THEATRE WORKSHOPS & RESIDENCIES
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Present, Practice, and Prepare: Developing a Scope and Sequence in Drama |
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| K-12 drama specialists |
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Developing a scope and sequence helps discern the breadth and depth of your drama curriculum and its relevancy for your students. Through consultation, research, and collaborative planning SCEA can support you in processing the progression of key drama elements within your curriculum as well as how to implement it within your instructional planning. This living document serves as a starting place for understanding the skills and knowledge your students need to learn and develop in your drama program. |
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length and frequency are based on needs of teachers and program |
$100 per hour * |
Developing a Drama Unit |
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| K-12 drama specialists |
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How do you plan a unit of drama? Units can develop around concepts, works of art, student needs and interests, drama curriculum, and/or cross-curricular integration. This workshop breaks down the pieces of unit planning and provides guided planning time and support for designing a unit in drama. Wiggins and McTighe’s Understanding by Design shapes many of the processes and strategies embedded in our approach to unit planning. |
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length and frequency are based on needs of teachers and program |
$100 per hour * |
Standards-Based Theatre Education: Understanding the Elements of Drama |
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| K-12 drama specialists | ||
As much as we try to clarify and simplify curriculum standards in theatre education, we can’t lose sight of the elements that are special to this art form. In this workshop, you will understand the elements of drama in relation to how they are discussed within the theatre education curriculum standards. You will leave this session understanding how to organize your lesson planning around drama elements while embedding standards-based instruction at the same time. |
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length and frequency are based on needs of teachers and program |
$100 per hour * |
Practicing Storytelling Strategies: Feedback and Skill Development for Teachers |
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| K-5 drama specialists |
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How often do we really practice how we are going to read or share a story with our students? It can feel awkward doing it alone, and going through it in our heads isn’t quite the same. This workshop provides an opportunity for you to develop and practice storytelling skills while getting feedback within a supportive environment. Participants need to bring story materials to the workshop. Practicing will occur within small groups that will all be working simultaneously. Let’s take the awkwardness out of this and practice together! |
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length and frequency are based on needs of teachers and program |
$100 per hour * |
Listen, Interpret, and Respond: Improvisation and Problem Solving in the Workplace |
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| K-12 teachers, administrators |
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In our fast paced world, we need to be prepared for anything and respond to a variety of problems. While technology offers a lot of support in solving problems, we still need to develop our active listening and critical problem solving skills. In this workshop, you will practice skills based in theatre improvisational techniques that help develop active listening, focus and concentration, and quicker, yet relevant, responses based on a given situation. This workshop requires pre-planning with the participating organization’s leaders. |
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length and frequency are based on needs of teachers and program |
$100 per hour * |
Spectrum of Difference: Improvisation and Collaboration in the Workplace |
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| K-12 teachers |
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In this interactive workshop, you will be guided through a series of theatre improvisation activities that shed light on how groups work together. This isn’t a workshop about singling people out but figuring out how to collaborate based on what each participant brings to the table. This workshop requires pre-planning with the participating organization’s leaders. |
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length and frequency are based on needs of teachers and program |
$100 per hour * |
Production and Pedagogy: The Balance Between Performance and Process |
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6-8, 9-12 teacgers |
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Participating in production work is a great opportunity for students to engage in theatre, but what happens to our instruction when we focus on rehearsals? Teachers learn about the pedagogical implications of performing a theatre piece, and how to frame rehearsals around an instructional purpose. Play selection is also addressed as a way to understand how to identify developmentally appropriate theatre pieces and projects that pertain to students' needs |
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| length and frequency are based on needs of teachers and program | $100 per hour * |
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Up, Down, and All Around: Developing Spatial Awareness |
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K-2 |
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| Workshop for teachers | Teachers are introduced to drama-based instructional strategies that foster spatial awareness and self-control in their students. |
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| Residency with students | Through guided imaginative play, students explore the space around them and it’s relationship to self and others. |
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length and frequency are based on needs of teachers and program |
$100 per hour * |
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Mirror, Mimic, and Pantomime: Drama and the Imagination |
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K-2 |
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| Workshop for teachers | Teachers are guided through process drama-based tasks that exercise students’ imagination in response to both structured and opened activities. |
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| Residency with students | Students are reminded that they don't need much to act out stories – the best tool of all is imagination. |
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length and frequency are based on needs of teachers and program |
$100 per hour * |
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Going to the Zoo: Portraying Animal Characters |
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K-2 |
