Once all the different groups: Acting, Sound and Special Effects, Scenery and Props, Flyer and Poster Design were formed, each fifth year teacher became the leader of one of the groups and coordinated the tasks of her students over the next few months.
As I was in charge of the Acting Group and writing and keeping the blog updated, most of the information found here was registered by me.
Una vez que los grupos de Actuación, Sonido y Efectos Especiales, Escenografía y Utileria, y Folleteria y Posters quedaron conformados, cada docente se hizo cargo de un equipo de trabajo y coordinó las tareas durante los sucesivos encuentros en los meses siguientes.
Como yo estaba a cargo del grupo de actuación y de escribir y mantener el blog actualizado, la mayor parte de la información que se halla aquí fue registrada por mi.
Acting Group
Exercises to approach the play
Using silence, body language and gestures as a starting point
Grupo de Actuación
Exercises to approach the play
Using silence, body language and gestures as a starting point
Grupo de Actuación
Ejercicios de aproximación a la obra
Trabajando a partir del silencio, la
expresión corporal y la gestualidad
Macbeth's First Encounter with the Witches
Primer encuentro de Macbeth con las brujas
Same scene but adding gibberish, sounds and exclamations
La misma escena pero agregando palabras sin sentido, sonidos y exclamaciones
La misma escena pero agregando palabras sin sentido, sonidos y exclamaciones
Immersing Students in Acting
At the beginning we started approaching the different scenes using various dramatic techniques to make students relate to each other, lose their inhibitions and to grasp what was going on among the characters, their motivations and inner feelings. As they were not used to acting and they had limited linguistic resources, at first we resorted to performing the scenes silently, making use of non-verbal features such as gesture and body language. It was amazing to see how resourceful students were when it came to physicalising scenes. Little by little we added improvisations and, in spite of the limited vocabulary of some of the students, most of them were able to communicate their intentions, emotions and doubts effectively and to use language spontaneously. Through these activities we tried to bring together mind and body, balancing physical, emotional and intellectual aspects of learning.
At a later stage we empowered the students by giving them the chance of directing their own scenes and making their own choices. We asked boys to play the roles of women and vice versa so they could get a different perspective and then we encouraged them to reflect upon the role of men and women at the time the events took place. We made them read back to back to focus on listening, to shout and whisper their soliloquies so that they would find the right tone and strength for what they wanted to say, to move and to stay still. It was a laboratory in which we all experimented, took risks and learned from each other.
After each exercise and scene we all reflected on our work and on what we had discovered. We presented different points of view and discussed new strategies to approach different challenges. It was truly collaborative work.
Both the dramatic exercises and the reflective moments fostered the use of the four skills. Students had to read and listen carefully, write letters or notes to other characters and speak all the time to interact, express their opinions, make decisions and to negotiate. They felt the genuine need to communicate, to take risks with language and to experience the connection between thought and action.
The conventional English classroom hardly ever gives the students the opportunity to use the language so much and to acquire fluency. Students neither get the chance of having exposure to spoken English outside the classroom nor of interacting with native speakers on authentic matters. Drama prepared them to face their immediate world better as competent users as they got an opportunity to use the language in operation. They did not only exploit the linguistic resources available but also acquired new linguistic forms and incorporated them to their repertoire in a significant and memorable way.
Sumergiendo a los Alumnos en la Actuación
At the beginning we started approaching the different scenes using various dramatic techniques to make students relate to each other, lose their inhibitions and to grasp what was going on among the characters, their motivations and inner feelings. As they were not used to acting and they had limited linguistic resources, at first we resorted to performing the scenes silently, making use of non-verbal features such as gesture and body language. It was amazing to see how resourceful students were when it came to physicalising scenes. Little by little we added improvisations and, in spite of the limited vocabulary of some of the students, most of them were able to communicate their intentions, emotions and doubts effectively and to use language spontaneously. Through these activities we tried to bring together mind and body, balancing physical, emotional and intellectual aspects of learning.
At a later stage we empowered the students by giving them the chance of directing their own scenes and making their own choices. We asked boys to play the roles of women and vice versa so they could get a different perspective and then we encouraged them to reflect upon the role of men and women at the time the events took place. We made them read back to back to focus on listening, to shout and whisper their soliloquies so that they would find the right tone and strength for what they wanted to say, to move and to stay still. It was a laboratory in which we all experimented, took risks and learned from each other.
