Drama
The drama program in DoDEA aims to promote literacy and appreciation in the performing arts and to provide students with a well-rounded experience in acting. Students can enroll in drama classes in Grades 6–12. Levels of drama courses offered include beginning, intermediate, and advanced levels.
Using the DoDEA College and Career Ready Standards for Arts and adopted standards from the National Core Arts Standards, drama students will be able to create, perform, respond, and connect to drama and theater across many disciplines at all levels.
Drama students in DoDEA may participate in several co-curricular activities that occur outside of the classroom including after school plays and musical theater. Drama students in the Pacific region may elect to participate in the annual Far East Dramatic and Performing Arts Festival, which celebrates the English and Dramatic arts through writing, performances, workshops, and judge-peer critiques. High school drama students in the European region may participate in Creative Connections, a six-day visual and performing arts symposium. High school drama students who are Thespians may also participate in DramaFest, a four-day event where students can improve their craft and technical knowledge of theater productions. Drama students in the American region may participate in local drama festivals.
Standards, goals, and learning outcomes in DoDEA drama programs are aligned with the DoDEA College and Career Ready Standards for Arts which were adopted from the National Core Art Standards (NCAS). Both CCRSA and NCAS are organized by discipline (music, theatre, visual arts) and centered around four artistic processes—creating, performing, responding, connecting. Each artistic processes contains two to three anchor standards. Performance standards are specific to each discipline and are arranged in grade-by-grade articulations of student achievement Grades K–8 and three proficiency levels in Grades 9–12 (proficient, accomplished, and advanced). Therefore, performance standards translate anchor standards into specific and measurable learning goals.
The four artistic processes, their definitions, and the anchor standards for each artistic process are as follows:
Creating
Definition: Conceiving and developing new artistic ideas and work.
Anchor Standard #1. Generate and conceptualize artistic ideas and work.
Anchor Standard #2. Organize and develop artistic ideas and work.
Anchor Standard #3. Refine and complete artistic work.
Creating
Definition: Realizing artistic ideas and work through interpretation and presentation.
Anchor Standard #4. Select, analyze, and interpret artistic work for presentation.
Anchor Standard #5. Develop and refine artistic techniques and work for presentation.
Anchor Standard #6. Convey meaning through the presentation of artistic work.
Responding
Definition: Understanding and evaluating how the arts convey meaning.
Anchor Standard #7. Perceive and analyze artistic work.
Anchor Standard #8. Interpret intent and meaning in artistic work.
Anchor Standard #9. Apply criteria to evaluate artistic work.
Connecting
Definition: Relating artistic ideas and work with personal meaning and external context.
Anchor Standard #10. Synthesize and relate knowledge and personal experiences to make art.
Anchor Standard #11. Relate artistic ideas and works with societal, cultural, and historical context to deepen understanding.
National Core Arts Standards - Theatre
National Coalition for Core Arts Standards (2014) National Core Arts Standards - Theatre
