Drama
Sixth Grade Drama/Acting is an introductory class designed to give each student frequent opportunities to learn new skills and practice them in class. To that end, we use improvisational games and exercises to provide many confidence-building experiences in the classroom. We also spend time learning the art of storytelling. At the end of the term, the class dramatizes four to five different picture books then performs them for the younger students in the Lower School.
In the Seventh Grade, explicit teaching of acting techniques increases through the targeted use of improvisational exercises. Improvisation offers frequent and relaxed opportunities for performance, and allows the students to study new skills while working within a comfortable framework. Students are expected to participate everyday, be supportive of their peers, and expand the boundaries of their individual capabilities.
The Eighth Grade drama/acting class introduces and expands such skills as concentration, emotional recall, movement, timing, character development, stage directions, line memorization, and scene work. While we still do improvisational work to help us explore new techniques, we spend a great deal of time working with written material. For the Eighth Grade theater production, the Music, Art and Drama/Acting classes combine so that the entire Eighth Grade class is involved in the creation and performance of our production. This class production is an important part of the art curriculum as well as the punctuation point to the student’s Middle School experience.
