Chapter 1: Introduction

This chapter describes some recent trends in theater education, the audience for this book, how it was developed, how to use it, and it encourages teachers to engage in the process of staging an abridged Shakespeare play regardless of their experience level with his plays specifically or with theater in general. The decades-long history of the principles and practices are described along with a summary of the four-year research study conducted at PS145, Brooklyn from 2001 to 2004 using a collaborative action research approach (CARA). Essential research questions and lines of inquiry facilitated by Jane Remer are included. The study’s role is described in in the development of Stages of Learning (1994-2010), a nonprofit organization that served 40,000 students across its sixteen-year lifecycle. The study and the field work at Stages of Learning provide the basis for Stage It: Making Shakespeare Come Alive in Schools and its Support Material.

Topics:

  • What I Have Witnessed and Why I Wrote This Book

  • What This Guide Is and Who Is It For?

  • What This Guide Is Not

  • You Can Do This!

  • History of Stage It

  • How to Use This Guide

  • Using the Acting Lesson Plans of Chapter 5

Chapter 2: Why Acting and Why These Plays for Students Aged 9 - 12 1/2

This chapter explores the major developmental themes for students aged 9 -12 ½ and why acting is a “developmental imperative”. The reasons why acting is a crucial cognitive and emotional avenue to development during these formative years are explored in detail by unpacking why this age group gravitates toward various artistic forms, including acting, singing, dancing, and even the occasional magic show. It synthesizes research in child development and aims to describe key developmental stages in a child’s life in a way that is useful for classroom teachers, teaching artists, and other “trusted mentors” who help children navigate the complexities of emotions and interpersonal relationships. Themes of justice, fairness, honesty, trust, and adventure are described along with some classroom strategies that represent them. A brief discussion about the interest children at this age have in conversations around death as the basis for including Hamlet, Henry V, Othello, and Julius Caesar in the Stage It series is included.

Topics:

  • Introduction: Why is Acting Essential for Students Aged 9 through 12½?

  • Epistemology 0 through 18 years: Children’s Field of Knowing

  • Developmental Themes ages 9 through 12 ½ and Classroom Strategies

    • Trust

    • Fairness

    • Honesty

    • Justice

    • Adventure

  • Why These Stage It Plays?

Chapter 3: Shakespeare Basics

“Shakespeare is elitist,” “Kids don’t like Shakespeare,” “I don’t know enough about Shakespeare” and other myths are debunked in this chapter that describes the man, the artist, and “theater guy”. His context, in which plays weren’t considered literature but were considered popular entertainment, and today’s world in which he is revered world-wide as a genius of the English language, are juxtaposed as an irony that Shakespeare himself would likely find surprising. The global significance, linguistic innovation, universal themes, and emotional resonance that appeal to children and adults of all backgrounds are briefly described. Additional topics include vocabulary coined by Shakespeare that might be used on a word wall, how Shakespeare put words together to sound like music, fun facts about acting troupes in Shakespeare’s day, what’s Old English and what’s not, gender, learning lines, and cue scripts.

Topics:

  • Why do Shakespeare?

  • Myth vs. Floyd’s Facts

  • Shakespeare the Theater Guy

  • The Globe and Other Theaters of Shakespeare’s England

  • Shakespeare’s Language

    • What’s Old English and What’s Not

    • Thee, You, and Wherefore

    • Shakespeare’s Vocabulary

    • Relishing Repetitions

  • Learning Lines and Cue Scripts

  • Gender

  • On Stage and Off: Fun Facts About Actor and Audience

Chapter 4: Scope and Sequence

Staging even an abridged play or teaching acting can be fraught with some things that work and a lot of things that don’t for students aged 9 – 12 ½. This chapter summarizes developmentally appropriate research and field-tested acting lessons and rehearsal process into a scope and sequence for either 1) One teacher doing all five Acts, or 2) One teacher doing one Act. The sequence for both options begins with a recommended number of rehearsals for each Act with concurrent lessons that begin with staccato/legato speech and movement and end with tableau vivant/focal point through a graphically represented roadmap – all culminating in a performance of an appropriate length for the school community.

Topics:

  • One Teacher Doing All Five Acts

  • One Teacher Doing One Act

Chapter 5: Acting Lesson Plans

Because theater-making and acting for adults is abundant with many complex ideas many of which are not developmentally appropriate, this chapter provides a step-by-step roadmap based on research and extensive field-testing that has interrogated what works and what doesn’t with students aged 9-12 ½. Acting lessons from the Scope and Sequence of Chapter 4 are described in detail. Beginning with staccato/legato speech and movement and ending with tableau vivant/focal point, these long-form, field-tested lesson plans with embedded assessments and sample reflection questions provide the basic skills for students to stage as much of the play as needed. Each lesson plan has five steps: 1) introduction and new vocabulary, 2) experiential activity that explores the topic; 3) sharing student work with peers; 4) assessing through a peer-to-peer feedback process, and 5) reflective discussion.

