Unit
One - Introduction to Drama
Module 2: Actor's Tools
Lesson 5- Concentration and Focus
Objectives:
- to follow classroom routines and procedures
- to cooperate with others
- to explore characters and situations
- to concentrate during drama experiences
Resources:
open scene (pdf), various
objects for this is a pen
CELs:
C, PSVS
Components:
Creative/Productive
Introduction:
Concentration and focus are essential skills for an
actor. The ability to remain "in the moment", or respond
as the character would when exposed to something for the first
time, makes the character real for the audience. This lesson will
teach the ability to remain in the moment regardless of distraction.
Activities:
Activity 1 - Baby
if you love me
• Sit in a large circle with one person in the middle.
• The middle person approaches any member of the group and
says "Baby if you love me, will you please, please smile!"
• If this member of the group smiles, the middle student
takes his or her place in the circle. Now the new person in the
middle must find a new member of the group to speak to.
• Any
person in the group may be approached, and any school-appropriate
method may be used to get the other person to smile.
• This game should be played for 5 to 10 minutes.
Activity
2 - This is a pen
• Students break into groups of two and designate themselves
A and B.
• They practice saying the A and B dialogue with A holding
the pen.
• After they have it memorized, they try it with other
objects like a key, shoe or book. |
A:
This is a pen.
B: A what?
A: A pen.
B: A what?
A: A pen.
B: Oh, a pen. |
|
A
This
is a book.
A what?
A book.
A what?
A book.
Oh,
a book.
|
B
This
is a pen.
A what?
A pen.
A what?
A pen.
Oh, a pen.
|
•
Once all of these steps are mastered, the students each speak
the entire dialogue themselves.
• A speaks the dialogue about the pen, while B speaks
it about the shoe at exactly the same time.
• When this is successful, A and B trade their objects
with another group and try again.
• This game should be played for 10 to 15 minutes. |
Both
activities encourage concentration. Baby if You Love Me
breaks the habit of response, and This is a Pen enables
students to practice speaking and listening at the same time.
Activity
3 - Exercises
Have
your students break into groups of two or three and practice the
following open scene. They should memorize the lines, so that
they can stay "in the moment". The lines are set and
can not be changed, but the students create the setting, character,
objectives and obstacles. After between 20 minutes and half an
hour of practice time, the group does the scene for the class.
Other students say "out of the moment" each time they
can see an actor anticipating rather than experiencing events
as the character might. Each group is done when the scene is completed
without interruptions. This exercise is difficult because of the
interruptions, and because the scene must be redone. Getting and
staying in the moment becomes increasingly difficult. This process
may take an additional 10 to 30 minutes depending on the skills
of the group.
Open
Scene (pdf)
Instructional
Strategies:
Role play, drill and practice
Evaluation:
A mark of ten should be assigned to use of class time on the open
scene, and additional mark of ten should be assigned to staying
"in the moment". A mark should be deducted from the
class time mark each time the students are off topic. The same
procedure should be used each time the students are caught "out
of the moment".
On-line
Activity Alternatives:
Students could do all of the activities in the remote school
and create a journal response. The open scene may be video taped
and sent to the teacher (streamed and e-mailed) who evaluates
it for "in the moment" behaviors.
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