Lesson Name: Partner Scene Brainstorm Dates:

Class: Theatre 1

Subject/Topic: Intro To Script Writing

Objective

Materials Partner Brainstorm Sheet (Canvas)

Character Exploration Questions (Canvas)

Instruction

Journal What does a script need to be a successful script?

Describe what a good script looks like.

Teacher Input Let students know- Today, we’re going to start our next unit: script writing!
So far we’ve only looked at open/contentless scripts that offer almost no
information about characters, setting, or conflicts. In this unit, you’ll learn
how to write your own scripts, using correct formatting. These scripts will
be more detailed than our contentless scenes, and you’ll learn how to
write lines of dialogue that provide information about relationships,
conflicting objectives, and settings. We’ll also learn how to correctly add
expression and movement directions into the script itself. The unit will end
with you and a scene partner writing your own script and performing it in
front of the class.

Guided Practice Have students pull up the Partner Brainstorm sheet on Canvas and go
over it
-​ Partner Brainstorming Sheet and go over examples of how to fill
out the different sections. Essentially, students will have three
rows of brainstorming different scene ideas based on character
relationships and objectives. Then they will choose their favorite
option after reviewing their ideas. They will then brainstorm on
three different settings. I would give students no more than 15 to
20 minutes to work on this task.
-​ Have students get into groups of two, tell them they must be with
someone they didn’t work with last time.
-​ If you have an uneven number, consider which group
would best handle being a group of three. I usually assign
a student to a group of three who is often absent, so that
the group can still rehearse with them gone. Then you can
have three characters, two of which share an objective
and the other who has a different objective.
-​ After the time is up, have students stop and select one of
their three choices (or however many they ended up
coming up with) to be the scene they will work on scripting
 for this unit. • If students only got around to completing
one, that will be their only choice. If students finish early,
you could have them help another group that is struggling
to come up with ideas. • Have students determine who will
play each character in the scene

Independent Practice Have students open up the Character Exploration Questions

-​ Go over it with them: Remind them, they are answering for their
character- NOT THEMSELVES example: Name should be the
name of their character not their own name
-​ Students can either work with their partners (they may need to
when answering relationship-based questions to ensure they
agree) or work alone to answer the deeper questions about their
character’s background. These should be improvised answers
that make sense for the character. They will then answer the
questions at the bottom of the worksheet about how this
information may impact how they play the scene

Closure If there is time or if a group has finished have them play the Hitchhiker
game with others who are finished, but their character in the game is the
character they are working with for the scene
How does your character get into a car? (Do you slam the door? Do you
enter cautiously?) ○ How does your character relate to other people? (Are
you social? Do you take control or feel nervous?) ○ How does your
character drive? (Are you a speeder? Do you follow all the rules of the
road?) ○ How does your character move? (Are you fast/slow,
careful/rushed, confident/unsure?) ○ How does your character’s voice
sound? (High or low tone? Fast or slow talker? Talk lots or little?) ○ What
EMOTION does your character usually feel? How does that impact how
you interact with peers?
Lesson Name: Script Drafting Dates:

Class: Theatre 1

Subject/Topic: Intro to Script Writing

Objective

Materials Countless Scene

Script Drafting Assignment(Canvas)

Pre-Class
Prep

Vocab playwright. The writer of the play or script.

Instruction

Journal Without just TELLING the audience what the character relationship,
setting, and
conflict is in a scene, how could a playwright give CLUES in their lines of
dialogue that
would help the audience infer this information?

Warm-Up Have students join with their partners from last class and improvise for two
minutes the scene that they brainstormed. Have them try some different
tactics for fun to achieve their objectives. See if one of the characters can
win.

You can also use this time to catch up any students who were absent last
class.

Teacher Input Project this Contentless Scene on the board

-​ Have student volunteers read the script out loud to the class.
-​ Ask students to identify the character relationship, setting,
objectives, etc. (They should struggle to do so!)
-​ Determine as a group a relationship that might work for this scene.
(Example: Doctor and Intern) Have students suggest ways to alter
the lines where that relationship might be clearer. (Example: A:
Can you believe that? B: No, doctor. They didn’t show us stuff like
this in med school!)
-​ Make the edits to the script as a group.
-​ Then have students determine a setting. (Example: operating
room)
-​ Edit the script by adding lines that would give setting clues.
(Example: A: What are we going to do? B: We? I’ve never
operated before! A: This scalpel is really big. Better be careful.)
-​ Tell students: The goal is to give clear hints, rather than just
saying “Hello, Doctor. Hello, intern. I see we are in an operating
room. What is your objective right now? Oh, I want to complete my
 first successful surgery. Oh, well, I want you to fail so I can fire
you. I guess we are in conflict.” We want to give the audience
hints, clues they can infer the information from—show, not tell.
-​ Define playwright. The writer of the play or script.
-​ Tell students: Today, you’ll each become playwrights as we will
begin creating a script draft for the scenes you brainstormed last
class. Since this is the first time you’ll be writing a script from
scratch, we’ll discuss five types of lines you need to include in
your script. These will serve as a basic outline, and you are
welcome to then go and add any additional lines you would like to
flesh out your script.
-​ Go over the five types of lines needed in each script.
-​ Lines that show character/relationship
-​ Lines that show setting/environment
-​ Lines that show conflict
-​ Lines that show rising action with conflict
-​ Lines that show resolution of conflict

