Seven years into my career as a Spanish teacher in America, I thought of some ways I could increase the interest of my student in studying Spanish and particularly into my program. I struggled with motivating some of my students to learn the language. My goals were to motivate them and to show them that learning another language is instrumental in their education, as well as to create a community around the language.
I had some experience working on presenting theatrical plays in French with my students from Bulgaria, so I thought what if I incorporate an end of the year Hispanic Theater project into my curriculum as a celebration of learning Spanish and as a way to involve the community, as well as to show my students' progress. I wanted the support of the entire community and to help the parents and students see the language program as a valuable asset in their kids education, which it definitely is.
TIMELINE AND SOME DETAILS:
Tell the students and parents about the Theater Night event and begin organizing it at least 8 weeks prior to the event.
Send frequent e-mails and reminders to the parents, preferably every other week.
Distribute the roles.
Email a PDF of the script to parents so they have a copy and the students can practice at home.
Be very clear with students if they need to memorize their lines or if it's okay for them to use index cards. I don't mind the cards at all! As long as they are very familiar with the text, I don't mind them looking down. If I have told the students that they need to memorize their lines by a certain date, I would send these memorization dates to parents.
If costumes and set/props are needed, I would send many emails to parents well in advance because students are not always good at communicating these things with parents.
Type up the order of appearances onstage so students know who they are after in the play. I would have this list for at least 2 rehearsals before the performance so students get used to reading it and getting onstage on time.
I appoint a few stage managers in the play that can be responsible for making sure everyone is onstage at the correct time. They can still perform a small part in the play, but when they aren't on, they should be sitting with a script and running to find people if necessary.
Get some parent volunteers for crowd control in the hallway. Also, make sure you are clear with the students about your expectations for backstage. They should be sitting quietly practicing or reading a book or doing something quietly, while waiting for their turn.
Email parents often! I make email groups for each of my classes so I can email parents a lot and then they can respond with questions/comments. Email parents at least 8 weeks prior to the show with date and time and also encourage parents to practice with their students or encourage their students to practice. I would then email again at 4 weeks, 2 weeks, and a few days before. Make sure you tell parents to encourage kids to practice in every email.
If you are interested you could purchase it at my TPT store here: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/A-Theater-Play-in-Spanish-Los-pies-apestosos-5750897
