Strategies
7 Step Lesson Plan
I don’t believe I need to do more than list the strategies of a 7 Step Lesson Plan for readers of this unit, so here they are as a reminder: “Do Now” as a warmup that leads into the larger project of work, “Direct Instruction” to demonstrate a method or lesson, followed by “Guided Practice” in order to support students attempting to learn how to comprehend the material or method(s), and “Independent Practice” in which students work out the process on their own in more depth. Ultimately, students reflect upon and reiterate the lesson in check-in of sorts I’ve been taught to call a brief “Review” in order for me as the teacher to remediate any misperceptions, re-enforce in the affirmative any accurate realizations, discoveries, and “Aha!” moments, however I enjoy using it as an opportunity to also have students share out and show off, even to present and teach the class themselves (depending upon the length of the class period---I typically have 90 minute periods…) and then I follow the review with a “Summative Assessment” in which to collect and evaluate for the last time what we have accomplished as a group. During the summative assessment I might be able to gather enough information to support or lead my students into another activity the next time, spinning off of the work we did, and in fact we are in this unit dependent upon such a daily assessment in order to fully pace ourselves, plot out the direction of the work we do, as well as engage ourselves in the effort that will yield a satisfying and rousing response from an audience of peers.
Peer Coaching/Editing
Throughout the activities to come in this unit, students will select roles according to their interests and talents, as well as learn about these “jobs”, of a sort, in order to both acquire and enhance the ability to achieve a sense of progress through process in forward motion, but also to “Learn the rules in order to break the rules”.
If Hamilton is a musical, theatrical production, then a classroom can provide the stage and lighting for a marvelous play of its own. While the classroom becomes a theater naturally, a teacher’s job is to be a Creator, not necessarily the Director: that role might be played by the gathered students. After all, they could always stage a revolt if they don’t like you very much; it is important to give them a sense of shared ownership of the project(s) you are to create together, so that they are invested in seeing it through to a successful end. Though a lot can be learned from failures, and students will and should reflect upon the conversation between theory and practice throughout any class work, in my classroom instruction I tend to gear all of my energy towards a positive experience for everyone as a whole.
Collaborative Production
The methods for putting on a theatrical production could fill an entire book, and have filled many, so I cannot in all reasonableness go into it in summary here, but I will say that it should involve (and I mean that word in all its best connotations) EVERYONE in the class. Even if someone’s only role is to hand out programs, though perhaps they could be encouraged to do more, that is the role they should own. That being said, there are countless roles in the making of a theatrical production, such as: Director, Choreographer, Actors, Costume Designer(s), Musical Accompaniment, Lighting, Stage Crew, Set Painter(s), and Advertising. In addition to these, there could be others, but I will suggest that everyone should touch stage at some point, even if only to walk across as a supporting character. I believe that every student should be given that honor, responsibility, and ownership, so that we all feel equally invested in the production.
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