Students will be able to demonstrate their understanding of objectives and tactics by participating in different activities and discussions, and by deciding their character’s objective and three tactics they can use.
Materials Needed:
– four sheets of butcher paper
Follow-up From Last Class:
Have students get with their groups. Allow five minutes for everyone to present their instagram assignment, and for everyone in their group to comment (in character) on everyone’s post. Have them turn it into the basket.
Hook:
Have all the students sit in a circle. Ask who knows the game If you Love me, Won’t you please please Smile? Explain that this in this game, someone starts in the middle. They have to choose someone in the circle, and they have to try to make them smile but ALL they can say is “If you love me, won’t you please smile?” If the person smiles, then they switch places and take a turn in the middle. As students play this game, offer some side coaching (specifically to encourage them to try something new if what they are doing isn’t working (try to get as many tactics out of them as possible)).
Transition & Instruction:
Ask “What were you trying to do in that game? What did you want?” Write down the objective of the game on the board (I wanted ____ to smile). Write the word OBJECTIVE on the board. “Who has ever seen or heard of this word before? What does it mean?” (they will probably say “goal”)
Objective:
Goal. Aspirations. What a character wants. Explain that in a play, an actor needs to know what his character wants because it will influence his acting choices. – Think: Something to fight for and why. (What are some examples?) – Should fit into the following formula (I want (person) to (verb/action)) Write the formula on the board. – Explain how an objective is more interesting when there is another person involved. How “I want to eat ice cream” is less interesting than “I want my mom to let me eat ice cream for dinner” How were you trying to get what you wanted? (Get some examples. Write them on the board in “to ____” format. Explain
Tactic:
What a character does to get what they want. A strategy. – A strong tactic is a verb. It fits in this phrase “to _____ him/her” Write this on the board. – Must go through your scene partner. “What do you think that means?” – Think of the reaction you want from the other character. How do you want them to feel or what do you want them to do and how do you get there. – “I want to persuade my mom to let me eat ice cream for dinner”
Activity:
Come up with a great example of an objective together as a class. Have it written on the board for reference. (Ex: I want MRS. KING to HACK INTO THE ONLINE GRADING SYSTEM AND GIVE US ALL A’S FOR THE REST OF THE YEAR or: I want THE PRINCIPAL to REPLACE SCHOOL LUNCHES WITH CAFE RIO) Explain that everyone is in a play. That the person mentioned in the objective is a character and that so are they. In this play, there is a scene where they set up a meeting with that character and they need to think of actable tactics that work for a stage. So! They are characters, in a meeting, on a stage, trying to get something from the person in the objective. Pass out sheets of butcher paper (four groups) and have them write down as many actable tactics that they could use to get what they want on their paper. Give them a few minutes to do this. Then, have them flip over the piece of paper and make a list like with Scattergories where they can’t have any repeats of anyone else. Give a few more minutes. Have one student from each group write their top ten (that they think no one else will have) on the board.
Activity:
Have the students get with a partner. Choose between you who is A and who is B. Have the two lines on the board? a: Don’t go into that room. b: I need my keys. They should try to say these lines to each other in as many different ways as they can. Instruct students to choose tactics from the lists on the board and try to use them as they say these lines. Give them a few minutes before switching who is A and who is B in their partnerships. Have them do it multiple times, trying out different tactics, to see what works best.
Discussion:
Have a brief discussion about the use of tactics in order to get what they want. What was different each time they said the line? What did they notice? Did anyone try something that they felt worked really well?
Transition:
Have the students move to their seats and get out their journals.
Practice and Assessment:
1. They need to decide their objective for their scenes, and write down three tactics they could use. 2. Write down how that will influence their acting choices.
*Leave the master list on the board for reference during the A/B activity and the journal entry.
