set design

Unlocking the Secrets of Elementary Theater Class: A Comprehensive Guide

At this time of year, many newly employed teachers are perusing the internet for lessons for their classes.  Today I’m going to discuss unlocking the secrets of elementary theater class: a comprehensive guide.

A little history about me–My first job was as an English teacher in a junior high school.  Bear in mind that I was certified to teach English, but had never taught it or even experienced teaching it as a student teacher. My student teaching was in theater which in the 1970s was almost unheard of in the mid-west.

Anyway,  I remember they gave me this HUGE book with all of the benchmarks or objectives I was to reach.  It was so full of jargon, I had to sit and translate it into layman’s English.  Finally, I got the hang of it.

My Teaching Journey

When I began teaching middle school theater in the mid 90s (yikes), no one seemed to be clear on what they wanted me to cover.  I came into the position with twenty years of teaching and directing experience outside the classroom, so I knew what to do in those circumstances. Continuing in this position for thirteen years, we then moved to Estes Park, CO which was a dream we never thought would occur.  We loved it!

While in Colorado for six years,  I taught a creative dramatics class to second through fifth  grade students in a home school enrichment program called Apex Home School Enrichment.   The classes were fifty-five minutes in length, once a week.  I saw around 175 students a week over three days. Because I came to the position with so much teaching experience, it was very easy for me to create a curriculum , because I knew what worked and what didn’t.  I hope I can pass along some of this experience to you now.

Unlocking the Secrets of Elementary Theater Class: A Comprehensive Guide

To be frank, there are good and not-so-good parts of being the only theater teacher in a school.  The good is that you can make your own decisions as to the content you teach without having to go through a department chair for their approval.  The greatest challenge I believe is that because you are alone in teaching the subject, you don’t have anyone to bounce ideas off of who truly understands what you are teaching.

I know what that’s like.  Having taught for over thirty-eight years, I’ve felt alone many times in my career.  Plus, when you are just starting out its easy to become overwhelmed by all the necessary details.  You probably say to yourself, do I have to create all these lessons all by myself.  The answer is no.

Where can I find creative dramatics lessons?

You can join some fancy membership website and spend a lot of money buying lessons you may ever need. Maybe you purchase the membership at the beginning of the year because it sounded like a really good deal.  And maybe it is.  Perhaps you discover after assessing your students for a week or so that this website doesn’t offer what you need. You feel stuck because you paid your money and well, the lessons will suffice.

There is nothing worse than the nagging feeling that you are not doing something especially useful for your students. I’ve been there and I understand.  I bet deep in your soul you know these are not the lessons your students need and really, you need to work ala carte! You want to pick and choose what you cover with your students, planning a month or two at a time.  Check out my latest article in One Classroom Over magazine.

Many times when teaching elementary students, in my opinion, there is too much emphasis placed on the wrong aspects of theater. The secret to unlocking curriculum is go right to ala carte! 

Here are some things you do not need to cover:

1.  Scene study
2.  Monologues
3.  Writing a play
4.  A comprehensive study of the history of theater
5.  Memorizing large quantities of lines
6.  Performing in a play longer than fifteen minutes
7.  Performing in a musical longer than 30 minutes
8.  Stock characters–Greek and Roman theater helped flesh out stock characters as a concept, but many of the ones we have now would  not originate until much, much later.

When I taught these creative dramatics  lessons in this particular order I began with the easiest concepts and progressed to the most challenging. This was a pass/fail course.  I gave a daily participation grade as well.

Here are some concepts they do need to study:

1. Tableau (1 day)–Tableau is a staple of theater and a non-threatening concept which beginning theater students can learn. Students learn how to make stage pictures (which is one of the basic of directing as well), however they don’t have to say anything. You can find my tableau lessons here:
2. . Chanting (1 day)–Chanting, (in my TPT store) or a repeated word or phrase used to illicit an effect is the second component I teach novices. Got some questions about teaching middle school? You can also find it in my Made by Teachers store at: Chanting
3. Movement (2 days)–Just like tableau, students enjoy creative movement because there is no speaking.  Plus, it does a great job of giving students some physical exercise which they sorely need.
4. Storytelling–(3 days) To learn to tell a story with all of its parts (beginning, middle and end, etc.) is an important skill. You can also find it in my Payhip store at: Storytelling Unit 
5.  Parts of the stage–(1 day) Students have a difficult time understanding these labels unless they are learned right along with performing. So, keep that in mind.
6. Improvisation (2 days)–Some advice for you: never begin your year by throwing students into improvisation.  It’s terribly difficult for the novice actor or those who are reluctant about the class.  Build up their trust for at least a month. Take it in baby steps. Try this drama circle for Halloween!
7. Mask making (2 days)–Students enjoy creating masks and using them in movement pieces or to create a character. My advice?  Use animal masks which are premade or they can create their own.
8. Costume Design (2 days)–Who doesn’t like costume design?  Depending upon the time of year, I like to teach about costume design with a thematic approach. In this case, it’s Halloween characters or teach with fairy tale characters.
9. Components of a Stage (1 day) –It’s best to teach these positions as students study set design so they can apply the information you give them.
10. Set Design (2 days)– Teaching how to draw a rendering of a set is super useful and fun!
11. Stage Properties (4 days)–Creating and making a stage prop is a magnet for student engagement.  Maybe you can make a prop which is used in the class play, such as snowflakes for a play, Ojisan and the Grateful Statues which is set in winter.
12. Performance (1 week) You can choose to direct your students in a short one act class play, readers theater or a radio theater play-I liked to switch it up every now and then using something different.   Word of caution–don’t have one class performing a play while the others are studying radio theater.  You will make yourself crazy.
13. Audience etiquette (weekly)–You can teach how to be a good audience member every day if you like.  Reminding students of what a quiet, attentive audience looks like goes a long way with them.
14. Warm up Exercises–You can never go wrong with a good warm-up exercise.  Here is one which always works–Firecracker Freeze Tag

If you’d like you can purchase a bundle of them at a discounted cost right here: Theater Arts Lessons for Grades 3 to 5

Unlocking the Secrets of Elementary Theater Class: A Comprehensive Guide

In 2018, I opened my store on Teacherspayteachers.com.  My plan was to recoup the pension I lost by staying home with our daughters when they were very young.  I understood that I would lose half of my pension at the time of my retirement, but to this day I have no regrets.  This was a real privilege and I’m aware that many educators don’t have the luxury to do the same.  To this day, I know our daughters almost as well as they do themselves because I was with them when they were young. I treasure that. The aforementioned words in blue are links to my resources which you are welcome to use in your classroom.

If you need defenses for your lessons, check out National Core Arts Standards: A Conceptual Framework for Arts Learning

Do you have any questions?  One feature of my business is that I am available for any teacher who needs a bit of advice or direction for their theater class, no matter the grade level.  You can find me at DhcBaldwin@gmail.com