Meet My Friend

Overview

In Lesson 5 of 18 in Theatre Foundations in Action, students transform partner interview notes into a clear, respectful slideshow and short spoken introduction. They use Freeze Frame/Tableaux and Machine to explore how selected details can communicate identity through movement, images, sound, and performance while protecting privacy and avoiding stereotypes.

Learning intentions

Students will be able to:

• I can organize interview information into a clear slideshow.
• I can select accurate, partner-approved details.
• I can use tableaux, machine work, visuals, and sound to communicate identity respectfully.
• I can rehearse and deliver an audience-focused spoken introduction.

Success criteria

• I can organize my slideshow with a clear beginning, middle, and ending.
• I can check that every detail is accurate, readable, inclusive, and approved by my partner.
• I can choose visuals and performance choices that communicate identity without stereotypes or private information.
• I can speak clearly, face my audience, and explain how my creative choices connect to my partner’s story.

Curriculum links

• Drama and literature structure: explain how scenes, dialogue, and incidents fit together to create an overall presentation.
• Character and action: analyze how dialogue and incidents reveal character and propel action.
• Dramatic elements: use cast, setting, description, dialogue, and stage directions in performance.
• Comparing media: analyze how visual, sound, movement, and presentation choices affect an audience.

Lesson structure (95 minutes)

1. 0–8 min · Hook and purpose. Teacher opens the hook and learning-target slides with the question, “How can one image or movement communicate something true about a person?” and models a respectful versus stereotypical representation. Students notice which choices feel accurate, inclusive, and audience-focused, then review the lesson targets.

2. 8–20 min · Model and criteria. Teacher uses the slideshow exemplar and success-criteria slides to compare a cluttered slide with a readable slide, modeling a title, one approved detail, a concise sentence, and an inclusive visual. Students help identify strong choices and complete a quick “keep, revise, remove” check on sample information. Emphasize that students must not share addresses, passwords, family conflicts, medical information, or any detail their partner has not approved.

3. 20–32 min · Movement warm-up: Freeze Frame and Machine. Teacher demonstrates a three-person Freeze Frame and a connected Machine, then displays the movement activity instruction slides with reminders about personal space, consent, and neutral body positions. In groups of five, students create a still image for “belonging,” then add one repeated movement and sound to create a Machine; groups briefly explain how form, rhythm, and levels communicate meaning.

4. 32–40 min · Organize interview evidence. Teacher distributes the partner-information and slideshow-planning worksheet and assigns collaborative roles: interviewee/privacy checker, writer, designer, movement planner, and rehearsal coach. Students review their interview notes with their partner, sort details into “approved,” “revise,” and “do not use,” and select three to five details that show interests, strengths, experiences, or hopes.

5. 40–65 min · Create the slideshow. Teacher displays the slide-planning directions and design checklist and conferences with groups, prompting, “What does this detail reveal?” and “How will the audience know this is respectful?” Students create four to six slides: title and introduction; two or three approved details; one creative identity slide using a tableau, sound cue, object, or character image; and a closing slide. Each slide uses readable fonts, high contrast, limited text, accurate wording, inclusive visuals, and image credits or student-created images where appropriate.

6. 65–82 min · Rehearse and refine. Teacher uses the rehearsal protocol and peer-feedback prompts to structure two timed rehearsals. Students practice a 45–60 second spoken introduction, integrate one tableau or Machine moment, and give partner feedback using “One clear choice…” and “One revision to consider….” Groups revise for volume, pacing, pronunciation, transitions, privacy, and audience focus.

7. 82–95 min · Share and exit reflection. Teacher invites selected groups, or all groups if technology allows, to present; classmates listen for one effective structural or performance choice. Students complete the final reflection on the self-check and exit-ticket section: name one approved detail, explain how a visual or movement choice communicates identity, and identify one revision they made for the audience.

Resources

• the complete slideshow deck
• the partner-information and slideshow-planning worksheet
• Student interview notes and approved details
• Presentation devices or shared classroom computers
• Projector or interactive display
• Timer
• Headphones, optional
• Basic classroom objects for tableaux or Machines

Assessment

• During planning, check that each group has partner approval, accurate information, a logical slide sequence, and no identifying or sensitive details.
• During rehearsal, use the criteria to observe readability, inclusive representation, clear speech, purposeful movement, and audience awareness.
• Exit ticket: students explain how one dramatic or media choice reveals identity and supports the presentation’s overall structure.

Differentiation

• Provide the worksheet with sentence starters such as “My partner enjoys…,” “This detail shows…,” and “We chose this image because….” Offer a completed exemplar, a slide-by-slide checklist, word banks, and chunked deadlines.
• Support EAL learners with visual vocabulary, partner rehearsal, bilingual dictionaries, permission to draft orally, and the option to record rather than present live.
• Support students with SEN through assigned roles, keyboard or speech-to-text tools, reduced text demands, high-contrast templates, extra rehearsal time, and a quiet planning space. Students may use a recorded narration, printed slides, or a live tableau with a partner.
• For advanced learners, add a carefully chosen tableau, sound cue, transition, or character image that communicates identity without stereotypes; explain in the presentation how the choice affects the audience and why it protects privacy.