Complete Drama

Getting into trouble

The theme of this lesson is ‘getting into trouble’. Students form small groups of two or three to create a freeze frame of ‘getting caught’. They develop these into a series of freeze frames which include thoughts aloud and thought-tracking. Some of the work is shown informally and then students evaluate the work they have seen.

Techniques	Thoughts aloud, thought-tracking, freeze frame
Vocabulary	Thoughts aloud, thought-tracking, freeze frame
Key areas	Freeze frame, prepared improvisation, marking the moment

Objectives

To develop key elements of a story.
To understand the theme in this project.
To revisit some drama techniques.

Starter

Set up a whole class discussion on the question ‘What is petty crime?’ This lesson is about revisiting techniques which have already been introduced, but there is a new project theme. By using freeze frames, students can focus on the story rather than on the technique.

What is ‘petty’? What is the difference between petty and major crime?

Response

Ask students to form small groups of two or three. The groups should produce freeze frames of getting caught committing a petty crime, such as shoplifting.

What crime are you showing? How are you going to show this clearly?

Development

Ask students to develop their freeze frames into ‘photo stories’ (a series of freeze frames). The teacher should thought-track some of the characters. Students should develop their pieces with thoughts aloud.

Which parts of the story are most important? How are you going to move from one to the other? How does your character feel? How are you going to show this? What would your character say at this moment?

How does this change your relationship to the audience? How can you get your message across to the audience?

One half of the class should show their work to the other half, and then the two halves should swap around.

Plenary

As a class, discuss the pieces seen and the story.

Was the storyline clear? Was it clear who the characters were? How could you make this clearer? How would you feel in this situation in real life? How could you ensure that this situation did not happen to you?

Homework

Students should complete the following sheet:

Shoplifting: Diary