Middle School Lesson Plan

Content Standard: Students will learn about theatrical design by developing environments for improvised and scripted scenes

Achievement Standard: Students will develop focused ideas for an environment using visual elements (line, space, texture, color) and visual principles (repetition, balance, emphasis, contrast, unity)

Materials: for a collage--magazines with pictures and words, cloth swatches, objects

Preparation: Guide the students to imagine their own room, asking about its shape and size, how it is furnished, the colors, textures and materials in the room, the mood it evokes. If someone looked inside, what would they learn about you?

Students construct "inspiration collages," assembling pictures, words, cloth, objects representing their ideas. For example a student might include a picture of a TV wall, a metal key and a cheeseburger wrapper. The collages are titled with the sentence, "My room is my____________(hangout, studio, etc.).

Using slides, renderings, and models of one-room sets, show the students how color, materials with their textures, props, and the use of space provide information about characters. Note examples of how designers use symbols and images to create meaning, e.g. placing a wall map on the room of a character who loves to travel.

Have the students discuss the symbols they used in their collages.

Activity: Have the students envision their own room as a set for a play about themselves; create a written description and a drawing or shoebox model of his or her set, incorporating elements from the collages.

Create a Designers' Exhibit. Ask the art teacher to help lead the class through the exhibit pointing out visual elements (color, texture, space, line) and design principles (repetition, balance, emphasis, contrast, unity) that reenforce the meaning of the settings. Help the students learn the vocabulary of the designer/artist.

Assign groups of students to collaborate in the role of director and designers to design one-room sets for assigned scripts.

Assessment: Using class developed criteria that deals with the function of the setting as well as the art elements and design principles, students write a critique of the setting for their room and for the collaborative setting. The critique and renderings or pictures of their settings are included in their portfolios.

Based on a lesson plan by Carole Jones, Atlanta, Georgia.