Drama
Ms. Weitz-Drama Class
Welcome to kindergarten drama! In kindergarten, we begin by exploring the Actor's Toolbox tools! In class we learned a poem to learn about the tools.
"I take my box, I open it wide. I look around and see inside; my voice, my body, my imagination, my concentration and my cooperation!"
Ask your child to say the poem with you and show you the actions we do to show each tool!
We will be continuing to explore the Actor's Toolbox over the next month!
Your children have been very excited to play our Magic Rocks game. This game can easily be played at home! Have your child curl up like a little rock. Then say, magic rocks turn into (insert an animal). Then they can turn into that animal and move around the way that animal moves. This is a popular game in kindergarten!
Contact Information
Welcome to 1st Grade Drama. In first grade, we continue to explore the Actor's Toolbox. We work on different activities that incorporate using our facial expression, our bodies, and our imaginations. A favorite activity on first grade is our Mirrors activity. In Mirrors the student are paired up and have to take turns copying the facial expressions and body movements of their partners. We also start talking about using our imaginations. We read the books, Not A Box and Not A Stick and imagine what other objects a box and a stick could be! We act out what the box and the stick could be. Another favorite game in first grade is Emotions Walk. In this game, the students have to use their face and their body to show different emotions and move around the room as if they were feeling that emotion.
Game To Play At Home
Mirrors- Two people stand opposite of each other. One person is the leader and they do slow movements with isolated parts of their body. For example, they move their right arm up and down. The other person has to copy that specific movement. The second person will continue to copy the first person. Then the players should switch and the second person becomes the leader.
Emotions Walk- Choose an emotion or feeling word such as sad, mad, happy, excited, etc. Then walk around the room showing that emotion using your face and body.
In second grade, we are working on Pantomime skills. Pantomime, in acting, means the art of acting silently. Instead of using our voices, we focus on using our face and body to show the emotions that we are feeling. We have been watching Charlie Chaplin movies, focusing on his pantomime skills. We have been practicing our pantomime skills in the classroom through various games. We will perform some mime skits within the classroom.
Games to Play at Home
The Sky is Falling- This is a game to practice using your face and body. We start by walking around the room. Then I say, "Freeze, the sky is falling, catch something." The students have to catch an imaginary object from the sky and show the size and weight by using their face and body. Then I will ask them what the object is. After a round we throw the object back up into the air, and we start again.
In third grade , we are working on pantomime skills. Pantomime, in acting, means the art of acting silently. Instead of using our voices, we focus on using our face and body to show the emotions that we are feeling. We have been watching Charlie Chaplin movie shorts focusing on his pantomime skills. We have been practicing our pantomime skills in the classroom through various games. We will perform some mime skits within the classroom. We will work on evaluating our performances. The third grade has been introduced to silent movies through the Charlie Chaplin films. The students in third grade will be creating their own silent movies using the Silent Film app. They will write, direct, and film their silent movies.
This year our fourth and fifth grade students will be participating in the Project Soapbox public speaking initiative. Project Soapbox is a program that was developed to help kids be able to have a voice in society! It helps kids to identify an issue that they care about and deliver a persuasive speech on why others should care about this issue. In class we will work on brainstorming a topic, researching the topic, creating a speech and then memorizing the speech. The students will perform the speech in front of their classmates.