The KING’S Medium Term Plan - Drama
Y9 LC3 Programme – 2015-2016
Module
Building on
prior
learning
Overarching
Challenge
question
Lines of
Enquiry
Scripted Performance – Blood Brothers
In this learning cycle students will explore the text Blood Brothers by Willy Russell. Through a detailed textual
analysis, students will develop their skills as performers, with a focus on physicality, voice and staging. Students
will explore how staging can effect status and thus link into the key theme of class in the text. Students will
explore their use of voice and master accent for their final assessment. Students will explore the style, form and
structure of the text and answer a GCSE paper on their performance.
LC1: Students have developed skills in improvisation and rehearsal techniques over the last learning cycle. They
are beginning to develop their acting skills and understanding how character, setting and objectives impact on
acting truthfully. Students have developed focus skills and understand when and why focus and anarchy should
be used.
LC2: Students have developed their skills as reflective and analytical performers. They have continued to develop
their skills as performers and have taken part in various scripted performances. They have developed an
appreciation for professional performance and are working hard to be resilient performers.
LC3: Students developed their trust, ensemble and confidence through an exploration of non-naturalistic theatre
techniques. They develop their skills as ensemble performers by rehearsing and performing in text based
monologues they had created. They also developed their skills as analytical audience members through peer
assessment and peer marking.
Is studying a play in English the same as studying a play in drama?
Week 1; What is the style of Blood Brothers?
Week 2: What is objective analysis?
Week 3: What were the original performance conditions for Blood Brothers?
Week 4: What themes permeate Blood Brothers?
Week 5: Are the characters in Blood Brothers archetypes?
Week 6: How do you perform a character honestly?
Week 7: How can you effectively rehearse?
Exam board
links:
Weeks’ 1-5: GCSE Drama (AQA 4240 – Unit 2 – Option 1: Acting)
Progress objectives: by the end of this LC students will have developed vital soft skills that will aid them in other
lessons as well as in their life outside of school. Students will also continue to develop their knowledge of drama,
and apply new skills to the creation of a devised piece of drama.
Topic
Progress
Statement
AO1: Create and develop ideas to communicate meaning for theatrical performance.
AO2: Apply theatrical skills to realise artistic intentions in live performance.
AO3: Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of how drama and theatre is developed and performed.
AO4: Analyse and evaluate their own work and the work of others.
Students will also develop their skills in answering the Unit 1 part of their course through an end of term written
assessment.
Literacy:
Literacy will be present throughout every lesson. Every student will engage with a written workbook that will be
updated every week. They will be assessed every week and any SPAG issues will be highlighted and corrected as
an additional task. In addition to this students will be working with 2 texts that are set texts on many exam boards
syllabuses.
Learning
strategies
Knowledge
and Skills
Week 1
Numeracy:
Students will use numeracy through good timekeeping during activities, organising group numbers and managing
their time at home by using their homework planner.
Cognitive Acceleration:
Cognitive Acceleration strategies included in this learning cycle are:
Socratic questioning
Higher level reasoning
Problematised discussions
Developing metacognition through high level inference evaluation
Soft skills development
Critical analysis
Peer Assessment
Self Assessment
Character creation
Focus development
Development of team work skills
Development of high levels of inference
Development of evaluation and critiquing skills
Development of movement and vocal skills
Line of Enquiry - Week 1: What is the style of Blood Brothers?
3 hours of
Students will learn:
lessons plus 1
 The different styles of performance that exist
hour of home
 The pros and cons of each style
learning each
 The style of performance suitable for Blood Brothers
week
Weekly success criteria across 3 lessons:
GP 4
 Name 2 different styles of performance


GP 5



GP 6



Detail the pros and cons of 2 different styles
Name the style of performance that is suitable for Blood Brothers
Name 4 different styles of performance
Detail the pros and cons of 4 different styles
Name and define why a style is suitable for Blood Brothers
Name 6 different styles of performance
Detail the pros and cons of 6 different performance styles
Name, define and demonstrate a style that is suitable for Blood Brothers
Lesson Hypotheses:
Hypothesis 1 – There is only one style of performance for Blood Brothers.
Homework:
Re-read pages 1 – 10 and detail in section one of your workbooks how you can define the style of Blood
Brothers from the text
Week 2
Line of Enquiry - Week 2: What is objective analysis?
3 hours of
Students will learn:
lessons plus 1
 Identify the difference between objective and subjective analysis
hour of home
 Objectively analyse a character
learning each
 Subjectively analyse a character
week
GP 4



GP 5


GP 6


Identify the difference between objective and subjective analysis
Use 2 pieces of evidence to objectively analyse a character
Use 2 objective analysis points to subjectively analyse two points about a character
Use 4 pieces of evidence to objectively analyse a character
Use 4 objective analysis points to subjectively analyse 4 points about a character
Use 6 pieces of evidence to objectively analyse a character
Use 6 objective analysis points to subjectively analyse 6 points about a character
Lesson Hypotheses:
Hypothesis 1 – Objective analysis is easier than subjective analysis
Homework:
Complete section 2 in your workbook
Week 3
Line of Enquiry - Week 3: What were the original performance conditions for Blood Brothers?
3 hours of
Students will learn:
lessons plus 1
 The original performance conditions for Blood Brothers
hour of home
 How the performance conditions have changed
learning each
 How the performance conditions reflected the setting of the play
week
Weekly success criteria across 3 lessons:
GP 4



