Performing Arts Content Standards
6th thru 8th Grades

Creative Expression: Students develop knowledge and skills in acting, directing and script writing through their own experience and imagination as well as through their research of literature and history. They create and perform theatrical productions and explore the elements and technology of theatrical production through varied media. The students demonstrate an understanding of the forms and elements of theatre and the various activities of the actor, director, scriptwriter, and technical artist by participating in the collaborative process that occurs among them. They will create original works of theatre and perform works created by others. And, the students improve their theatrical skills by creating and performing theatre.

Historical and Cultural Context: Students research relationships between theatre and dramatic literature, history and culture. They investigate major themes, historical periods, and styles of theatre in various cultures throughout the world. The students demonstrate an understanding of works in theatre from a cultural and historical perspective. They will demonstrate an understanding of major theatre traditions in a variety of times and places.

Aesthetic Values: Students describe, analyze, interpret, and derive meaning from works in theatre. They develop criteria and then make critical judgments about and determine the quality of theatre experiences and performances based on elements and principles of theatre. The students demonstrate an understanding that specific criteria can be developed and used to assess the merits and qualities of works in theatre. They will develop their own criteria for making critical judgments about the quality of theatre and electronic media productions. The students will demonstrate an understanding of theatrical form and content in theatre.

Artistic Perception: Students perceive the environment and respond, using movement and voice. They observe informal productions, films, and electronic media and respond to them, using the vocabulary of theatre. The students will demonstrate an understanding of works in theatre by analyzing and interpreting what is presented through voice, movement, and visual effects in informal productions, theatrical productions, films, and electronic media. The students will use theatre vocabulary in their discussions and descriptions of those various productions in theatre.

District-wide, students learn to express themselves using their imagination, memory and observation, together with the tools in theatre expression. Students learn to value self-expression without fear; through continued opportunities in public speaking and learning the artistic process. The drama program in the upper-elementary grades, especially at the Middle School level, places experience and technique at the center; aesthetics, criticism, and theatre history grow out of the many creative experiences.

MVMS theatre curriculum builds upon the K-5 elementary program. It introduces students to age-appropriate elements of creative and critical thinking skills and processes which prepare them for future experiences in the performing arts and extend to all areas of life. Through the continued practice of creating, discussing and using theatre techniques, and refining those techniques, students are able to begin to see themselves – or at least, identify it in others – as theatre artists.

The theatre curriculum at the Middle School is embodied in three, distinct areas of opportunity and experience: 1) across the curriculum classroom presentations; 2) grade-level drama activities; 3) the school-wide Spring Production. All students at MVMS have the experience and opportunity to participate in at least two of these areas.

SIXTH GRADE BENCHMARKS:

Creative Expression
Perform scenes that provide a wide range of character types requiring varied speech and movement.
Write monologues, scenes, or short one-act palys, including dialogue, action, and scenic movements.
Us the appropriate level of acting skills in roles and improvisations incorporating the five senses, concentrating on breath control, diction, facial expression, volume, body movement, and vocal expression.

Artistic Perception
Describe and analyze short dramatizations in terms of the visual elements, vocal elements, movement, setting and script.
Show, through ensemble playing, how group dynamics affect a theatrical piece.
Demonstrate an understanding that subtle movement can communicate ideas.
Demonstrate how theatre is integrated with the other art forms: dance; music; and the visual arts.

Aesthetic Values
Develop and apply appropriate criteria in critiquing their own classroom dramatizations.
Develop and apply appropriate criteria in critiquing the work of others.

Historical and Cultural Context
Identify, compare and contrast similar characters and situations in stories and dramas from and about various cultures.
Study and perform dramatic adaptations of cultural stories using appropriate period costume and speech.

MIDDLE SCHOOL EXPERIENCES:

Area 1: Across the Curriculum Classroom Presentations
Most disciplines at the Middle School incorporate theatre-related skills activities in the classroom, such as: book reports, projects presentations, speeches, demonstrations, and skits.

Area 2: Grade-level Activities
Sixth graders participate in Martin Luther King, Jr. Day dramatic speech performance.

Area 3: Spring Production
Each spring, the Middle School stages a musical that all students are elegible to audition for. This participation may take the form of acting, singing, dancing, set design and building, lighting and stage administration.

District-wide, students learn to express themselves using their imagination, memory and observation, together with the tools in theatre expression. Students learn to value self-expression without fear; through continued opportunities in public speaking and learning the artistic process. The drama program in the upper-elementary grades, especially at the Middle School level, places experience and technique at the center; aesthetics, criticism, and theatre history grow out of the many creative experiences.

