things about theatre.
Collect these as exit slips as they leave the class.
