THEATRE ARTS
THEATRE ARTSTHEATRE ARTS 3-5
Creative Drama
Creative drama remains the basis of theatre arts in grades 3-5, but more emphasis is placed upon the development of specific drama skills. Students are challenged to take more individual responsibility as they work in small groups and independently to create dramatic presentations. They develop and apply teamwork skills through the creative process. They also explore beginning playwriting, characterization and technical theatre. As creative drama activities become more complex and demanding, students are encouraged to concentrate, display creativity and become risk-takers.
Creative drama continues to provide a natural vehicle for curriculum integration. Literary, science, math and social studies concepts are infused into creative drama. Students explore and integrate the other art forms of music, dance and visual arts.
The goals and objectives for theatre arts 3-5 build upon the strong foundation established in kindergarten through grade 2. As students progress from teacher-guided activities to small group activities and on to independent practice, their knowledge and skills increase in sophistication.
Presentations
Presentations are an option to be considered by the elementary teacher as the natural culmination of a creative process, rather than an artificially imposed requirement. Emphasis must be on student learning and positive reaction, rather than on trying to impress adults. Theatre is often referred to as a shared experience between actors and an audience, therefore, student pride and development in sharing theatre is what makes performance worthwhile. The complexity or formality of any theatrical performance should be dependent upon the comfort level, enthusiasm and willingness of both the students and the teacher. There are many other things students can do to participate in and support classroom presentations, so students who are genuinely afraid to perform in front of an audience should never be forced to do so.
Role of Audience
Beginning with early elementary levels, students should examine the role of the audience in theatre. Teachers should be diligent in requiring students to be respectful audience members for any presentation, sharing activity or similar group situations, whether in the classroom or in a more formal setting. In order to share in and benefit from any presentational activity, students must demonstrate appropriate audience behavior. Selecting or generating presentations of a length corresponding to the students' developmental level will aid the teacher in this effort.
THEATRE ARTS - Grade 3
The focus of theatre arts in grade 3 is to make personal choices through the use of movement, dialogue and expression. This process is a combination of teacher-guided practice and small group collaboration. Students develop intrapersonal skills for use in drama. The emphasis at this grade level is on:
- Applying blocking and movement skills
- Exploring a variety of literature to use in dramatic play
- Adapting, enacting or creating stories
- Recognizing beginning, middle and end of dramas
- Expanding playwriting skills
- Expanding reading comprehension and expression
- Enacting characters
- Incorporating elements of technical theatre into creative drama
- Participating in presentations
Strands: Perceiving, Thinking, Comprehending, Applying, Integrating, Communicating, Creating, Analyzing, Critiquing, Presenting
COMPETENCY GOAL 1: The learner will write based on personal experience and heritage, imagination, literature, and history. (National Standard 1)
Objectives
1.01 Participate in teacher-guided playwriting using simple characters, setting, conflict and resolution.
1.02 Recognize the beginning, middle and end of a story.
1.03 Infer lessons from multicultural stories, fairytales, tall tales, fables, legends and myths.
1.04 Develop and utilize basic creative drama vocabulary.
1.05 Identify basic elements of a script such as title, characters, setting and blocking.
1.06 Refine reading comprehension by using verbal and non-verbal communication.
1.07 Discuss how characters attempt to resolve conflicts.
COMPETENCY GOAL 2: The learner will act by interacting in improvisations and assuming roles. (National Standard 2)
