Saturday, August 6, 2016

Musical Prep in Elementary Music 4: Drama Teacher Edition

Are you an elementary music teacher or drama teacher directing and organizing a student musical? From creating acting cubes to planning a tech calendar and shopping for tech online (and more!), we're sharing our tips and ideas for planning and preparing for the tech side of the musical. #studentmusical #schoolmusical

Today I'm hosting a guest post by my partner-in-crime Drama Teacher Extraordinaire, Kala Chaffin! Check out the first 3 parts of this series here, here and here. Kala's going to give us some tips on the "tech" side of preparing for a musical. Take it away, Kala!




Hi everyone! I'm Kala Chaffin and I'm so excited to be guest posting on Lori's blog. Today I'm going to be giving tips and advice from an elementary drama teacher's perspective!

So, you have an upcoming theatrical production.... Whether you've been roped into this massive project by your school or if it's because you love theatre and it's your first time directing and producing a show, you're going to need some "tech" (technical elements for a production such as lights, sound, costume, set, props and makeup) if you really want your production to pop and "wow" the crowd.


Planning Tech:
First, schedule your production dates and work backwards from there. You need to give yourself enough time to get all your tech work finished before opening night. Check out the schedule that I used last year for our production of 101 Dalmatians. Use this as a reference to help you plan.





Now that you see the time frame you are working with, it's time to start making lists. Because our school is tax exempt through Lowes and Wal-Mart, I usually make a separate list for each store.

Take a look at your script. Usually, there is a prop and set list either in the front or back of the book. If not, get yourself three different colored highlighters (one for set, one for props and one for costumes) and highlight the appropriate sections any time they pop up.

Now that you have everything organized in your script, figure out which supplies you need to purchase to create each item and place them on the appropriate list. Most of our props are made from cardboard or materials we have on hand, but there will be plenty of things to purchase or get donated.

I usually have a third list (in addition to my Lowes and Wal-Mart lists) that is dedicated to online shopping. If you want to be even more organized, make a "donation" list. This is a supply list of items you'd like to ask people to donate to your production. 

You also will want to make a list of big ticket items that are available for rental through local companies (mic packs, mixing board, lights, speakers, cords, etc.).

Be sure to have all your supplies purchased before your first Tech Day (if possible). 


Shopping for Tech:
The actual shopping part is so exciting for me! I get to imagine all of the supplies coming together to make something absolutely fantastic for the kids and the production. If your school has a parent teacher organization, I would suggest trying to go through them for your shopping needs. (Shout out to our amazing PTA moms and dads!)

Going through your school is fine, but you need to plan ahead even more so because you have to go through additional steps to get a purchase order. Not only do you have to fill out a Purchase Order form, you might have to have more than one person sign for its approval, and it may sit on someone's desk for a few days before it ever makes its way back to you. I find it easier to do some fundraising at the beginning or end of the school year and create an account for your program through the parent teacher organization or a booster organization.

After making purchases at local stores, it's time to shop online!




Online Shopping for Tech:
I love getting costume accessories, stage make-up, wigs, glow tape, spike, etc. online because you can find some great deals and have it delivered right to your school! A few of my favorite places to get "tech" for a show are: Theatre House, The Costumer, Norcostco, Oriental Trading, Party City and of course, Amazon. 

Amazon is always wonderful to use, but the tax-exempt process is more difficult. I'm an Amazon Prime member so this really comes in handy during tech week when something last minute comes up, I can have the item shipped free to me in two days. 

Rentals:
After making all of the necessary purchases in stores and online, it's time to order the mics, lights, speakers, etc. Call your local rental shop and order any of the big pieces that you plan on renting instead of buying. Make sure you get everything in writing and have a responsible parent pick up the equipment when the time comes. 

If you don't have a reasonably priced local rental store, don't worry! You can also rent items from NorcostcoThe Costumer, or Grosh Backdrops.

Paint Tips:
We get great deals on our paint. I call both Wal-Mart and Lowes, or any local paint store and ask if they would donate any of their mis-colored paint to our drama program. Once, a local paint store donated truckloads to our theatre program! 

So far, I've not been able to get Lowes or Wal-Mart to donate their mis-colored paint to use for free, but I have been able to get them to agree to sell it to us for $1/can. All you need to do is call the store and ask to speak to the manager. For painting foam insulation board, I suggest latex or acrylic paint. For painting poster/butcher paper, I suggest only acrylic paint because it will weigh the paper down.




