Creating Vocal Characters in Puppetry Unit, Lesson 6
Lesson 6
TH:Pr6.1.7.a. Participate in rehearsals for a drama/theatre work that will be shared with an audience.
TH:Cr3.1.7a. Demonstrate focus and concentration in the rehearsal process to analyze and refine choices in a devised or scripted drama/theatre work.
Standard 7–8.T.CR.7: Recognize that participating in the rehearsal process is necessary to refine and revise.
Enduring Understanding:
Theatre artists make strong choices to effectively convey meaning. (Anchor Standard 4) Theatre artists refine their work and practice their craft through rehearsal. (Anchor Standard 3)
Essential Question:
Why are strong choices essential to interpreting a drama or theatre piece? (Anchor Standard 4) How do theatre artists transform and edit their initial ideas? (Anchor Standard 3)
Educational Objective:
Students will demonstrate their ability to refine their work through rehearsal by assessing their own work and then picking and working on specific rehearsal tasks to help them meet the rubric standards.
Materials:
Class Menus
Whiteboard and Markers
Hook (20 minutes)
● While taking roll, have the class discuss with the people next to them: (10 minutes)
○ What draws you into a story? What makes a character interesting vocally?
○ Make a list on the whiteboard of their responses.
○ Have students remember to do these while they are rehearsing
● Manamana (10 minutes)
○ Remind ourselves of what diction is.
○ Have students get into circles of 6-8.
○ Say names in a circle.
○ Trying to take out the air between.
○ One syllable word- (first person) cat, (second person) dog, (everyone) cat dog
manamana, (second person) lap, (third person) slap, (everyone) lap slap manamana, etc.
○ Do a speed round with good diction
Teaching Presentation (10 minutes)
● Talk about the students quizzes from last class
○ Was it helpful for you to watch yourself perform so that you could see where you needed to improve and what you were doing well?
○ This is an essential part of being an artist, being able to self-critique.
● Have students find a spot with their partner.
○ Introduce to students two expectations for their puppets
○ 1) Your puppet should move when it is speaking, 2) Make sure that it is “alive”
and have it move across the table to show the space that it is in. Make sure that we
can see the front of your puppet.
○ Have students run their scene with their partner and practice this. Give pointers to
students struggling.
● Introduce the rubric for the final performance to the students. Remind students that they
will be graded on 1)Projection and Diction 2) Vocal Choices (tone, pitch, rate) 3) Story
Structure 4) Puppet Use.
● Logistics of the performance
○ Table to be behind, so you need to project. Practice this in your rehearsal today.
Guided Practice (30 minutes)
● Have students try to memorize their lines if possible since they will not have the Chromebooks with their scripts on the day of our performance.
● Call students up during rehearsal time to see you during class for a short preview.
○ Have a table and cloth set up and rotate through all the partnerships during the class period so that you can give every group some feedback. Having them practice on the stage and with the table and tablecloth might help them with diction and projection.
● Have students rehearse, but first –
○ “What is the purpose of rehearsal?” (to memorize, to practice our voices, to fix mistakes)
○ On the whiteboard, write out the following list for the students’ rehearsal time.
First run through it to see if you are memorized. Once you are, move on.
Next, run through it making sure that your character voice sounds different than YOUR voice. Your character is a different person that you. Once it is, move on.
Next, run through it to make sure that you are utilizing your puppets to help tell the story to the best of your ability. Once you are, move on.
Next, focus on your projection and diction.
Independent Practice (in the last 20 minutes of class)
● Perform your puppet show for another group.
● Give them feedback on if you can see the 4 qualities in their performance.
● Rotate and allow them to perform for at least 2-3 other groups.
Closure
● We perform next class. Make sure to rehearse at home!