After each exercise and scene we all reflected on our work and on what we had discovered. We presented different points of view and discussed new strategies to approach different challenges. It was truly collaborative work.
Both the dramatic exercises and the reflective moments fostered the use of the four skills. Students had to read and listen carefully, write letters or notes to other characters and speak all the time to interact, express their opinions, make decisions and to negotiate. They felt the genuine need to communicate, to take risks with language and to experience the connection between thought and action.
The conventional English classroom hardly ever gives the students the opportunity to use the language so much and to acquire fluency. Students neither get the chance of having exposure to spoken English outside the classroom nor of interacting with native speakers on authentic matters. Drama prepared them to face their immediate world better as competent users as they got an opportunity to use the language in operation. They did not only exploit the linguistic resources available but also acquired new linguistic forms and incorporated them to their repertoire in a significant and memorable way.
Sumergiendo a los Alumnos en la Actuación
Al comienzo nos aproximamos a las distintas escenas utilizando diversas técnicas dramáticas para hacer que los alumnos se relacionaran entre ellos, perdieran sus inhibiciones y comprendieran qué sucedía entre los personajes, sus motivaciones y sus sentimientos más íntimos. Como no estaban habituados a actuar y tenían recursos lingüísticos limitados, al principio recurrimos a hacer las escenas sin hablar, haciendo uso de recursos no verbales como gestos y expresión corporal. Fue sorprendente ver qué ingeniosos eran cuando tenían que representarlas sólo a través del cuerpo. Poco a poco fuimos agregando improvisaciones y, a pesar del vocabulario limitado de algunos alumnos, la mayoría de ellos pudieron comunicar sus intenciones, emociones y dudas de manera efectiva y utilizar la lengua extranjera espontáneamente. El propósito de estas actividades era que pudiesen aunar mente y cuerpo, encontrando un equilibrio entre distintos aspectos físicos, emocionales e intelectuales del aprendizaje.
En una etapa posterior les otorgamos mayor poder a los alumnos permitiéndoles dirigir sus propias escenas y hacer sus propias elecciones. Les pedimos a los varones que hicieran los papeles de las mujeres y vice versa para que pudiesen tener una perspectiva diferente y luego los estimulamos para que reflexionaran acerca del rol que ocupaban los hombres y las mujeres en la época en que transcurrían los hechos. Los hacíamos leer espalda con espalda para que se concentraran en escuchar, susurrar y gritar los soliloquios para que encontraran el tono y la fuerza apropiados para lo que querían expresar, moverse y quedarse estáticos. Era un laboratorio en el cual todos experimentábamos, corríamos riesgos y aprendíamos de todos.
Al finalizar cada ejercicio y escena reflexionábamos acerca de nuestro trabajo y de nuestros hallazgos. Presentábamos distintos puntos de vista e intercambiábamos nuevas estrategias para enfrentar diferentes desafíos. Era un trabajo verdaderamente colaborativo.
Tanto los ejercicios dramáticos como los momentos reflexivos promovían el uso de las cuatro habilidades. Los alumnos tenían que leer y escuchar con atención, escribir cartas o notas a otros personajes y hablar e interactuar todo el tiempo, expresar sus opiniones, tomar decisiones y negociar. Sentían la necesidad genuina de comunicarse, de tomar riesgos con la lengua extranjera y experimentar la conexión entre pensamiento y acción.
Rara vez la clase convencional de inglés les da a los alumnos la oportunidad de usar mucho la lengua extranjera y de adquirir fluidez. Los alumnos, a menudo, no tienen la posibilidad de estar en contacto con la lengua oral fuera del aula ni tampoco de interactuar con hablantes nativos sobre temáticas auténticas. El teatro los preparó para enfrentar mejor el mundo circundante como usuarios competentes ya que tuvieron la oportunidad de hacer uso de la lengua extranjera operativamente. No sólo explotaron los recursos lingüísticos disponibles sino que también adquirieron nuevas estructuras lingüísticas y las incorporaron a su repertorio de manera significativa y memorable.