Lightweight Set Pieces:
If your production is for an elementary school or you're working with younger children, you're going to want your set pieces to be light and movable. I love the insulation foam from Lowes. My favorite to purchase is the 1" thick 4'X8' sheets. They're easy to paint and to carve.

Use a turkey carver to cut sheets into the desired shapes! I do not allow the children to use the turkey knife; I either do it myself or have a parent volunteers do the carving. You can also use a hot knife to carve into the foam. I used this when I worked with high school students once but I prefer the turkey carver because it seems "safer.” The hot knife lets off a terrible chemical smell when cuts into the foam and that can't be healthy for our lungs!


Acting Cubes:
Another thing I would do is to invest in some acting cubes. These cubes are so versatile! You can paint them how you need them to look, drape fabric over them (I do this a lot when I need a couch onstage) and they are movable and lightweight so children can move them on and off the stage.

When I arrived at my new school last year, they didn't already have any, so I had one of the awesome theatre dads make us a set of three. Here is what you need to make your own:

   Plywood that has been cut vertically into three strips (16, 16, 15 3/4)
   Drywall screws
   Wood glue (same kind he uses in the video)
   2x2’s, quantity = 6


Click here to see the DIY video that I have used in the past.

I hope this information was helpful to you. Please check out my blog sometime for more Theatre Ed tips and hacks. I've just started my blog and it's the beginning of the school year so I don't have much content on there yet, so stay tuned! I want to thank my partner in crime for having me as a guest on her beautiful blog and for helping me create my own. She's the Tina Fey to my Amy Poehler!


Kala Chaffin teaches Drama at an elementary school in Lexington, Kentucky. Follow Kala on Instagram or Twitter @kalasstage. Kala blogs over at Kala's Stage (coming soon) or you can catch the latest video on her new YouTube channel (coming soon!).

Here's a link to the first three parts in this series: Part One, Part Two and Part Three


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Tuesday, August 2, 2016

Musical Prep in Elementary Music: 3

It's time to plan next year's musicals! This is the third post in a series! Check out the other posts here and here!


My partner-in-crime drama teacher and I have already chosen our musicals and done a rough sketch of the nitty gritty schedule. I'll talk more about that later. Let's get started by digging into Tech Day!


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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Monday, August 1, 2016

Favorite Music Resources on Teachers Pay Teachers For Back To School

It's back to school time again! To be honest, I have spent the last two months buried in homework for my grad school classes, so I'm ready for a break from reading and writing papers!

Let's take a peek into the store and see what's been happening lately!



I love using this song not only because it's a great "do" song, but because it's a beautiful song that speaks to my students. They love to pass around my big sea shell and sing this song over and over again.

This song is versatile because you can read the rhythms in first grade, bring it back after you learn "do" in second grade, and then again after presenting "re." I have included slides that you can use to read the rhythm only, to read the "do" phrases only, and of course the "re" phrases/whole song.




Another student favorite and new resource is Doggie, Doggie!


My kids love to hear the story of Doggie, Doggie. We take a trip around the music room, asking the other "friends" if they have seen his bone. They are so excited to find out where he left it! Spoiler alert: Mrs. Sweet had it the whole time! 

The traditional solo singing game can be played with a nylabone from PetSmart, a toy bone or even a printed picture of a bone! Students in my class love to play a barking variation of the game as well. (The student that stole the bone barks in response to the question in phrase 3!)

Later, after we learn so-mi, we can read the song on the staff or with the rhythms. 


This is a great la song as well, because of the mi-la pattern, which should be learned after the so-la-so-mi pattern, according to the Kodaly Today gurus!

Another fun addition to my store is my National Standards checklists! I am so excited to have all the standards in one checklist for my teacher binder. You can post them in your classroom (laminate! plasticize!) and check off each grade level, or put them in your lesson binder and keep track of each grade level or class individually. 

          


What are you looking forward to this year? I'm excited about getting my teammate and partner in crime back on campus! We are moving a lot of students around this year because of a new school opening and we've been in limbo about who was coming back all summer. We got the word and were finally able to meet up and plan our musical season and take a deep breath about the year! Shew! 

I can't wait to share more about this year's musicals, but it's Top Secret until the reveal date. If any of the kids ask, we answer "Shrek." (Note: We are not doing Shrek, it's just our standard answer to all musical questions. Mwahaha!)

I hope you're having a great end-of-summer and back-to-school season! May we all survive this crazy time of year!! :-)

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