|
Instructional Strategies and Activities
Pre-Viewing Activity and Follow-Up Discussion
- Ask students to write down in their notes what they know about Greek theater. Give them a few minutes to collect their thoughts and then have them share what they wrote. You might want to write their responses on the overhead or on chart paper.
- Explain to students that the clip they are about to view is an introduction to Greek drama. Identify what you want them to watch for, using the Greek Theater Discussion Questions handout as your guide. You may want to write the discussion questions on the overhead/chart paper or create a graphic organizer to give them for note-taking purposes.
- Watch the segment.
- Discuss the segment with students, using the Greek Theater Discussion Questions handout.
- Have students look at the notes they took before they watched the video and compare what they knew to what they’ve learned.
Follow-Up Activities
- Assign students to small groups and have them research Greek playwrights. In their research, they should look for what types of plays Greek playwrights wrote (tragedy or comedy), information on at least one play (themes, characters, etc.), and background information on the playwright. Have them take notes and then share what they’ve learned with the rest of the class.
- Read a play written by Sophocles, Euripides, or Aeschylus with your students, discussing it as you read. Depending upon your class time, it will take four or five class meetings to complete the reading. Any high school literature text should contain a Greek play. But if you have access to a recorded copy of a reading of the play, you may want to play it as students read the play silently. For additional ideas on a more in-depth exploration of Greek drama, see the assessment and extension sections below.
Strategies To Engage Diverse Learners
- Provide graphic organizers (create your own using the Greek Theater Discussion Questions).
- Provide a pre-recorded tape of lecture information.
- Write important information on overhead or chart paper.
- Identify the most important concepts or vocabulary words.
- Have students write summaries of what they learned, using information from the overhead or chart paper as well as their own notes and/or graphic organizers.
top
Support • Connections • Resources
For Teachers:
- Masterpieces of Drama by Alexander W. Allison, Arthur J. Carr, and Arthur M. Eastman. MacMillan.
- Western Theatre—Revolution and Revival by Patti Gillespie and Kenneth M. Cameron. MacMillan.
- Theatre Past and Present by Milly S. Barranger. Wadsworth Publishing Company.
- The Stage and the School by Harry H. Schanker and Katherine Anne Ommanney. Glencoe McGraw Hill.
- Theatre Through the Ages by Michael Krammer. Mark Twain Media/Carson-Dellosa Publishing Company.
- Actor’s Book of Classical Monologues, collected and introduced by Stefan Rudnicki. Penguin Books.
For Teachers and Students:
- KET’s Humanities Through the Arts course comes with extensive online resources for both teachers and students (www.dl.ket.org/humanities).
top
Open Response Assessment
Prompt:
As a director, you are considering directing a Greek play, but you are having difficulty deciding whether to adhere to the style in which Greeks would have produced/performed it or whether to modernize it and use realistic scenery and costumes.
Directions:
- Identify the style you have decided to use (classic Greek or modernized version).
- Compare and contrast the two styles and justify why you think it is important to produce the play in the style you have chosen.
Open Response Scoring Guide
| 4 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
| Student demonstrates extensive knowledge of Greek and modern theater styles and applies this knowledge consistently and effectively. Student communicates this knowledge and understanding effectively, with insightful use of supporting examples and/or details. |
Student demonstrates broad knowledge of Greek and modern theater styles and applies this knowledge effectively. Student communicates this knowledge and understanding effectively, using supporting examples and/or details. |
Student demonstrates basic knowledge of Greek and modern theater styles and makes some correct application of this knowledge. Student communicates this knowledge and understanding using some supporting examples and/or details. |
Student demonstrates limited knowledge of Greek and modern theater styles and makes inappropriate or underdeveloped application of this knowledge. Student communicates this knowledge ineffectively, with little or no supporting examples and/or details. |
Student offers blank or irrelevant response. |
top
Performance Assessment
Performance Event:
Your school is holding a “Greek Week,” and you are asked to create a short performance piece in keeping with the week’s theme.
