Lesson: character work
Unit: Acting
Purpose: To teach students how to develop a character through the use
of a mask and a poem.
Age Level: 7th and 8th graders. (can be used for 4th-12th grade)
Time: one hour and fifteen minutes
Materials: paper plates, scissors, markers or crayons, hole punch, string,
poem ("Dainty Dottie Dee" by Jack Prelutsky)
Participants: any number
Plan: 5 minutes: Name game (names with motion) review
30 minutes: Making the mask.
Brainstorm with students words that describe people. Encourage them
to be very creative. Example words: slow, melancholy, furious, stiff,
sloppy, intelligent, out-of-it, naïve, conniving, jumpy, etc. Hand
out paper plates, scissors, and crayons or markers. Tell students they
are going to draw a character’s face on the mask. Ask them to think
about this character before they draw it. Remind them of the descriptive
words brainstormed earlier. Encourage them to be creative when drawing
the character, and to give it distinctive qualities. Have them mark
where their eyes are on the mask. Have them draw the face of a character
on their mask. Once they have drawn their character have them cut out
the eyes, then hole punch each side and tie a string to each hole.
25 minutes: Exploring the mask.
Have students sit and look at their mask. They are to use the face as
inspiration for thecharacter they are to develop. As they are looking
ask them questions:
What is your character like? Are they shy or outgoing? Do they have
lots of friends? What are their friends like? What do they do for fun?
What type of body do they have? Are they tall, medium, short? Are they
underweight, overweight? Do they have a lot of angles or a lot of curves?
How old are they? Do they live by themselves? Where is their favorite
place? (make sure to give students plenty of time to answer in their
heads, but don't drag out the activity).
Have students put on the mask and become the character. Have them stand
like their character would. Ask questions like:
Do you stand tall? Do you slouch? Do you lean to one side? Do your shoulders
shrug forwards or backwards? Where do you rest your hands?
Then have them start walking around the room as their character. Ask
questions like:
What part of the body goes first when you walk-stomach, chest, feet,
head? Do you pick your legs up high or shuffle your feet? Do you walk
slow or fast? Do you have somewhere to go? Are you late? Are you dreading
where you are going? What do you do when you pass someone on the street?
Do you greet them or avoid eye contact?
Have them greet each other as their characters and explore the interactions.
After awhile bring them back together and have them take their mask
off. Discuss how they felt, funny things that happened, interactions
they had. Talk about what they learned about developing a character.
15 minutes: Characters in Poems
Read "Dainty Dottie Dee" from The New Kid on the Block by
Jack Prelutsky. Have the students describe Dottie. Make a list of words
that describe her. Have the students pretend to be Dottie and stand
and walk like she would. Discuss ways that this poem could be acted
out to show Dottie's characteristics.
Objectives:
· Students will make a mask of a character
· Students will develop a character that belongs to the mask
· Students will become/ act out the character they created
· Students will brainstorm and explore descriptive words
· Students will apply character knowledge to the dramatization
of a poem
Outcomes:
students will gain writing skills through exploring descriptive words.
students will gain communication skills through drawing a character
and acting a character. They will learn how to communicate the characters
qualities. They will learn to communicate through their body.
Students will gain character building skills through developing a character.
Justification of Importance of Outcomes:
descriptive words will help students improve their writing. They are
used when writing fiction pieces, poems, and journal articles. Descriptive
writing is used in many careers.
students will need communication skills in most fields. For example,
when they are presenting a business plan. Students will know the importance
of good posture in the business world.
Actors, fiction writers, and playwrights all need to be able to develop
interesting characters
