Step 4 in Organizing a LatinX Theater Event- REHEARSALS AND THEATRICAL GAMES

  Recap: THE STEPS:

1. The text

2. The distribution of the roles

3. Introducing the play to the students

4. Rehearsals

5. Costumes and decors        

6. The night of the event

Step 4- The Rehearsals

• I begin the rehearsals about 5 weeks prior to the performances and have students role play; 

• Warm-up (the mirror game or some other theatrical games);

• We do read aloud in the target language; 

• I teach mini pronunciation lessons;

• The students rehearse by scene;

• While the students from scene 1 rehearse, the other students study silently their lines or make index cards of the lines and study their scene(s); 

• At home the students study the pronunciation of their lines with some videos of my reading of the plays that I have sent via e-mail to them and their parents, along with a pdf of the lines in both English and Spanish;

• It is up to the teacher to decide whether to have the students memorize the lines or allow them to use index cards and read. However, the expectations should be clearly stated in advance, including in an e-mail to the parents with any important dates. For instance if you expect the students to have memorized their lines by a certain date, you have to send an e-mail to the parents with the date, as well as reminders.

• Frequent communication to the parents and reminders ( I send emails every week or every two weeks) is the key to a successful Theater Night event.

The Language

• Be present!

• Eyes toward the audience (look above people’s heads)

• Voice- Use a big voice as if the audience cannot hear you well!

• Acting- Exaggerate!

Warmups: Theatrical Games

• The Mirror game- Two partners face each other. One partner does different gestures and movements, the other partner is the mirror, so they mirror the actions of partner one.

• "Have you seen Mrs. Mumbly?" Pull both lips over the top of your teeth. Ask this question to the person next to you. They respond however they want.. Stretches the lips, so you speak with more articulation, in a bigger way.

• Send your voice to a place. You can aim your voice like you aim water at plants. You can water the plant right in front of your, or you can aim for a wider area. 

• Pass different sized imaginary balls. The small one is light and delicate. The biggest one is so heavy.

• Build a robot machine. One person starts by making a motion and a sound. The next person comes up next to them, and adds in a different sound and a different motion. Keep adding.

• Walk the space and then walk with a sense of aggression

• Blind fold through obstacles 

• Hold firm eye-contact fluctuating between first friendly and then hostile moods.

• One partner directed and one partner followed. The orders improve and are to be followed instantly; an insightful dynamic

• Two-minute silent performance with a partner

• Walk around tossing a tennis balls, increasing the tempo and number of balls as you navigate the space of the room

• The number game: laying on you backs, count as high as possible without speaking over each other.

• Apologizing non-verbally to a partner

• See and be seen exercise where you watched a group of classmates and they watch you.

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Step 3 in Organizing a LatinX Theater Event (Introducing the Play to The Students) and Why Organize a Theater Event

STEP 3- Introducing the Play to The Students 

1. The teacher reads out loud in the Target language;
2. The students read out loud in English by roles;
3. The teacher could ask questions in the target language about the play;
4. Class discussions about the characters and the settings.

You could check my slide show introducing the play Los pies apestosos (The Stinky Feet)- please, click on the image below:

Why organize a theater event:

• The purpose of organizing a theater event in a school setting is to celebrate the language and the culture(s), associated with the language.

• To promote a language program within the community; 

• to increase the interest toward the target language and culture.

• To develop the skills necessary to work as a team; 

• to help the students feel more confident when speaking in front of an audience;  

• to improve the pronunciation in the target language; 

• to build a community.

• It is fun and engaging; the students take risks and innovate; their motivation of learning the language increases;

• Maybe most importantly, it creates intercultural connections and experiences.

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Step 2 in Organizing a LatinX Theater event- Distribution of the ROLES (Part 2)

 Recap: THE STEPS:

1. The text

2. The distribution of the roles

3. Introducing the play to the students

4. Rehearsals

5. Costumes and decors        

6. The night of the event

STEP 2

1. Since my goal is for every student to have a role and participate in the play, I ask for each to write down on an index card their name and the type of role they would prefer: big, medium or small. Then, I collect the index cards and use them, when I distribute the roles. The index cards system allows me to pick the actors for the main characters. 

2. If the play has 12-14 characters, while I have 25-26 students in my class, then I assign one role to two students. For instance, if Isabella plays the Fox in the first and second scenes of the play Los pies apestosos, Smith could play that character in scenes 3 and 4. 

