Drama! Acting is a wonderful way for the dramatic teen to unleash emotion. It's also a great way for the shy teen to come out of their shell. My oldest daughter had a drama class in our homeschool co-op with a actress and drama major. She learned so much about acting and loved the class. When the other children got to high school, the amazing teacher was gone. "Can we do drama?" they asked. "There's no one to teach it," I replied. "You could teach us," they replied confidently. I talked to my friend Laura about it and we decided we could do something simple. "Let's learn some simple drama techniques in the beginning of the year, do a short Christmas play, create a radio drama after the holidays, and then record some YouTube videos to close the year out," I suggested. "Let's start every class with an icebreaker," Laura enthused. She researched and came up with a different ice breaker for every class. We decided to open the class up to other teens, meeting three times a month. Tons of Fun!How We Did ItWe kept it very simple. We had a group of about ten homeschooled teens. They loved the ice breakers! There was so much laughing as we did different ones like Bippity-Bippity-Bop or Zip, Zap, Zop. The icebreakers helped everyone relax and loosen up so they could enjoy one another and whatever project they were working on. In the beginning of the year, we made masks and acted out some Aesop's fables, changing characters several times. This is was a great experience and we could not stop laughing. We also worked on the basics: blocking, stage direction, projecting our voice, and getting into character. The Christmas play was a simple script that we found on a Christian website. We added music to it by having the Christmas choir sing between acts. I was nervous at the early practices that some of the kids would never memorize their lines, but they came through. The play was funny and the wise men decided to add accents to their parts. It was truly a Christmas miracle that we pulled it off and everyone did an amazing job with their lines. After the holidays, we listened to several audio dramas and discussed them. Instead of using a script (there are lots of old radio scripts online), the teens decided to write their own script. The teens divided into two groups. Each created their own drama. When they were finished and edited, we popped popcorn, made cookies, and listened to both shows. I was totally impressed! We ended the year with YouTube videos. Since we were getting ready to host a homeschool conference, the teens made promo videos for the conference. We enjoyed every part of the year. Some kids enjoyed certain things more. You see, some weren't comfortable in front of an audience or a camera, but were relaxed in front of a tape recorder. One thing that we saw is that by the end of the year, everyone was more relaxed and even the shy ones were having fun acting in front of people. Would you like to use our drama course? We created this course for our own teens and their friends. We are happy to share it with you. You can learn more about Drama 101: Act it Out! at PowerlineProd.com. Drama 101: Act it Out! is available for sale at Amazon and the E-book is for sale at PayHip and Currclick. Until next time, Happy Homeschooling. Meredith Curtis
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