Trial Run

Learning Intention:

I am learning to work collaboratively with my classmates to explore how dialogue can be delivered effectively so that I can prepare and present dialogue with emotion using my voice, facial expressions and gestures.

Success Criteria:

• I can deliver dialogue with emotion
• I can work in a small group by contributing ideas and listening to my peers
• I can explore dialogue in a text
• I can work with a group to create, rehearse and present interesting dialogue with emotion

Oral language and communication

Explain to students that this lesson will be about two aspects of speaking and listening. Firstly, students will be working together in groups to complete activities – including contributing ideas and listening to each other. Secondly, small groups will be planning and then presenting some spoken text, with a focus on delivering the lines in a way that is convincing and engaging for listeners.

To begin, students will complete a warm-up activity. Organise the class into pairs, and line the pairs up facing one another so there are two parallel lines of students facing towards one another. Label the lines – line A and line B.

Display each of the following lines of dialogue one at a time.

Tell each line which emotion they will be projecting when they deliver the line (written in brackets below). Instruct students that when it is their turn, they are to deliver the line of dialogue with the prescribed emotion as best as they can. Everybody else is to listen quietly and not interrupt or call out or respond afterwards.

Start from the pair at the front of the room and bounce back and forth from line A to line B then to the next pair’s line A then Line B – like a zigzag motion. Explain to students that they are to move swiftly down the line until everyone has delivered their line.

Then go back in the opposite direction with the next line of dialogue.

Dialogue (with the emotions in brackets)

• ‘I think I’m ready’ (Line A: nervous, Line B: confident)
• ‘Where are we going?’ (Line A: annoyed, Line B: scared)
• ‘Make yourself useful’ (Line A: cheerful, Line B: angry)

After the warm-up task bring the class back together as a whole group to talk about the way that each line was delivered according to the emotions. Use the following questions to guide the discussion:

• Was it easy to tell the difference between the emotion, even though the dialogue was identical? Why/Why not?
• Give some examples of what worked well for some of the dialogue from the warm-up activity? (For example, a shaky quiet voice for nervous, or increased volume for angry)
• If listeners were not listening or were speaking out of turn, would the activity work as well? Why? Why not?
• Were gestures, facial expressions or body language used by anybody? Why is this a helpful way to convey emotion?
• What did you enjoy about the warm-up activity? What was challenging during the warm-up activity?

Understanding text:

Read the story as a whole class or you may choose to listen to the audio recording if you have a digital subscription.

Divide the class into small groups of 3-4 students.

Each group writes a summary by sequencing the events of the story ‘Trial Run’ using the following sections:

• First
• Then
• Later
• Finally

For each section, have groups write down one important piece of dialogue. Have groups imagine that this story was being turned into a play and determine how the line of dialogue should be delivered by an actor and why. Groups are encouraged to practice saying the dialogue in different ways and with different gestures and facial expressions to decide the best way to present each line.

Have groups report back to the class and share what they discovered. Discuss:

• Did everybody divide the story into the same four sections? Why?
• Has anyone in the class experienced something like this themselves?
• How did the dialogue help the readers understand the emotion of the characters?
• Why is emotion important in a story?

Creating text:

Explain to students that they will be turning these four sections into a general plot structure as follows:

• The main character is excited about …….
• The main character starts to feel doubt and worry. Decides they don’t want to do ……. after all.
• Helper characters create a trial run for the main character
• The main character becomes confident and is now ready

The groups will not be writing a full story but will come up with a brief overview of the plan for a story following this same structure. For example, for one group the main character may be getting ready to go rock climbing or on a plane for the first time.

Students use the same (first, then, later, finally) sequence to compile their story idea. Within the group, students should all contribute to the discussion and work together to decide the new story idea.

Finally, the group uses the scaffold below to prepare at least one piece of dialogue for their main character and/or helper characters at each stage of the plot.

Dialogue

Character:

Dialogue:

Dialogue

Character:

Dialogue:

Dialogue

Character:

Dialogue:

Dialogue

Character:

Dialogue:

Each student takes on a role as either the main character or a helper character. The groups rehearse the delivery of the lines they have created – taking into consideration:

• Volume
• Tone
• Gesture
• Facial expression

Pair the groups up and use an outdoor learning space for each group to take turns presenting and then being in the audience.

Assessment for/as learning:

Have students complete a lesson reflection using the following sentence starters:

• My favourite thing about today’s lesson was…
• I liked working with a group because…
• Working with a group was challenging because…
• When preparing to present dialogue, it is important to…
• Today I learnt that…