Objectives
2.01 Identify characters and cast roles from a variety of texts that include themes of citizenship and responsibility.
2.02 Utilize vocal expression to explore thoughts and feelings of real and non-real characters.
2.03 Participate in dramatic activities that deal with problems and emotions.
2.04 Create characters and events to utilize in the dramatic process.
2.05 Dramatize stories through guided dramatic expression from a story.
2.06 Demonstrate ideas and emotions using gestures, blocking and movement.
2.07 Utilize improvisational skills to make character choices in the dramatic process.
COMPETENCY GOAL 3: The learner will design and produce theatre by conceptualizing and realizing artistic interpretations for informal or formal productions. (National Standard 3)
Objectives
3.01 Participate in making artistic choices for the scenery in a presentation.
3.02 Employ the basic concepts of time, space and action in the dramatic process.
3.03 Collaborate to create simple scenery and costumes for acting out dramas.
3.04 Adjust blocking to include audience focus.
3.05 Expand basic skills to react and interact with characters on stage.
3.06 Examine the concept and role of sound, props, costumes, scenery, stage management and directing.
COMPETENCY GOAL 4: The learner will direct through planning and presenting informal or formal productions. (National Standard 4)
Objectives
4.01 Paraphrase dialogue from a story to show different interpretations for use in the dramatic process.
4.02 Demonstrate responsible behaviors such as sharing, flexibility and teamwork during dramatic activities.
4.03 Make decisions and accept simple responsibilities in the dramatic process.
4.04 Apply sound and movement to display character traits of objects, animals and people.
4.05 Compromise with peers in small group decision making about artistic choices.
4.06 Listen and react to one another within the drama.
4.07 Relate the similarities and differences between monologues, dialogue and asides within a story or drama.
4.08 Utilize the role of the narrator in the dramatic process.
4.09 Relate what characters think and feel during a dramatic scene.
4.10 Experiment with character dialogue in the rehearsal process.
4.11 Observe and relate how the diversity of students within a group contributes to interesting artistic choices.
COMPETENCY GOAL 5: The learner will research by finding information to support informal or formal productions. (National Standard 5)
Objectives
5.01 Express through characterization the meaning inferred from text.
5.02 Justify the need for simple props and costumes to support the character or story.
5.03 Choose vocal expression and movement to support the playing of a character.
5.04 Utilize information about character traits derived from text.
5.05 Tell stories using narration.
5.06 Identify parts of a story that can be utilized as dialogue or narration.
5.07 Reference stories to determine the technical needs for dramatic presentation.
5.08 Investigate text to determine Who, What, When, Where, Why and How.
5.09 Make predictions about characters, setting and events based on story content.
5.10 Utilize personal experience as the basis for character choices.
COMPETENCY GOAL 6: The learner will compare and integrate art forms by analyzing traditional theatre, dance, music, visual arts, and new art forms. (National Standard 6)
Objectives
6.01 Incorporate music, sound, movement, dance, and design into the dramatic process.
6.02 Incorporate puppetry and pantomime into simple dramas.
6.03 Utilize simple mask making.
6.04 Understand a variety of art forms are infused into theatre and come from all cultures.
6.05 Observe that different art forms reflect diversity.
6.06 Build skills to read with dramatic expression a variety of scripts.
COMPETENCY GOAL 7: The learner will analyze, critique, and construct meaning from informal and formal theatre, film, television, and electronic media productions. (National Standard 7)
Objectives
7.01 Build skills to critique self and others in a respectful and constructive manner.
7.02 Listen to constructive criticism and react in a positive way.
7.03 Convey personal reactions to various texts.
7.04 Correlate personal experiences to stage experiences.
7.05 Communicate emotions and thoughts evoked by performances.
7.06 Recognize and discuss that consequences and actions teach characters and audience members life lessons.
7.07 Suggest alternative characters, settings or events after viewing or participating in a performance.
7.08 Justify artistic choices.
COMPETENCY GOAL 8: The learner will understand context by analyzing the role of theatre, film, television, and electronic media in the past and present. (National Standard 8)
