Intro to Theater · Grades 6–8 · 90 min
Silent Scenes, Real Choices
Students unpack a Boal quote, devise silent tableau scenes of everyday harm or indifference, then step in as spect-actors to physically show a better choice.
Boal · Forum Theatre
For teachers
Lessons I’ve written and taught at Young Oak Kim Academy. Each one is standards-aligned, built for grades 6–8, and includes supports for English learners, students with IEPs, and advanced learners. Borrow them, adapt them, and let me know how they go.
Augusto Boal’s techniques, adapted so middle schoolers can rehearse real choices in a safe room.
Intro to Theater · Grades 6–8 · 90 min
Students unpack a Boal quote, devise silent tableau scenes of everyday harm or indifference, then step in as spect-actors to physically show a better choice.
Boal · Forum Theatre
Theater Exploration · Grades 6–8 · 50 min
A tighter Forum Theatre lesson for returning students, focused on precision, discipline, and intervening within a time limit.
Boal · Forum Theatre
Unit · Intro & Theater Exploration · Grades 6–7
Teams build a living image of a real situation, then forge and repair each other’s images one change at a time, ending in a showcase.
Boal · Image Theatre
Building the habits, stamina, and courage that every performer needs.
Unit · Grades 6–8 · Multi-day
From analyzing the text to a staged performance: students find their character’s objective, improvise the moments around the monologue, perform, and refine with feedback.
Stanislavski · Spolin
Intro to Theater · Grades 6–8 · 50 min
Why performers warm up, plus breathing, stretching, and focused movement that become the class’s daily routine.
Physical & vocal technique
Intro to Theater · Grades 6–8 · Multi-day
A bridge week that moves students from ensemble story games to their first scripted lines, discovering how staging and delivery create meaning.
Spolin · Ensemble
Unit · Advanced Theater & Theater Exploration · Grades 6–8 · 5 days
Two ensembles rehearse, sound-design, and perform original radio dramas with a live Foley table, then reflect on their work and bridge into puppet theater.
Spolin · Buck Institute PBL
A unit that prepares students to watch (and understand) the school play.
Lesson 1 · Grades 6–8
The festival, the theatron, the chorus, and masks, explored through tableau and choral speaking.
Theater history
Lesson 2 · Grades 6–8
Students stage the play’s creation-myth opening, practicing unison movement, unison speech, and collective transformation.
Greek chorus
Lesson 3 · Grades 6–8
Movement games contrast Prometheus and Epimetheus, then teams sculpt the creatures, objects, and places of the play with their bodies.
Character & ensemble
Hands-on craft for the tech track and for actors who like to build.
Theater Tech · Grades 6–8 · 10 days
Students act as scenic designers: they analyze a folktale scene, draft a scaled ground plan, build a 3D model, and pitch their design in a gallery walk.
Scenic design · PBL
Advanced Theater · Grades 6–8 · 50 min
Partners build a human-figure puppet from three plastic bags, then bring it to life with walk, gaze, and two clear emotions, no dialogue.
Puppetry · Physical theater
I lead these as workshops for students and teachers at festivals, conferences, and schools.
josh@middleschooltheater.com