In other news, the 4th and 5th grade musical has been selected and it is................
Tryouts will be in January and the performances will be the following dates and times:
Friday, May 12th - 7 pm
Saturday, May 13th - 2 pm
Sunday, May 14th - 2 pm
Tickets are $5 and seating is limited. We will keep you posted on when the tickets will go on sale! The performances will be here in the BMA gymnasium.
I have been locked out of my blog account and haven't been able to access it, but for some reason it opened like a charm today when I tried! It may be something with the school server!
I have so much news to share with you. First, we've been working on a character study unit with K and 1st grade. They have watched clips from Disney's "The Little Mermaid" and Disney's "Aladdin" on broadway and taken a closer look at two characters from those shows - Ursula and the Genie. Ask your kids to tell you some of the words we used to describe those characters! We also talked about ourselves, how we change and adapt our character traits based on our environment and what is happening to us on a daily basis. Check out the clip of the Genie and Aladdin on the Tony awards below.
2nd and 3rd grade are currently working on performing a readers theater play called "The Halloween Hustle" in class. They're getting experience with acting and directing. We will perform our scenes for each other this week and next.
4th and 5th are finishing up a readers theater unit as well. 4th grade has worked on the play "Pocahontas: Between Two Worlds" as a connection to social studies and 5th has worked on "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow." The students in both grades will be acting our specific scenes for each other this week as well.
It's been a bit since I've posted. There are so many amazing things going on here and I want to make sure to include them all! We've officially chosen our cast for The Reindeer Whisperer. 2nd and 3rd grade classes continue to work on the music for our performance. We also will be reading a spooky reader's theatre play and talking about our voices, and how they convey the character, in the upcoming weeks.
4th and 5th grade have been working on a pretty intense project - designing a treasure map, brainstorming a storyline to go with it, and finally (this week), designing a storyboard to show the plot of their story. I will post pics as soon as they're completed! We've also had time for a little fun, learning to use our bodies to tell a story. Check out the pics - hard at work, then hard at play
In K and 1st, we've been comparing and contrasting movies and musicals using The Lion King. Check out what we've watched below:
Letters and permission slips for the after school auditions were sent home yesterday to select students who have demonstrated excellent behavior, work ethic, and performance ability during theatre class since the beginning of the school year. The permission slips are due back no later than Monday, September 19th. The auditions will take place on Thursday, September 22nd from 3 to 4:30pm. On Friday, the students will be notified of our final selections for the cast.
If your student wasn't chosen to audition, we'd still love for them to be in the show as a member of the chorus. The time commitment isn't as large but we would still expect them to come to exhibit night on Nov. 17th and to the full performance on Friday, Dec. 2nd. I will be sending more info. home about the chorus after auditions are completed next week. Please don't hesitate to e-mail me with any questions you have!
We are doing an "in class" audition for our holiday musical, The Reindeer Whisperer, this week. I will be sending home invitations for students who have demonstrated great work ethic, behavior, and a commitment to learning in my classroom, to come after school and go through a formal audition process. Those invitations will go home next Wednesday, Sept. 14th.
The audition and all practices will take place on Thursdays only. The students will be performing a vignette on exhibit night (Nov. 17th) and performing the whole show on Dec. 1st (and possibly Dec. 2nd if we have enough interest). Once the show is over, 2nd and 3rd will be finished with after school rehearsals for the year, for my class. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to e-mail me at amanda.taylor2@knoxschools.org
This week in theatre we're finishing watching "Annie, Jr." in grades 2 through 5 and the students are writing a review or critique of the performance. These reviews are important, as they allow me to showcase each student's growth over the year. This first one is a benchmark, to show where they were with their knowledge at the beginning of the year. We will learn more about them and work on them over the course of the year and complete more as the year goes on!
The first grade students watched a clip of "Step in Time" from Broadway's "Mary Poppins" and focused their performance reviews on the characters of "Mary" and "Burt." Please watch the video below! It's a great moment!!!
Our K classes talked about what it is to be a good audience, and then practiced those skills while watching the "Matilda, the musical" performance from the Tony awards. It can also be found on youtube!
2nd - 5th grades - This week we will be starting a two-part lesson. We will be watching our first performance - the musical "Annie," which has been adapted to a junior version for younger audiences. We will begin by talking about what it means to be an appropriate audience (standard 6.4) and will also be writing a review of the performance (standards 7.1 and 7.2). If you've never seen the Tennessee elementary theatre standards, check them out on www.tn.gov.
K and 1st - Will be completing a one-part lesson, which will focus on being an appropriate audience. We will watch clips from various musicals, which will give the students a chance to show me what they've learned. We will also be working on movement while following directions.
This week, all grade levels will be making a connection to reading class as we review/explore characters, setting, and plot. We will also be talking about problem/conflict and solution. We will review using the following books:
4th and 5th - Mustache by Mac Barnett
2nd and 3rd - Alexander, Who Used to be Rich Last Sunday by Judith Viorst
1st - I Wanna Iguana by Karen Kaufman Orloff
Please ask your student to tell you about the book when they come home! Telling and retelling stories are an important part of the theatre class!
I look forward to meeting you on August 30th at Open House!
Tuesday, July 26, 2016
Hi Friends!
I'm so excited to begin my 10th year of teaching with you at Beaumont. I'm also really excited to be piloting the new theatre program. The first week of school I'm hoping that we can get to know each other. I'll be introducing myself and sharing my "Me Bag" with you. Please come prepared to share some things about yourself with me as well. We will be discussing the routines and procedures for our class as well. I'm really looking forward to seeing you at "Back to School Night" on Wednesday, August 3rd from 4 to 6 pm. Get excited!!!!!!! See you soon.