Guided Practice -​ Have students pull up the script drafting assignment on canvas
-​ After going over the Sam/Rowan scene as an example, students
work on coming up with some lines for the Finley/MJ scene
together as a class.
-​ Split students into shoulder-partner pairs. This means they are
partnering with the person they are sitting beside, not the partners
they are doing scenes with.
-​ Give each pair one minute to come up with some ideas for lines
that would show that they are in a relationship.
-​ Cold call (call on a random pair to share). Have one or two groups
share their ideas, pick one, and write it on the board/whiteboard
for the class.
-​ Decide as a class where the setting should be (given what we
know about the conflict). Then, give groups one minute to come
up with some ideas for lines that would show they’re in that
setting.
-​ Cold call one or two groups to share their ideas, pick one, and
write it on the board/ whiteboard for the class.
-​ Review the couple’s conflict, and then give groups one to two
minutes to come up with ideas for lines that would show this
conflict.
-​ Cold call one or two groups to share their ideas, pick one, and
write it up on the board/ whiteboard for the class.
-​ Continue until you’ve been through all five line types for the
Finley/MJ scene

Independent Practice -​ For the remainder of class time, have students get into their scene
partner groups and fill in the final table for THEIR scene that they
brainstormed last class. First, they will review their character
names and objectives and then use that information to write their
own five required lines for their scene in the boxes provided on the
handout.
-​ If they finish early, you could have them act these out, add more
“in between” lines, or have them help another group that’s
struggling to finish.
-​ By the end of class, they should have completed this draft. If many
students have not, you could add another class period to work on
this. Ideally, you will be typing up each of their scripts to print for
them next class. If they didn’t finish, they’ll need to complete it for
homework or find another time to get it done so they’re prepared
for the next class
Lesson Name: Script Formatting Dates:

Class: Theatre 1

Subject/Topic: Intro to Script Writing

Objective

Materials Script Formatting Notes

Script Template

Instruction

Journal : Rewrite this script to give some clues about the characters’ relationship
and setting: A: Hello. B: Am I in the wrong place? A: I think you’ll be
helpful here. B: What are you doing with that?

Warm-Up Have students take out their scripts and find a spot in the room to run
through their scene with their partner. Challenge them to really use their
voice expression, non-verbal cues, and movement to make the
relationship, setting, and objectives clear to the audience.

Guided Practice Have students pull up the Script Formatting Notes on Canvas
-​ Have students partner up (recommended that it is with different
people than their scene partners). Each group should read the
short script and answer the three questions below it.
-​ Bring the group back together and share answers. Here are some
exemplar answers to help guide the group:
-​ Q1: The first paragraph helps set the scene for the
audience and gives information about what type of
furniture the actors may need and where (ex: shelves,
workbench). We see Santa examining toys and the Lead
Elf making checks on a clipboard. This already gives us
clues about the setting (workshop) and some hints about
their possible relationship (boss, worker). It also lets the
actors know what actions to pantomime before the lines
start in the scene.
-​ Q2: The movement notes stand out because they’re
italicized and in parenthesis.
-​ Q3: The movement notes next to a character’s line
indicated that they should be applied to/followed during
that line. Movement notes between lines happen in the
silence between characters speaking.
-​ Go over a student script example. You could use one from your
students or give the example from mine (included in the notes
sheet are two examples—one is already completed: Date Night by
6th Period. The other is not completed yet: Turn Up by Jordan S.
and Kathy).
-​ Start by reading just the lines of the script (to understand the
scene).
 -​ Then, discuss what scene setting notes you could add to help
paint a picture of the important set pieces as well as include the
action that takes place in the first 10 to 30 seconds before
speaking starts. Let the actors know when and where each
character enters (or if they start on stage), and what they do.
-​ You can then model how you’d add some voice expression notes
when there’s an important emotion you want a character to speak
a line with, by adding the emotion word in parenthesis before the
line.
-​ Finally, model how to add important movement notes, either
before the line (if it happens while they character is speaking) or
between lines (if it happens in the silence between lines).
Emphasize the formatting of italicized and parenthesis.
-​ Note: This is very basic script formatting. I am not going
into detail on how frequently and when it is best to include
these kinds of notes. I just want kids to have fun with it as
they get started. Depending on the age/experience of your
students, you could give more or less nuanced direction
on how frequently to include these sorts of notes. Also, I
have seen formatting change from playwright to
playwright, so feel free to alter these formatting rules to fit
those you are familiar with.

