Pathfinders and Navigators Drama Day 1!

Our first week was successful in many ways!  The children were engaged and fabulously flexible as I filled in for the new drama teacher who was unfortunately called away to serve on Jury Duty.

We reviewed rules of audience etiquette and respect for all as we dive into the very personal world of performing.  The children were able to meet their fabulous TA Mrs. Baglio!  We jumped right into  being on stage as they shared one fact about themselves.  Many drama skills are acquired through play so we spent the remainder of our class playing games! 

In one 45 minute period we discovered things about each other we didn't know, worked together without verbal communication, performed together under a time crunch, and enjoyed one another!

Thank you to each of the children in these classes for being gracious, respectful, and kind!  You are a treasure and I look forward to the opportunity to work with you again!

Drama - All Classes 1-26-2016

GAME DAY!

In honor of their hard work and patience with the changes of this year, we celebrated our last regular class with games for the whole period!  Some classes played Night of the Museum, Telephone, Everyone Who..., 10 seconds, Waiting Room, Indian Chief, and Grandmother!  All the games are enjoyable while giving the children a chance to develop skills such as: listening, following directions, focusing, teamwork, quick thinking, and patience!
I look forward to electives next week.  I am grateful to have had the opportunity to work with the children in this capacity.

Drama - Pathfinders/Navigators 1-19-2016

Character development was the topic of discussion and the focus for all drama activities during classes this week.  The kids had the opportunity to discuss character traits associated with some of their favorite literary heroes.  They also took turns creating a scene using the list of character traits we created.  In a challenging activity they discovered how important eyes and shoulders can be in creating a character!  When they were allowed to use their entire body, creating a character was much easier! 

Drama - Pathfinders/Navigators 1-12-2016

Last week we covered a brief history of drama and theater, tracing its roots to pagan religious practices of Egypt, Greece, and Rome.  After some review and an exciting activity with tongue twisters, the children brainstormed the elements of a good story.  After our list was complete, I read Blueberries for Sal written by Robert McCloskey.  Some of them had never heard this story and although they made a bit of fun at it, most enjoyed it quite nicely!  We identified the elements  in the story and then set off to write our own story.  It is challenging to write and act out a story in 15 minutes, however, I am proud of the effort put forth!  These kids are so great!

Navigators - 1/5/2016

Welcome back!  It was great nice to be back in classes today.
For the next 4 weeks we will be studying the basics of the history of drama and the theater as well as practicing some essential elements of acting and performing.

Ancient Egyptians used plays, and elaborately staged events to honor their pagan gods.  From around 2500 BC to 550 BC, a passion play was performed annually representing the death and resurrection of the god Osiris. This passion play is the first recorded example of theatre.

We typically associate the beginning of theater to be with Ancient Greece around 600 BC.  The event recorded from this time was related to a religious festival to honor their god Dionysus.  Dionysus, like many pagan gods, was thought to be a god of wine and fertility.

Hoping to help the children gain perspective about the time period we were discussing we talked briefly about Abraham (2150 BC) and Daniel (586 BC).  I find it easier to relate years to familiar Biblical stories when thinking about so long ago.

After the snapshot on history that provided a background for where some of our theater practices come from I read several Bible verses that can help us determine if what we are thinking, saying, or doing is honoring to God.  I wanted to convey the message that even though theater originated in pagan worship that we have an opportunity to use our gifts, talents, and hobbies to honor God.

Questions we answered...
Why were we made?
Why do we exist?
What are the fruits of the Spirit and how can we use them to honor God?
What gifts or talents has God given you to be used for his glory?

Genesis 1:26-31 various sections
Psalm 139:14 ...you are fearfully and wonderfully made
Isaiah 24:15
Romans 8:28-30
Matthew 28:18-20
2 Corinthians 4:5-6
Ephesians 1:12-14

The discussion with this class was serious and exciting.  At times you could see them really trying to process the ideas of:

being created for a purpose,
there is no one in this universe past present or future exactly like you,
God has given you unique gifts, talents, and desires to be used to honor Him!

I am grateful for the opportunity to share my time with these kids! 

