The scope and sequence that I have developed is realistic with a rational progression. Using the KUD format that has been instilled in me through years of Differentiated Instruction training, I have tried to identify what I believe to be the most important information for my students to know, what is crucial for them to understand, and how these two components combined culminate into what they are expected to do. As I tentatively placed ideas and concepts within the 6-week boxes for four years of education, I began to notice themes emerging that I used to title each level: Level 1 – Foundations, Level 2 – Risk-Taking, Level 3 – Style & Approach, and Level 4 – Freeing the Voice Within.
 

Level 1- Foundations is designed to give students the lexicon and concepts most crucial to their development throughout the following years. In looking at the first six weeks, one thing that I have accounted for, as the class is an introductory course and students come and go for a while, is an activity that will get them up in front of the peers as well as developing trust as they present the things and ideas they hold most dear through their Ya-Ya Boxes. After the roster has settled, our focus will go towards learning the fundamentals of theatre, which include the types of stages, the parts of a stage, and the stage areas and body positions. Additionally, they will present a pantomime, and while watching their peers, demonstrate their comprehension of audience etiquette. In the second six weeks, students will learn and apply a vocal warm-up to their daily regiment and participate in improvisational activities. In the third six weeks students will explore the hierarchical structure of roles and responsibilities within the theatre. Throughout the fourth six weeks, the students will read and apply script analysis skills. The fifth six weeks will illustrate the historical context of the theatre. Then, in the sixth six weeks, students will apply the whole of the first year of theatre towards selecting, learning, and scoring a complete scene to be work shopped and performed in class. I feel as though this particular progression in the first year will give the student a well-rounded perspective of the theatre, even if they do not choose to advance to the Theatre Level 2 – Risk-Taking. 

 

Level 2 – Risk-Taking is designed to give a more comprehensive understanding of techniques related to acting, and bring students out of their comfort zone by demanding bold choices. Whether learning elements of action, guideposts, commedia, musical theatre or movement techniques, any of these units require students to have a strong understanding of their circumstances and that they follow-thru with conviction. Any wavering in their choices will be visibly and vocally evident. The unit in puppetry frees student to make bold choices through making inanimate objects animate. 

 

Level 3 – Style and Approach is a further commitment to the various acting techniques and styles building upon those featured in Level 2- Risk – Taking. Students will have in-depth experiences with Anne Bogart’s Viewpoints, Adler, Hagen, Meisner, and Spolin, to advance their pre-existing knowledge with movement and Stanislavski’s elements of action. In addition, this class will be used to further develop students’ monologue repertoire for college auditions. 

 

Level 4 – Freeing the Voice Within is both a literal and figurative approach to the student’s fourth year of actor training that focuses on both the literal voice and their figurative internal voice. In their fourth year of study students will apply the IPA to their transcription of both the British and Irish dialects. In addition, students will write their own plays, direct one of their peer’s, then produce an evening of student written-directed one-act plays.

As their four years of theatre training begins and ends with an emphasis on the interdependence of theatrical elements, I feel there is something almost poetic about the scope and sequence put forth here.  It all begins with students understanding how many elements of the theatre rely upon one another, then ends with them actually being able to sit at the helm of all of those components coming together. In the in-between, students are able to really cultivate their acting skills by building upon each pre-existing block of understanding.