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By using an application, I have found it helps bring forward only those who are serious about the commitment, since they have to take the time to fill out an application! You can simply adjust the "available positions" as you need per production. I do not accept late applications, and like with auditions, unfortunately not everyone is guaranteed a position on any given show.

This rubric works for the end of a Costume Design and Construction unit. By looking at the criteria, you can see where the unit takes the students from start to finish.

The safety contract within this lesson provides a way to establish a supportive, positive, and open environment in the classroom. It immediately gets the students invested and accountable. Once written, you can refer back to it as a class as often as needed for reflection and/or behavior adjustment purposes. The activity may work even better using the Affinity Mapping strategy.

Here's a great tool for students who are struggling with memorization. It can also be a way to make sure students who aren't rehearsing are using their time well.

An evening where our Thespians run a night of DRAMA activities for Elementary School Students. We put the students in groups (based on their grade level) and each group had 3 PAJAMA PARTY PALS who were with them ALL EVENING (for safety and consistency.) The groups rotate between the cafeteria (CRAFT-ATERIA for craft activites), the Theatre Room for small table games, and the Stage for creating a short play with your group. In between each activity change, ALL the kids came onstage for a DANCE & FREEZE party and a large group game of Ships & Sailors. At the end of the evening, all the Thespians working the activity centers came on stage to put on an Improv show (using audience ideas) for our "audience" of students and parents who came to pick up their students! We charged $25 a student. Had pizza, juice boxes, and desserts donated by parents.

This is a simple assessment my students can do after watching a required production. It is designed to get them to identify discuss concepts they have learned, as well as help instill an appreciation of theatre.

This is a simple assessment students can do after reading a script, as an alternate assignment to attending a production.

Here is a series of 6 PowerPoints I have created for my stage makeup unit. There are YouTube video links in many to provide your students with tutorials and examples. They are numbered 3.1-3.6 simply because Stage Makeup is my Unit 3 in Technical Theatre. (1 of 6)

Third lesson of the unit.

Here is the second lesson in my Stage Makeup unit.

Fourth lesson of the unit.

Fifth lesson of the unit. I spend quite a bit of time doing demos on volunteers for this one, whereas for the other ones I do partial demos to get things started for them.

Sixth and final lesson in the unit.

This is the rubric I use at the end of the Voice Unit in an Introduction to Theatre class. They apply concepts learned in the unit to create a radio commercial that I record. I ultimately used them at the end of the year when they performed their showcase. While set pieces were being set up for the next performance, instead of music, I played their commercials. It was a big hit with the audience, and really fun for the class to listen back to what they had created months prior.

This is a sample recommendation letter I wrote for a student who IS pursuing theatre in college and as a career. (I have taken out the student's last name for privacy purposes.)

This can be used to keep students focused on a target for each rehearsal, and gives them opportunity to reflect back on it in an authentic way. (The grade they receive for this written piece comes from my "written reflection rubric", and not how on-task they were during that particular rehearsal.)

This is a sample recommendation letter I wrote for a student who is NOT pursuing theatre in college or as a career. (I have taken out the student's last name for privacy purposes.)

This is a sample of a simpler recommendation letter I wrote for a student who is NOT pursuing theatre in college or as a career. I did not work with this student much beyond class time. This could be a helpful sample for those having to write letters for the first time, and/or for students they don't know very well. (I have taken out the student's last name for privacy purposes.)

This is a rubric I created to match the Commedia improvised scene capstone for Todd Espeland's Commedia 2 Course. Feel free to adapt!

Student-Created Spreadsheet to track Thespian Points. Instructions included on spreadsheet.