PSA Project Part Two

The students, 8th graders, agreed with me that discrimination, racism, homophobia, etc. could all lead down a negative path where we inadvertently offend people. The class has decided to do gossip and divided into two groups - trash talk, and telephone rumor mill. Even still I had concerns. How could we possibly do anything relevant yet stay totally school appropriate? How can we honestly walk the line of being truthful and avoid all conflict?
Well. Yesterday we had a meeting and I mentioned this project and my concerns. The best idea one group has is to have a student act silly. Then another student jokingly says, " Are you high?" They would then show the progression from the joke to "Student A is addicted to drugs." I thought this was brilliant because it's so real, but not okay because it doesn't represent the school well. Plus, I don't allow drug talk in class because it is obviously not school appropriate. Surprisingly (at least to me), all my coworkers love the project and the principal gave me the green light! She said something like, "This is real to them." Love it!
Today, I started class with our usual check-in and a game. We then sat in a circle and I talked openly with them about the meeting yesterday and my concerns. The students were attentive, needed a little guidance, and did an impressive amount of work. They feel very much like I do. They are shown PSAs all the time that are created for kids by adults, but adults don't know how to communicate effectively with them. We all agree they may be able to get through to their peers in a way that all of us well-meaning adults just can't.

PSA Project

In my 8th grade drama class, we are creating public service announcements. Last year, I assigned the groups and told everyone that the topic was Going Green. This year, I decided the students should get to take more ownership of the project. We spent half a class period talking about what the kids see as problems at our site. Whatever the topic, it needs to be relevant to them. They are leaning towards discrimination because then they can combine some of their favorite prevalent ideas - racism, stereotypes, sexism. I love how passionate the class is about this new project, but I'm worried about the outcome. We are going to have to walk a fine line of being honest about the issues at school without being offensive to anyone.
Tomorrow we are finalizing the topic and then we can figure out what the PSAs will actually look like. I want them to be creative, to think outside of the box, and make a PSA unlike any we've seen before. We watched this one for inspiration:

5 Minute Musicals

My students (non-musical theater) do a project in the beginning drama class called "The 5 Minute Musical." These are exactly what the title implies, a musical that must be 5 minutes in length. I let them choose their groups because then they have more to go on when choosing songs. They can be about any school appropriate topic. This semester we have an American Idol spoof, the 2011 Worst Academy Awards, How to Train Your Dragon, Janitor Power, and a Happy Feet Spoof. Most of the groups are working really well together.
The assignment is basically this:

Every student must sing.
Every student must dance.
Every student must speak at least five times alone.

The show is done without music. I recommend that they use songs everyone already knows, and then change the lyrics to fit their situation.
As a class we decide how long they need for brainstorming, writing, staging, choreographing, and last rehearsing. We are inviting other classes to come in and see their work. It's a lot of fun - even for students who cringed when I said they had to sing and dance!
Next week, they will perform for each other to get more feedback so they can be proud in two weeks when we have an audience!

Character Analysis

Today I gave my students Character Analysis Worksheets that were three pages long to analyze their characters in their scenes. It was an intimidating handout and I had some concern that my 8th grade students wouldn't be able to handle the high school level work.
This class is especially challenging for me because it is an advanced drama class, yet not all students have taken the class that leads into it. The students who did not take the beginning class are struggling. They don't have the background knowledge required to truly grasp what I'm asking of them. Because of that, I thought they wouldn't be able to even begin the analysis. I was wrong!
They are all doing the work to the level they are capable. It is great for me to see. The kids who have the background from the previous class are going more in-depth in their thoughts on the character. The kids who didn't have the class are just scratching the surface. Either way, all students are learning what it takes to truly take on a character. They are learning how to analyze scripts which will translate into analyzing literature. The performance they end up doing in a couple of weeks is going to be so much better due to this work.
I almost didn't give the worksheet to them. Thought it was just too hard. I'm so glad I remembered something I truly do believe - Students will rise to the expectations we give them.

Scenes

Today I passed out scenes in my advanced drama class. I took into consideration what students told me they wanted to work on this semester when choosing their scenes and partners. Of course, some still complained! Like the girl who told me she wanted to work on memorizing a lot of lines complained that her scene "was too long!" What?! Why would she say that's what she wanted to work on, if then she actually didn't? Do students think teachers have them fill out getting to know you sheets for fun? Of course, I adjust and modify my class to make it work for them.
Most students were thrilled with their scenes and already looking into strong character choices. I was impressed with how one girl was reading between the lines on day one and already discovering what was truth about her character and what was false. Tomorrow we are going to start working on character study with a graphic organizer I found online and then changed to fit my students better. They seem excited to dig in and get to work!

Walking Unit

This is a unit I created to help students develop character. One thing middle schoolers forget, is that they don't only need to think about how their character speaks, but also how the character moves.
The students have a full week (including a weekend) to find an interesting walk. They have to see the person in person and can't know him/her at all. That means even someone on campus wouldn't work because the kids will know something about the person. During the week, we do some strange walks in class (walk like you just won the lottery, walk like you saw your dog get hit by a car, etc. Then we transition to walk with your nose leading. Who would walk like this? How does it feel? Take on a character who would walk like this, etc.) for about ten minutes a day.
On the day everyone has their walk, we spend most of class writing about the character they are developing. I have them create everything possible about this person. Where they live, their hobbies, their friends/family, what they do for a living, age, etc. For the last ten minutes of class, they walk around the classroom and get about a minute to interact with someone. They must have a conversation as their character, and they need to change their voices! They get about 8 conversations by the end of the period and they love this part of it.
The next day, I have their character sheets and put a quick rubric on the top (character, walk, voice). We talk about what I'm looking for and why. They are graded on how well they know their character and their consistency with the walk/voice. They get on stage one at a time and walk the entire time. Basically, they pace as their character. The student introduces him/herself as the character and then takes 5-7 questions from the class.
This week we are starting the next portion of this Unit. The students will randomly be called onto the stage to do a partner improv. I'll call on 2 kids to get on stage and remind us of their character. Then, I'll ask the class for a location, relationship, and conflict. It should be a lot of fun! I'll let you know how it goes tomorrow.