Directions:
- Choose a monologue from The Actor’s Book of Classical Monologues that you would like to perform. You will also need to read the entire play in order to understand the character’s motivation and who he/she is before you begin working on your characterization.
- Dressed in period costume and mask, perform your monologue for an audience.
Performance Scoring Guide
| 4 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
| Student completes assignment effectively, exhibiting extensive understanding of the elements of performance and drama. Student demonstrates extensive critical thinking skills and creativity in completing the assignment. Student completes all aspects of the task in an incisive and thorough manner. |
Student completes assignment effectively, exhibiting broad understanding of the elements of performance and the elements of drama. Student demonstrates broad critical thinking skills and creativity in completing the assignment. Student successfully completes all aspects of the task. |
Student completes assignment, exhibiting basic understanding of the elements of performance and the elements of drama. Student demonstrates basic use of critical thinking skills and creativity in completing the assignment. Student partially completes the task and/or is unsuccessful in attempts to address some aspects of the task. |
Student works on assignment, exhibiting minimal understanding of the elements of performance and the elements of drama. Student demonstrates little use of critical thinking skills and creativity in completing the assignment. Student minimally completes the task, showing minimal interest or enthusiasm. |
Student shows little or no evidence of having addressed the task. |
top
Writing To Communicate
- Literary: Adapt a Greek myth or an original myth into a script.
- Transactive: Write a feature article about a Greek playwright you have researched or a play you have read, showing why the playwright or play still has meaning for contemporary audiences.
top
Extensions for Diverse Learners
- Have students select and produce a scene or scenes from a classic Greek tragedy or comedy. Ask them to provide an introduction to the scene that puts it into context.
- Create a three-dimensional replica or a drawing of a Greek theater.
- Adapt a modern story into ancient Greek theatrical style.
- Create character masks for a dramatic production.
top
Applications Across the Curriculum
Language Arts
- Read a play written by Sophocles, Euripides, or Aeschylus.
Science
- Research the scientific achievements of the Bronze and/or the Athenian Age.
Social Studies
- Compare and contrast the Greek city/state political system to the American democratic system.
Practical Living
- Participate in Olympic sports or sponsor your own Olympics. Provide support or assistance for a Special Olympics event.
Vocational Studies
- Interview a person with a degree in philosophy and ask him or her to share knowledge about Aristotle (or an overview of Greek philosophy) with you.
top
Academic Content
Essential Questions
- How do I recognize and describe works of drama from various cultures and historical periods?
- How does drama reflect cultures, periods in history, and styles?
- How do I use the elements of drama to create and perform?
Targeted Academic Expectation(s):
- 2.22: Students create works of art and make presentations to convey a point of view.
- 2.23: Students analyze their own and others’ artistic products and performances using accepted standards.
- 2.24: Students have knowledge of major works of art, music, and literature and appreciate creativity and the contributions of the arts and humanities.
- 2.25: In the products they make and the performances they present, students show that they understand how time, place, and society influence the arts and humanities such as languages, literature, and history.
Program of Studies/Achievement Standards:
- Analyze influences of history and culture in the writing, production, and performance of dramatic works.
- Compare how dramatic works from various cultures and historical periods reveal universal themes.
- Apply knowledge and skills of elements of performance (e.g., monologue, dialogue, soliloquy, character motivation, voice, sensory recall) to interpret dramatic works.
Core Content for Assessment:
- AH-H-3.2.31: Identify specific dramatic works viewed as belonging to particular styles, cultures, times, and places.
- AH-H-3.2.35: Analyze and classify dramatic works from various periods, styles, and cultures (see A&H reference chart) by considering clues such as style, setting, costume, movement, language, and stage directions.
- AH-H-3.3.33: Classical Greece and Rome: 800 BC-400 AD. Instructs and perfects humans; ritual worship. Presents the universal ideal of beauty through logic, order, reason, and moderations. Tragedy—Sophocles.
top
|