Objectives
8.01 Understand the role of theatre.
8.02 Discuss the role of film and television.
8.03 Discuss the role of technology and electronic media.
8.04 Experience live or recorded performances.
8.05 Discuss the similarities and differences between live and recorded theatrical events.
8.06 Participate in and experience informal and formal presentations.
THEATRE ARTS - Grade 4
The focus of theatre arts in grade 4 is to encourage students to make personal choices through movement, dialogue and expression. Students utilize simple playwriting to demonstrate specific character choices. A combination of independent study and small group collaboration is used. Students refine intrapersonal skills for use in creative drama. The emphasis at this grade level is on:
- Applying character choices
- Experiencing stories through creative drama
- Experiencing multicultural stories through creative drama
- Using a beginning, middle and end in creative drama
- Experiencing a variety of scripts
- Adapting, enacting, and creating stories
- Refining basic playwriting skills
- Enacting characters
- Utilizing the elements of technical theatre
- Participating in presentations
Strands: Perceiving, Thinking, Comprehending, Applying, Integrating, Communicating, Creating, Analyzing, Critiquing, Presenting
COMPETENCY GOAL 1: The learner will write based on personal experience and heritage, imagination, literature, and history. (National Standard 1)
Objectives
1.01 Participate in small group playwriting.
1.02 Create and enact short stories, poetry or personal experiences about North Carolina.
1.03 Describe lessons related through multicultural literature.
1.04 Expand upon and use creative drama vocabulary.
1.05 Utilize playwriting skills to indicate the sequence of events.
1.06 Create dialogue in which characters attempt to resolve conflicts.
1.07 Apply playwriting skills by writing monologues, dialogues and short scenes.
COMPETENCY GOAL 2: The learner will act by interacting in improvisations and assuming roles. (National Standard 2)
Objectives
2.01 Develop skills to identify characters and cast roles from a variety of texts that reflect upon heritage, culture and history.
2.02 Utilize vocal expression to explore thoughts and feelings of real and non-real characters.
2.03 Participate in dramatic activities that deal with conflict and emotions.
2.04 Create characters and events to use in the dramatic process.
2.05 Create dramatizations based on texts.
2.06 Demonstrate ideas and emotions through gestures and movement.
2.07 Assume the role of a variety of real and non-real characters.
2.08 Refine improvisational skills through dramatic exercises.
2.09 Define the significance of the beginning, middle and end of a story or play.
COMPETENCY GOAL 3: The learner will design and produce theatre by conceptualizing and realizing artistic interpretations for informal or formal productions. (National Standard 3)
Objectives
3.01 Participate in making artistic choices in a small group.
3.02 Employ the basic concepts of time, space, and action in the dramatic process.
3.03 Collaborate to create simple scenery and costumes for acting out dramas.
3.04 Identify the ways in which blocking non-verbally conveys character, mood and actions to the audience.
3.05 Respond to and build upon ideas of others on stage.
3.06 Integrate the technical theatre elements of sound, props, costumes, scenery, stage management and directing.
COMPETENCY GOAL 4: The learner will direct through planning and presenting informal or formal productions. (National Standard 4)
Objectives
4.01 Adapt dialogue from a story to show different interpretations.
4.02 Demonstrate responsible behavior such as sharing, flexibility, negotiating and teamwork.
4.03 Make decisions and accept responsibilities in the dramatic process.
4.04 Apply sound and movement to display character, mood and actions.
4.05 Compromise with peers in small group decision making about artistic choices.
4.06 Enact monologues, dialogue and asides within a story or drama.
4.07 Use the role of narrator to guide, prompt and assist actors.
4.08 Identify characters' thought processes during dramatic scenes.
4.09 Recognize ways to display characters' thought processes.
4.10 Use rehearsal time effectively to brainstorm, experiment, plan and rehearse.
4.11 Recognize diversity within a group contributes to interesting artistic choices.
COMPETENCY GOAL 5: The learner will research by finding information to support informal or formal productions. (National Standard 5)
