I recently came ultimately back from an end-of-semester drama presentation at a local elementary school. In the event that you run an episode program, you're familiar with this specific opportunity for parents in the future and see what their kids have already been working on.
Parents are excited to see their kids, kids are excited to possess their parents see them, and the drama teacher is nervous making certain things run smoothly and everyone walks away happy and appreciative.imlie Today Episode
Having led hundreds of these myself, I started thinking about what I feel are some helpful tips that'll make your drama presentation as successful as possible:
1. Be Organized
This might appear to be wise practice, but it's so important so it needs mentioning. Parents don't desire to see a fumbling teacher, and kids can get antsy should they don't have specific direction. Ensure you have thought through and written out the actual order of events, and simply how much time you expect each event to take. Within each event ensure you've written who is going to be participating, the order of participation, etc. If you're playing drama games, plan in advance who you'll call up for every one, and let them know in advance. If you're feeling more adventurous, put every student's name in a hat, and show the audience you will be choosing students' randomly from the hat for different games until all of the names are called.imlie Today Episode
2. Keep it short
Keep your welcome greeting under a minute. Cover how excited you are to generally share what you've been taking care of, the goal that the class has been working toward, what they're going to see, and a short personal tidbit about the program. Let the activities, games and scenes speak for themselves around possible. Keep the activity descriptions to a sentence or two, or even better when you yourself have older kids inquire further to introduce each game (let them know in advance so they can practice).
3. Keep it positive.
Don't ever apologize for things not being as polished as they may be because of lack of time or resources. Instead mention how impressed you are in what the kids accomplished such little time. Knowing a particular activity or scene is going to be described as a little rough, introduce it just as you would any other. Then jump in and give the kids support as they need it.
4. Ensure the kids know what things to expect.
I highly recommend having a complete dry run-through of the "sharing day" just one session ahead of time, or ahead of the parents arrive. The youngsters ought to know the order of events and when it's their turn to participate. Consider printing a couple of copies of the "itinerary" and posting them stage right and left where the actors could see them however the audience can't.
5. Have clean transitions.
The moments after a high-energy activity are the most crucial moments to keep control of the environment. Simply telling your kids as their laughing and talking "please go back to your seats" does NOT cut it. Instantly regain their focus, then let them have specific timed instructions. "Everyone have a breathe in, breathe out, silently head back again to your seats in 3 counts. 3... 2... 1. I'd now like to introduce... "
6. Harness the silly/Harness the talking
Along exactly the same lines, ensure the kids know it is not OK to talk during a game title or activity unless specifically instructed to do so. When parents come in the audience it is natural for kids to wish to be little hams, cracking jokes with friends, going for quick laughs. It's the biggest challenge of the drama teacher to focus this energy into creative character/acting choices. There's more leniency for this when the kids are extremely young (K-2nd grade). However as students grow during your program their acting should noticeably mature. These sharing presentation are a great way to demonstrate that to the parents.
7. Ensure every kid has something special to do.
If you should be doing scenes, and kids have individual lines, the first thing a parent can do after hearing a couple of kids speak is anxiously wait for his/her kid to speak. It's completely acceptable to offer the older, more complex kids bigger roles in the presentation, but ensure every child has one or more moment to be in the spotlight.
8. Finish with a bang.
End the presentation with a game title, activity or song that you know will have everyone leaving with a giant smile on the face. Although maybe you are in a informal environment, choreograph a clean simple bow by the ensemble at the end.
No comments:
Post a Comment