Learning Goals

By the end of this lesson, students will be able to …

  • Take on different characteristics, traits, and qualities that they come up with themselves, and that they accept from their peers
  • Use different tactics to meet objectives in character/onstage
  • Collaborate with peers to explore different perspectives
  • Use props as a springboard for creative writing
Materials
  • 5 chairs
  • A large empty space
  • Paper and writing utensils
  • PDF #9 New Character, Who Dis? Observational Notes
  • PDF #10 New Character, Who Dis? Self and Peer Assessment Student Worksheet
Terminology

Minds On

Whole Class > Bippity Boppity Boo 

Have everyone stand in a circle with the teacher in the middle. The person in the middle will go up to one person in the circle, and say “bippity boppity boo”. The person in the circle must say “boo” before the person in the middle finishes saying “bippity boppity boo”, or else they will become the person in the middle of the circle. The objective of this game is for the person in the middle of the circle to get out and find a place in the circle, and the people standing in the middle of the circle want to keep their spot. The person in the middle can also say “bop”, and the person in the circle must not respond, or else they will go into the middle of the circle. The person in the middle can also choose one of the following options as they approach someone in the circle, and the students in the circle must respond in the following ways. The student in the middle of the circle will count down from 3, and the students in the circle must complete the prompt by the end of 3 seconds, or else they go into the middle of the circle.

  • “Toaster!” > One student crouches down while the two students on either side of them try to create a square around them as the “toaster”. The student crouching down will jump up as a piece of toast popping out of the toaster. 
  • “Awkward Family Portrait!” > The student that the person in the middle approaches, and the students on either side of them, must pose in an awkward family photo.
  • “Meow” > The student in the circle must respond with “Kitty”.
  • “Kitty” > The student in the circle must respond with “Meow”.
  • “Charlie’s Angels” > The student in the circle and the two students on either side must stand together holding their hands up in a gun formation.

Action

Whole Class > Hitchhiker 

Ask students to sit in an audience formation, and arrange 5 chairs onstage to represent the inside of a car (two in the foreground, three in the background). Ask for five volunteers to participate in the game. In this improv game, one player will begin in the front seat as the driver of a taxi or Uber. They’ll have a moment onstage on their own, and then pick up their first passenger. The passenger will have a unique character trait or quality that the driver will pick up on and mimic (for example, maybe the passenger is highly energetic and excitable, maybe they’re morose, maybe they move or speak in a particular way). Allow this scene to play out for 20-30 seconds, and then the driver will pick up the second passenger, who will have a unique character trait or quality that is different from the first passenger. Then, the driver and first passenger will mimic the second passenger’s trait. Continue until all passengers have been picked up.

Next, the passengers will be dropped off at their destinations in the reverse order that they were picked up. At this stage, everyone should be mimicking the fourth passenger’s trait. As the fourth passenger leaves, everyone in the car will return to mimicking the third passenger’s trait, and so on until the driver is the only one left onstage.

Time permitting, facilitate another round or two of this improv game before moving on to the next one.

Whole Class > Park Bench 

Take three of the chairs offstage, leaving only the two chairs in the foreground. One player will begin seated on one of the chairs, a “park bench” or a “bus stop”. Then, another player will enter the scene, and their goal is to get the person seated to leave. They could try a number of tactics to do this, but they may not touch the other player. For example, they could gross them out, annoy them, sing loudly, talk too much, make weird facial expressions, etc. Some students may wish to stay onstage, so an effective rule is to prompt students to consider if they would want to stay on the bench if someone behaved this way in real life. If they would want to leave the situation in real life, then they should leave the scene. As the person leaves, they must make an excuse as to why they are leaving. Then, the person who got them to leave becomes a neutral character and takes their spot on the bench, and the next player enters the scene and tries to get them to leave by trying a new tactic. To organize this game, ask for volunteers and have them line up to the side of the stage. You may wish to have all students who want a turn to line up, or you may call for volunteers periodically and have students line up in groups.

Pairs > Object Dialogues 

For this activity, organize students into pairs and ensure each pair has a piece of paper and a writing utensil. Students may choose their own partners if you see fit, or you may randomly assign pairs. Give each pair a few minutes to think of a location or setting to guide their creation. Then, check to ensure each group has chosen a location by asking them to show you a “thumb up” if they have, a “thumbs down” if they haven’t, or a “thumbs to the side” if they’re still deciding between ideas. Give another minute or two for them to decide on their location if necessary. 

Once each pair has their location, give them 3 minutes to brainstorm as many objects as they’d find in that location as they can. Then, have each person in a partnership choose one of the objects from their list (they must be different objects). Ensure each pair has enough space in the room, and ask students to improvise a conversation between those two objects. You can write the following questions on the board to prompt students’ thinking:

  • “What might the world look like from this object’s point of view?”
  • “What might you and your partner’s object talk about?”
  • “What is the relationship between your objects? Do they get along? How might your objects see the world similarly, and how might their different perspectives lead to conflict?”

Students will improvise their scenes together in partners as an exercise. If you’d like, you can give students the option of performing their scenes to the class.

Whole Class & Pairs > Self Assessment and Peer Evaluation

Distribute the Self-Assessment and Peer Evaluation provided. Before having students complete it individually, facilitate a whole-class discussion about providing constructive feedback. You may use the following questions to guide the discussion.

Questions for Discussion:

  • What does the word ‘constructive’ mean?
  • What is the difference between insulting someone and giving them constructive feedback?
  • Imagine an actor is speaking too quietly for the audience to hear them. Can someone give me an example of a piece of constructive feedback you may give to this actor? Can someone give me an example of what non-constructive feedback for this actor may sound like?

When you’re confident that students understand your expectations in how they are assessing themselves and their partners, give students time individually to fill out the assessment. Collect them when everyone is finished and review them after class. You may choose to let students share the assessments with their scene partners if appropriate, or you may choose not to.

Consolidation

Whole Class > Consolidation Discussion 

Use the following questions to prompt a consolidating discussion that furthers their thinking about how they want to approach their object monologues.

Questions for Discussion:

  •  What did you find interesting about taking the point of view of an inanimate object? 
  • How might looking at the world through the lens of an object prompt you to see things differently? 
  • Why might it be helpful for performers to experiment with taking different points of view? 
  • How many games and activities like the ones we did today help actors understand elements of characters and how to create a character more deeply?
Assessment for Learning (AfL)

The games and activities provided in this lesson will help you assess how students engage with understanding various perspectives and taking different points of view. Using PDF #9 New Character, Who Dis? Observational Notes, take note of what students found meaningful and challenging so that you can scaffold future lessons about characterization and taking different points of view, both in drama class and in other subjects.

Assessment as Learning (AaL)

PDF #10 New Character, Who Dis? Self and Peer Assessment Student Worksheet

What's Next?

You're off to a strong start. Consider these CODE resources for your next steps: