Love Actually

Beth Williams
Second Grade/ Acting basics

Common Core Standards

Describe the characters, setting, central ideas and plot in stories or dramatic and theatrical works.
Identify the theme of stories or dramatic and theatrical works. .
Use appropriate dramatic and theatrical vocabulary (e.g., plot, setting) to describe dramatic and
theatrical experiences.
Listen to and follow directions from instructor and peers in both classroom and theatrical settings.
Demonstrate appropriate audience behavior when engaging in dramatic experiences
Create movements and voices of characters to communicate feelings and ideas in dramatic or theatrical
contexts (e.g., skits, puppetry, pantomime, improvisation and storytelling).

Lesson Summary:
Students are going to be exposed to basic theatrical terminology, identifying themes as well as breaking into
groups and preforming Red Riding Hood or Goldilocks and the Three Bears for their classmates.
Estimated Duration:
This lesson will be roughly 240 minutes long. Broken up into one 30 minute lesson a week for 8 weeks, with
out of class time being used to also work on lines and vocabulary.

Commentary: I anticipate that the vocabulary and sitting still will be the hardest part of this lesson. However
this will give the children a good foundation for how to behave in more formal situations as well as how to
listen actively as there will be a graded post-assessment.

Instructional Procedures:
Day 1:
First 10 minutes: I will start by using the pre-assessment to find out what the students already know and ask
them to create a short song about Red Riding Hood.
After that the next twenty minutes will be spent going over what is expected of them for the lesson and what
the end goal will be for the class and giving them examples of theme by using Little Red Riding Hood and
Goldilocks and the Three Bears

Day 3: The first twenty minutes will be spent giving them the vocabulary list for the lesson through allowing
them to have a say in the words that they find most interesting. This will be done through having them vote on
about a quarter of the list and the rest will be words I find important that they know. The last ten minutes will
be spent picking groups and going over the stories once more and setting up audition times for the next class
period for those who want speaking parts.
Day 4: The first ten minutes of class will be used to have individual auditions in the back of the class for
those who signed up while the other students will be practicing defining themes and describing characters,
settings, plot and central themes of stories that they enjoy reading through a writing assessment. The last
twenty minutes will be used to discuss themes, and plot of Red Riding Hood and Goldilocks and the Three
Bears as well as describing the setting, characters as well as what elements are important to the story.
Day 5
The whole class period will be used to discuss the history of theatre and show clips of several different types
and ask them which one they found the most interesting and why. There will then be a group activity where
two student leaders at a time will come up and act out something in one of the styles shown and the students
will have to guess what style it is and then the leaders get to pick whos next and what style they act in.
Day 6+7: The first ten minutes the kids will break up into their groups and work on their lines and practicing
using different voices to decide which one they like best for their character. The next ten minutes we will work
on the vocabulary by picking two or three from the list and using them

Day 8: The whole class time, which will be forty-five minutes will be used to perform the skits and ask the
students to use three of the words they learned from the vocabulary list to describe elements of the skits that
they found to be enjoyable. The students will then take the quiz on the vocabulary terms for whatever amount
of time is left after the skits and discussion.

Pre-Assessment:
My pre-assessment will be simple questions such as if theyve ever seen a play live and what they think the
proper etiquette would be for going to see a show live.
Scoring Guidelines:
There really isnt a way to score it numerically. I can and will however explain the proper etiquette
when in theatre and use their experiences as well as my own to tailor the vocabulary and clips that I
will show of productions to enrich the class.
My own reflections will not be planned. However the student self-assessments will be. This will be done
through the post assessment primarily but I will also ask them how they think things are coming together
towards the end of the lesson.

Post-Assessment:
My post- assessment will be two parts, the main part will the performance but also a quiz on the vocabulary
list that we decided upon at the beginning that will be multiple choice.
Scoring Guidelines:
The performance will be graded upon whether or not the students used a voice that was not their own
and also upon how well they listen to the student acting as an usher to tell others where to sit. The quiz
will be out of 15 points and will be multiple choice.

Differentiated Instructional Support

Should a student prove to be exceptionally gifted they may choose to write a short little skit and access a
second list of harder theatre terminology that will be available upon request and can be completed in the class
or at home and printed out to show that they did it and graded accordingly.
If a student is struggling I will have another game that is simply the terms we have already covered and shows
them pictures and gives an explanation and of course I will be available for one on one help should the
students need or want it.

Extension
http://ccss2.watchknowlearn.org/Video.aspx?VideoID=20317&CategoryID=14662 This is a video that the
kids can watch that explains theatre etiquette and what exactly that is. If theyre not understanding it the way
Im explaining it they can watch this video and it may help them understand a little better.

Homework Options and Home Connections

Work that will be assigned and completed outside of the classroom include reading Little Red Riding Hood so
that there can be discussion about the theme and plot. They will also be expected to look over the vocabulary
and play the matching game that I will have in addition to the other two links on my website. Parents will be
encouraged to work with their student on practicing theatre etiquette by (if possible) taking them to see a show
if they havent.

Interdisciplinary Connections:
Because I will be asking them to write a short little song about Red Riding Hood that I would be preforming
for them it would be interconnected with music class and because they will be learning about the history of
theatre and different types that would be interconnected with history due to learning the different time periods
that each takes place in.

Materials and Resources:

For teachers

Computer
Internet
Youtube access
My own blog
Red Riding Hood Books
Goldilocks and the Three Bears books
White Board to project videos
Small stage area- to perform the skits

For students

Ipads to access my blog and videos should they wish

Internet
Access to my blog
Red Riding Hood Book
Goldilocks Book
Costumes- for the skit

Key Vocabulary
Theatre
Costume
Stage
Characterizaton
Emotion
Plot
Theme
Projection