Classroom Play Handbook 1
Table of Contents 1. Overview.. 3 2. Casting.. 4 3. Inclusivity.. 6 4. Getting Started Ideas for Day 1. 8 5. Sample Rehearsal Plan. 10 6. Resources.. 12 2
Overview Once you ve shared the book with your class, the students can bring the story to life by putting on the Spookley classroom play. This play helps reinforce the lessons of tolerance, kindness, and diversity presented in the book by allowing students to explore their own unique talents and skills in the production process. Using these guidelines, the entire production process can be a learning experience for students through discussions of the different roles required to put on the play and how each student s unique talents are necessary for a successful whole. The play is designed with the flexibility to allow teachers to work with a sub-set of students in the classroom who desire to perform the play for other class members, or with the entire class who can produce and perform the play for other classrooms or even at a school assembly. Alternatively, a teacher can work with students from different classrooms and grades, and these students can perform the play for multiple classrooms or for the entire grade or school. In addition, older students can perform the play for younger students (additional song recordings are available upon request). Engaging older students to teach younger students is a great way to reinforce positive messages! General Tips Remember to have realistic but optimistic expectations. We can t expect all of our students to be natural stars on stage so it is important not to put so much pressure on the participants that they stop having fun. At the same time, remember that for some children, their part in this play is immensely important, so don t degrade their efforts. Most importantly, remember that a children s play is more about the educational process than about the finished product. Use the resources available. If parents or teachers are willing to help out, don t be afraid to ask for their help. Lots of adults are necessary for making a children s play run smoothly. Plays put on by children can be quality productions, but they should also be fun. The easiest way to balance both is to keep things very simple and allow children to express their creativity whenever possible. Make blocking (nonverbal actions performed on stage) count. Simple, motivated movements will look the best on stage and give your production a professional air. Don t be afraid to have students do background activities, as long as they don t distract from the main action and the students can stay on task. Children will generally be more focused on their own character and their unique contribution rather than on the play as a whole. Use that focus by having students make 3
their own costumes or come up with a backstory for their character. If you focus on the big picture, their individual focus will come together to create a creative, diverse whole. Casting Spookley the Square Pumpkin is about appreciating differences and discovering how an individual s unique attributes can be assets to that individual and to his/her community. The casting procedure for this play should therefore reflect this focus on celebrating differences and affirming individuality. The best way for a teacher to facilitate this is to treat all roles and functions as equally important. He/she should emphasize that the play will be most successful if everyone performs their jobs to the best of their ability and that while everyone s job will be a little different, they are all crucial to the play. In light of this emphasis, the casting of the play should fairly distribute the more desirable roles among the class. This could be accomplished by drawing names out of a hat for the roles. To accommodate students who do not want a large speaking role or do not want to be onstage at all, a teacher may wish to have students volunteer for one of two categories onstage or offstage roles. The teacher should explain what the offstage roles entail (scenery work, publicity, helping the teacher, etc.) in order to give those students who may be afraid of being on stage a chance to contribute meaningfully to the project. Then the teacher can draw names from each of these two pools of names. This allows students to have some choice in what their roles will be but also distributes the roles fairly. Another way the teacher can promote appreciation of differences is to have each child come up with one thing that makes him or her different. These differences could be anything from a special talent or a physical characteristic to a unique family trait or culture of origin. Then, when it comes time in the play for the pumpkins to stand up and stay what makes them different, each child gets a chance to share his or her special difference. Although only nine pumpkins are written into the play, this section can be adapted or expanded to allow each child to have the opportunity to speak and to acknowledge and appreciate that each one of them has unique characteristics and talents. Auditions For this play, it is perfectly acceptable to handpick students to play the parts. However, if you do choose to have an audition process, here are some tips: 1. Give students a short synopsis of the characters (see character descriptions below) and have them write down three characters that they would like to play. 4
