SHORT CONVERSATIONS

Hi! Now that we have started with a new project here you are some advice and useful links to help you take the most out of it.

You are going to perform a short conversation in English. Remember that the idea is not just learning by heart a group of words with no meaning. You should sound real. For that reason it is important that you work on the characters very carefully, as well as the pronunciation and intonation.

Once you have worked on the meaning, setting and characters, you will have to check the pronunciation. How? Go to the web address on the top of your scripts or clik on the conversation you are working on, here:

• Pants that fit
• True love
• Are you sleepy?
• Too much volume
• The airport
• A great movie
• Prepare for takeoff
• The shopping list
• Spanish spoken here
• A bad driver
• A new car

Apart from that you can use the Dictionary of English Pronunciation

Anyway, everytime you start a new project, it is important to remember that there are certain rules to be followed.

1.Take a look at the schedule and make sure you meet the deadlines

25/11/2010 Understanding the text / Working on the setting

29/11/2010 Working on the setting (cont.) / Working on the characters

2/12/2010 Working on the characters (cont.) / Pronunciation and intonation / Rehearse

9/12/2010 Rehearse

13/12/2010 Performance (groups not yet decided)

16/12/2010 Performance (groups not yet decided)

2. Do not forget to bring your material

3. Show respect for other people's ideas

4. Do not waste your time

GROUP WORK, PRESENTATIONS

Here you are another video which can be helpful. Pay special attention to steps 1 and 4.



Please, don't leave everything for the last moment, and practise, practise, practise

GROUP WORK

I hope you have managed to see the blog at last. Remember that next Thursday we are going to start preparing our presentations. Take a look at last Thursday's entry (4/11/2010) and see if you can use any of the tips or videos for your own presentations.

GROUP WORK

As you all know, it was not possible to carry out what we had planned for last Thursday. Never mind! We'll carry on next Monday. DO NOT FORGET TO BRING ALL THE MATERIAL you will need for your poster.

Remember Monday's plan is as follows:

1. Analyse material
· What are we going to use? Why?
· Do we need any extra material?
2. How are we going to lay out material on cardboard? Why?
3. Lay out material on cardboard (make sure layout is what we expected before using glue)
· Is the information clear?
· Is it attractive?
· Is it original?

GROUP WORK. PRESENTATIONS

I'm sure some of you are thinking about the idea of having to present in front of an audience with fear. Preseting can be an uncomfortable situation, specially because most of us are not used to speaking in public. First of all, remember that everybody in your class will probably be feeling the same way. But, most important, prepare yourself in advance. Do not leave things for the last minute.

To help you prepare your presentations, take a look at the following tips

1.Start planning your presentation on paper
2.Think about your audience, not about yourself
3.Present concepts clearly
4.Use a logical progression from 'Introduction' to 'Body' to 'Conclusion'
5.Speak loudly and clearly
6.Do not read (memorize your speech if necessary)
7.Use examples to explain things
8.Do not make it too long
9.Practise, practise, practise
10. If you make a mistake in presenting, do not panic. Correct it and go on

Apart from those tips, take a look at this video on how to use body language:



This second video shows you what you should NOT do when presenting:

LEARNING MORE ABOUT DRAMA. GROUP WORK

As you know, we are trying to learn something more about drama and its origins. To do so, we are working in groups. Let me remind you that group work requires dedication from ALL MEMBERS. It is also important that you carefully plan what you're going to do and when and how you're going to do it. In case you are not used to doing that, here you will find a time table to help you meet deadlines and orginize your work.

GROUP WORK

October 28th
• Work on texts
• Divide groups
• Familiarize with group members
• Make general decisions about what we are going to need.

At home
• Search for information and materials (books, the Internet)

November 4th
• Analyse material:
What are we going to use? Why?
Do you need any extra material?
• How are we going to lay out the material on the cardboard? Why?
• Lay out material on cardboard
• Make sure layout is what we expected before using glue
Is the information clear?
Is it attractive?
Is it original?

At home
• Reflect on decisions
• Look for extra material if needed
• Prepare material for presentation
• Think of ideas
• Work on language

November 8th
• What type of information are we going to use for the presentation?
• Who is going to say what and when?
• Are we going to use music, lights, costumes…? Why?
• Work on the texts that we are going to produce:
Is information clear?
Is vocabulary appropriate?
Is the text grammatically correct?
• Write a script

At home
• Learn your part
• Work on pronunciation and intonation
• Rehearse

November 11th
• Work on the texts that we are going to produce
Pronunciation, intonation
Gestures
General rehearsal

At home
• Rehearse

November 18th
• Group work presentation
• Group work evaluation

November 22nd
• Group work evaluation

CREATIVE DRAMA

Hello everybody and welcome to 'This is Drama'. You probably have chosen this subject for many different reasons. Some of you may want to improve your English in a different way, some others want to overcome shyness and learn how to talk in front of an audience. You may also want to become an actor or an actress in the future and this is your first contact with theatre. No matter what the reason is, we hope this blog will help you, providing you useful links, information about the subject, videos, etc...

To start with, here you are a video with some tips on acting and how to get started:


Tips on Acting & Getting Started -- powered by eHow.com