The Crucible
Teacher Phil Coogan
| Year
|
NCEA Level
|
Duration
|
| 13
|
3
|
4 weeks
|
| Achievement Standard being assessed
|
Achievement criteria
|
| AS90725 (English 3.6): Construct and deliver an oral presentation
|
- Construct and deliver a presentation that communicates with an audience.
- Develop and support idea(s).
- Use a range of appropriate presentation techniques for a specific audience and purpose.
|
| Processes
|
| Processing Information
|
Use a variety of resources and technologies to retrieve, select, synthesise and present background information about The Crucible and its author.
|
| Exploring Language
|
Use appropriate terminology to describe, analyse and evaluate the way language features, structures and conventions of The Crucible suit its purpose.
|
| Thinking Critically
|
Interpret and evaluate the way in which the linguistic and literary qualities of The Crucible relate to its cultural, political and historical contexts.
|
| Supporting achievement objective
|
Learning outcomes
|
| Using Texts
|
Using a scene from The Crucible, perform in groups adapting and integrating techniques of speech and delivery to communicate meanings to an audience of their peers.
|
| Transactional Writing
|
Write a literary essay structuring well researched material effectively, as formative work towards the Level 3 externally assessed achievement standard 90723
respond critically to oral or visual text studied.
|
Teaching and learning activities
Select and adapt these learning activities to best meet the needs of your students, and to fit the time available:
NB. Teachers wishing to have their students study The Crucible as part of a wider thematic unit, should visit this webquest - The Crucible: Timeless Persecutions
.
Learning task 1: Engaging with the issues
Learning task 2: Background to the play
Learning task 3: Reading the play
Learning task 4: The characters
Learning task 5: A closer look at the language of The Crucible
Learning task 6: Themes
Links for students
Webquests:
Assessment
Conditions:
Individual and group activities. Out of class preparations and in-class performances.
Instructions:
You are to prepare, deliver, and evaluate a group performance. Your group will be given an extract from The Crucible to prepare for performance.
Make sure you are familiar with the
assessment(2) (RTF 10KB)
to see how you are going to be assessed in this activity.
Task 1: Preparation for group performance
- In your group, discuss and record what you intend to show in the performance of your allocated extract. Consider:
- atmosphere/mood of the extract
- the nature of relationships between characters
- important ideas.
- As a group:
- read through the text
- pause to discuss and
- annotate photocopies of individual scripts to suggest possible ways you could use tone of voice, pace, pitch, volume, contrasts, emphasis, rhythm and actions to reflect the ideas you identified in (a).
- annotate photocopies of individual scripts to suggest possible ways you could use gesture, facial expression, stance, eye contact, movement, use of props, use of costume to reflect the ideas you identified in (a).
Task 2: Rehearsal
As a group rehearse your performance, adding in costumes and props (where practical) once everyone is confident with using voice, body, movement to interpret the script.
Keep referring each other back to the ideas you recorded in (a) to ensure whatever you do adds to the atmosphere or conveys the meaning of your extract.
Task 3: Performance
Present your performance as a group - preferably to another class using your teacher to provide a narrative link between scenes.
To help with the evaluation (see Task 4) video-tape the performances. Your individual performance should use both speech and delivery techniques you annotated in 1b to convey the ideas/atmosphere your group identified as important.
Task 4: Evaluation
- To help your teacher assess your performance head up a sheet with:
- Your name
- The role you played
- Copy the following chart and complete it after first viewing the video tape of your performance.
| Technique
|
How I used each technique
|
How it helped convey meaning/atmosphere
|
| eg. gesture
|
eg. when I said to the court " I hear the boot of Lucifer, I see his filthy face! And it is my face, and yours Danforth!" I put my hand first on my chest, then I pointed accusingly at Danforth
|
To get across the idea we had identified that everyone involved in the witch trials had to own some of the blame for what happened.
|
Sample Assessment for AS 90723
Resources
Print
- Miller A. The Crucible
- Locke T. (1998) Close Up on Literary Text. Longman
Electronic
Follow up
A viewing of the film The Crucible.
