Middle School Theatre Arts: Ms. Leadbetter

Grade 7 Theatre Arts
The Grade 7 class began their Theatre Arts studies at the commencement of the second semester. After introductory activities based on the Elements of Drama, students embarked on their next unit of study. The group has been learning about the style of theatre known as Melodrama and the numerous conventions that make this theatre so unique. Some of these conventions include; the use of the ‘aside’, audience participation with cheering and booing at relevant moments in the drama, standard plot lines, and the use of the stock characters, such as the villain, the hero and the heroine. In the Theatre Arts lessons, these conventions have been practically imagined in numerous scripted activities. It has been great to see the Grade 7 students embracing this style of theatre and being so melodramatic in performance!

Grade 8 Theatre Arts


Semester two has given the Grade 8 students the opportunity to demonstrate their dramatic skills in the Theater Arts class. Students began their study by considering the basic skills needed for effective acting on the stage. In the following unit, the class delved into how an actor can communicate a message to a given audience though non-verbal communication and through the art form: Mime. The group began the unit with basic mime activities, which was followed by the exploration of character emotion without words, and finally to the creation of story with the use of mime only. Students are currently experiencing how music can be an inspiration and the starting point for mime creation. Throughout their journey in the topic of mime, students have revealed strong skills of non-verbal communication.

See also: Secondary Scoop: MS Bahasa and SS Theatre Arts

High School Mandarin: Mr. Jing Li and Mrs. Zhou Ju

How time flies! We are almost finished with the third quarter, in which the high school students have completed different Chinese topics.

The topics for Grade 9 language beginners are self-introduction and family. Students learn to introduce themselves and their families through listening, speaking, reading and writing practices. The main topic for Grade 9 intermediate level students is diet. In the study of this topic, students learn the Chinese vocabulary and grammar commonly used in our daily diet, and they also learn about the differences between Chinese and Western food cultures. Through the combination of classroom learning and real life, students integrate the language more into their real life. 

The main topic for advanced level students is about shopping. Students learn vocabulary and grammar from different dialogues and texts as well as their own experience. Students also try to meet the learning requirements and goals of this topic through different types of online exercises. As for AP students, more oral practice has been added to this period compared to the first semester, in an effort to better prepare for the upcoming May exam.

In this special learning process, the efforts of the students are obvious to all. I know the students will continue with their persistent efforts in order to learn Chinese well!

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