Theater Curriculum Infusion Project 14-15

4t h
- 6th Grade: Visit #3
Exploring Treasure Island Characters Through Acting Tools
Modification for Ms. Natals class indicated in red. Supporting intimate, kinesthetic
cueing and responding.
This workshop was developed for The Rose Theaters Theater Curriculum Infusion Project, a school year in-depth partnership
between the professional teaching artists at The Rose and the classroom teachers at Washington Elementary. During the 2014-15
school year, each grade level will receive nine visits where the teaching artist from The Rose will develop and lead a drama class
tied to a curricular topic chosen by the classroom teacher. During each visit, students will actively explore both theater arts and
curriculum through kinesthetic experiences. The goal of this project is for teaching artists to model creative drama techniques that
classroom teachers can continue to use to connect drama to the curriculum in subsequent school years.
Description Students will explore the story of Treasure Island through the three main acting
tools: the body, the voice and the imagination. Students will express themselves
physically, vocally and creatively through guided improvised exercises. This
workshop will help get the students comfortable with acting, make bold choices,
and get excited about future visits. These exercises and acting tools will be the
foundation for our future visits using drama to explore curriculum. The students
are currently reading Treasure Island.
Grade 4,5,6th Grade & 5/6th Grade & 6th Grade
Date and Time November 25th 9:15-9:55/ 10:00-10:55/ 11:00-11:55
Classroom Teachers Mrs. Natal, Mr. Derr, Mrs. Krebs
Curriculum Topic Empathy and Communication
Teaching Artist Stephanie Jacobson
Materials Images of Treasure Island characters with descriptions, You can create a
character worksheet

Student Learning
Objectives Assessment Criteria
What I want my students to be able to do and know. What I will observe in my students.
1. To review acting tools Students will explain with examples the three actors
tools of Body, Voice, and Imagination.

2. To increase the students understanding and
interest in Treasure Island.
3. To explore Treasure Island characters through
physical and vocal choices
4. To create a safe environment where everyone
can learn and play
Students will actively participate in acting activities
based on developing Treasure Island characters.
Students will communicate ideas and characters
through improve activities.
Students will sharing of ideas, compromising,
adding to the ideas of others, working well in a
variety of groups

1
6th Grade Workshop: Exploring Treasure Island Through Acting Tools
State Standards
LA 6.3.3 Reciprical Students will demonstrate reciprocal communication skills.
Communication

Vocabulary
Theatre Actor, Ensemble, Improv
Language Arts Communication, Treasure Island: Jim Hawkins, Mrs. Hawkins, Ben Gunn,
Long John Silver, Billy Bones, Black Dog, Israel Hands, Blind Pew, Capt.
Smollett, Trelawny, Dr. Livesey

1. Anticipatory Set (getting class ready for lesson) time: 5 min

Good Afternoon Call and Repeat (Vocal Warm-Up)
Teacher will call out Good Afternoon in several different voices and students will repeat the call
Teaching artist reviews rules and last visit
Visit #1: Ensemble/ Acting Tools
Focus Question
What are the three tools actors use? Body Voice and Imagination
What do we know about Treasure Island? Lets list the characters?
Jim Hawkins, Mrs. Hawkins, Ben Gunn, Long John Silver, Billy Bones, Black Dog, Israel Hands, Blind Pew, Capt.
Smollett, Trelawny, Dr. Livesey.

2. Guided (Students do the work with teacher support): Continuum 3-5 min
Have students move desks and stand in a line in the middle of the room shoulder to
shoulder. Explain that from the right to the left side of the room is numbered 1-10. If I
were to say I am a dog person I FULLY agree with that statement I would go to 10, and
if I DISAGREE with that statement I would stand closer to the 1. However If I dont feel
drawn either way, I would stand in the middle around 5.
Scale of 1-10 how do you feel about the season Fall? How do you feel about outdoor
recess? How do you feel about the holiday Thanksgiving?
Scale of 1-10 how would you like to be .. a sailor, a Pirate captain, a dockhand, own
your own restaurant, live in the 1700s, eat oatmeal every day, fight with a sword, have a
pet parrot?
This activity will be cut for Ms. Natals Class.

3. Shared (Teacher and Student work together): Funky Chicken as Treasure Island Characters

8-10 min

Let me see your funky chick, call and response activity. Important to model the song simply first
without any big movement of character then add style once the students have time to learn the
words.
All: left left left right left, left left left right left

2
6th Grade Workshop: Exploring Treasure Island Through Acting Tools
 Teacher: let me see your funky chicken

Students: whats that you say?

