Theater/Drama: Grades 4, 5

Theatre/Drama

Learn and develop the essential skills and meet technical demands unique to dance, music, theatre/drama and visual arts.

Use dance, music, theatre/drama and visual arts to express ideas.

Integrate understanding of visual and performing arts by seeking connections and parallels among arts disciplines as well as other content areas.

Demonstrate an understanding of the dynamics of the creative process.

Observe, discuss, analyze and make critical judgments about artistic works.

Show increased awareness of diverse peoples and cultures through visual and performing arts.

Demonstrate knowledge about how technology and invention have historically influenced artists and offered new possibilities for expression.

Contribute to communities by sharing expertise in dance, music, theatre/drama and visual arts and by participating in the activities of cultural institutions.

Use body and voice to portray character.

Design and construct technical elements for classroom dramatizations (e.g., simple sets, props, costumes, make-up and sound effects).

Develop classroom dramatizations that express various moods or emotions (e.g., happy/sad, funny, scary, mysterious, etc.).

Develop classroom dramatizations that express various moods or emotions (e.g., happy/sad, funny, scary, mysterious, etc.).

Describe theatrical elements (visual, aural, oral, kinetic, ideas, emotions and mood) and compare them with other art forms and content areas.

Explore connections between the elements of dance and other content areas.

Select movement, music or visual elements to enhance a dramatization.

Collaborate to design, plan, rehearse and perform dramatizations.

Identify and describe visual, aural, oral and kinetic elements of dramatic performances.

Explain how the wants and needs of characters are different from those of the actors.

Describe one's emotional response and personal preferences, and give constructive feedback about dramatic performances.

Communicate information to peers about people, events, time and place related to dramatizations.

Identify and compare similar characters and situations in dramas and stories from various cultures.

Describe how scientific and technological developments have impacted career choice and availability in theatre, TV, film, video and other electronic media.

Explore the impact of video, film and computer on theatrical endeavor.

Explore the importance of lighting, costumes, set/scenery, properties, sound effects and make-up for dramatic presentation.

Assume roles for an audience that demonstrate characterization and tell a story.

Integrate body and voice to portray character (e.g., mood, emotions) within the context of a dramatization.

Demonstrate the ability to stay in character for the duration of improvised dramatizations.

Apply characterization within the full range of current abilities.

Design, construct and gather props, scenery, costumes and make-up needed for a grade-level dramatization.

Develop dialogue to express a character's feelings.

Create various character voices by varying volume, pitch, rate, tone quality, duration, intensity and clarity.

Collaborate creatively in improvised and scripted scenes.

Explore character responses in relation to other actors' interpretations of their character.

Discuss how theatre arts can synthesize all the arts disciplines.

Explain relationships between theatre arts and other content areas.

Describe visual, aural and kinetic elements in dramatic media.

Communicate an understanding of music elements as they relate to basic elements of other arts disciplines.

Explore color, space, shape, texture, movement and sound to develop a dramatic setting.

Improvise dialogue to tell a story.

Alone or in groups, write a script based on a short story for improvised dramatization, with a beginning that introduces the characters, a middle that includes a dramatic conflict, and an ending that resolves the conflict.

Discuss the meaning of scene, act and play.

Explain how consequences and actions in dramatic productions introduce and teach life lessons.

Offer constructive critique of scene and play, using descriptive vocabulary.

Utilize appropriate audience behaviors and appropriate responses to dramatizations.

Use verbal and written responses to identify emotions and thoughts evoked by dramatizations.

Explain how social concepts can be developed through dramatizations.

Explore and explain performing theatre arts in the community.

Explore theatre arts from various cultures.

Investigate careers in the theatre.

Describe the moods or emotional qualities of different kinds of live or recorded dramatic performances.

Use available design resources for props, costumes, lights and set.

Design a simple set, considering possible limitations dictated by an environment.

Demonstrate focus and dedication (e.g., memorization of text and blocking) in portraying character for dramatic presentations.

Use blocking to non-verbally depict character, mood and action to the audience.