Objectives
5.01 Express through characterization meaning inferred from a text.
5.02 Articulate how artistic choices support the portrayal of the character.
5.03 Adapt and use information about character traits derived from a text.
5.04 Organize parts of a story to be used as dialogue or narration.
5.05 Reference stories to determine and justify technical needs to support the character or story.
5.06 Investigate text to determine Who, What, When, Where, Why and How.
5.07 Reference forms of literature other than scripts to support dramatic presentations.
5.08 Use emotional recall as the basis for character choices.
COMPETENCY GOAL 6: The learner will compare and integrate art forms by analyzing traditional theatre, dance, music, visual arts, and new art forms. (National Standard 6)
Objectives
6.01 Incorporate music, sound, movement, dance, and design into the dramatic process.
6.02 Incorporate the arts forms of puppetry, pantomime and mask making into simple dramas.
6.03 Understand that a variety of art forms are infused in theatre and come from different cultures.
6.04 Observe that different art forms reflect upon the diversity within heritage and culture.
6.05 Read with dramatic expression a variety of simple scripts.
COMPETENCY GOAL 7: The learner will analyze, critique, and construct meaning from informal and formal theatre, film, television, and electronic media productions. (National Standard 7)
Objectives
7.01 Build skills to critique self and others in a respectful and constructive manner.
7.02 Begin to question artistic choices in order to understand the dramatic process.
7.03 Justify artistic choices.
7.04 Listen to constructive criticism and react in a positive way.
7.05 Realize that the character and actor may have different personalities.
7.06 Correlate personal experiences to stage experiences.
7.07 Communicate emotions and thoughts evoked by performances.
7.08 Show that consequences and actions teach characters and audience members life lessons.
7.09 Suggest and implement alternative characters, settings or events after viewing or participating in a performance.
COMPETENCY GOAL 8: The learner will understand context by analyzing the role of theatre, film, television, and electronic media in the past and present. (National Standard 8)
Objectives
8.01 Understand the role of theatre.
8.02 Discuss the role of film and television.
8.03 Discuss the role of technology and electronic media.
8.04 Experience live or recorded performances.
8.05 Discuss the similarities and differences between live and recorded theatrical events.
8.06 Discuss the similarities and differences between acting for the theatre and camera.
8.07 Participate in presentations.
THEATRE ARTS - Grade 5
The focus of theatre arts in grade 5 is to encourage students to make personal choices through movement, dialogue and expression. Students participate in the rehearsal process by enacting a script and use simple playwriting to demonstrate specific character choices. A combination of independent study and small group collaboration is used. Students employ intrapersonal skills for use in creative drama. The emphasis at this grade level is on:
- Applying character choices
- Experiencing stories from a variety of cultures and historical periods
- Experiencing multicultural stories
- Experiencing a variety of scripts
- Adapting, enacting, and creating stories
- Using basic playwriting skills
- Enacting characters
- Using the elements of technical theatre
- Understanding a character's thought process during a scene
- Participating in presentations
Strands: Perceiving, Thinking, Comprehending, Applying, Integrating, Communicating, Creating, Analyzing, Critiquing, Presenting
COMPETENCY GOAL 1: The learner will write based on personal experience and heritage, imagination, literature, and history. (National Standard 1)
Objectives
1.01 Participate in partner and small group playwriting.
1.02 Create and enact short stories, poetry or personal experiences.
1.03 Describe lessons related through multicultural literature.
1.04 Expand upon and use creative drama vocabulary.
1.05 Utilize playwriting skills to indicate the sequence of events.
1.06 Create dialogue in which characters attempt to resolve conflicts.
1.07 Apply playwriting skills by writing monologues, dialogues and short scenes.
COMPETENCY GOAL 2: The learner will act by interacting in improvisations and assuming roles. (National Standard 2)
