Week 4: 
Living the History:  A focus on mounting a scene for dramatic presentation.
Assignments:

• Read online content for week 4 and post to the discussion group.

• Prepare for presentation of student vignettes in the classroom.

This week is the time to see your student's vignettes come to life!! 

Review the elements of theater from week two and tell your students to think about the ideal presentation of their vignettes.  Ask them:  What would you do if you had endless resources and unlimited financing?  What kind of setting do you imagine?  Would you create scenery of wood construction?  Would you prefer backdrops beautifully painted in landscapes or abstract shapes with vivid colors?  Perhaps you envision an outdoor theater!?  Once they have decided on the setting of their vignettes have them record a description of it.  They can read this description aloud prior to the presentation of their vignettes to set the scene for the class.

• Cast the characters in the vignette.

• Have a reading of the vignette.

• Decide upon blocking (physical movements) for the actors coinciding with the delivery of their lines.

• Rehearse the actors until they are comfortable with the presentation of their parts.  ( They DO NOT have to memorize lines!)

The students should research the fashion of the time period they are portraying. Bring representation of appropriate costuming for the actors to present with their vignette.  This representation may be clothing, clothing made from paper to wear over street clothes, drawings of costumes, or printed pictures of costumes.  Post to the discussion any helpful Internet resources for period costume research.

Properties are a necessary part of creating a realistic setting for a dramatic enactment.  What kind of props would your students like to enhance the presentation of their vignette?  Help them provide representation of several desired props.  These representations can be actual objects, paper cut shapes of objects, drawings of objects, or printed pictures of objects.

They may use sound effects or describe a sound effect at a particular moment in the vignette to enhance the presentation.  They may also describe lighting effects at the desired moment during the vignette presentation.  These elements are not required but the importance of these elements in complimenting dramatization is considerable.

Have fun!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  This is "living the history!"  You and your students have the opportunity to highlight a moment in history by infusing it with emotion and creativity.  They can bring it to life and ingest it into their locale memory.  This is how meaningful learning occurs!!