Drama

Oak Hill School students begin studying drama in 3rd grade and become confident on and off stage through their experiences in creative dramatics and theater. The culmination of the Oak Hill dramatic experience is the Broadway musical presented each spring.

Third graders learn to read simple scripts and interpret stage directions. The annual third grade play brings their year of drama to a close.

Each class in fourth grade presents a class play. Drama becomes more intense and rewarding for fourth graders as they learn about voice, movement, character, and stage directions.

Fifth graders are transported back to the golden age of radio. Radio dramas are rehearsed, sound effects are chosen, and shows are videotaped - with lens cap on, of course. Students also focus on the art of persuasion by taking affirmative or opposing views of the argument that cartoon characters should replace teachers in the classroom. A brief experiment with the Lincoln-Douglas style of debate is followed by the much-loved commercial project. Students write, act in and film commercials based on products they have chosen.

Sixth grade drama students focus on the use of voice and stage presence by examining the Christian allegory, "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe". Through performing a reader's theater version of an adapted script­, sixth graders become more competent in creative dramatics. First grade buddies, as well as other classes and adults, provide an audience. Students also perform Shakespeare's most beloved play, "A Midsummer Night's Dream". This is also an in-class performance that ties directly to their study of Greek and Roman culture which involves rewriting and presenting old myths for parents, special guests, and at a school-wide assembly.