Program Updates – Drama & PE – October 2024

Drama

This week, the 8th-grade class had the exciting opportunity to learn from Seattle playwright Maggie Lee, whose award-winning work spans genres like science fiction, horror, and action-adventure, with productions across the U.S. and internationally. Maggie shared her expertise in crafting engaging plays, guiding students through the importance of building real, multi-dimensional characters and writing dialogue that drives the story’s central conflict. She highlighted the power of world-building and effective stage directions, while also stressing the importance of collaboration and deadlines in bringing a play to life. Most importantly, Maggie emphasized that plays are meant to be heard out loud, and that workshopping them by reading them aloud is essential. Parents and guardians should expect to be asked by their child to set up times for this throughout the playwriting process, as this will be a key part of developing their scripts!

In 7th-grade Drama, we’ve focused on collaboration through improv while reviewing foundational skills to prepare for our devising project. We began by exploring favorite stories and discussing what makes them meaningful, with an eye toward incorporating these elements into our own work. As we moved into improv, students practiced making and accepting offers through games like “Only Questions” and “The Johnson File.” We practice turning the work from these games into short scenes. A key part of our work has been ensuring that, even when choices are funny or unusual, they align with our values and show respect for our own and others’ identities and experiences. By emphasizing positive collaboration and creative risk-taking, students are not only refining their performance skills but also building an inclusive and supportive environment for their group projects.

In 6th-grade Drama, we’ve focused on community building through creative activities that encourage students to make intentional choices with their bodies and collaborate meaningfully. We began by exploring mime and creating space, emphasizing that “everything is a choice” and encouraging students to be mindful of their movements. Through playful activities like giving invisible gifts, creating imaginary rooms in pairs, and games like “I’m a Tree,” students practiced working together while sparking their imagination. As we moved into stage pictures and movement exercises, we continued developing the idea of making deliberate and interesting choices. Circle questions helped students connect personally, setting the tone for teamwork and collaboration. These activities are designed to not only develop drama skills but also strengthen the sense of community by encouraging students to support each other, take risks, and work together to create shared imaginative experiences.

PE

In PE, the students are graded on the P.A.C.E acronym which stands for Prepared, Attitude, Cooperation, and Effort.  They need to come to class prepared with proper clothes and shoes, have a positive attitude about everything, be kind and respectful at all times and put in effort into all activities.

The students have been playing volleyball and Speedball.  What’s Speedball you ask?  Great question!  It is a game played on a court or field with end zones (like Ultimate or Football) and goals in the middle of the end zone (like soccer pop-up goals).  To score a point, a player has to catch the ball in the endzone (like Ultimate or Football) or kick the ball into the goal (like soccer).  If the ball is on the ground, they are playing soccer.  But a player can convert it into their hands (Speedball mode) and play it like Ultimate, where the player with the ball cannot run with the ball but is trying to pass it to a teammate to move the ball up the field/court to score a touchdown.  If the ball falls to the ground, it is instantly soccer again.  The students LOVE this game and play it during lunch all the time.  I’d guess that this is a top 2 favorite unit for most of the students.  The next unit will be basketball.