(Repeat )

All: ooh ah ah ah ooh ah ah ah ooh ah ah ah ohh (as funky chicken)

Teacher: one more time

(Repeat)

Begin with examples like Funky Chicken, Frankenstein, Dirty Sock.

Move onto the different Greek Gods that we will be speaking about today: : Jim Hawkins, Mrs.
Hawkins, Ben Gunn, Long John Silver, Billy Bones, Black Dog, Israel Hands, Blind Pew,
Capt. Smollett, Trelawny, Dr. Livesey This is a great time to have the images and definitions
of the Greek Gods available to discuss before each turn.
We will substitute Be Broccoli (Statue Activity) for Funky Chicken in Ms. Natals class.

4. Guided (Students do the work with teacher support) : Day in the Life as Treasure Island
Characters
8-10min

Objective: Students will use their acting tools to kinesthetically explore a day in the life of a
Treasure Island character that they have been exploring in class.
Discussion: When actors play a character, they have to feel many different emotions. But they
cant just act like themselves! They have to be able to walk, talk, and feel like the character they are
playing. Can we answer questions like we are the characters from the play?

Brainstorming: Name the different Treasure Island Characters. How would actors change their
bodies and voices to become those characters? How are they different from each other?
Activity: Students should find an open space in the room where they can stand by themselves.
Have them begin the activity by lying down and pretending to sleep as their character before
waking up and moving around the room. Periodically instruct the students to change activities.
Students should pretend to eat breakfast, get ready for the day, play with friends, do work, eat
dinner, and go to bed as their character would do. Freeze the actors every once in awhile to ask a
question to a specific student or to hear what each character is thinking.
Side-Coaching: Here are a few questions for the teacher to use to guide the students through their
experiences.
What are you dreaming about? Whats for breakfast? What do you do if it rains? Do have friends? Are
you scared of the other characters? What games do you play? How do you make sure people are
following your orders? Etc.

This Activity will be cut for Ms. Natals class and we will go directly to Character Sheets (#6).

5. Shared Learning (Teacher and Student Work Together): Character Interviews/ Hot Seating

Objective: To explore the feelings of the characters from the play.

3
6th Grade Workshop: Exploring Treasure Island Through Acting Tools
 Discussion: When actors play a character, they have to feel many different emotions. But they
cant just act like themselves! They have to be able to walk, talk, and feel like the character they are
playing. Can we answer questions like we are the characters from the play? Now ask the students
to raise their hands and demonstrate what they learned from the last exercise. How does their
character walk, talk, or sit?
Modeling: Have everyone sit on the floor in an audience set up. Ask them to sit as that character
would. How would their hands and feet look? Would their back be straight or slouched . Now
have 1 student volunteer come up to the front of the classroom and sit in a chair facing the class.
Have them walk up and sit as the character they have chosen. Now ask them a couple of
questions, and they must respond in character. Examples: What is your favorite food? Who is your
best friend? Where was your last vacation to? What do you like most about your job? What do you like the
human race? Make sure all of the questions are open-ended.
Activity: Have students come up in groups of 5-8 and sit in chairs facing the rest of the class.
Have them each answer questions as the character they have chosen to play. Questions can now
get more specific to their characters. Have the class raise their hands and tell what they liked best
about the performances after each group.
Side Coaching: How would your voice sound as this character? How would they move their
arms and hands while they were talking? Would they refuse to answer some questions? Do they
like the interviewer or dislike? Get creative in your answers!
For Ms. Natals class we will go to hot seating after we create our own characters with the
image based character creation sheets.

6. Independent Learning (students do the work): Create Your Own Character Worksheets 5 min

Share with the class the Character worksheet. Teacher will have created an example filled out before
hand.
Teacher will discuss how students are develop a deeper understanding of the character by doing more
research and making inferred answers from that research about their Treasure Island character.
Hand out worksheets and assign as homework

7. Summary time: 2 min

What were the three main acting tools? Body Voice and Imagination
What is Improvisation? Why did we use improvisation with our Treasure Island Characters?
Next Visit is Tuesday December 9th and we will begin our Playwrighting workshop, creating 2
person scenes (dialogue) with the characters we explored today.

4
6th Grade Workshop: Exploring Treasure Island Through Acting Tools