Grade 8 - Drama Skills (Elements and Structures)

PRESCRIBED LEARNING OUTCOMES

It is expected that students will:

• identify the values, attitudes, and beliefs of characters
• analyse the motivation, tension, and conflict of a character with reference to other characters
• plan and create settings to enhance the dramatic situation
• portray the central image in a drama
• create a unified drama with a distinct beginning, middle, and end
• use a variety of dramatic forms to portray a given theme, story, or structure
• use appropriate vocabulary to describe drama and theatre elements

To view the prescribed learning outcomes for Drama Skills (Elements and Structures) in other grades click on an icon below.

SUGGESTED INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES

• Play Circle Story, Tell Me About, or How the ___ Stories (see Appendix G).
• Working in pairs, develop two opposing characters, each with a defined prejudice or moral belief, and present an improvised scene. Discuss the scene using appropriate vocabulary.
• Working individually, students create an imaginative and detailed setting using given prompts (e.g., ice, light bulb, smoke).
• Create a poster for a dramatic production that demonstrates an understanding of the productionıs central image.
• Create a detailed character, then explore possible conflicts and desires in a given circumstance. Finally, working in pairs, design and explore the conflict and possible resolutions.
• Arrange for students to see a scene done by older students and discuss with the actors the motivations that create conflict for the characters.
• Replay improvisations in different genres (e.g., western, soap opera, horror).

SUGGESTED ASSESSMENT STRATEGIES

• To assess studentsı understanding of character and their ability to analyse it, provide opportunities for them to respond to audience questions or be interviewed in role after an exercise or improvisation. Encourage other students to pose questions that "uncover" values, attitudes, motivations, previous experiences, and relationships that were not directly portrayed. After each interview or question session, have the students work with partners or in groups to record and compare their perceptions. (e.g., What surprised you? What are three key words you could use to describe this character? What new questions do you have?) Look for evidence that students:
  • ask questions that probe the nature of the character
  • are able to project themselves into the character to articulate values, attitudes, beliefs, motivation, and feelings in role
  • use any new information they receive to draw conclusions about the nature of the character
• As students work with various exercises and improvisations, encourage them to focus on the structure of their work: the central image, the form, the beginning, middle, and end. Ask groups to report on their own and other groupsı scenes or productions and comment on the extent to which:
  • the form was effective in representing the situation
  • the setting enhanced the situation
  • the beginning introduced the situation
  • the middle developed the conflict
  • the ending resolved the situation
• Ask students to reflect on elements and structures in their journals by responding to prompts such as:
  • What effect did your character have on the scenes you were in?
  • How could you introduce the drama in a different way?

RECOMMENDED LEARNING RESOURCES

• 200+ Ideas for Drama
• Acting Games
• Acting Natural
• Christmas On Stage
• Comedy Improvisation
• The Complete Book of Speech Communication
• Creating with Shakespeare
• Creative Drama in Groupwork
• Drama 14 - 16: A Book of Projects and Resources
• Drama Guidelines
• The Dramatic Body
• Elegantly Frugal Costumes
• Mime Time
• Now Playing
• NTCıs Dictionary of Theatre and Drama Terms
• Readers Theatre Anthology
• Skits and Scenes
• Someday: A Play
• Story Drama: Reading, Writing and Roleplaying Across the Curriculum
• Storymaking and Drama: An Approach to Teaching Language and Literature
• The Theatre and You: A Beginning
• Wings to Fly

• Movement For The Actor

Table of Contents

Province of British Columbia
Ministry of Education
Standards Department İ 1996 Copyright

Maintained by: Fine Arts Coordinator - Drama

Revised: March 13, 1996

Ministry of Education Home Page