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| Workshop for teachers | From Aesop’s Fables to Peter Rabbit, many famous stories that shape our understanding of the world revolve around animal characters. Teachers learn creative drama strategies that stretch students’ thinking when portraying animal characters. |
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| Residency with students | Students learn how to go beyond literal interpretations when portraying animal characters. |
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length and frequency are based on needs of teachers and program |
$100 per hour * |
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Character Mosaics: Creating Real and Imaginative Characters |
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K-5 |
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| Workshop for teachers | Teachers learn about the actor’s tools in relation to character development. Instructional strategies are presented that develop teacher’s theatre-based vocabulary and facilitation of the skills and processes pertaining to drama education. |
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| Residency with students | Stepping in role as historical figures and/or creating characters from scratch both require students to consider many layers of their creation. |
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length and frequency are based on needs of teachers and program |
$100 per hour * |
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Call and Respond: Reader’s Theatre and the Classroom |
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K-8 |
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| Workshop for teachers | Reader’s theatre is an excellent way to bring stories alive in the classroom, but they also present an opportunity for students to develop fundamental literacy skills. Teachers learn drama-based pedagogy that help develop students’ reading skills beyond encoding and decoding text. |
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| Residency with students |
Students engage with texts in a variety of ways from reading aloud with expressive voices to inference to personalizing meaning. |
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length and frequency are based on needs of teachers and program |
$100 per hour * |
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Pantomime to Props: Preparing Students for Object Exploration |
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K-8 |
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| Workshop for teachers | While props are a great tool for exploring character traits, sometimes creative choices stop once we have a prop in hand. Teachers discover how to prepare students for object exploration that deepens their character development rather than stifles it. |
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| Residency with students | In a world that offers access to so much, we sometimes rely on things we don’t need, especially when it comes to acting out stories. Students experiment with the power of pantomime and simple props to tell stories. |
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length and frequency are based on needs of teachers and program |
$100 per hour * |
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Digital Storytelling: The Relationship Between Drama and Technology |
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6-8, 9-12 |
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| Workshop for teachers | Digital storytelling is the art of telling stories with multiple types of media including using foundational elements from theatre. Teachers explore the practice of digital storytelling as well the pedagogical implications of it. All participants will need to have access to a either a still shot camera and/or video recording device. |
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| Residency with students | Students explore the intersection between drama and technology in the classroom. |
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length and frequency are based on needs of teachers and program |
$100 per hour * |
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Breaking Boundaries: Understanding Difficult Issues through Process-Based Drama |
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5-8, 9-12 |
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| Workshop for teachers | As an art form, drama invites us to understand the multitude of relationships and roles that surround us while broadening our perspective of why things happen. We can never replace the value of first hand experiences, but we can still foster empathy of situations that seem unimaginable. Teachers learn process-drama techniques and pedagogy that open opportunities for students to better understand difficult issues from today as well as from the past. Participants should be familiar with S.E. Hinton’s The Outsiders. |
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| Residency with students | Students step in role and imaginatively explore situations as a way to open dialogue and foster empathy about experiences that may appear too distant for us to truly understand. |
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length and frequency are based on needs of teachers and program |
$100 per hour * |
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Dimensions of Space: A Mathematical Perspective of Drama |
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6-8, 9-12 |
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| Workshop for teachers | Set design requires the application of practical math skills in order to come up with creative solutions. Teachers learn the application of mathematical concepts in drama through the task of designing a set. |
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| Residency with students | Students develop knowledge and skills in theatre design elements while applying mathematical concepts to their set design of a given play. |
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length and frequency are based on needs of teachers and program |
$100 per hour * |
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Adapting for Stage: Guided Playwriting in the Classroom |
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6-8, 9-12 |
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| Workshop for teachers | There are so many options to consider when adapting situations, stories, and/or original ideas for the stage. Instructional strategies are presented that develop teacher’s theatre-based vocabulary and facilitation of the skills and processes pertaining to playwriting. |
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| Residency with students | Students are guided through techniques that help them devise original scripts based on their interpretations. |
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length and frequency are based on needs of teachers and program |
$100 per hour * |
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For more information about the theatre workshops Laurie Melnik |
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