What a great start to the 2018-19 school year! As tough as it can be to get back into our school routines in August (especially for our grade nines, who are new to the early-start school schedule), it can be very rewarding when the Labour Day long weekend arrives and you realize you get to enjoy it free from that back-to-school anxiety that is so common for students, families, and yes, even teachers! Here's what you need to know heading into our second week.
The grade nines and tens played a few new drama games this week to help introduce them to some drama skills and to one another. They then finished their week with their first performances of the semester, where they created tableaux to demonstrate different qualities of teamwork--a key to success in drama class. They also made thoughtful contributions to our classroom expectations.
The grade elevens and twelves dove back into their drama work this week with lots of enthusiasm and creativity. Each class worked in grade groups to prepare and share multiple interpretations of a short excerpt from a script as they began learning about the collective creation technique that will guide our work throughout the semester. Most importantly, students were open to sharing their ideas and works-in-progress, and began to gain comfort with workshopping those ideas with others, learning that there are many different ways to present a theme, story, or character in performance.
Things to celebrate:
Maple Drama students should be very proud of themselves for a week of meeting new people and trying new things!The grade nines and tens played a few new drama games this week to help introduce them to some drama skills and to one another. They then finished their week with their first performances of the semester, where they created tableaux to demonstrate different qualities of teamwork--a key to success in drama class. They also made thoughtful contributions to our classroom expectations.
The grade elevens and twelves dove back into their drama work this week with lots of enthusiasm and creativity. Each class worked in grade groups to prepare and share multiple interpretations of a short excerpt from a script as they began learning about the collective creation technique that will guide our work throughout the semester. Most importantly, students were open to sharing their ideas and works-in-progress, and began to gain comfort with workshopping those ideas with others, learning that there are many different ways to present a theme, story, or character in performance.
Things to look forward to:
Wednesday is Green Acres Day for Maple High School's class of 2022! Grade nines will be headed to Green Acres for a day of fun (and hopefully sun) where they will have the chance to get to know more of their peers as they work as a team through a number of games and challenges under the leadership of teachers and student mentors from grades 10-12.
In class, grade nines and tens will continue to develop and practice their drama skills through more team-building games and activities that will focus on quick-thinking and collaboration. They will also be introduced to their first assignment in class on Friday, which is designed to help them explore The Creative Process. This is the process that they will use to complete many of the other in-class tasks and performance assignments throughout the semester, and it is a foundational element of The Ontario Arts Curriculum.
Grade elevens and twelves will continue to review source work, this time focussing on theme. As with last week, students will work progressively through the collaborative creation technique to develop and share preliminary work based on a source of inspiration provided by the teacher. They will begin by developing individual work that they share with a small group, then explore how that work could be incorporated into a collective creation, workshop their ideas with feedback, and, by the end of the week, they will share their group's work with the rest of the class.
Parents and students are reminded that all assignments and resources will be posted on Google Classroom, including our weekly Drama Portfolio (due every Friday). Students should check Google Classroom for upcoming assignments and due dates, and to see if any information or resources have been posted while they were away.
In class, grade nines and tens will continue to develop and practice their drama skills through more team-building games and activities that will focus on quick-thinking and collaboration. They will also be introduced to their first assignment in class on Friday, which is designed to help them explore The Creative Process. This is the process that they will use to complete many of the other in-class tasks and performance assignments throughout the semester, and it is a foundational element of The Ontario Arts Curriculum.
Grade elevens and twelves will continue to review source work, this time focussing on theme. As with last week, students will work progressively through the collaborative creation technique to develop and share preliminary work based on a source of inspiration provided by the teacher. They will begin by developing individual work that they share with a small group, then explore how that work could be incorporated into a collective creation, workshop their ideas with feedback, and, by the end of the week, they will share their group's work with the rest of the class.
Parents and students are reminded that all assignments and resources will be posted on Google Classroom, including our weekly Drama Portfolio (due every Friday). Students should check Google Classroom for upcoming assignments and due dates, and to see if any information or resources have been posted while they were away.
Things to work on at home:
In addition to helping students establish and maintain routines that will help them be present, punctual, and complete their school work on time (including our weekly portfolio entries), you can continue to encourage students to take risks, move outside their comfort zones, and try new things this semester in all of their classes. Help promote a growth mindset at home by asking students explicitly about their strengths and successes (even helping them identify small successes if they have trouble finding the positives on their own), and reference these when they start to feel challenged and discouraged. Remind students that challenges are just skills they haven't developed yet, and remind them of all the strengths they possess already that will help them overcome those challenges.
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