Technology-Infused Lesson Plan

 Laban Efforts as Ghost Characters

Time: 90 minutes

Class: 9th Grade Drama

Materials: 

• Open, empty space

• Music playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2QTx8Q8cNqCyzZbvpFe6xW?si=Lu5uW7BMRW-FST_cNIpXRg

• Smart Board if available (or)

• Empty Laban chart via ppt: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1O-vMcBrOK348IjZnJ1gN-TgpbH4XiswjJ8ALHhsmDiA/edit?usp=sharing

• Recording materials for each group (Phone, basic video editing app)

Core Standards:

Standard L1.T.P.4:

Use body to communicate meaning through space, shape, energy, and gesture.

Standard L1.T.P.6:

Use imagination to inform artistic choices.

Standard L1.T.CO.3:

Examine contemporary social, cultural, or global issues through different forms of drama/theatre work.

Learning Objective: Students will identify and understand Laban’s Efforts, and use them in pedestrian ways to embody and therefore better understand the characters in Jason Reynolds’ Ghost.

Assessment(s): 

Formative: Movement exploration/energy exercise (See hook below)

Summative: Students will create short videos in groups and post them on the class blogs (and commenting on one another’s creations), utilizing both Laban’s efforts and intentional music choice to portray one or more characters from Ghost.

Hook/Warmup: 

Walking about the room, soft focus. Using imagination, the room becomes filled with {peanut butter, water, whipped cream, intense wind, a trampoline, marshmallows}. How does this change movement qualities? (10 minutes)

Transition: 

Standing in a circle, quick conversation about body positivity and movement (how movement is different than dance, reminding everyone that the body is an instrument rather than an ornament, etc). Reaffirm soft focus (no one will be watching to judge, we are all looking silly together), and challenge them to explore with different body parts leading and different areas of the room. Ask what they observed in the warmup, how they moved about the space (direct? Indirect? Heavy? light?) (5 minutes)

Instruction/Exploration

Pull up blank Laban chart on smart board (or, if needed, via powerpoint or poster board), write only the column lines and the words time, space, weight:

Briefly explain Time, Space, and Weight. Invite students to choose each element and fill in the chart with their help in the following way:

• Invite a student to choose quick or slow. Write their choice into the first space.

• Invite a different student to choose direct or indirect. Write their choice into the chart.

• Invite a different student to choose strong or light. Write their choice into the chart.

• Reference the chart above, and find which Laban Effort matches their element choices. Write that into the chart.

Briefly model/introduce the effort, inviting students to try it out/get it in their body for a minute each. (25 minutes)

Media Component: After students have the opportunity to explore each effort, utilize music in a similar way to the hook: play songs of different styles, and instruct students to move in the effort they feel is most connected to the song being played. Use at least five clips from varying styles. (5 minutes)

Application Questions: Come together as a class to discuss the following: (5 minutes)

• Is there an effort that you feel most comfortable/at home exploring?

• Is there one that feels foreign to you?

Application Activity Introduction:

Explain that the activities help to understand the efforts and get them into your body, but onstage they might look a little different. Choose the effort that felt most comfortable, and start with large abstract movement, but explore what subtle and pedestrian ways you can still apply the effort. (use modeling, including discussing which one feels most at home to me) (10 minutes)

Application Practice:

Now we will try this with characters. Specifically, students will choose characters from the book Ghost. Once a character is chosen, have them close their eyes and guide them in a character activity.

• Think about the character you have chosen. What makes them happy? Try to visualize it.

• What makes them nervous/scared?

• Where do they feel most at home?

• Where do they hold the most tension? How does this change when they are afraid, excited?

• What do you think is their home effort?

Have students open their eyes, still in character, and explore that effort. Start abstract and gradually become more pedestrian. Move about the room and prompt them to try different efforts, especially those that feel least comfortable/make the least sense for the character. (10 minutes)

Application Assessment:

In groups of two-four, students will create a minute-or-less video with the remaining class time (20 minutes) that a) shows them utilizing Laban’s efforts to portray a distinct character from Ghost, and b) includes a clip from a song which also most reflects that character/Laban’s effort. This video should be posted on the class blog by the end of the day, along with a short description utilizing the following questions as a guide:

• What did you learn about the characters from Ghost through this exercise?

• How can Laban’s efforts be applied to traditional theatre, like being in a play?

• What surprised you as you explored?

• What is your major takeaway from the lesson?

Students will be responsible to comment on at least three other videos/blog posts before the following class period, utilizing the following questions as a guide:

• How did you know what efforts your classmates were using?

• What did you notice as you watched your classmates?

Accommodations:

For hard of hearing/deaf students, I will wear a microphone and supply earphones to amplify the music for those sections of exploration. If headphones are not available, I will more heavily utilize modeling and instruct those students to observe their classmates and/or the vibration of the music to guide their exploration/choices.

For students with mobility concerns/disabilities, I will provide modeling that shows how Laban’s efforts can be completed using only the top half of the body, or even isolating it to one portion of the body.

For English Language Learners, I will be sure to minimize the lengthy or ongoing instruction; instead, I will utilize a lot of modeling and check in frequently with those students for understanding.

For gifted students, I will challenge them to explore a character we don’t spend as much time with in the book; otherwise, this lesson doesn’t necessarily lend itself to being ‘too easy’ for any one group of learners.

Rationale:

This lesson is an important stepping stone towards physical theatre, a major concept in the drama classroom. It challenges students in new ways while utilizing scaffolding to ensure they are ready. This lesson especially lends itself to explore Ghost in a deeper way because movement is a universal language. Taking a moment to physically step into a character who is quite different from oneself is valuable practice in empathy, which is something drama class teaches best. Utilizing music as an inspiration and impetus is especially valuable to the lesson, which transforms the drama work into a multi-discipline exercise as well as a digital media-infused lesson.