To access Quick Links, visit our text-only version.

NC Standard Course of Study Home 
Computer/Technology Skills 
English as a Second Language 
English/Language Arts 
Guidance 
Healthful Living 
Information Skills 
Mathematics 
Primary Education 
Second Languages 
Science 
Social Studies 
Career Technical Education 
K-12 Curriculum, Instruction & Technology Directory 
Academic Services and Instructional Support Home 
. Public Schools of North Carolina . . State Board of Education . . Department Of Public Instruction .

ARTS EDUCATION TEACHER HANDBOOK

THEATRE ARTS :: MIDDLE SCHOOL LESSON PLANS - RHYTHMIC EXPRESSION

MIDDLE SCHOOL LESSON PLANS - RHYTHMIC EXPRESSION

 

Submitted by Robinelle Adams

Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools

 

Lesson Title:

Rhythmic Expression
Grade Level or Course:

Seventh Grade - Beginning Drama
Time Allotment:

45 minutes
Targeted Goals and Objectives from the 2000 North Carolina Arts Education Standard Course of Study and Grade Level Competencies, K-12:

2.0l Identify and practice techniques for physical and vocal conditioning.

2.02 Employ physical and vocal skills to create believable characters

2.04 Utilize research, observation, and acting skills to create characters in formal and informal presentations.

2.05 Use acting vocabulary such as motivation, objective and blocking
Targeted Goals and Objectives from the North Carolina Standard Course of Study and Grade Level Competencies, K-12 for other content areas:

Grade 7, Music - 8.01 Compare in two or more arts areas how the characteristic elements of each art form can be used to transform events, emotions or ideas into works of art.
 
Lesson Objective(s):

Identify movement

Define rhythmic and expressive movement

Understand the importance of movement in theatre

Participate in rhythmic and expressive activities
Materials/Equipment Needed:

Ball, music selection, Hand drum
Lesson Procedure:
  1. WARMUP: Create a pattern of beats with both hands and ask the class to perform the same pattern as heard. After a series of patterns modeled and performed, discuss rhythm, movement and their importance to the actor.

  2. Have the students form a circle. A ball will be passed around the circle. Each student must match the rate of the drumbeat. Play a musical selection, asking the students to move to the rhythm of the music. After this exercise, make the following sounds: Whistling; Snoring; Laughing; Whispering; Scratching; Swishing; Booming; Tapping; (Create others). Ask the students to move to these sounds, varying them in intensity and dynamics.

  3. Move to the teacher's drum as an animal might move. For example: A rabbit, a bear, a cat, a fly, etc.

  4. Introduce the concept of expressing feelings through physical movement. For example facial expressions. Using your hands, arms, neck, face, etc., express these emotions: anger, sadness, jealousy, grief, etc. Using these emotions, listen to a piece of music. Have the students demonstrate an emotion through the bodily movement they feel best expressed by this music.

  5. Tell the students to imagine you are a piece of bacon in a frying pan. Someone has started cooking when the phone rings. How would you move in the frying pan while the cook is one the phone? Imagine that you have been hit with a baseball, coming down with the flu, got an F on your report card, have been called into the principal's office. Have the students suggest several situations.
Assessment :
  1. Have the students discuss the importance of movement to the actor as well as to the audience.

  2. Let them discover the ability to communicate through bodily or expressive movement without words. Using observation, have the students work in partners. They must express an emotion (written on a note card) using only numbers. Person A greets person B saying only "l - 2 - 3 - 4" while person B responds with "5 - 6 - 7 - 8." This can evolve into a more extended conversation with the audience trying to guess what is going on based on facial expression and bodily movements. Are the expressive movements clear to the audience? How so? How not? What could be changed to make it more easily understood?

  3. Identify the similarities and differences in the meanings of rhythm, pattern, mood, and emotion as they are used in dance, in music, and in theatre arts.

  4. Compare moving expressively and moving rhythmically.
Special Considerations:

This lesson is used with beginners in middle school drama to make them aware of the importance of rhythm and expression in the movements. It serves to make them feel more comfortable with their bodies and leads naturally into narrative, creative and improvisational theatre as well as story dramatization.

 

<< Back | Table of Contents | Next >>

 

> Printer Friendly Version