Objectives
2.01 Identify characters and cast roles from a variety of scripts.
2.02 Use vocal expression to demonstrate the thoughts and feelings of real and non-real characters.
2.03 Participate in dramatic activities that deal with conflict and emotions.
2.04 Create characters and events to use in the dramatic process.
2.05 Utilize improvisational skills to create a scene based on a script.
2.06 Utilize gestures, blocking and movement to display ideas and emotions.
2.07 Assume the role of a variety of real and non-real characters.
2.08 Refine improvisational skills through dramatic exercises.
2.09 Define the significance of the beginning, middle and end of a story or play.
COMPETENCY GOAL 3: The learner will design and produce theatre by conceptualizing and realizing artistic interpretations for informal or formal productions. (National Standard 3)
Objectives
3.01 Participate in making artistic choices in a small group.
3.02 Employ the basic concepts of time, space, and action in the dramatic process.
3.03 Collaborate to create simple scenery and costumes for acting out dramas.
3.04 Use blocking to non-verbally convey character, mood and actions to the audience.
3.05 Respond to and build upon ideas of others on stage.
3.06 Integrate the technical theatre elements of sound, props, costumes, scenery, stage management and directing.
3.07 Identify the technical theatre roles in a production.
COMPETENCY GOAL4: The learner will direct through planning and presenting informal or formal productions. (National Standard 4)
Objectives
4.01 Recite or adapt dialogue from a script to show different interpretations.
4.02 Demonstrate responsible behavior such as sharing, flexibility, leadership, negotiating and teamwork.
4.03 Make decisions and accept responsibilities in the dramatic process.
4.04 Apply sound and movement to display character, mood and actions.
4.05 Compromise with peers in small group decision making about artistic choices.
4.06 Enact monologues, dialogue and asides within a story or drama.
4.07 Use the role of narrator to guide, prompt and assist actors
4.08 Understand characters' thought processes during dramatic scenes.
4.09 Recognize ways to display characters' thought processes.
4.10 Use rehearsal time effectively to brainstorm, experiment, plan and rehearse.
4.11 Recognize diversity within a group contributes to artistic growth.
COMPETENCY GOAL 5: The learner will research by finding information to support informal or formal productions. (National Standard 5)
Objectives
5.01 Express through characterization meaning inferred from a text.
5.02 Articulate how artistic choices support the portrayal of the character.
5.03 Adapt and use information about character traits derived from a text.
5.04 Organize parts of a story to be used as dialogue or narration.
5.05 Reference stories to determine and justify technical needs to support the character or story.
5.06 Investigate text to determine Who, What, When, Where, Why and How.
5.07 Reference various forms of literature other than scripts to support dramatic presentations.
5.08 Use emotional recall as the basis for character choices.
COMPETENCY GOAL 6: The learner will compare and integrate art forms by analyzing traditional theatre, dance, music, visual arts, and new art forms. (National Standard 6)
Objectives
6.01 Adapt music, sound, movement, dance, and design into the dramatic process.
6.02 Incorporate the art forms of puppetry, pantomime and mask making into simple dramas.
6.03 Understand that a variety of art forms are infused in theatre and come from different cultures.
6.04 Observe that different art forms reflect upon the diversity of society.
6.05 Read with dramatic expression a variety of simple scripts.
COMPETENCY GOAL 7: The learner will analyze, critique, and construct meaning from informal and formal theatre, film, television, and electronic media productions. (National Standard 7)
Objectives
7.01 Display skills to critique self and others in a respectful and constructive manner.
7.02 Question artistic choices in order to understand the dramatic process.
7.03 Justify artistic choices.
7.04 Listen to constructive criticism and react in a positive way.
7.05 Realize that the character and actor may have different personalities.
7.06 Correlate personal experiences to stage experiences.
7.07 Communicate emotions and thoughts evoked by performances.
7.08 Show that cause and effect teach characters and audience members life lessons.
7.09 Suggest and implement alternative characters, settings or events after viewing or participating in a performance.
COMPETENCY GOAL 8: The learner will understand context by analyzing the role of theatre, film, television, and electronic media in the past and present. (National Standard 8)
Objectives
8.01 Understand and describe the role of theatre at different times.
8.02 Discuss the role of film and television.
8.03 Discuss the role of technology and electronic media.
8.04 Experience live or recorded performances.
8.05 Discuss the similarities and differences between live and recorded theatrical events.
8.06 Discuss the similarities and differences between acting for the theatre and camera.
8.07 Participate in presentations.
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