Assessments, Writings and Productions

General Updates

Cold and Flu season are upon us and there has been a need for tissue within the classroom.  It would be greatly appreciated if students could bring in boxes of tissue if you are able to provide them; handsanitizer would also be welcome.

The rubric has a list of supplies that we frequently utilize in class.  While pen/pencil and paper are a necessity and the others are a suggestions if the student is able to have the other supplies it allows projects to move more smoothly because we have a limited supply of markers, crayons, colored pencils, glue and scissors.

The wiki should be checked on a regular basis for production notes, study guides and make up work are posted frequently.  Students, the makeup folder is always on the yellow bookshelf.  Thank you for the emails asking about makeup work and other details because it helps class move smoothly and keeps everyone caught up.

As a reminder for every three class periods missed it is forty-five minutes of makeup time.  Please refer to the school attendance policy for further details.

And now a huge announcement... the spring musical will be.... Seussical, Jr.!!



Beginning Theatre


The bag puppet performances will continue through the following Monday.  We will be moving away from puppetry to Greek Theatre.  We will be studying the Festival Dyonisius and utilize the play that was concerned the greatest play of the period and is the measuring stick for all western theatre: Oedipus the King.  Students will learn the format of the well-made play according to the Poetics by Aristotle; a guide that continues to shape how plays are written today.


The unit will also consist of mask making in the style of the Greco Theatrical tradition and a short informance involving selected scenes from the first of the five Theban tragedies.  The students will also be updating Oedipus and formatting the plot into Marvel/DC style cartoon strips for a more contemporary reader and audience.

The next progress report cycle is a week and a half away.  Please remind your student to check his/her past spreadsheet and folder for work he/she might need to make up.

Intermediate Theatre

The students completed their unit on improvisation and we have plunged head first into our study of Oscar Wilde and Victorian England through his Comedy of Manners The Importance of Being Earnest.  The students viewed a short A&E Biography on the Life of Oscar Wilde.  We have also gone into an in-depth study of the cultural mores and norms of Victorian England.  The discussion has led us to the revelation that The Industrial Revolution was quite possibly the greatest revolution of all time.  We examined British Imperialism and how this tiny islands thirst for conquest created the very aristocracy Wilde emulated and criticized in his works.


Students will be completing their study guide of The Importance of Being Earnest by next week.  We will hold a Victorian style tea in class that will help students prepare for the mannerisms needed as they work on assigned scenes from the play.  The scene work and written test will be their evaluation for this unit.

Just a reminder that all make-up work will be needed at the next folder check which will be this coming week, most likely Thursday or Friday.

Advanced Theatre

We are deep into the rehearsal and design process for the Fall Shorts.  The dates for the performance are Nov. 7-8 at 7:00pm.  These dates are also on the calendar that is always at the bottom of the complete blog (not individual posts).

The students have a design packet with dates on it that layout when certain aspects of the design are due and exactly what is expected.  Each day in class we spend ten-fifteen minutes in production meetings updating the directors where the design process stands.  The directors are responsible for updating the online "GreenBoard" every evening so that the designers and actors are able to get individual and whole group notes about how to improve the production.


Line memorization for each play is due Oct. 4 in class.  When not on stage and not working on designs, the students should be and have been hitting their lines hard.  This is no small feat because most students are either directing one and in another, or in two to three shows.  This is a lot of work and great experience for the students.

A quick note about our first performance of the year that is not a written work is our iMPROV Evening will be Oct. 10 at 6:00pm.  It will run about an hour and the Senior/"A Team" will be performing.  After the performance, we will celebrate by going to cheer on the SWGHS Cowboy soccer team!

As you can see, it is a busy semester with another full length scripted show on the horizon.

Opening Weeks

The first two weeks of school have come and gone. It always a great experience meeting new students and parents.  Thank you all for helping to make the beginning of this school year a success.

Before we go into specifics with each class, let's take care of a few housekeeping issues.

1. Make sure you are always following SWGHS proper dress code at all times.

2. Be sure to sign on to Edmodo.
    a. If you need assistance please set up a time with me and I will help walk you through the process
    b. After school busses will begin running within the next two weeks and allow you time to get into
        the Media Center to do your online work after school.
    c. Check @swghtd for the code.  (It should also have been written in your folder and on your
        syllabus.)

3. Make sure all assignments stay in your folder.

4. Progress Reports will be out September 16.  Make sure you have all assignments taken care of.
    a. Always check the make-up work folder on the Yellow Bookcase.

Beginning Theatre

We have begun a unit on puppetry.  The students have been creating their own bag puppets based on a puppet biography worksheet they completed.  After creating the bag puppets, students were placed into partners and completed a 5 W Worksheet that will serve as a template for their script.  The basics of Plot and Character were discussed when the students did the popcorn dialogue etude.  We discussed the difference between narration and dialogue.  Ultimately, plays/scripts do not require narration because the activity of the performers show the audience what the narrator of a work of prose explains.

This upcoming week the students will be continuing to write their short five minute scripts that they will perform with their bag puppets.  The scripts are based around the idea that the puppets will be teaching elementary school students how to be successful in school and how to make good choices.

Below is the video the students should have written a reflection on Edmodo or handwritten in their folder.

Intermediate Theatre

Students have been continuing to hone their improvisational skills.  We have been discussing why "Saying Yes" opens up many possibilities in a scene as well as career choices.  Aside from "Saying Yes" adding "And" continues a scene creating even more possibilities.  We have also begun to discuss why "Making a Specific Choice" gives your scene partner as well as the audience more to work with and forwards the scene.  We continually discuss each day that the foundation of any improv scene as well as scripts is the acronym CROW. C-haracter. R-elationship. O-bjective. -W-here/W-hen.  Students have participated in such activities as "Taxi Cab", "One Liners", "Bus Stop" and "The Three Headed Professor".

The biggest point we have attempted to drive home is that "Failure is absolutely WONDERFUL!!"  We discussed how failure allows us to realize that there is simply another we to achieve a goal.  Failure is not the end all be all, but moreover a tool one must use for learning.

Below is the video students viewed and should have written a reflection in Edmodo or placed in their folders.

Here is an excellent video about why failure might be the best way people learn.

Advanced Theatre

Students have been placed in groups and are working on scripting ten minute plays.  The discussion has centered around the difference between a full two - to - three act play and a ten minute play.  Essentially, a ten minute play must get to the action immediately and cannot linger on exposition.

Some groups have chosen to utilize GoogleDocs so that they can share their scripts with each other and write together in realtime.  Others are using the age, old pencil and paper method.  We will begin to edit their works in the following weeks.  The ultimate goal is to have the students direct and produce these works for the stage (with approval from me.)

The biggest discussion we have had was that we must realize who our audience is when writing the plays.  This has caused some students to edit their plays for content.  Albeit, I am not one for huge censorship, but students are continually learning the difference between Educational Theatre and For Profit Theatre.  It has also been a great lesson if students ever choose to work in the corporate world where the boss may change an idea overall or an editor may take out pieces of a work.  Overall, the students are writing interesting works that with work and hope each new work will be performed.

Students have a reflection that needs should have been written on Edmodo or in their folder on the video The Way of Improvisation posted above this section.  Students have also begun to audition for the Southwest Guilford Improv Troupe.  This troupe will be performing throughout the year at SWGHS as well as other venues, if possible.