Drama

Mr.

Expectations: Always treat everyone with respect. If you always respect yourself, your classmates, and me, you will always show up on time and prepared to work; you will always be on your task and never distract a classmate from his or hers; you will always complete your work on time, and it will always be original and of the highest possible quality; and you will always practice respectfully free speech and expression. If those "for examples" leave anything out, just refer back to that sentence: Always treat everyone with respect. It applies to me, too, and in a sense, it is all that I expect from you.

Quality Work: It is important to clarify what I mean by the term. If your work is quality, it will be accepted; if it's not, it won't be. Quality work:

  • Is not ripped, crumpled, or excessively folded
  • Is completely appropriate for the audience and task
  • Is properly headed
  • It is up to you to know what is "proper" for the assignment
  • Is legible
  • Is formatted properly and consistently
  • Shows the student's full possible effort
  • Is entirely of the student's own work or of work that is properly and consistently attributed
  • Plagiarism is not always intentional, but the minimum consequences are always the same: a permanent Zero on the assignment for all students involved and one full day in In-School Suspension
  • These are rarely (and possibly are never) valid excuses:
  • "I didn't know."
  • "I put it into my own words."
  • "I listed all my sources at the end."

In this course:

  • Students are introduced to the fundamental concepts of drama.
  • Students will respectfully and fully participate in all classroom presentations and activities
  • Students will explore, perform, and critique various types of performances.
  • Students will contribute to the preparation and presentation of at least one class production.

Course Description: In this class, we will research and critique historical and contemporary forms of drama, including classic and contemporary plays, TV shows, and movies. We will explore cultural differences, presentation forms, and other factors that affect the communication of a character and/or message. We will incorporate historical and contemporary styles and techniques into our own portrayals. When we use something, we will know and be able to describe what and why; when we break with tradition, we will also know and be able to describe what and why.We will get to know each other and everyone’s individual style through improvisation games, scene presentations, and responses to script readings and clips of professional performances. Each assignment will count toward your grade. Please note that something doesn’t have to wind up on paper for it to be considered an assignment. Your performance during presentations, games, and as an audience member will affect your grade.Performance, discussion, and reflection are among the tools that will help you meet your goals, which are grounded in ODE's Arts Content Standards ( and the Essential Skills requirement of the Oregon Diploma ( specifically Essential Skill 9:

  • Demonstrate personal management and teamwork skills
  • Participate cooperatively and productively in work teams to identify and solve problems.
  • Display initiative and demonstrate respect for other team members to complete tasks.
  • Plan, organize, and complete assigned tasks accurately and on time.
  • Exhibit work ethic and performance, including the ability to be responsible and dependable.

Grading: Each assignment will be classified and weighted as one of three categories:

Type / Examples / Weight
Personal Management/Regular Assignments / Daily work; homework; participation / 50%
Assessments / Benchmark Assessments / Reviews; quizzes; some projects / 20%
Standards Assessments / Major tests; major projects / 30%

Late Work and Retakes: From the Student Handbook: “An excused absence from class allows the student to make-up missed work from an absence. However, the student must request their homework from their teachers the day they return or they may forfeit the opportunity to make up the missed work.The student is allowed the same number of days to complete the missed work as they were absent (i.e. if the student missed two days, they will have two days from their return to turn in their missing work). While a maximum of three days is the limit for making up work, arrangements may be made with an agreement between the student and the teacher for an extended period of time in special circumstances.”

Late work will not be accepted under any other circumstance. These lessons are designed to be completed during class time. The time is there if you choose to use it. Even with an excused absence, it will be difficult to make up work for this class.

In most cases, you will not be allowed to redo an assignment, but you will have multiple opportunities to “Meet” every standard, . For example, pretend that Project X and Project Y each tie into AR.CM.HC.02. You earn an 83% on Project X, but you don't quite meet the Standard; you aren't completely happy with that. You do a little better on Project Y: you earn a 90% and Meet the Standard. Both the Project X and Project Y grades will go into the gradebook, but only the second Standards score—the higher one—will go in, completely replacing the first Standards score. Your Standards score can only go up; it will never go down.

Unit / Assessment
Personal Management points (for example, “Participation and Respect”) will be an important part of EVERY activity
Winging It / Participation and Respect
Examples and Discussion
Workshop
Building Character / Participation and Respect
Examples and Discussion
Workshop
Project: Silence
The Play's the Thing / Participation and Respect
Examples and Discussion
Project: Scene
Pre-production / Read-through and follow-up
Auditions
Design
Participation and Respect
Production / Construction
Rehearsals
Performance(s)
Participation and Respect
Post-Production / Review: self
Review: cast and production
Clean-up
Participation and Respect

By signing below, we agree to be held to the terms of this syllabus.

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Student: Sign and date

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Parent/Guardian: Sign and date