Dear Parents and students: I am so sad that we will not be able to present another parent performance this school year. This year's 9th grade drama classes have been so much fun for me. I just loved working with each 9th grade class on their part of the big Spring play that was to happen for the whole school in May. I truly believe that this would have been one of the most interesting plays that I have ever produced because the majority of our play this year was written by the students in each class. We were only planning to use one professionally written scene. The rest of our play was student written and was excellent. I really look forward to keeping in contact with the students and looking at the distance learning work that they will be creating. Starting Monday, April 6th my office hours will be from 11 AM to ! PM Monday through Friday. Please feel free to contact me by email if you have any questions or need any help with the Drama assignments or the enrichment activities.
The enrichment activities are OPTIONAL and are located on my google classroom. The code is 2s3cnjk This code will allow you to join the 9th grade enrichment classroom.
Week one assignment : Over the next few weeks we will be writing a monologue about how our life has suddenly changed. This week we will write paragraph one starting with the words, "Everything is different now." You may write this monologue as yourself or you can create a fictional character with fictional details to write about.
Week 2 assignment: This week we will write paragraph 2 of the monologue. You might want to give some specific comparisons to how life was before Spring Break and how it is now.
Week 3 assignment: You are now ready to write your last paragraph for your monologue. This week we want to get at least one thing about this new day that you are having that is positive. What do you like about your new life and why? When life goes back to normal again, will you be able to somehow keep this new positive thing in your life or not? Think hard about ways you could work this positive thing into a life that gets busy again. If possible, email your paragraph to Mrs. Cawlfield.
Ex. My positive thing is that now I am going outside to help my husband with the yard work more than I did before. I really enjoy working with him outside and he thinks it is a special time together,also. So I am going to try hard to take the time to go out every time I can in the future to help him with whatever he is doing outside. Week 4: You have this week to practice your monologue. It would be great if you could memorize it this week. If you can not memorize it, just try to learn it enough that you do not have to read every word off your paper. Audiences like to see your eyes. Don’t try to learn every word---just the main ideas. Then just practice telling your thoughts to your audience. Your audience could be a sibling or parent. You could even practice it just in front of a mirror. Just have fun with practicing telling your story about this crazy time in our lives.
Optional: We have two weeks of school left this year. You might want to send a recording of yourself doing your monoloque to me. You do not have to do this, but I think it would be fun to learn to perform on camera. If you choose to do this, the instructions are below.
monologue video submission tips Video submission tips> Video record your monologue, and email it to me, upload it to the Google classroom, or upload it to YouTube as “unlisted”. This will make sure only those with the link will be able to view it and it won’t come up in search results.
If you use Youtube, email me the unlisted link to your video. Consider these ways to achieve the best quality video for your submission:
VIDEO: An iPhone or Android phone will do wonderfully.
LIGHTING: Find a place where there is an abundance of natural light in front of you if possible. Natural light coming from a window illuminating the actor’s face/body is best. You do not want there to be any bright windows or lights behind you – this will create shadows. If you do not have access to a window, consider arranging floor lamps, desk lamps or other lighting in front of you illuminating your face. You can even use other phones with their flash on to provide extra light in a pinch.
CLUTTER: Remove all clutter from the place you’ll be recording. This doesn’t mean the room or space can’t have character or personality, but it should feel neat and non-distracting.
SPACING: Ideally you don’t want to be right up against a wall, as it can make the viewer feel uncomfortable. Consider standing at least 12 inches or more from a wall.
AUDIO: Standing on a carpet or rug is best as it will make the room sound less echo-y. Close the doors and windows and make the room as quiet as possible so the only thing that can be heard is your voice. Standing further from a wall will also help to reduce echo reflections.
FRAMING: The video should be shot horizontally. You should be in the center of the frame with the bottom of the frame at the bottom of your chest and the top of the frame slightly above the top of your head.
SITTING OR STANDING: Ideally, the camera should remain stationary in one position throughout the scene otherwise you risk distracting your viewer. Don’t let the person behind the camera try any artsy or fancy camera movements.
I hope this helps! Enjoy the experience!! We are all learning new things.