Elementary School Lesson Plan

Standard: Understanding context by recognizing the role of theater, film, television, and electronic media in daily life

Indicator of Achievement: Students identify and compare similar characters and situations in stories and dramas from and about various cultures, illustrate with classroom dramatizations, and discuss how theater reflects life

Materials: video camera and tape

Preparation: List on the board student's favorite television programs about families. Discuss the ways in which parents and children are portrayed on these shows.

Select pairs of characters (e.g. father/son, two brothers, etc.). Have students use role playing to demonstrate ways these pairs treat each other in every day life and in conflict situations such as losing a friend or a job, getting into trouble at school or work, playing a trick that backfires, or getting caught in a lie. Follow with a discussion comparing the behaviors of various members of television families with the behaviors of people they know in real life. Discuss why they and others watch television and how what they watch affects how they and others behave. Discuss the reasons for the lure and power of drama and television.

Activity: Divide the class into small groups. Ask the students to create a new television show about a family--a program that will appeal to their friends and families. Help them with decisions about setting, characters, action/story line. Remind them to keep it simple so the audience will be able to follow the story. Make certain each child has an appropriate role to play (work on ensemble skills). Rehearse the scenes and share with the class. Discuss which characters and situations were believable and why. After positive/helpful class comments, video tape the scenes. Share them with other classes.

Assessment: Include the video tape in the student's portfolio; have each student write a critique of his or her work addressing the choice of playwriting elements as well as the concentration, effectiveness of character enactment and projection choices.

Adapted from a lesson plan created by the National Theater Standards Writing Committee