Activities: Played drama games "Everyone who..."

Drama - Navigators 12/1/2015

We worked hard this week to bring together several details regarding the presentation on Tuesday!  I am confident that they will pull it al together for the program!

Remember - Finalize lines and bring props needed!

Nice work this week!

Drama 11/17/2015 Navigators

What a great group of kids!  We finished blocking the final scene.  These kids are working diligently to create characters and present them in a meaningful way.  In preparation for the next class each child needs to find a costume item that helps to create their character.   As always, any questions please contact me!

Assignment =  Memorize lines!  No scripts on the 1st!  Please come prepared with props/costume items for the trunk!

Drama 12/2/14. Pathfinders & Navigators

It was challenging to rehearse everything and check costumes with the more complicated scenes these two classes have to perform.  However, I told the students if they review their lines every day, and go through the blocking in their minds, they will have great performances next week.  It is very important to review the lines right before theirs, as well, since that can make or break the entrance of their lines.  They have a lot to remember, but have put together very effective scenes.

Drama 11/11/14. Pathfinders & Navigators

The Pathfinders have quite a challenging scene about the Roarong 20s, for which we have just about finished laying in the blocking.  The students are very enthusiastic about their parts, and have worked on memorization, but need to have their lines memorized even better.  We are going to have an extra 2 hours of rehearsal for this class to be sure we can do it justice for the performance.  The Navigators are also working hard on the scenes of history they have written.  A lot goes into transforming action from the paper to the stage, and the students are encountering some challenges withl it.  It is exciting to see their learning process and willingness to work through the challenges for an effective performance. 

Drama 11/4/14. Pathfinders & Navigators

The pathfinders have begun rehearsal for a challenging scene about the Roaring 20s.  If they spend time every day memorizing their lines we will have more effective rehearsals in class.  We have a short amount of time to accomplish a lot, so it will take a lot of focus.  The students are very enthusiastic and fun to work with.  The Navigators are now rehearsing the scenes they have written.  I've been very pleased with their innovation and creativity in writing their scripts, and now they must learn to use effective stage techniques to communicate them to the audience.  We had a talk about how it feels strange to be on stage and use the techniques one has to for the audience to be able to fully understand the scenes.  We also talked about how it is not good to do a performance where the audience cannot understand what's going on, either due to poor voice production or bad staging.  It proved to be somewhat challenging to the students, but I believe they are going to be able to rise to the task and produce effective performances.

Drama 10/21/14. Pathfinders & Navigators

The Pathfinders and Navigators warmed up with an ice breaker called 'Conveyor Belt'.  They mirrored each other in movement and poses, promoting team work and creativity.  As usual, they spent time practicing vocal skills.  The Pathfinders spent most of the class performing their fractured fairy tales.  Then we discussed the Roaring 20's.  The students were given an assignment to find 3 interesting facts about that time period to incorporate into a scene next week.

The Navigators spent most of the class period writing their scenes of their Historical period.  Their assignment was to finish the scenes by our next class.

Drama 10/14 Pathfinders & Navigators

The warm-up exercise for these classes was called "Moment to Moment".  It helped the students work on concentration and focus.  Then, as usual, we practiced our daily vocal exercises for articulation and projection.  The Pathfinders then spent the class working on mini-scenes on fractured nursery rhymes.  Teams worked on scenes depicting events that followed the information of the actual rhyme.  They came up with the characters and story line and had great fun practicing their scenes.  We will be performing them at the next class.
There were only 2 Navigators in class this week.  However, they both came prepared with not only their own facts of their assignments, but also some of their team mates' facts.  We discussed how they could take the interesting facts and work them into a scene with defined characters and plot.  They will be working on those with the returned students next week.

Drama 10/7. Pathfinders & Navigators

The warm up activity for these classes was called 'Tell me about the time you...'.  They stood in front of the class and made up a creative narrative about unreal situations.  We also worked on tongue twisters for articulation and projection.  The Pathfinders spent the rest of the period Rehearsing and polishing a dramatization of the Erie Canal.  The Navigators took time to discuss which part of this historical time-line they would like to interpret dramatically.  They broke down into teams of three and picked one topic to research to come up with several interesting facts to communicate.  Future classes will be focused on producing an effective scene on their topics.

