Rumors of Polar Bears
Play Synopsis (youthplays.com)A ragtag band of teens struggles for survival in the face of a climate induced catastrophe. Despite having to scavenge for food and water, they find fun where they can, frolicking in the "party pool" and forgetting themselves just long enough to be teenagers. But when they are forced to flee their makeshift home, they'll encounter everything from unfinished coloring books and failing paradises to a frozen-in-time former pre-kindergarten drama class, deadly bikers determined to turn the chaos into their own new world order, and a mysterious people that even the bikers won't cross. As the road takes its toll, will the teen refugees follow Deme, their leader, and chase after the rumored polar bears that she believes are the key to their long-term survival, or will the little patchwork family fall apart?
Essential Questions: What do you think of post-apocalyptic stories? What are the roles of children in regard to our future as a society? Where do you think humanity will be in 100 years, 200 years, 500 years?
Enduring Understanding: This unit will help students to discover for themselves why, when we imagine the future, we sometimes look at the downfall of our world. Since Jules Verne's Time Machine the science fiction genre has looked at the possibilities of human life in the future. We see it in dystopias like The Hunger Games and 1984 and think, we will never get to that point. Post-apocalypse in literature is much different. The world has fallen. From the ashes, our heroes rise. In this lesson we see those heroes as children in a Mad Max type world and question what can children do to stop the end of everything.
Essential Skills:
Students will learn to read a dramatic play in a fantasy context.
Students will learn to metaphor in a theatrical context.
Students will learn literary tropes and devices within the play.
Students will learn to perform monologues and scenes.
Students will know:
1. How to identify post-apocalyptic fantasy
2. Why we see the necessity of children to our future
3. What in our past we have learned through theatrical intervention to ensure our future
4. How this applies to the democratic process as Ancient Greek theatre did.
Students will be able to:
1. Identify the correlation between the events of Rumors of Polar Bears and climate change debates.
2. Identify the correlation between the events of Rumors of Polar Bears and current events
3. Contemplate and grow in understanding of their civic responsibility as theatre artists
4. Perform a scene from Rumors of Polar Bears with accuracy of intent
Assessments
1. Formative assessments of class participation during the reading and discussion of Rumors of Polar Bears
2. Reflections on the reading and personal opinions of the work
3. Performance assessments in the creation of alternate scenes described but not a part of the text
4. Finally performing a scene from the text with understanding of its meaning
Activities
Standards:
TH:Cr2.1.HS
a. Explore the function of history and culture in the development of a dramatic concept through a critical analysis of original ideas in a drama/theatre work.
b. Investigate the collaborative nature of the actor, director, playwright, and designers and explore their interdependent roles in a drama/theatre work.
TH:Pr5.1.HSI
a. Practice various acting techniques to expand skills in a rehearsal or drama/theatre performance.
TH:Pr6.1.HSI
a. Perform a scripted drama/theatre work for a specific audience.
TH:Re8.1.HSI
b. Identify and compare cultural perspectives and contexts that may influence the evaluation of a drama/theatre work.
TH:Re9.1.HSI
a. Examine a drama/ theatre work using supporting evidence and criteria, while considering art forms, history, culture, and other disciplines.
TH:Cn11.1.HSI
a. Explore how cultural, global, and historic belief systems affect creative choices in a drama/theatre work.
Essential Questions: What do you think of post-apocalyptic stories? What are the roles of children in regard to our future as a society? Where do you think humanity will be in 100 years, 200 years, 500 years?
Enduring Understanding: This unit will help students to discover for themselves why, when we imagine the future, we sometimes look at the downfall of our world. Since Jules Verne's Time Machine the science fiction genre has looked at the possibilities of human life in the future. We see it in dystopias like The Hunger Games and 1984 and think, we will never get to that point. Post-apocalypse in literature is much different. The world has fallen. From the ashes, our heroes rise. In this lesson we see those heroes as children in a Mad Max type world and question what can children do to stop the end of everything.
Essential Skills:
Students will learn to read a dramatic play in a fantasy context.
Students will learn to metaphor in a theatrical context.
Students will learn literary tropes and devices within the play.
Students will learn to perform monologues and scenes.
Students will know:
1. How to identify post-apocalyptic fantasy
2. Why we see the necessity of children to our future
3. What in our past we have learned through theatrical intervention to ensure our future
4. How this applies to the democratic process as Ancient Greek theatre did.
Students will be able to:
1. Identify the correlation between the events of Rumors of Polar Bears and climate change debates.
2. Identify the correlation between the events of Rumors of Polar Bears and current events
3. Contemplate and grow in understanding of their civic responsibility as theatre artists
4. Perform a scene from Rumors of Polar Bears with accuracy of intent
Assessments
1. Formative assessments of class participation during the reading and discussion of Rumors of Polar Bears
2. Reflections on the reading and personal opinions of the work
3. Performance assessments in the creation of alternate scenes described but not a part of the text
4. Finally performing a scene from the text with understanding of its meaning
Activities
Standards:
TH:Cr2.1.HS
a. Explore the function of history and culture in the development of a dramatic concept through a critical analysis of original ideas in a drama/theatre work.
b. Investigate the collaborative nature of the actor, director, playwright, and designers and explore their interdependent roles in a drama/theatre work.
TH:Pr5.1.HSI
a. Practice various acting techniques to expand skills in a rehearsal or drama/theatre performance.
TH:Pr6.1.HSI
a. Perform a scripted drama/theatre work for a specific audience.
TH:Re8.1.HSI
b. Identify and compare cultural perspectives and contexts that may influence the evaluation of a drama/theatre work.
TH:Re9.1.HSI
a. Examine a drama/ theatre work using supporting evidence and criteria, while considering art forms, history, culture, and other disciplines.
TH:Cn11.1.HSI
a. Explore how cultural, global, and historic belief systems affect creative choices in a drama/theatre work.