Tech Day is a family day where all the kids in the show come with their parents (and some siblings!) to put the physical pieces of the set and props together. It is a required event, but we don't take attendance (shh!). We know that our families are busy so we make it come and go and ask that they come for 30 minutes minimum. Most families stay longer than that, but this allows those with sister's gym meet and brother's basketball photos to be able to participate.
To prep for Tech Day, the drama teacher and spend tons of time preparing. We researched exactly what we wanted the backdrop and set pieces to look like, decided on color schemes for the whole set, and brainstormed prop ideas. We made a huge shopping list as we brainstormed. We filled out POs and made shopping trips to Lowe's and the Wals-Marts to get everything. We made a giant list of things that needed to be done and wrote it on the white board in the drama room. After making this giant list, I turned it into task cards!
Task cards were easy to make and super helpful!
We turned our to-do list into short tasks, added a list of materials needed and simple instructions if we wanted something done in a particular way. Then we printed these on card-stock, chopped them into strips and put them out on a table for Tech Day.
After families arrived and we gave brief instructions, the parents and kids went to the task card table and selected a task to work on. This was very flexible - you could join any group and switch groups. If you didn't finish a task, you had to make sure the card got back to the table before you left. If you worked on a task, you had to sign your name on the back, so that we had a record of who worked on each item.
As you can tell, there were tons of things to do and thankfully we had tons of families show up to help!
Helping hands assembling the garment lists
We hung each garment list on a hanger and the kids put their costume on the
correct hanger when they came to school for costume parade!
Large boards of insulation foam cut into various pieces
cardboard piano anyone?
not a box.
More foam insulation carved into a truck!
We have great artists at our school!
Reusing old backdrop pieces saved time and money!
The brown and tan houses from Aristocats got a makeover
with fresh window treatments for 101 Dalmatians (above)!
Big Ben going up!
Funny moment:
Student: Why do you keep calling it Big Ben, Mrs. Sweet?
Me: Because that's its name!
Foggy London-town!
Some of the dads helped create a backstage area with some velvet fabric, pipes and rope!
Costumes were made - each student brought their own white shirt (if they were a dalmatian) to paint!
We used generic headbands for all the dalmatians, and specific colors for the other dogs.
Sponsored in part by... just kidding.
Although the directors and assistants were definitely powered by sweet tea!
Shew! I'm tired just thinking about it! It was a great day and I'm sure I'll remember more things to share as we finish this series. Stay tuned for more Musical Prep and Happy Back to School!
Check out part 4 here!
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