Unit 3 — Aesthetic Response
Description
This unit focuses on developing students' ability to review and critique theater events, understand personal aesthetic, and respond to theatrical works. Students learn to critique themselves and others in a respectful and constructive manner and compare art forms including film, television, and other media.
Essential Questions
- What are some methods that can be used to support and critique yourself and your peers in positive way?
- How can you review a theater event based on the elements found in the performance and production of the dramatic work being observed?
Learning Objectives
- Review a theater event based on observed elements in theater performance and production.
- Understand theater as a shared communal experience between audience and actor.
- Develop an understanding of personal aesthetic and choice as related to production intent.
- Critique themselves and others in a respectful and constructive manner.
- Use reflection and analysis to evaluate their work and the work of their peers in a productive way.
- Compare, connect, and incorporate art forms by describing and analyzing methods of presentation and audience response for theater and dramatic media, including film, television, electronic media, and other art forms.
Supplemental Resources
- Broadway Video Clip - The Lion King: 'Circle of Life'
- Broadway Video Clip - Matilda the Musical: 'When I Grow Up'
- Broadway Video Clip - Annie Live: 'It's the Hard-Knock Life'
- Glossary of Terms
Visual Arts - Creating
Visual Arts - Presenting
Visual Arts - Responding
Students engage in collaborative discussions, build on others' ideas, and express their own ideas clearly. Students read and interpret dramatic texts, analyze character development and themes, and write narratives and reflections about theatrical performances and experiences.
Students explore how theatre reflects cultural values and historical contexts. Students analyze the perspectives of different cultures and time periods through dramatic works, examine how communities express themselves through theatre, and investigate historical events and figures through performance and research.
Students demonstrate movement sequences in response to rhythm and music. Students explain and correct movement errors in response to feedback and explain how changes improve performance.
Formative Assessments
- Teacher observation: Use a variety of vocal tones and breath control to create a character's feelings and mood.
- Teacher observation: Use basic analysis skills to perform a character within a scene.
- Performance rubrics
- Performance task checklist
- Self reflection - Mapping ones journey
- Critique a performance of script using predeveloped criteria.
- Pair-share
- Peer evaluation and observation
- Analyzing primary source documents on the history of theatre in various cultures.
- Conduct short research projects on the cultural origins of theatre to support analysis, reflection, and research.
- Use technology to create a presentation
- Evaluate informal in class performances and video evidence of student performances using observation, discussions, drawings, video, and simple student-created rubrics.
Summative Assessment
Students write and present a theater review of a live or recorded performance, identifying specific elements of acting, design, and direction while explaining how these choices connect to the production's intent and their personal aesthetic response. The review demonstrates their ability to critique theatrical work respectfully and compare how similar themes or characters appear across different art forms.
Benchmark Assessment
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Alternative Assessment
Students may demonstrate aesthetic response through visual or oral critique instead of written review, such as drawing what they observed in a performance or discussing their thoughts in a one-on-one conversation with the teacher. Visual aids like emotion charts or performance element cards may support identification of theatrical choices.
IEP (Individualized Education Program)
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Section 504
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ELL / MLL
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At Risk (RTI)
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Gifted & Talented
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