2. Have the students audition by reciting a line from the play that you read to them first. Examples from Spookley include: a. You can t judge a book, or a pumpkin, by its cover. b. Oh what a garden variety makes. 3. Choose which students will play each part. Keep in mind that roles can be divided or combined, depending on the size of your group. For example, your play could have one narrator or three. Cast (on stage) Spookley: A square pumpkin that is teased until his odd shape saves the day. Little Tom: Smaller than the other pumpkins, he is mean and protected by Big Tom. Big Tom: Bigger than the other pumpkins, he does not think for himself and he protects Little Tom. Bobo: A pumpkin who thinks she is better than the rest of the pumpkins. Narrator (can be the teacher): Our storyteller. Farmer Hill: The nice farmer who plants all the seeds. Assorted Pumpkins: As many of these as necessary to include all students who wish to participate. Remember, every pumpkin is special in his or her own unique way! Scenery: If you have a lot of students, or students who want to participate but don t want to act, you may consider using students to create the scenery. For example, have students dress in brown and link them together with crepe paper to create the fence that the rolling pumpkins can break through. Note: All roles can be played by any gender. Other Roles (off stage) Scenery/costumes/props/make-up Students can draw/paint a backdrop for the pumpkin patch, create simple costumes and props and apply washable face paints. Publicity Students can design invitations and advertisements for the play and distribute them to teachers, parents and other classrooms/schools. Assistant Director help the teacher with logistics and keeping track of what the play needs More roles can be added depending on the size of the group Other Tips Before having students volunteer for the onstage or offstage categories, explain the importance of those who work behind the scenes. You may want to talk about the 5
directors of movies the students are familiar with to introduce the idea that there are a lot of important roles that use different talents, not just the star of the show. Inclusivity If you have a large group of students who have small or non-speaking parts, consider places in the script where background actors could be added or enhanced. For instance, most of the action in Spookley takes place in the pumpkin patch. Brainstorm with your students different activities the other pumpkins could be doing while the main action is taking place. Options might include playing games, making their vine, decorating for Halloween, etc. The idea is to create the world of the play and to make it as rich as possible. o Note: make sure the background activities don t distract from the main action; a few quiet activities in the background will enhance the main action. Try to be creative and open-minded in your casting and role-assignment. There s no reason a female student can t play the farmer or a reserved student can t play Spookley. Classroom plays are an excellent chance to give opportunities to shine to students who might otherwise be overlooked. Make sure to include the students who did behind the scenes work in the curtain call at the end of the play. They deserve a round of applause too! Consider using students of all ages in your production. Older students can be excellent role models for younger students and can even help keep rowdy younger students on task. For example, you could have fourth graders play the speaking roles while casting kindergarten and first grade students as the assorted pumpkins in the pumpkin patch. Spookley provides a great opportunity to start conversations about diversity and difference at a very young age. You can use Spookley s experience to talk to students about differences in race, gender, sexuality, culture, ability, class, etc. in an honest but age-appropriate manner. These conversations can be difficult and should be had carefully, but it s very important for adults not to be afraid to talk to children about diversity. Children will notice differences, but if adults ignore or dodge their questions, children will learn that these questions are inappropriate and will therefore draw their own, often stereotypical, conclusions. It s also important for you as an adult leader to avoid perpetuating stereotypes in your own language and behavior. It can be challenging to eradicate ingrained stereotypes from our language and behavior, but here are some tips to get you started: 6
o o o o Praise children for behavior equally; for example, if only boys are praised for sitting quietly, it reinforces the expectation that boys will be rowdy and disruptive. Make sure to avoid stereotypes in your casting; for instance, if girls aren t allowed to audition for the part of the Farmer, it reinforces the stereotype of farms only being men, which is false. Acknowledge and engage all abilities equally; for example, a child who uses a wheelchair could easily play any part in the play. Try to use person-first language. This means avoiding using a single characteristic to define a person but rather acknowledging first that they are a complex person with multiple characteristics. For example, when referring to a child who has a physical or mental disability, it is better to refer to him or her as a child with a disability rather than a disabled child. Better yet, be more accurate and specify his or her disability; for instance a child with autism. Other ways to promote person-first language: Emphasize abilities rather than limitations. Don t patronize students with disabilities with falsely excessive praise. Give students with disabilities as much choice and independence as possible. 7
