HS Theater Guide

Theatre Effective Practices

Skill

Canyons District Best Practices (Instructional Priorities) Actively engage ALL students in learning; students are active when they are saying, writing, or doing. Pace instruction to allow for frequent student responses.

What it looks like in Theater

OTRs

●

●

Students are actively: stretching, breathing, relaxing muscles, creating body fexibility, doing vocal exercises, rehearsing, watching, moving, critiquing, reading, running lights and equipment, acting, creating props, etc. throughout each class period.

●

● ● ● ● ●

●

Choral response

Call on a wide variety of students throughout each period.

Cold calling

Thumbs up/down

Fist to Five

Specifc verbal or written peer feedback

Scaffolded Instruction & Grouping

● ●

● Students are assigned roles and materials appropriate for their level of experience. ● Listening/observational data is used to make immediate corrections. ● Students rehearse specifc defcits as whole group, small group, or individually as needed throughout the class period Instructional Agility: Class moves at a quick pace, active participation is maximized, teacher makes constant corrections/feedback based on listening and observation. Examples of Feedback Cycle: ● Whole/small group: Most of you are forgetting to use your down stage hand when making gestures. What hand do we use? (choral response) Show me which hand is considered “down stage.” (whole group response). Good, let’s try that scene again using the correct hand. Great, you remembered! ● Individual: Sam, you missed your cue. What is the line right before you enter? That’s correct, try that entrance again. Great, you got it and the timing was perfect! What could you do to make your entrance even more dramatic? Yes, act more surprised when you enter! Perfect. Base observations on learning outcomes, skills and on task criteria. ● Observations and feedback should be immediate and can be left unrecorded. ● Target individuals or small groups of students to ensure meaningful feedback. Feedback can be verbal and/or written. Use daily outcomes/objectives to guide verbal feedback ● Use rubrics with specifc criteria for written feedback. ● Provide positive reinforcement of individual strengths. ● Provide constructive comments about areas requiring further development. ● Provide whole group feedback that summarizes your observations. ● Provide opportunities for peer feedback. ● Provide opportunities for student self-assessment that can form the basis of discussion and feedback. Provide meaningful feedback/assessment: ● ● Peer feedback/discussion takes place often. Strategies for observations: ●

Present information at various levels of diffculty. Use data to identify needs and create small groups to target specifc skills. Frequently analyze current data and move students within groups depending on their changing needs.

●

Instructional Agility& Feedback

Instructional Agility: Teacher makes appropriately paced intentional corrections and feedback constantly based upon listening and observations. Feedback cycle: ● Provide timely prompts that indicate when students have done something correctly or incorrectly.

●

Give students the opportunity to use the feedback to continue their learning process. End feedback cycles with the student performing the skill correctly and receiving positive acknowledgement.

●

Teacher Clarity & Assessment

Provide clear learning intentions for students daily. Share rubrics, examples, models prior to student work time. Assess to identify who needs further support.

Formative Assessment should be focused on observing students as they learn and provide feedback to them to assist progress towards outcomes. Observe students with criteria in mind. Provide timely feedback. Summative Assessment: is comprehensive and records the extent to which students have met the outcomes for a period of work.

Examples: (Since acting/theatre is all about skill development, AAA is done throughout rehearsal/activities)

Instructional Hierarchy: AAA

●

Explicitly teach a skill to students by explaining, demonstrating, and modeling.