This latest edition, Theatre in the Classroom, Grades 6–12, equips prospective theatre teachers with key instructional methods and proven strategies for student learning. Building on the previous edition’s strengths, Patterson extensively modified and updated the entire text, incorporating the most recent theatre standards by the National Coalition for Core Arts Standards. This indispensable guide, whose theoretical and philosophical underpinnings and practical classroom applications endow it with a lifetime of use, includes ideas for resource portfolios, checklists, rubrics, and other assessment tools. Of additional value are discussions concerning managing the classroom, linking school play production with classroom learning, and recognizing and responding to classroom diversity. Patterson details important considerations and resources for planning productions, ranging from those available from professional organizations to those found within the community to those generated by students. He believes theatre learning must go beyond the study and performance of established play scripts and stresses the importance of productions written, directed, designed, and managed by students. End-of-chapter sections include: “Extension Activities”—ways to help prospective teachers further explore the subject in the college-level methods course; “Stay Connected”—websites for additional resource and research materials; and “Professional Development”—suggestions for expanding personal and career development.

A collection of games and music to aid the drama teacher and give ideas for varied classes.

If you’re a preservice teacher planning to teach the theatre arts, an in-service secondary teacher considering a foray into teaching theatre, or a theatre professional considering the classroom, there’s a lot to learn. But you don’t have to know everything to teach well from the start, you just need Theatre in the Secondary School Classroom. Theatre in the Secondary School Classroom is the trusty guide that every new theatre teacher will be grateful to have as a ready reference. It’s not an encyclopedia on secondary theatre, but a collection of musts that every beginning instructor needs to know. Theoretical, practical, and friendly, Theatre in the Secondary School Classroom introduces key instructional methods and successful strategies, and works through the problems of practice that face all instructors, regardless of their experience. With discussions of finding appropriate spaces (both personal and physical), assessing students’ learning, encouraging involvement, and more, you’ll find the crucial information you need to hit the ground running. Patterson, McKenna-Crook, and Ellington provide numerous illustrations, model letters to parents, work samples, rubrics, checklists, and example test questions to show you precisely how the nitty-gritty of theatre education plays out. In addition each chapter contains suggested extension activities for students, Internet links to valuable resources and research materials, and experience-won hints on topics of specific interest to the new theatre teacher.

Contains activities for acting, playmaking, and responding, to help students develop imagination, creativity, and appreciation of theater arts.

It could happen at 10:10 a.m. in the midst of analyzing a text, at 2:00, when listening to a students’ debate, or even after class, when planning a lesson. The question arises: How do I influence students’ learning–what’s going to generate that light bulb Aha-moment of understanding? In this sequel to their megawatt best seller Visible Learning for Literacy, Douglas Fisher, Nancy Frey, and John Hattie help you answer that question by sharing structures and tools that have high-impact on learning, and insights on which stage of learning they have that high impact. With their expert lessons, video clips, and online resources, you can design reading and writing experiences that foster in your students deeper and more sophisticated expressions of literacy: Mobilizing Visible Learning: Use lesson design strategies based on research that included 500 million plus students to develop self-regulating learners able to "see" the purpose of what they are learning—and their own progress. Teacher Clarity: Articulate daily learning intentions, success criteria, and other goals; understand what your learners understand, and design high-potency experiences for all students. Direct Instruction: Embrace modeling and scaffolding as a critical pathway for students to learn new skills and concepts. Teacher-Led Dialogic Instruction: Guide reading, writing, listening, speaking, and thinking by using strategic questioning and other teacher-led discussion techniques to help learners to clarify thinking, discuss, debate, and goal-set. Student-Led Dialogic Learning: Promote intellectual, social, and creative growth with peer-mediated learning experiences that transfer to other subject areas, including history, science, math, and the visual and performing arts. Independent Learning: Ensure that students deepen learning by designing relevant tasks that enable them to think metacognitively, set goals, and develop self-regulatory skills. Tools to Use to Determine Literacy Impact: Know what your impact truly is with these research-based formative assessments for 6-12 learners. With Teaching Literacy in the Visible Learning Classroom, take your students from surface to deep to transfer learning. It’s all about using the most effective practices—and knowing WHEN those practices are best leveraged to maximize student learning.