Drama 9/30/2014, Pathfinders & Navigators

Warm up activities began our classes once again.  The students are practicing presentation and strong vocal techniques (e.g. projection and articulation).  The main lesson for the Pathfinders was rehearsing the dramatic interpretation of a poem on the Erie Canal. The Navigators worked on creative thinking and improvisation.  They were given props that were to be used in any way but the way they were meant to be used.  Then the students were given parameters for scenes in which they had to come up with content and dialogue.  The activities are preparing the students to think outside the box for future assignments.  In the weeks to come, the students will be creating scenes of specific historic events to bring those time periods to life.

Drama 9/23/2014, Pathfinders & Navigators

Good Communication Skills Help You In Life

Once again the students discussed how dramatic skills could be advantageous to them in every area of life.  We talked about how having the ability to speak loudly and clearly, with poise and confidence will help anyone be successful no matter what they do in life.  

Both classes worked on learning the names of the areas of the stage.  Then the Pathfinders rehearsed a dramatic interpretation of the song "The Erie Canal".  The Navigators did an activity that worked on focus and thinking on their feet, skills that are vital for any good performance.

Pathfinders/Navigators Drama 9/16/2014

It was a joy to finally be able to meet all the students and see how they connected with Drama activities.  Every class has its own personality and creativity, and they were delightful to work with.

Speech was our main focus on the older levels as well, working on correct breathing to produce good projection and articulation.  Then their creative juices went rampant as we did activities working on movement, imagination and lastly being convincing acting as themselves.

 

Drama - Period A - 1/28/14

Today in drama we discussed elements of planning, shooting & editing a video. Students were divided into 3 groups and charged with the task of making a 3-5 minute video presentation based on  a fairy tale.  We began the story-boarding process today and all groups managed to shoot some footage. Over the course of this week, each group will attempt to edit their video collaboratively via gmail.  For those students working on editing...this is the program we saw used during class http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-live/movie-maker#t1=overview

   

Homework: Please forward your gmail address to either Jenna Baggs (baggsfamily5@gmail.com) or Tram Fultz (tramfultz@gmail.com) so we can set up groups for editing. Please discuss this with us if your student is unfamiliar with email or you have any reservations about this process.  We are not hoping to break any family rules about media, hoping to work together to streamline homework and interaction with the students, please feel free to talk with us!

Also let us know if it is possible for your student to have access to a laptop during the Faith Drama time. Finally, please let us know if your student would prefer to be behind or in front of the camera before next weeks class time.

Drama 3 and 4 - 1/21/14

This week we had some fun with a great game to review all that we studied over the 15 weeks of classes!  I was impressed by the amount that was recalled and amused by the some of the things that were remembered so well :)
I loved having all of your bright and energetic kids in class with me each week!

Drama 2,3,4 - 1/14/14

This week we culminated in the start of American theater!  The first theater building was built in 1715 in Williamsburg, VA!  During the American Revolution the Continental congress (following suit of many states already) banned theater.  While their motives many have been war effort related, some of the individual states cited religious reasons.  Despite this, the first professional theater company came into being in New York in 1756!

Along with our last look at the history of theater during our time period, we also discussed the need to be vigilant about what we let into our active imaginations!  All theater is not good or good for us.  God has given us the gift of imagination and theater is a wonderful way to use it!  We live in a world that can easily turn God's blessings into something else, stay aware and enjoy the blessing of good theater!

Drama 2,3,4 - 1/6/14

This week we explored the world behind the scenes of the theater!  We discussed the many jobs that need to be done in order for a production to put on the stage.  Along with this, the responsibilities of each job. There are many opportunities to work in any or all of these areas in most theaters.  We talked about the need for duel roles (actor and lighting crew, or costumer and stage hand) in most local theaters.

For a game we enjoyed using some scrapes from my sewing bag to create some fun characters!  Ask the kids about some of the funny people Mrs. Baggs created ;)  This was an opportunity to feel how even just a small piece of a costume can bring out a character!