Over the past few weeks 2nd grade students have been learning about aspects of Musical Theatre by exploring Disney's Frozen.
Below the Frozen videos you will find six theatre lessons from SPS TV.
If you are unfamiliar with the story and the characters please start with theis read-along version:
Take a look at how the actor who plays Sven must prepare for his role each time he goes on stage:
Do you have a favorite animated movie? Can you imagine what it would be like if it were turned into a stage production? Watch these clips for inspiration:
Discover how the actress who plays Anna prepares for her role each time:
Take a look at how many people work on setting up the stage for Frozen:
Optional Lesson Extension:
Parents, story drama techniques can also be fun, and build skill, when added to your own read aloud practice. As you read, pause when a character is emotional. Ask your child to show you what their face might look like, or how their body might look. I would also have them repeat a line of dialogue with emotion and follow up with the question "how else might they say that?"
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Pitch is how high or low your voice is. Can you create a character with a high voice? What might they say? Who might have a low voice? Try talking like the character you imagined.
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Volume is how soft or loud your voice is. Can you think or a reason a character might speak softly? Try whispering something your character would say. Can you think of a reason the same character might be loud? Try shouting something they need to communicate.
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Rate of speech is how fast or slow you talk. Speed can be a good indicator of how a character is feeling. If they are very excited, they might speak fast. If they are frustrated, they might speak slow. Can you think of something to say quickly as if you are excited? Now try to think of something to say very slowly as if you are trying to control your frustration or anger. Did you notice if you also changed your pitch or volume when you changed your rate of speech?
Optional Video Lesson Extension-
Parents, here are some prompts you can use with your child to further understanding.
Body Warm-ups: Can you think of other ways to warm-up your body? Try them now and see how you feel. Try some jumping jacks.
Facial Warm-ups: Can you think of other emotion you could show? Go to a mirror and work on your “thinking” face. Try a surprised face. How about a face you make when think something is disgusting?
Vocal Warm-ups: Do you know any other tongue twisters? How about “She sells seashells by the seashore” or “Thin sticks, thick bricks”? Got those down? Try these: “He threw three free throws” and “We surely shall see the sunshine soon”
Optional Lesson Extension:
Parents, story drama techniques can also be fun, and build skill, when added to your own read aloud practice. As you read, pause when a character is emotional. Ask your child to show you what their face might look like, or how their body might look. I would also have them repeat a line of dialogue with emotion and follow up with the question "how else might they say that?"