word wall Archives

My Theatre Vocabulary List for the Classroom

I apologize.

It never occurred to me that teachers needed a list of vocabulary for their theatre classes.

Theatre is such a major part of my life, I’d forgotten not everyone comes into teaching theatre classes as I did. However, as I think about it, I remember what it’s like getting started teaching a theatre class.

It’s tough to get started. Although there are colleagues who will advise you, sometimes you need someone sort of “at your finger tips” to help you. That’s me!

Why teach vocabulary words?

This seems this would have an obvious answer. But just as in every other subject students teach, theater students need to know the words and phrases you will use in your classroom. We can’t expect out students to be good communicators if we don’t help them, yes?

There are many processes students can use to learn these words. If you pick up my Word Wall product, I’ve included several different ways to learn the vocabulary words.

A teacher could have a vocabulary per day. Start the day with the word and even demonstrate it. Honestly, you will be surprised how quickly the students will learn them!

Here are a few vocabulary words your students should be familiar with in order to understand the subject more fully.

Actor to Choreography:

Actor A male person who performs a role in a play, work of theatre, or movie

Actress A female person who performers in a role in a play, work of theatre, or movie.

Apron The section of the stage floor which projects towards or into the auditorium. In proscenium theatres, it’s the part of the stage in front of the house tabs, or in front of the proscenium arch, above the orchestra pit

My Theatre Vocabulary List for the Classroom

Cast A set of actors in a play

Catharsis A moment of high tragedy at the emotional climax of a play is followed by an emotional cleansing for the characters and the audience

Chanting A word or phrase repeated for an effect

Character A person in a novel, play, or movie

Choreography The art and craft of designing the moves, pace, flow, structure and execution of a piece of dance, or any other piece of rehearsed movement.

Chorus to Ellipsoidal:

Chorus A group of singers

Down Stage The stage area toward the audience.

Ellipsoidal A type of stage light with a strong, well defined beam, and is very versatile.

My Theatre Vocabulary List for the Classroom

Entrance When the actor comes on the stage

Enunciation The manner in which an actor utters or pronounces words or sentences.

Pick up my Drama Word Wall. Everything is provided for you. Check it out at: Word Wall

Exit to Myth

Exit To leave the stage

Finale The last scene or musical number of a performance

Green Room A room close to the stage for the actors to meet and relax before or after going on stage

Looking for a lesson for tomorrow? Pick up this one about Lin Manuel Miranda.

My Theatre Vocabulary List for the Classroom

Myth to Strike:

Myth A traditional story, which may define how a particular civilization came into being, or a tale with a clearly defined moral code designed for social education.

Off Stage Not taking place on the stage and so not visible to the audience

Soliloquy Monologue expressing a character’s inner thoughts addressed to the audience

Everything is provided for you. Check it out at: Word Wall

Spectacle A visually striking performance or display

Spike To mark the stage floor with tape or paint where the set pieces should be located

Strike To remove a piece of scenery from the stage or to take down the production elements, such as the set pieces, stage properties and costumes.

Swing to Theatre

Swing Usually off-stage, the swing is a multi-talented performer who’s responsible for learning many ensemble tracks so that s/he can “swing on” when someone is ill, injured, or missing the performance for any reason

My Theatre Vocabulary List for the Classroom

Theater A space where a play or musical is performed.

*There are two ways to spell theater. Either way is acceptable. The “er” spelling is an American spelling

Instead of copying all of these words and making printables for your students, there are 64 in this product! Check out this WORD WALL:

Pick up my Drama Word Wall. Everything is provided for you. Check it out at: Word Wall

or you can pick up posters (some are FREE) for your classroom, too! Growth Mindset Posters and Vocabulary

I hope this helps you. Please feel free to contact me at DhcBaldwin@gmail.com or DeborahBaldwin.net

Want some more help in the classroom? Check out my FREE Guide and ten page lesson Here

The Importance of a Drama Word Wall for Secondary Students

When I was a child, I remember spelling word tests.

Education has changed a lot since then, thank goodness.

I’m a good speller and I give all the credit to Miss DeLong. She was my scary first grade teacher who nearly beat phonics into our brains. I still remember what she looked like. That’s how much of an impression she made on me!

One of her most useful tactics for learning was fear.

