Acting Lesson Plan 1
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GOTEs (Imposter Style!)
Prior Knowledge:
- Students will have selected a monologue that is 1 minute long from a published play.
- Students will understand stage directions and body positions
- Students will have created an acting chart chunking their monologue into Beginning, Middle, Climax, and end.
Objective:
- The student will be able to evaluate and apply a character's goals, obstacles, tactics, and expectations using an acting chart by performing a 1-minute monologue.
Teks:
- 1A, 1C, 1E, 1F, 1I, 1K, 2A, 2C
Materials
- Acting chart, Pencil, Highlighter, Typed monologue, two blindfolds, two rolled-up magazines, an envelope full of action slips (These contain a strong action verb, and one or two synonyms).
Vocabulary:
- Goals, Obstacles, Tactics, Expectations, Blocking, Scene Objective, Super-objective, Beat.
Time required:
- Two Weeks. (Five 45-minute periods)
Day 1
Warm-up:
Students will be asked to play a round of Among Us on a smartphone or a school-issued iPad. After the rounds, we will discuss what the “point” of the game is for the players who are not the imposter. We will then define this as a goal or objective.
Lesson:
After the game, the instructor will cover the GOTE’s PowerPoint. The students will identify the Imposter’s goals of the game via scene objective (moment-to-moment decisions in the game and completing tasks) and super-objective (sabotaging the ship and remaining undetected while killing everyone on board). We will discuss the obstacles the imposter encounters and the tactics they use to evade or overcome those obstacles. We will then talk about what expectations the imposter has and how it leads to new tactics.
Exit Ticket:
Students will identify their monologue goal (super-objective) and the obstacle they experience in their monologue and upload it to our online learning platform.
Day 2
Warm-up:
Students will play a game of “Blindfolded Samurai”. Two students stand in the center of a circle of students. The circle acts as a barrier to prevent the players from wandering too far from each other. The objective of the game is to swat the other player with their “sword” (magazine). The students are blindfolded and moved around the circle to disorient them. The students are only allowed to swipe at their opponent one time and if that attempt fails, they are only allowed to evade their opponent. The students are encouraged to try different ways to evade their opponents. The circle of students will snap quietly if the players approach the edge to redirect them.
Lesson:
After several rounds of the game, the students will talk about observations they noticed during the game. They will be directed to talk about the moment one player missed a strike at their opponent. This moment will be used to talk about expectations and objective changes. When an expectation is not met and a goal is not attainable, sometimes our characters must change their goal. This can be applied to their scene. We will then discuss what happens if our goal is still reachable. This leads us to our use of tactics! (We will define tactics as actions.)
Exit Ticket:
Students will analyze their monologue for any changes in objectives and notate them in their chunks on their acting chart. They will then upload a picture to our online learning platform.
Day 3
Warm-up:
Students will receive an action chart as they walk into class. Each day, the students will see three actions from The Actor’s Thesaurus. They will identify which emotional group the action belongs to (Nurturing, Using, or Damaging), the definition, A potential objective that the tactic could be used for, and come up with an opposite action.
Activity:
Students will volunteer to workshop one or two lines from their monologue. When they are selected, they will draw an action slip from an envelope. They will then perform their monologue to another student volunteer. The student will attempt to identify what the actor’s tactic was. We will discuss whether each volunteer is successful in portraying their tactic, and if not, how they can modify their performance.
Exit Ticket:
Students will add appropriate tactics to each chunk of their monologue. They will then upload a picture to our online learning platform.
Day 4
Warm-up:
The students will see three actions from The Actor’s Thesaurus. They will identify which emotional group the action belongs to (Nurturing, Using, or Damaging), the definition, A potential objective that the tactic could be used for, and come up with an opposite action.
Activity:
Students will work in pairs to workshop their tactics. The instructor will walk around and challenge students to identify the strongest possible tactics to reach their character’s goals.
Exit Ticket:
Students will submit an updated picture of their acting chart with their new tactics if they made changes. If they did not make any changes they will be asked to write a few sentences defending their choices.
Day 5
Warm-Up:
The students will see three actions from The Actor’s Thesaurus. They will identify which emotional group the action belongs to (Nurturing, Using, or Damaging), the definition, A potential objective that the tactic could be used for, and come up with an opposite action.
Activity:
Workshop day. The students will have a final workshop day to work on their monologues in class for feedback before presenting.
Exit Ticket:
Students will submit a brief reflection on observations they noticed during their workshop or any struggles they are having on our online learning platform.
Day 6/7
Warm-Up:
The students will see three actions from The Actor’s Thesaurus. They will identify which emotional group the action belongs to (Nurturing, Using, or Damaging), the definition, A potential objective that the tactic could be used for, and come up with an opposite action.
First Performance day:
Students will perform their monologues for the class and be graded on a rubric.
The students who are observing will take notes on whether they noticed a clear Goal, any Obstacles, or clear use of Tactics. The students will receive brief feedback from the teacher and an in-depth written critique after everyone has performed. The monologues will be filmed for a self-critique.
*** Please note that my department uses the ITF Thespy rubric for monologue performances as a standardized scoring system for performances for productions classes. Students are required to slate and transition for any performance they do and are introduced to the rubric and slating expectations at the beginning of the year. ***
Exit ticket:
Each student will be required to turn in written observations from each performance at the end of the period.
Homework:
Students will watch their recorded performance and write a self-critique and reflection on what changes they may make, what discoveries they had, and what they think they did well.
Day 8
The students will see three actions from The Actor’s Thesaurus. They will identify which emotional group the action belongs to (Nurturing, Using, or Damaging), the definition, A potential objective that the tactic could be used for, and come up with an opposite action.
Activity:
Workshop day. The students will have a final workshop day to work on their monologues in class for feedback before presenting.
Exit Ticket:
Students will submit a brief reflection on observations they noticed during their workshop or any struggles they are having on our online learning platform.
Day 9/10
Warm-Up:
The students will see three actions from The Actor’s Thesaurus. They will identify which emotional group the action belongs to (Nurturing, Using, or Damaging), the definition, A potential objective that the tactic could be used for, and come up with an opposite action.
Final Performance Day:
Students will perform their monologues for the class and be graded on a rubric.
The students who are observing will take notes on whether they noticed a clear Goal, any Obstacles, or clear use of Tactics. The students will receive feedback from the teacher, and the monologues will be filmed for a self-critique.
*** Please note that my department uses the ITF Thespy rubric for monologue performances as a standardized scoring system for performances across all levels of theatre. Students are required to slate and transition for any performance they do and are introduced to the rubric and slating expectations at the beginning of the year. ***
Exit ticket:
Each student will be required to turn in written observations from each performance at the end of the period.
Homework:
Students will watch their recorded performance and write a self-critique and reflection on what changes they may make, what discoveries they had, and what they think they did well.
