| Term 1 | Serious Fun | |
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| This introductory unit consists of a variety of games and warm up activities to get students used to the drama space. Students will learn to balance their space, practise listening and communicating skills and experiment with their voices and bodies to have intended effects on the audience. A group mime develops non verbal communication skills. A group piece develops storytelling including still images, thought tracking and narration. A duologue called ‘My Fault’ consolidates skills learnt to showcase talent and extend script writing skills for alternative endings. Students focus on one of these and hone their original for assessment. We then begin to explore what an ensemble is and how we can use our physical theatre skills. |
| Assessment: Choice of three: mimed group piece, FAULT duologue, The Old Man and His Grandson group piece | Key Words and Terms |
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| Term 2 | Skills | |
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| Students will learn a variety of techniques to have dramatic impact in role play – hot seating, thought tracking, back story, slow motion, mark the moment, still image, cross cutting and narration. They will learn to empathise with different character types that find themselves in the following situations: Surprise party, the Olympics, a pirate, on holiday and moving house. Students are required to put themselves in the place of characters or real people and speak from their point of view. Students will explore emotions, feelings and motivations in detail and depth and demonstrate their ability to understand actions. |
| Assessment: Students choose one of the topic lessons to base a performance on. | Key Words and Terms |
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| Term 3 | The Manor House - physical theatre and shadow puppets | |
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| Students will explore and improvise the mystery of the Manor House. They will create characters using role-play and role on the wall to develop them. Students will be assessed on their ability to collaborate in small groups and as part of a whole class throughout the term. There will also be a final performed assessment at the end of the first few weeks. Students will then complete a series of lessons on shadow puppets, firstly looking at the history of puppetry and then making their own shadow puppets leading up to a performance. |
| Assessment: There will be a final performed assessment at the end of the first few weeks. | Key Words and Terms |
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| Term 4 | Bean and Berkoff | |
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| Students will be taught about the two differing styles of acting and their forms and conventions through various stimuli and role plays. They will discuss the impact of the differing styles and give constructive comments and the relative strengths and weaknesses about each method and intended effects on the audience. |
| Assessment: They will evaluate contrasting performances, as well as creating one each of their own for assessment, in groups. | Key Words and Terms |
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| Term 5 | Character and Staging | |
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| Students will learn to explore different characters in a variety of situations. A variety of techniques will be used to help them identify with the character’s motivations and consequences of their actions. They will be required to put themselves in the place of characters and communicate from their point of view. In pairs and groups, students will explore emotions, feelings and motivations in detail and depth and demonstrate their ability to understand actions, seeing that early childhood experiences can have life long effects. |
| Assessment: A final performance based on a character they have created. | Key Words and Terms |
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| Term 6 | A Midsummer Night's Dream | |
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| Students explore the plot, characters and themes of 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'. |
| Assessment: A devised piece based on the themes of the play. | Key Words and Terms |
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