Beginning

Student #1

The students went to see The Barber of Seville and they each got a ‘backstage pass’ work book to read about the characters, plot and other elements of the story. They seemed very excited about writing reviews of the show. We look forward to having them create their own story based on the Opera that they saw.

Student #2

The students created their own story with certain parameters. They were instructed to use the characters from The Barber of Seville and put them in a whole new setting. Then they were able to use narrative techniques to design an original story. We encouraged them to think about the information they learned in social studies lessons and incorporate that into the story. The 6th grade worked on Egypt and China this year and so they used those two settings in the play. The stories they came up with individually were very creative and showed that they understood the instructions we gave them. Then the students voted on the stories they liked the best and used that to write a final outline and finally dialogue for the show!

Student #3

We are working on teamwork this year. Ms. De Guzman and I decided to build on what we did last year and have the students pick a specialized job that they wanted to do. Each student had a choice of job for the final show. They learned about the different jobs in class and also when they went on the field trip to see the backstage of the Lyric Opera. We made graphic organizers for prop design, set design, story/script writing, composing, and costume design. This really made each student feel important, and they were more invested in helping with the final show.

Middle

Student #1

After the students finalized their story outline, we had the whole class work on dialogue writing. They were instructed to come up with relevant sentences that the characters would say to further the story. It was great to see how inventive they were with the dialogue. They added humor, action and relevant details to continue the storyline.

 

Student #2

The students took a ‘pivotal’ point in the story and created lyrics to enhance that part of the play. They each added rhythms to the lyrics and as a class we picked the best options. Then the class created a melody using note names and then listened to the succession of notes. Then as a class they voted on their favorite melodies and finalized the song. It was excellent to see them working as a team and making choices to create the best possible option.

Student #3

Once the script was finished, the students read over the script and made the necessary revisions. This is a board the three grades helped create. It has the edited scripts and also quotes of pivotal moments the students had during this whole process. It is very rewarding to see the student take pride and ownership in their work while still using a critical eye to make it even better.

End

Student #1

The 6th grade was the most difficult show to cast. They had quite a few characters and a lot of the students were shy about auditioning in front of their classmates. We made some slight changes to the cast even after it was set. The final cast is working well together, and they really seem to be enjoying the rehearsal process.

Student #2

The script writing was a multi-step process. First, the students improvised dialogue for the story outline they created. Then they each wrote dialogue for a portion of the show. We collected and compiled the dialogue and pieced it together from their writing. Then we allowed the students to edit the script and give suggestions for the final draft. This process was very successful in creating a sense of ownership and pride for the students in their work. The students were very excited when they saw the lines they had composed appear in the final script. Their writing showed improvement and an enhanced creativity. The 6th grade used ideas from their social studies lessons on Egypt and China. Their script turned out to be very elaborate and the writing had a good mix of substance and comedic moments. As they were editing the script the student worked well as a team and this was especially exciting to observe in this class. They continued to edit small details even during the ‘staging’ process of the show. The final show title is now ‘The Portal’, which was decided by a majority class vote.

Student #3

The final show presentation will be videotaped on May 21st in the evening. The students have created their own fully staged musical with costumes, sets, props, orchestra and chorus.