3. I assign some students to be stage crew members.

4. For the students, who requested minor roles, I assigned them the roles of narrators and/or stage crew members.

5. Some students get to perform other talents and skills that they have such as singing, gymnastics, juggling, playing guitar, etc.
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Step 1 in Organizing a LatinX Theater Event- THE TEXT (Part 1)

                                                             

 THE STEPS:

1. The text

2. The distribution of the roles

3. Introducing the play to the students

4. Rehearsals

5. Costumes and decors        

6. The night of the event

Step 1- THE TEXT

Choose the plays or the texts to adapt into a play. Here s what I do:

• The play The Smelly Feet (Los pies apestosos), which I found in the book ¡Teatro! Hispanic Plays for Young People (see below), and translated into Spanish. This is a simple and funny animal fable that my students really love and did very well acting it. 

• I also used the book Don Quijote in America- Plays in English and Spanish for Grades 1-6 (see below). From that book I have done the play Clothes Do Not Make The Man (El hábito no hace al monje) with my students.

                                                              

• I made an adaptation of the book Ferdinand (Ferdinando) by Munro Leaf (see below). I wrote the play based on the text from the story. 

• I also made an adaptation of Don Quijote, based on the book below:

              

Things to keep in mind when selecting a play/story:

• Finding some compelling, funny, interesting, authentic or of historical value plays and stories

• The complexity of the language and the length of the lines of the characters- preferably avoiding long monologues, since my goal is the story to be presented entirely in the target language and my students are Novice learners from 5th and 6th grade.

• The number of characters: ideally around 12-14

Ideas for texts:

• Plays in English or in the target language (preferably written by native speakers for native speakers). If in English you could translate them and have your translation proofread by a native speaker.

• Texts from children’s books

• Fairy tales, fables or folk tales

• Plays written by your students and performed in groups

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Organizing a LatinX Theater Event at My School (Introduction)

 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.  

So, this is how the idea of Organizing a Hispanic Theater Event emerged. I begin the preparations about six to eight weeks before the event. I give every student in each class a role, even if that means just a line or two.

And it all unfolded for me.

                                 

TIMELINE AND SOME DETAILS: 

1. Tell the students and parents about the Theater Night event and begin organizing it at least 8 weeks prior to the event.

2. Send frequent e-mails and reminders to the parents, preferably every other week.

3. Distribute the roles. 

4. Email a PDF of the script to parents so they have a copy and the students can practice at home.

5. 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.

6.  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.

7. 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.

8. 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. 

9. 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.

10. 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.

Finally, organizing a theater event is not an easy thing. It takes a lot of time and energy, but it is worth it the effort and it definitely serves as an inspiration and as a tool to building a community around the language.

Here below you could check a preview of a fun play with some animal characters that I have translated into Spanish and that is a pleasure and joy to watch and perform. It is called Los pies apestosos (The Smelly Feet). I adore this play and my students enjoyed performing it:

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

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Introductory Spanish Course

 

How to Create Digital Picture Stories for Your classes

One of the best ways to introduce new material or a new lesson/unit in a world language class is through an engaging context, such as a story, a video or a dialog.

In the video below I explain how I make digital stories using Google Slides or PowerPoint and the website: https://www.remove.bg/upload, which I use to remove the background from the pictures I use in my stories.

I search in Google for free clip art, regular pictures and pictures that I take with my phone. I remove the background and I use the objects/characters.

Here is my video tutorial about how I create digital picture stories. 

Here are some examples of lessons with picture stories I have created:

1. Mis aventuras en Costa Rica- Día 1 (El mapa de tesoro) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHxZ-...​

2. Mis aventuras en Costa Rica- Día 2 (El pasaporte- parte 1) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DM9_V...​

3. Mis aventuras en Costa Rica- Día 3 (El pasaporte- parte 2) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oY4a_...​

4. Mis aventuras en Costa Rica- Día 4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buJwG...​

5. Mis aventuras en Costa Rica- Día 5 (Los lugares) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDlDk...​

6. Mis aventuras en Costa Rica- Día 6 (Los animales de la jungla) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LHSP...​

7. Mis aventuras en Costa Rica- Día 7 (Las partes del cuerpo del perezoso) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guCcq...​

8. Mis aventuras en Costa Rica- Día 8 (El chocolate) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqp-E...​

9. Mis aventuras en Costa Rica- Día 9 (Las frutas tropicales) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLtz-...10. Mis aventuras en Costa Rica- Día 10 (Las actividades) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mYq5...​

Here I have some PREVIEWS of some of my lessons, where I use picture stories:

1. En la tienda de ropa en España (vamos de compras con Penelope Cruz, Antonio Banderas y Pedro Almodóvar) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ta3aE...​

2. La ciudad y el transporte https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btWLO...​

3. Directional prepositions https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQ4ozPVJ77g&t=5s

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