GP 5



GP 7



Identify the original performance conditions for Blood Brothers
Identify 1 way the conditions have changed
Articulate 1 way the conditions reflect the setting of the play
Identify and describe what factors effected the original performance conditions
Identify 2 ways the conditions have changed
Articulate 2 ways the conditions reflect the setting of the play
Identify, describe and explain the original performance conditions for Blood Brothers
Identify 4 ways the conditions have changed
Articulate 4 ways the conditions reflect the setting of the play
Lesson Hypotheses:
Hypothesis 1 – The performance conditions of Blood Brothers has changed
Homework:
Complete section 3 in your workbook
Week 4
Line of Enquiry - Week 4: What themes permeate Blood Brothers?
3 hours of
lessons plus 1 Students will learn:
hour of home
 The themes that permeate Blood Brothers
learning each
 How the themes impact on the story
week
 Why themes are important for ‘good’ drama
Weekly success criteria across 3 lessons:
GP 4
 Identify 1 theme in Blood Brothers
 Explain how this theme impacts on the story
 Articulate the effect of the theme not being present in the play would have
GP 5
 Identify 2 themes in Blood Brothers
 Explain how these themes impact on the plot
 Articulate the effect not having these themes would have on the play
GP 6/7
 Identify 4 themes in Blood Brothers
 Explain how these themes impact on the plot
 Articulate the effect not having these themes would have on the play
Lesson Hypotheses:
Hypothesis – Themes drive a story
Homework:
Complete section 4 of your workbooks
Week 5
Line of Enquiry - Week 5: Are the characters in Blood Brothers archetypes?
3 hours of
lessons plus 1 Students will learn:
hour of home
learning each
 The meaning of the term archetypes
 Identify characteristics that could be seen as archetypal
week
 Demonstrate an archetypical acting and naturalistic acting
Weekly success criteria across 3 lessons:
GP 4
 Define the meaning of archetype
 Identify 1 character that could be seen as an archetype and explain why
Play this character in an archetypical way and a naturalistic way
GP 5
 Define the meaning of archetype and give 2 examples of archetypes
 Identify 2 characters that could be seen as archetypical characters
 Play 2 different characters as archetypes and in a naturalistic way
GP 6
 Define the meaning of archetype and give 4 examples of archetypes
 Identify 4 characters that could be seen as archetypical characters
 Play 4 different character as archetypes and in a naturalistic way
Lesson Hypotheses:
Hypothesis – All characters in Blood Brothers are archetypes
Homework:
Complete section 5 of your workbooks
Week 6
Line of Enquiry - Week 6: How do you perform a character honestly?
3 hours of
Students will learn:
lessons plus 1
 What is meant by honesty in performance
hour of home
 How to perform in an honest way
learning each
 Why honesty is important for Blood Brothers
week
Weekly success criteria across 3 lessons:
GP 4/5
 Explain what is meant by honesty in performance
 Perform a character honestly
 Explain why honest performances is important for Blood Brothers
GP 6/7/8
 Perform a character honestly, with an appreciation of subjective and objective analysis
 Explain why honest performance is important for Blood Brothers using examples of themes, setting and plot
Lesson Hypotheses:
Hypothesis 1 – Honesty is the best policy when it comes to Blood Brothers
Homework:
Learn Lines
Week 7
Line of Enquiry - Week 7: How can you effectively rehearse?
3 hours of
Students will learn:
lessons plus 1
 How to create a rehearsal plan
 Why a rehearsal plan is important
hour of home
 How to effectively rehearse
learning each
week
Weekly success criteria across 3 lessons:
N/A (Rehearsing) – Performance success criteria below
Lesson Hypotheses:
Hypothesis 1 – Rehearsing is easy with a plan
Extended Learning
Students will consolidate their learning in their workbooks. They will constantly self evaluate and test their
knowledge through the completion of these workbooks. In addition to this they will be graded on 4 areas
each lesson. Rehearsal, Contribution, Skill and Homework. Each student will be pushed to improve their
ability in each and will be monitored throughout. Workbook is available for viewing by email:
[email protected]
Students will be working through the works of:
Stanislavski
Texts written by Stanislavski are available from Mr Bowden for further research
Voice



Little to no variety in pitch,
volume or tone
Words are not always heard
they may be mumbled
The voice does not fit the
character
Very little change in the
tempo of the scene
Tempo of the
scene

Staging

Facial
expression

Understanding

It is evident that the actor
does not understand what
they are saying
Physicality






Mistakes are made

throughout with actors being
blocked and the audience
view being obscured
No attempt is made at

changing facial expressions
An attempt is made at
changing the tone, pitch and
volume of speech
All words are clear
The voice does not fit the
character completely
An attempt to change the
tempo of the scene

The actors always face the
audience, but the staging is
dull and uninteresting




The tone, pitch and volume 
change throughout and fit
with the script
All words are clear
The voice fits the character

A good use of tempo

change that adds excitement
to the scene
Staging is interesting to

look with the actors using
all of the stage space
The tone pitch and volume change a
lot during the performance, the actor
uses pauses to raise the tension in the
scene and an attempt is made at
using accent
Every word is clear to the audience
Tempo changes constantly
throughout and fits with the script
Staging is dynamic, with a use of
levels, proxemics and the audience
view is never impaired
Facial expressions are used,

but are either too subtle or too
over the top
Natural facial expressions
are used that fit with the
script

Facial expressions are used
throughout that complement the
script and the character

The actor has an awareness of 
what they are saying and uses
a task that fits with what they
saying

The actor understands the character
and script in full detail which is
reflected in the choice of tactics used
No attempt is made at

changing the physicality for
performance
The physicality stays the
same throughout
An attempt is made at

changing the physicality but it
may be to subtle, or too
obvious to seem realistic
The actor completely
understands what they are
saying and this is reflected
in the tactics that they
choose
A change of physicality is
used that is clear and not
too over the top

The physicality of the character has
changed and it fits with the profile of
the character