High School Lesson Plan

Content Standard: Students will do research to support artistic choices by evaluating and synthesizing cultural and historical information

Achievement Standard: Students will identify and research cultural, historical, and symbolic clues in dramatic texts and evaluate the validity and practicality of the information to assist in making artistic choices for informal and formal productions.

Content Standard (Social Studies): Students will demonstrate knowledge of research sources and apply appropriate research methods, including framing open-ended questions, gathering pertinent information, and evaluating the evidence and point of view contained within primary and secondary sources.

Materials: Copies of the NEWCOMER by Jane Thomas, Anchorage Press (The play is about a Vietnamese refugee in an American high school and features characters of Chinese, Hispanic, Filipino and Vietnamese descent in contemporary society.) Other scripts could be used; select something that will challenge students to research other periods and/or cultures.

Preparation: Have students read the play.

Activity: Assuming the role of the director of the play, have the students become the design team. Divide the class into six small groups: scenery, properties, costumes, makeup, lighting, and sound. Each design team is responsible for exploring a variety of sources to research the cultural and historical backgrounds of the characters' lives and, incorporating that knowledge in their group designs, make thumbnail sketches. For example, the group responsible for scenery might examine visual art, photographs and old videos for sources of cultural motifs to incorporate in a backdrop design. The costume designers might explore a variety of sources such as old mail- order catalogues or advertisements in newspapers and magazines, visit vintage clothing stores. The property crew can visit world museums online, visit local antique shops, talk with relatives. The make-up designers might look at cosmetic catalogues and makeup design texts to discover the proper cosmetic palates for Asian and Hispanic actors. The group responsible for lighting details might contact area lighting houses or theaters as well as lighting texts to discover how bomb explosions can be simulated on stage. The point is to get students to think beyond the library for design research.

After several days of work, have each team present its research and preliminary designs at a simulated production meeting. As director, respond to your design staff on the appropriateness of their artistic choices. Have the class collectively evaluate these choices for cultural (period) authenticity, production validity and practicality. Next discuss strategies to unify the six visual and aural design elements for the productions.

Have the students redesign their portion of the production and make a final presentation.

Assessment: Work with the students to create a criteria for addressing the validity and practicality of their designs as well as how the designs contribute to the whole and are aesthetically pleasing. Attention to visual art elements and principles and musical effectiveness should be included. Have the students include their first and second designs in their portfolios along with their personal assessment of the improvement of the second design and a plan for further improvement.

Based on a lesson plan by Johnny Saldana, ASU