Description
Student introduced to the concept of pretending/role playing and how each actor brings his/her own experiences to a performance.
Materials
Full Lesson Plan
Students (in small groups), are each given same scenario to perform. Do not tell students they are using same criteria.
Example topics: Someone is going off to college for the first time.
Family is going to adopt a new child.
Teacher accuses class of cheating.
Family is deciding what kind of pet to acquire.
Give students 10 – 15 minutes to prepare skit.
Each group performs skits.
Have students note similarities and differences in the results.
While there may be some things in common in each skit (i.e. character choice may be same), it is more usual to find students are extremely different in their portrayals. After discussion of similarities and differences, students become more aware that their performance is based on their own experiences, which is why two people playing the same role will often have incredibly different results.