Lesson Plans

Jonathan Martin
Professor Leah Kirkpatrick

Lesson for October 28, 8:00 AM
Submitted October 16, 2014
A. Title of activity
- Laban Movement for the Actor
B. Context of the activity
- This activity would be for high school students at the beginning of an intermediate
level acting course. This activity is appropriate to get young actors thinking about
stage movement and how they use their bodies on stage and to get into their
characters. Students will already have experience acting in scenes with partners and
developing characters. They will have experienced performance analysis through
their previous coursework in their basic acting courses.
C. Concepts to be covered
- Students will learn how to have full control of their bodies on stage. They will learn
the basics of stage movement and character development through physicality.
D. Lesson Objectives
- Students will learn Labans eight effort actions. They will learn how to apply these
actions to specific characters. They will be able to choose appropriate effort actions
for any given character, and they will be able to recall the emotional responses they
experience from these actions.
E. SOLs
- TII.4: The student will demonstrate acting skills and techniques in solo and group
performances by 1. Using movement, staging (blocking), pacing, and stage business.
3. Choosing vocal and physical expressions to enhance characterization, conflict, and
production style.
- TIII. 3: The student will integrate acting skills and techniques involving voice,
movement, and analysis into the rehearsal process and performance by 1. Initiating
artistic choices to enhance performance. 4. Enhancing characterizationsand actions
F. Materials needed
- For this lesson, I simply need a classroom with an open space (desks pushed aside, or
a rehearsal space.) I also need a white board with a marker, and students will need a
notebook and pencil. Aside from that, students will use their bodies as their tools.
G. Procedure
- Introduction/Warm up (5 minutes) At the start of the lesson, I will explain what
we will be doing. I will preface by telling students that we will be using our bodies to
explore characterization. I will then briefly describe who Laban was and why his
techniques are important. Next, we will do a brief stretch, and then I will have the
students walk around the space to get into their bodies and find a soft focus so they
begin working.
Implementation of Lesson (16 minutes) Once the students have figured out how
to get into their bodies, I will begin explaining Labans eight effort actions. I will
draw a diagram on the board and have the students copy it down, leaving blank
spaces for the name of each action. We will then begin exploring each effort action
individually. I will explain what three traits are associated with the action; I will then
have the students embody this action. Then the students will have the opportunity to
guess what that action is called. I will then tell them specifically what the action is
called, and they can write this down along with any notes about what emotional
responses they had to that action. We will repeat this for all 8 actions. (30 second
intro, 60 seconds of exercise, 30 second recap, 2 minutes total per action)
Wrap-up (9 minutes) At the end of the exercises, I will lead a discussion recapping
the eight effort actions. We will discuss what emotional responses or
characterizations came out of each physical choice. This will give me the chance to
gauge how well the students understood the activity.
H. Modifications for students with special needs