Getting Started Ideas for Day 1 The first day of rehearsals will set the tone for the rest of the process so try to balance the busywork of play production rehearsal schedules, rules and expectations, etc. with fun activities to get the cast excited to be in the play. Below are some ideas for icebreakers, rules and expectations, and activities to prepare students to be in the play. The list is by no means exhaustive; add or adapt ideas to fit the individual needs of your cast. Icebreakers Animal Farm (adapted from www.icebreakers.us) 1. Number students off 1 through 5. 2. Assign each number an animal; for example, say 1s are pigs, 2s are horses.. etc. 3. Have students move randomly around the space while you count to 10. 4. Instruct students to find the rest of their group only using their animal noise; for example, 1s must move around oinking until they find all of the other 1s and stand in a group. Introductions and Applause (adapted from Beat by Beat Press) 1. Have each student enter the stage one by one and introduce himself or herself by saying Hi, my name is and sharing one interesting thing about himself or herself. 2. After each introduction, have the other students enthusiastically applaud while the student on stage graciously accepts the applause and takes a bow. 3. Note: This is fun way for students to not only introduce themselves but also to get affirmation from their peers and to have a gentle introduction to being on stage. Rules and Expectations Remember that for the play to be successful, the students need to feel free to express their creativity. However, you also are probably working on a tight schedule and need to be productive with your rehearsals. So you may want to outline some basic ground rules and expectations and be clear and consistent with consequences. Here are some suggestions of rules and expectations to get you started, but you may want to adapt them and add to them to fit your individual needs. 1. Arrive at rehearsal on time and be ready to go when rehearsal starts. 2. Focus on your own performance; do not criticize other students. 3. Take the play seriously, but don t be too hard on yourself. Everybody makes mistakes. 4. When the director is talking, use your listening ears. 8
Activities Activities on Day 1 can be a great way to get your cast engaged with the play and with each other. They can also be an excellent way to introduce students to the idea of pretending to be someone they re not on stage. Remember that these activities are supposed to be fun; the learning comes from the playfulness! Movement Exercise Have students move around as you call out different materials for them to pretend the floor is made of. For example, if you say the floor is made of chewing gum, the students should pretend to struggle to move as their feet stick to the floor. Other suggestions for materials are lava, water, jelly, and ice. Character Exercise Once your students are familiar with their characters (after you ve done a read through or they ve read the play on their own), have the group participate in various everyday activities in character. For example, ask them to move around and say hello like their character would. Other possible activities are to ask about the weather, find out what time it is, or invite other characters to a party. 9
Sample Rehearsal Plan Each production s rehearsal schedule will be unique, based on the amount of time and number of rehearsals you can schedule as well as the space and adult support you have. You will probably need a minimum of five rehearsals (broken up as appropriate for your age group) but the more time you have, the better your production will be. Coordinate with teachers to use down time in class to read through the play or work on lines. Remember to work short breaks into your rehearsals. Most importantly, no matter how pressed for time you are, make sure the process is fun for your students. Preparation Familiarize yourself with the play and the book Decide on group age and size Auditions (optional) Casting Find a rehearsal space Create a unique rehearsal plan Decide if you want students to memorize their lines or read from their script; this will depend on the amount of rehearsal time you have as well as the age of your students. For pre-literate students, it may be easier to have them learn their lines through repetition. Remember, a range of ages in your cast may be to your advantage as older students can act as role models to the younger students and helpers to the adults. Develop some ideas for blocking (nonverbal actions performed on stage); be open to changing these according to the abilities of your group and their creative ideas. Start thinking about costumes; you may want to recruit parents to help or find a way for the students to make their own costumes. Rehearsal 1 Introductions Icebreakers Rules and expectations Read-through of play and/or book (optional) Rehearsal 2 Warm-up (you can use icebreakers or activities) Act 1 o Go through Act 1 once and assign blocking 10
o Run through again with blocking Answer questions Rehearsal 3 Warm-up Act 2 o Go through Act 2 once and assign blocking o Run through again with blocking Answer questions Rehearsal 4 Warm-up Act 3 o Go through Act 3 once and assign blocking o Run through again with blocking o Note: this is the most active section of the play. Be creative and ask students for ideas about how to stage the storm. This part is often the most fun for students, so let them be creative while making sure no one gets hurt in the commotion. Act 4 o Go through Act 4 once and assign blocking o Run through again with blocking o Note: The section where each pumpkin says what makes them different is an excellent opportunity to celebrate the diversity within your own group. Have students come up with something that makes him or her different. Make sure that all of the pumpkins are able to share their unique characteristic this section can be expanded as much as necessary to accommodate all of your students. Most of the characteristics they come up with won t make sense for pumpkins, but it s more important to emphasize the diversity of your group. In addition, there are usually students who won t want to say something personal, so invite them to choose from the responses written into the script. Answer questions Rehearsal 5 Warm-up Run through the entire play; only stop if the students need help moving forward. Focus on the big things that need fixing; now is not the time to be picky. 11
Make sure your students leave this rehearsal feeling energized and excited for the performance! Resources Icebreakers http://www.icebreakers.us/ Beat By Beat Press s Blog: An excellent resource for drama games http://www.bbbpress.com/blog/ How to Put on a Primary School Play http://www.teachprimary.com/learning_resources/view/how-to-put-on-a-primary-school-play 12