Working with Scripts

Beginning in First Grade, students are exposed to scripts in drama class and work with them in different ways in each subsequent year. Younger students use Reader's Theater scripts and learn how scripts are written differently from stories or books. Following along and reading the parts out loud at the correct times are the focus for this age group. In Second Grade, students have the opportunity to become playwrights by turning familiar stories into scripts. The students must include all dialogue and stage directions and write their scripts in the proper format. They then get to act out the plays they have written. In Third Grade, we do some really in-depth script work. Using a short play called CSI Mothergooseland, the students have to read the script with a director's eye really focusing on the stage directions and technical elements. They then use the information from the script to design sets, costumes and even write additional scenes that could be in the play. In Fourth and Fifth Grade, the students use all of their previous learned knowledge to direct and perform scenes from plays. They also have opportunities to write their own original scripts for performance. Knowing what to do with a script is an important element of drama. Students leave OWS with a deep understanding of how scripts are written and how to interpret them.

The Art of Pantomime

Fourth grade students are in the middle of learning how to communicate effectively without using their voices, otherwise known as pantomime acting. The students have been challenged with different games and activities that ask them to communicate character, plot, setting, theme, tone and object without speaking, making any vocal sounds or using any props. They have discovered the importance of facial expressions and body language through these challenges. Every student has improved dramatically in their ability to make the audience understand their non-verbal communication since the first class.

I have found that students who are able to master the art of pantomime acting become better all around actors. They become less reliant on their voices and use their whole bodies when playing different characters. When working with older elementary children this becomes especially important. Students this age are beginning to get stuck in their heads, worrying about what classmates are thinking. This tends to make them less physical in their acting and more reliant on only their voices. Beginning the semester with pantomime takes away the "safety net" of voice, they all know how to communicate that way, and requires them to get creative and look a little silly. This makes all of the acting for the rest of the semester higher quality.