- For my lesson, I will have a student with a hearing impairment. I will make sure she
sits near me at the start so she can hear what I am saying. I will always be sure to
stand closer to her at the end of each action as I explain the next one. Additionally, I
will try to face the student when possible so she can read my lips. Finally, I will
physically demonstrate each action briefly so the students can see it done before
trying it.
I. What could go wrong?
- In this lesson, students could get out of control with the movements in each effort
action. I will be sure to make it clear that students should not touch or physically
interact with the other students while practicing the effort actions.
- Students may be wary at first and nervous about being physical. This is why I will
demonstrate the effort actions for the students so they will not feel alone or
embarrassed.
J. Assessing learning
- My main assessment will be watching the students as they are demonstrating the
actions. This will be more of a participation assignment, so they would get full credit
for the day as long as they participated and attempted each action. I think it would be
unfair to actually grade the students after they first learn this technique, so instead my
assessment would be more about making sure the general concept is understood. In
our discussion, I will make sure each student tells me at least one emotional
connection they had with an effort action so I know that they could associate a
character with each physical choice.
Jonathan Martin
Professor Leah Kirkpatrick
Lesson for October 28, 8:00 AM
Submitted October 16, 2014
A. Title of activity
- Shakespearean text analysis
B. Context of the activity
- This activity would be for high school students at the end of an intermediate level
acting course. This lesson could also be adapted for a performance or script analysis
course. Students will have acting experience from prior classes, and throughout the
year in our intermediate class we will have worked on text analysis of characters.
Also, I would have already taught my students the basics of iambic pentameter before
teaching this lesson. This activity will take that a step farther by analyzing
Shakespearean characters and their dialogue.
C. Concepts to be covered
- Students will learn how to interpret Shakespearean text. They will learn to understand
the text and summarize the basic plot.
D. Lesson Objectives
- Students will learn how to analyze Shakespearean text for acting clues. They will
learn to figure out which words and sounds Shakespeare uses and how they relate to
characterization. They will be able to translate Shakespearean text into their own
words quickly, and they will be more comfortable reading his texts aloud.
E. SOLs
- TII.4: The student will demonstrate acting skills and techniques in solo and group
performances by 3. Choosing vocal and physical expressions to enhance
characterization, conflict, and production style. 4. Refining research skills and
audition techniques for characterization and script/text interpretation. 5. Incorporating
psychological, historical, and social dynamics derived from information suggested by
the script.
- TII. 11: The student will identify major theatrical styles, including classical,
Renaissance, modern, contemporary, and non-Western, including: 1. Identifying
universal characters, situations, themes and ideas in theatre. 2. Identifying the use of
symbolism and cultural and historical clues in dramatic texts
- TIII. 3: The student will integrate acting skills and techniques involving voice,
movement, and analysis into the rehearsal process and performance by 1. Initiating
artistic choices to enhance performance. 4. Enhancing characterizations, dialogue
F. Materials needed
- For this lesson, I will need copies of the monologue that we will be analyzing as a
class. Each student will have a copy of this monologue and a pencil to take notes in
the margins. (see attached monologue at end of lesson plan)
G. Procedure
- Introduction (5 minutes) To begin the lesson, I will ask the students to raise their
hands if Shakespearean text scares them. This will help them know they are not alone.
I will explain to the students why Shakespeare is still important in todays society.
We will discuss how Shakespearean plots, themes, characters, and language have
become a part of many different things around the world. I will also ask the students
to tell me what language Shakespeare wrote in, and then I will be sure to inform them
that he wrote in modern English the same language we speak today. This will
relieve some worries they may have.
- Implementation of Lesson (20 minutes) We will sit in a circle with the monologue
in front of us. We will discuss the given circumstances of the play and of this scene to
set the context of the monologue. I will have the students go around and read the
monologue aloud, two lines at a time. I will then ask the students to list any words
they did not understand. I will answer any of these questions and define the words.
Then, we will start the monologue over and I will emphasize how important word
choice was to Shakespeare. We will practice using the consonants to help us find our
way through the monologue emotionally and discuss what this tells us about the
character of Marc Antony. We will also discuss and analyze the rhythm of the text,
the iambic pentameter and when it is broken, and what this tells us.
- Wrap-up (5 minutes) After the reading is complete, we will discuss what we
learned. I will ask the students to raise their hands if they feel more comfortable with
Shakespearean text than they did before the lesson. We will finish by talking about
what tricks we learned that would help us tackle any other piece of text.
H. Modifications for students with special needs
- For my lesson, I will have a student with a hearing impairment. I will ensure that I sit
next to her in the circle so she can hear me well. I will also make sure every student
reads loudly and clearly this is good practice for acting anyway.
I. What could go wrong?
- Students may be very frightened of reading Shakespearean text aloud. I will never
force any student in my classroom to read out loud, though I will encourage that
everyone attempts to in order to have the learning experience. I will tell the students
to be supportive of each other while reading; I will encourage them to pause and ask
my help if they do not know how to pronounce a word.
J. Assessing learning
- Most of my assessment will come from the reading aloud of the text. This will give
me the ability to see how the students grow over the course of the 20 minute period. I
will be able to tell whether they are improving and understanding the material more
than they initially had. Additionally, I will ask the students at the end to raise their
hands if they feel more comfortable with Shakespearean text than they were before.
Assuming the students answer honestly, I will be able to see who achieved the
objectives.
1 O, pardon me, thou bleeding piece of earth,

2 That I am meek and gentle with these butchers!
3 Thou art the ruins of the noblest man
4 That ever livd in the tide of times.
5 Woe to the hand that shed this costly blood!
6 Over thy wounds now do I prophesy
7 Which, like dumb mouths, do ope their ruby lips
8 To beg the voice and utterance of my tongue
9 A curse shall light upon the limbs of men.
10 Domestic fury and fierce civil strife
11 Shall cumber all the parts of Italy.
12 Blood and destruction shall be so in use,
13 And dreadful objects so familiar,
14 That mothers shall but smile when they behold
15 Their infants quartered with the hands of war,
16 All pity choked with custom of fell deeds,
17 And Caesars spirit, ranging for revenge,
18 With Ate by his side come hot from hell,
19 Shall in these confines with a monarchs voice
20 Cry Havoc! and let slip the dogs of war,
21 That this foul deed shall smell above the earth
22 With carrion men, groaning for burial.

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Jonathan Martin

Professor Leah Kirkpatrick

H. Modifications for students with special needs

1 O, pardon me, thou bleeding piece of earth,

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