Independent Practice -​ Have students pull up the script template on Canvas

-​ Explain that they will create their first draft
-​ They should use the example from the formatting notes to
help them in everything they need to write and include.
-​ Students should now get back into their scene partner groups and
add their lines, scene setting, voice expression (at least 2), and
key movement notes (at least 3) into their script draft
-​ If groups finish early, have them confirm with you that their
formatting was correct. Is all the information in the paragraph at
the beginning? Are there at least three movement notes and two
expression notes? Is there a title at the top with the playwrights’
names underneath?

Closure -​ Finished groups can do one of the following after they finish: 1)
Add more lines between their required lines to further flesh out the
scene (are the character relationships clear? Is the setting clear?
Are the objectives clear?) or 2) practice acting out their scene,
following their newly added notes. Encourage them to start
running their scene from memory.
-​ Groups that didn’t finish their five required lines should use this
time to do so as well.
-​ If time allows, have finished groups swap scripts with another
group to check over their formatting and suggest any changes (ex:
parenthesis, italics, paragraph at the top—does it give enough
info, etc.)
Lesson Name: Peer Workshopping Dates:

Class: Theatre 1

Subject/Topic: Intro to Script Writing

Materials Peer Workshopping Sheet(Canvas)

Instruction

Journal Rewrite this script to give some clues about the characters’ relationship
and setting:
A: Why did you do this?
B: You know why.
A: I can’t believe this mess.
B: Would you like to try?

Teacher Input Have students pull up the Peer Workshop Sheet on Canvas
-​ Go Over it with them.
-​ Let them know that in questions 16-20 They should have specific
Examples- think feedback specific to put in these answers.
-​ Tell them to get with their partners.
-​ You can have them pair up randomly with another group,
or pair them up as you see fit.
-​ For the three partner, make sure the third partner
is completely involved in the process, making
observations of their own in the process.
-​ PEER SCRIPT REVIEW (25 minutes maximum)
○ Have each person fill out the Peer Script
Workshopping Sheet for the script they received
from the other group. They can discuss with their
scene partner while answering the questions but
should still each fill out their own sheet. This
keeps everyone on task so that no one just sits
watching their partner fill out the paper. ○ Give
 time prompts for each side of the paper—no more
than ten minutes to fill out the front, no more than
15 to fill out the back, etc.
-​ PERFORMANCES FOR PLAYWRIGHTS (8
minutes maximum) ○ Have each group perform
the scene they reviewed for the playwrights one
time, so the playwrights can see how easily their
directions were to follow. Have playwrights note if
there are things the actors didn’t do that they
wanted them to do, so they can add these
directions into their script. Then switch so the
other group performs the first group’s script.
-​ FEEDBACK SHARING (8 minutes maximum) ○
While still in the partner pairings (ABs with CDs),
have each group member share their feedback
from the Peer Script Workshopping Sheet with a
member of the other group. (For example, A
shares feedback with C, B shares feedback with
D). Then switch.
-​ SCRIPT REVISIONS (Rest of class) ○ Each
group now splits off from the other groups. Given
the feedback they received, they take time to
revise their script. This could include fixing
formatting errors, adding details to the scene
setting paragraph, adding lines or actions, etc. If
they finish early, they should practice acting out
their scenes

Independent Practice Each group should turn in a final draft. If able to, print out each script and
enough copies for the group to rehearse
Lesson Name: Set Design and Blocking Dates:

Class: Theatre 1

Subject/Topic: Intro to Script Writing

Objective Students will be able to create a set design with

2+ playable levels for their scripted scene. •
Students will be able to add two blocking notes for
their character that include accurate stage
directions.

Materials Scripts
Set Design Templates
Rehearsal Checklist(On Canvas)

Pre-Class Printed out Scripts(If you were able to)

Prep Class Copies of Set Design Template(one for
each group)

Vocab

Instruction

Journal Describe what you can do in your body to increase your audience’s ability
to see, hear, and understand you in a performance.

Warm-Up Nine Quadrants

Teacher Input Review how to do blocking in your script

(If you were able to print out scripts, have them add at least 2 blocking
notes the correct way- Using acronyms like X for cross, if not have them
put it in parentheses where it would go, on their electronic one)

Independent Practice Hand out Scripts, and The Set Design Template
-​ Have groups pull up the Rehearsal Checklist
-​ Remind groups of Rehearsal Guidelines
Have them work on this for the rest of the class.
Lesson Name: Unit Project Dates:

Class: Theatre 1

Subject/Topic: Intro to Script Writing

Objective

Materials Completed Set design templates from the other

day
Final Rehearsal Checklist(On Canvas)

Instruction

Project Work
Day 1: Final Rehearsal
-​ No Journal
-​ Can Do a vocal warmup
-​ Have them pull out the rehearsal checklist
-​ Review Rehearsal guidelines
-​ They should rehearse the entire time
Day 2: Performances