Grade 9 - Drama Skills (Elements and Structures)

PRESCRIBED LEARNING OUTCOMES

It is expected that students will:

• identify a variety of ways in which character is revealed
• identify and portray a character's objective within a scene
• relate setting to action
• explain how a central image contributes to a unified work
• identify a variety of ways to manipulate a storyıs structure to enhance the drama
• show facility in using a variety of forms to develop a drama
• manipulate drama and theatre elements to affect the drama

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

SUGGESTED INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES

• Demonstrate three activities representing the internal characteristics of a given individual (e.g., miser, lovestruck teenager).
• Day in the Life: Have each student in a group create an individual scene focussing on the specific activities of a given character at various times during a 24-hour day.
• Perform non-verbal scenes depicting a given character's objective.
• Brainstorm alternative beginnings, middles, and ends to scenes. Have individual students or groups select one from each category, then rehearse and present the scene. Experiment with varying degrees of volume, speed, and pitch to build the tension to a climax.
• Working in pairs or triads, select a specific where, and maintain roles in an improvisation, taking and giving focus as directed by the instructor (e.g., garage sale, fall fair).
• Develop understanding of the central image of a play or video through viewing it and discussing the imagery.
• Design a mime sequence that manipulates tension and release (e.g., opening a jar, defusing a bomb).
• Develop a selected theme through various forms (e.g., tableau, dance, choral speech, mime, improvisation) to create a dramatic anthology.

SUGGESTED ASSESSMENT STRATEGIES

• In their journals or portfolios, have students develop a list of dramatic forms they have used. They might set aside a separate page for each form. For each form, have them record:
  • activities they have participated in
  • key features they want to remember
  • their level of confidence with the form
  They might also note goals or objectives for future activities. Collect their work and record evidence of their understanding of the elements and structures of drama.
• As students engage in activities that focus in some way on structure, ask them to submit as much evidence of their planning as possible (e.g., brainstorming notes, sketches, outlines, notes to self, messages from one person in a group to another, scripts, reflections on or assessments of performance). Look for evidence that they:
  • establish a clear purpose for their work
  • consider more than one way of structuring the story to enhance the drama
  • consider the effects of the setting on the action
  • demonstrate understanding of a variety of ways of developing and revealing the characters (e.g., appearance, voice, action, relationships)
  • use appropriate vocabulary to describe drama and theatre elements

RECOMMENDED LEARNING RESOURCES

• 200+ Ideas for Drama
• Acting Games
• Acting Natural
• Christmas On Stage
• Comedy Improvisation
• The Complete Book of Speech Communication
• Contours: Plays From Across Canada
• 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
• Someday: A Play
• The Stage and the School (5/e)
• Storymaking and Drama: An Approach to Teaching Language and Literature
• The Theatre and You: A Beginning
• Wings to Fly

• Movement For The Actor
• Perspectives on Illusion
• Pierre Lefevre: On Acting

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