MVMS theatre curriculum builds upon the K-5 elementary program. It introduces students to age-appropriate elements of creative and critical thinking skills and processes which prepare them for future experiences in the performing arts and extend to all areas of life. Through the continued practice of creating, discussing and using theatre techniques, and refining those techniques, students are able to begin to see themselves – or at least, identify it in others – as theatre artists.

The theatre curriculum at the Middle School is embodied in three, distinct areas of opportunity and experience: 1) across the curriculum classroom presentations; 2) grade-level drama activities; 3) the school-wide Spring Production. All students at MVMS have the experience and opportunity to participate in at least two of these areas.

SEVENTH GRADE BENCHMARKS

Creative Expression
Participate as director and/or part of the technical crew in the planning and performance of group dramatization.
Participate in a number of drama activities, including pantomime, improvisation, monologue and dialogue.
Demonstrate visual, auditory and kinesthetic memory.
Act in formal scenes and performances using acquired knowledge in learning scripted theatre literature, including plot, theme, characters, and dialogue.
Create a character showing physical, emotional, and environmental influences.

Artistic Perception
Use appropriate theatre terminology to describe how the following are used to convey an idea or emotion in theatre: forms; setting; script; visual elements; vocal elements; and elements of movement.
Identify various theatrical genres.
Identify stage terms and directions.

Aesthetic Values
Describe and evaluate the perceived effectiveness of students’ contributions as playwrights, actors, etc.
Analyze the interrelation of content, specific techniques, and purpose of works in theatre.
Historical and Cultural Context
Research the cultural and historical background of a specific play.

MIDDLE SCHOOL EXPERIENCES:

Area 1: Across the Curriculum Classroom Presentations
All disciplines at the Middle School incorporate theatre-related activities in the classroom, such as book reports, projects presentations, speeches, demonstrations, and skits.

Area 2: Grade-level Activities
All Seventh Graders participate in Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, performed in the spring within their Language Arts class.
All Seventh Graders are exposed to in-depth language study of Shakespeare.
All Seventh Graders participate by researching, writing, memorizing and performing – in character – the life of an historical Medieval figure.

Area 3: Spring Production
Each spring, the Middle School stages a musical that all students are eligible to audition for. This participation may take the form of acting, singing, dancing, set design and building, lighting and stage administration.

District-wide, students learn to express themselves using their imagination, memory and observation, together with the tools in theatre expression. Students learn to value self-expression without fear; through continued opportunities in public speaking and learning the artistic process. The drama program in the upper-elementary grades, especially at the Middle School level, places experience and technique at the center; aesthetics, criticism, and theatre history grow out of the many creative experiences.

MVMS theatre curriculum builds upon the K-5 elementary program. It introduces students to age-appropriate elements of creative and critical thinking skills and processes which prepare them for future experiences in the performing arts and extend to all areas of life. Through the continued practice of creating, discussing and using theatre techniques, and refining those techniques, students are able to begin to see themselves – or at least, identify it in others – as theatre artists.

The theatre curriculum at the Middle School is embodied in three, distinct areas of opportunity and experience: 1) across the curriculum classroom presentations; 2) grade-level drama activities; 3) the school-wide Spring Production. All students at MVMS have the experience and opportunity to participate in at least two of these areas.

EIGHTH GRADE BENCHMARKS

Creative Expression
Participate as director and/or part of the technical crew in the planning and performance of group dramatization.
Participate in a number of drama activities including pantomime, improvisation, monologue and dialogue.
Demonstrate visual, auditory and kinesthetic memory.
Explore the characteristics of multimedia, video, and film dramatic presentations.
Present scenes and performances using acquired knowledge in learning scripted theatre literature, including plot, theme, characters and dialogue.
Create a character showing physical, emotional, and environmental influences.

Artistic Perception
Use appropriate theatre terminology to describe how the following are used to convey an idea or emotion in theatre; setting script; visual elements; vocal elements; and elements of movement.

Historical and Cultural Context
Explain how culture affects production values of theatrical pieces.
Research the cultural and historical background of a specific play.

MIDDLE SCHOOL EXPERIENCES:

Area 1: Across the Curriculum Classroom Presentations
All disciplines at the Middle School incorporate theatre-related skills activities in the classroom such as book reports, projects presentations, speeches, demonstrations, and skits.

Area 2: Grade-level Activities
The Eighth Grade curriculum emphasizes oral presentations, speeches (using the ETF format), and poetry readings. While all of these types of dramatic readings have been attempted earlier in the students’ career, they are appropriately more formalized in the eighth grade and are incorporated into the Middle School exit portfolio.

Area 3: Spring Production
Each spring, the Middle School stages a musical that all students are eligible to audition for. This participation may take the form of acting, singing, dancing, set design and building, lighting and stage administration.