The Dog House–An Old School Teaching Method

Miss DeLong was an old school teacher. When we were learning how to spell our name and address, your name would placed in the “dog house” until you could spell it correctly. The dog house was a chalked picture of a dog house in the upper right corner of her blackboard. It confused me–the outside of the dog house had grass and flowers drawn around it. I suppose she wanted it to look non-threatening…..

I hated it.

It worked, though. I learned to spell my name and address very quickly.

Maybe you are wanting a word search puzzle. Here is a bundle of them: Word Search Puzzles Bundle

Now teachers use word walls instead. Oh, thank goodness.

It makes much more sense to me, you know?

A word wall is a terrific teaching method. High frequency words of your particular subject printed in large visible letters are posted on a wall, bulletin board or other display surface in a classroom. A student sees the words all the time and consequently the words become a part of the student vocabulary in a more natural and stress free manner.

Looking for posters, too? Here are some.

This is how to use word walls

Researching this post, I check out the readingrockets.com blog. Here are their suggestions:

Make words accessible by putting them where every student can see them. They should be written in large black letters using a variety of background colors to distinguish easily confused words.
Teachers and students should work together to determine which words should go on the word wall. Try to include words that children use most commonly in their writing. Words should be added gradually — a general guideline is five words per week.
Use the word wall daily to practice words, incorporating a variety of activities such as chanting, snapping, cheering, clapping, tracing, word guessing games as well as writing them.
Provide enough practice so that words are read and spelled automatically and make sure that words from the wall are always spelled correctly in the children’s daily writing.
New information should be added on a regular basis.
Use content-area material from the curriculum rather than randomly selected words.
Word walls should be referred to often so students come to understand and see their relevance.

The Importance of a Drama Word Wall for Secondary Students

Several years ago, I taught drama until my retirement. I never had a word wall. Wow, it really would’ve helped!

You may wonder how to use Word Walls. Our secondary level students need word walls just as much as the primary level.

You can post the words just about anywhere. Some teachers add words to their wall generated by other words the students require. That makes loads of sense. Some teachers have particular words they expect their students to learn to spell–the words of the subject.

My suggestion is to begin with a few words which spring from whatever unit or lesson you are studying. Post the words, give the definitions and apply them. Switch out the words as the year progresses or merely add to the ones you have all ready displayed.

A drama class’ words include the components of theater–storytelling, tableau, set design, movement, chanting and so forth.

In addition, we have words and phrases which describe the stage–up center, down center, balancing the stage, entrance, exit, proscenium and thrust stage to name a few.

I created this product thinking of every grade level, because a teacher knows best what their students need. My product is a content area word wall.

You can find it here: Middle Grades and High School Drama Terms: Word Wall

or here at: Middle Grades and High School Drama Terms: Word Wall

Now, I have a Boom Cards which can be used for teaching vocabulary!
Digital Task Cards Drama Vocabulary

The Importance of a Drama Word Wall for Secondary Students

Here is the production description:

Need something for that pesky bulletin board? This is a set of 198 posters that highlight many of the content area words of a drama or creative dramatics class. In addition, the set includes suggested uses and word games. This word wall can be displayed all year long or the words can be displayed as they are being used throughout the year.

Although these were created for secondary classes, an elementary class could use these as well. The teacher is the expert as to which words their students should study.

Check out these posters.

The teacher has two color combinations to choose from: black and white only or multi-colored.

If you are thinking your middle grade students might think the word wall is babyish, I bet you are incorrect. Just because a student is out of elementary school doesn’t mean their learning challenges have vanished.

I’m pretty weak math student. It wasn’t until I was in my junior year of high school that my father hired a math tutor to help me. I really could have used that tutor way back in sixth grade.

I’m just here to help.

What experiences do you have with spelling? When our daughter were young, they practiced spelling words at the breakfast table on Friday mornings prior to the week’s test.

To this day, one daughter is a good speller (like me) and the other has a few challenges (like her father). It is genetic?

I wonder if anyone has studied that question?

Contact me at dhcbaldwin@gmail.com or DeborahBaldwin.net I’ve love to hear from you.

Here’s a new product you might want for your bulletin boards. Growth Mindset Theater Artist Quotes

If you are interested in other teaching tools, check out: Your Secret Teaching Allies–Super Heroes

Striking a Balance with Students in Their Middle School Years

How do you display theatre vocabulary in your classroom? I’d love to know. Contact me at DhcBaldwin@gmail.com or DeborahBaldwin.net

word wall

My Theatre Vocabulary List for the Classroom