Week 4 Recap

Things to celebrate: 

The grade nines and tens worked through the creative process and the steps we modelled together as a class, this time in new groups, with new sources selected by them, and more independently. Students took inspiration from their chosen sources to tackle a wide variety of important and relevant social issues, from bullying related to body image and racism to community issues like newcomer settlement and government corruption.

The grade elevens and twelves participated in their most comprehensive workshops yet as they were challenged to think like a producer, both pitching and responding to ideas for new one-act plays. We explored what a producer's role is and why it's important to consider this perspective when developing original work as an ensemble.  Students pitched a variety of original storylines for a prospective one-act production, as peers asked questions to help them assess what would make each show worth supporting and developing if they were asked to take on the role of producer. This thought exercise will help prepare students for next unit, where they will devise an extended piece based on some of the ideas explored this unit.

Things to look forward to:

We will continue our exploration of some of the important issues, topics, and approaches that our junior students tackled in last week's performances, as there was a lot to unpack. The grade tens will engage in feedback and reflection while the grade nines will revise and refine the work they performed on Friday and prepare to show it again for a revised grade on Thursday.

The seniors have begun their first and only scripted scene study of the semester in order to work with a model of what a professional script looks like and how it is structured, and as an example of successful Canadian theatre dealing with common youth issues explored throughout the unit. This is a differentiated assignment, with part of the class focussing just on acting and directing, reviewing the responsibilities of those roles, and the other part of the class will be working on dramaturgy as well, learning how and why the dramaturg helps support the company or ensemble. 

Things to work on at home:

One theme that emerged in all three classes last week is the need demonstrate respect for the lives, experiences, and challenges of those who are different from ourselves, especially when we want to tell stories about those people on stage or when we are in the audience viewing their stories. Drama often requires us to take on a role or a character who may be quite different from ourselves. One way to approach this is to look for things we have in common with our character. This learning can be applied to other areas of life, as well, as empathy and an open mind can help us work with a variety of people and perspectives more effectively. When it comes time to perform our characters and tell their stories, Drama also teaches us about the difference between impact and intent--an important thing to recognize if one wants to build strong communication skills. Learning how to demonstrate respect for the identities, experiences, and stories of those who are different from us gives us an advantage in academic and social situations by making us better listeners, more effective communicators, and successful collaborators--all 21st century skills that are prized in a variety of fields of work and study, including STEM. In relation to IB: the IB learner profile describes a student who is open-minded and caring; social skills are amongst the IB approaches to learning, and; IB approaches to teaching are developed in local and global contexts, making learning about relevant current issues and the people they impact a priority.