Context for Learning
I teach in a public middle school in New York City, where students come from a wide range of cultural and linguistic backgrounds. This diversity is reflected not only in the languages spoken—such as Russian, Chinese, Uzbek, Ukrainian, Spanish, and languages from other Central Asian regions—but also in the instructional supports embedded within the school. Several structural features shape the learning environment: certain courses are co-taught, paraprofessionals are present in many classrooms, and a significant number of students are bilingual or English language learners. These elements work together to create a collaborative, multilingual, and inclusive atmosphere that informs both daily instruction and long-term planning.
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The class highlighted in this learning segment is a full-year 6th-grade drama course composed of 28 students with varied academic and developmental needs. Among them are students with IEPs or 504 plans, including those classified with autism and ADHD, who receive supports tailored to their individual learning profiles. Additionally, four students speak a primary language other than English, contributing further to the class’s linguistic diversity. This combination of learning needs and language backgrounds requires careful differentiation, strategic scaffolding, and responsive teaching practices. As a result, instruction in this drama course is intentionally designed to be flexible, accessible, and engaging so that every student can participate meaningfully in the creative and collaborative work central to the performing arts.
Unit Plan
This unit plan introduces students to Tableau and builds on a previous unit on Ensemble Building we worked on with them. This unit scaffolds understanding by starting with components such as ensemble games, physicality, and characterization first before delving into Tableau content. This unit is also written to be linguistically inclusive by using multimodal instruction to enhance student understanding.
Additional Unit Plans
The Musical Theatre History Unit is written for a 10th grade general theatre class or it could be used a a unit of study in a course focused on theatre history. This unit requires students to engage in extensive writing and structured reflection throughout.
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The Stage Combat Unit is written for an 11th or 12th grade advanced drama class. The unit promotes both kinesthetic learning and academic rigor, combining movement-based combat techniques with vocabulary work, written self-assessments, and a formal test.