Theater units: Lower and upper elementary levels

In this Theater Making/Literacy/Connections Unit, students will be able to identify emotions and express their meanings. This unit is designed for one fifty-minute session each week for eight weeks, and can easily be condensed or expanded based on scheduling needs.

This Theater unit is written for K-1st Grade and is aligned with the Blueprint for Teaching and Learning in Theater Benchmarks. This unit was written by Cynthia Blackwell.

In this Theater Making Unit, students will watch a puppet show and take turns performing one character in the puppet show. They transfer the dramatic elements to creative play with a set, props and costumes. Students will sustain focus in an imaginary world, imitating the appropriate behavior of family relationships in the story.

This Theater unit is written for Early Elementary levels and is aligned with the Blueprint for Teaching and Learning in Theater Benchmarks. This unit was written by Stephanie Karpell.

In this Theater Making/Literacy Unit, early elementary students will use their creativity and imaginations to create a play from an ancient Mexican Myth. This unit is designed for one fifty-minute session each week for eight weeks, and can easily be condensed or expanded based on scheduling needs. Students will take a story from the page to the stage by creating a script from improvised dialogue, blocking from exploration of movement, and mood/setting from choice of movement.

This Theater unit is written for the 2nd Grade and is aligned with the 2nd Grade Blueprint for Teaching and Learning in Theater Benchmarks. This unit was written by Cynthia Blackwell.

In this Theater Making/Literacy/Connections Unit, students will become very familiar with the music of Carnival of the Animals by Camille Saint-Saëns through active listening. At first, they will explore (through dance and drama) all of the animals in the music. Then, they will focus on one animal’s movements and habits and design and create a mask for that animal in art class. They can incorporate their mask and movement in a sharing or performance, if so desired. (This unit works best with the collaboration of the art teacher or visual art specialist. The
drama facilitator should focus on acting with the mask, characterization, movement, and music interpretation).

This Theater unit is written for the 1st Grade and is aligned with the 2nd Grade Blueprint for Teaching and Learning in Theater Benchmarks. This unit was written by Mina Hartong.

In this Theater Making Unit, students will use basic storytelling/acting skills to present their written stories which have been based upon “seed ideas” from their memoir writing workshop. Through storytelling /story writing, students will explore the art of storytelling while developing their artistic voices as well as the actor’s instrument.

This Theater unit is written for Upper Elementary levels and is aligned with the Blueprint for Teaching and Learning in Theater Benchmarks. This unit was written by Joe Pagano.

In this Theater Making/Literacy Unit, students will retell a small moment from their lives. They will “write” their script through speaking, listening, retelling and drawing stories with a story partner. They will create puppets for their story. They will rehearse as narrators with teacher as puppeteer. This unit works best when collaborating with the visual art teacher or specialist. Through puppetry, very young children, especially ELLs, can find their voice and emerge as beginning storytellers.

This Theater unit is written for Kindergarten and is aligned with the Blueprint for Teaching and Learning in Theater Benchmarks. This unit was written by Mina Hartong.

In this Arts and the Common Core Theater Unit, Students will utilize puppets as a means of developing character skills and character exploration. Students will reinforce their knowledge of emotion, empathy, the use of their bodies and voices as instruments for communication. Using theatrical techniques, students develop social and cognitive cognitive skills through the creation of a unique character.

This Theater unit is written for the 2nd Grade and is aligned with the Common Core standards and the Blueprint for Teaching and Learning in Theater Benchmarks. This unit was written by Hollie Rosenberg.