Green+Group+Radio+Plays

Welcome to Mrs.Shaffer's Green Group Radio Plays. The students in Mrs. Shaffer's class worked with teaching artist Cory Wilkerson to study theatre arts and the ways in which art communicates a theme or message. Using tableaux and improvisation, Mrs. Shaffer's classes explored the novels //Number the Stars// by Lois Lowry and //Bystander//by James Preller, comparing and contrasting them to identify themes of bullying and courage. Next they created their own original plays, to illustrate a similar theme. Their plays were performed in the style of old time radio theatre- a theatre of the imagination. The students used their voices and sound effects to create the action. As you listen to the stories use your imagination to bring the scene to life. **Our Process** We began by exploring theme, filling in giant characters to help us compare and contrast the two novels. Theatre games, tableaux and improvisation helped us to create original stories and bring to life characters, action, setting and plot. We learned about articulation, expression and stage movement, then translated these skills to bring to life our original scripts. Check out these highlights of our process and watch us in rehearsal:

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**Our Plays** Green group chose to focus on the theme "treat others the way you want to be treated" as an important message to send to young people who may be dealing with conflict in their lives. We hope that these plays will help other students think about the role of a bystander, what happens when someone is bullying or perhaps ways to solve a conflict. Be sure to scroll down to the bottom of this page for video of the students preparing and rehearsing.

Switching Sides
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Amanda is dating Kaylee's ex-boyfriend and Kaylee is angry. Kaylee decides that the answer is to bully Amanda, but Amanda insists she has done nothing wrong. Things go from bad to worse when Kaylee waits to attack Amanda in the park with two of her friends. Will Amanda be able to stand up to Kaylee and protect herself?
 * Questions to think about: **
 * Why does a bully need friends around them? **
 * How can people protect themselves from a bully? **

Rumor
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Karen is jealous and angry when straight A student Jamie wins the Science fair. She starts a nasty rumor about Jamie, and gets Jessica to help her spread the rumor to Heather and Amanda. Heather and Amanda vow to stop speaking to Jamie, but Jessica isn't so sure. She confronts Jamie directly and asks her if the rumor is true. Will Heather and Amanda stop spreading the lie and become Jamie's friend again?
 * Questions to think about: **
 * Why would a bully start a rumor? **
 * What could you do to help stop a rumor? **

Problems With Friends
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Lilly has a good friend named Angie. Lilly has another good friend named Keith. The problem is, Keith and Angie just can't seem to be together without fighting- they hate each other. The big school picnic is coming and Lilly convinces her friend Jennifer to help her talk with Keith and Lilly to get them to agree to stop fighting long enough so that all four friends can enjoy the day. Both Keith and Angie promise to try to get along, but Jennifer is convinced it will never work. Will Keith and Angie be able to keep their promise to Lilly or was Jennifer right and someone is going to get hurt?
 * Questions to think about:**
 * What might you do if two of your friends are fighting?**
 * Angie and Keith chose to push and shove each other when they had a conflict, what else could they do?**