Topics:

  • Introduction

  • Using the Acting Lesson Plans

  • Staccato/Legato Movement and Speech

    • Neutral Position Mini-Lesson

  • Choral Speaking and Moving

  • Emotional Expression (8 Basic Emotions)

  • Archetype Pose

  • Tableau Vivant

    • Focal Point

Chapter 6: The Rehearsal Process

Because rehearsal for adult actors is abundant with many complex ideas many of which are not developmentally appropriate, this chapter provides a step-by-step roadmap based on research and extensive field-testing that has interrogated what works and what doesn’t while rehearsing a play with students aged 9-12 ½. The first step is to decide how much material: one Act? All five Acts? A portion of an Act? From there, teachers decide how many rehearsals will be needed concurrent with conducting the acting lessons of Chapter 5. The rehearsal process from the Scope and Sequence of Chapter 4 is described in detail with a focus on blocking students through movement pathways and cuing entrances and exits. Topics include casting students in choral character teams, fairness strategies, side-coaching, learning lines, how to note stage directions, and a recommended agenda for a double-period dress rehearsal.

Topics:

  • Introduction and Overview

  • Which Option Is for You?

  • Rehearsal Cycle and Stages

    • If you are doing all five Acts

    • If you are doing one Act

  • Casting in Choral Character Teams

  • Fairness Strategies

  • Sidecoaching

  • Learning Lines

    • Understanding Lines: The Role of Paraphrasing Worksheets

  • Stage Directions

  • Stage Blocking and Notation

    • Stage Directions for Going From “Point A” to “Point B”

  • Costumes, Props, and Scenery

  • Dress Rehearsal

    • Dress Rehearsal Agenda

Chapter 7: The Culminating Performance

It’s show time! Students have learned basic acting skills, when and where to move through pathways on the stage (whether that be a classroom cafeteria, park, church basement, older adult center, or other location), and have demonstrated various levels of understanding about what they’re saying and why they’re saying it in choral character teams. A developmentally appropriate performance with a focus on learning is integral to the process of theater-making and is encouraged regardless of age level. Focus for students is on the acting. Costumes, props, and scenery are omitted or lightly included depending on availability of resources and interest. Topics in this chapter include identifying the audience, preparing a program using the template provided in Resource Materials, prepping the performance space, prepping the “house” where the audience sits, audience takeaways, and narration between each Act to animate the story.

Topics:

  • Introduction

  • The Audience

  • Audience Program

  • Prepping the Performance Space and House

    • Checklist for the performance space

    • Checklist for the house

  • Audience Take-a-Ways

  • Direct Instruction and Student Modeling

  • Narration

  • The End

Chapter 8: Inquiry and Reflection

Albert Einstein once said, “Any fool can know. The point is to understand”. Inquiry and reflection galvanize curiosity that leads directly to critical thinking because questions are both specific and generative. These processes endow students with implicit authority to make their own choices about acting a role. If, for no other reason, because they have thought deeply about it. Indeed, doing without understanding can result in an exhilarating experience with little to no meaning behind it. Research shows that deep learning requires time to reflect and think about experiences and is particularly robust when prefaced by an inquiry question. This chapter, reprinted from a 2013 article by Floyd Rumohr in the Teaching Artist Journal (published by Taylor & Francis), explores key concepts of asking questions and reflecting on activities to build understanding.

Topics:

  • Introduction

  • Spotlight on Learning

  • Metacognition

  • Kinds of Reflection:

    • Mini

    • End-of-Lesson

    • End-of-Course

  • Kinds of Questions

  • Relationship to Assessment

  • What to Listen for While Asking Questions

    • Correct use of vocabulary

    • Stories about transfer of knowledge

    • Analogical reasoning

  • Wait-Time

  • Setting the Stage for a Course-End Reflection

  • Sample Course-End Reflection Questions

  • Misapplication

Chapter 9: Instructor and Student Resources

Choose your play! Each play is available separately for download to “grab and go” without requiring additional resources to stage it. Topics for each title include interpreting the play, notable quotations, contemporary English versions as a teacher’s guide, plot synopsis brimming with new vocabulary, cast of characters, acting scripts with footnotes for vocabulary, and glossary with word pronunciations for each of:

● Staging Hamlet

● Staging Henry V

● Staging Julius Caesar

● Staging Othello

See the home page for the table of contents of each play.

Chapter 10: Glossary

New vocabulary with pronunciations.