I am working with a group of seven 8th graders on writing skits that demonstrate the varying levels of racial/religious tolerance among different groups of people in 1944. When we are finished there will be three short skits: Skit 1 will have an international focus, Skit 2 will have a national focus and Skit 3 will have a local focus. All the skits take place in 1944, as that is the year that the Barbershop Controversy (a major demonstration of tolerance eventually beating out discrimination) occurred in Oberlin. The purpose of doing three skits is to show the difference between the ways in which issues of tolerance (or lack thereof) were handled in other parts of the country and world and how they were handled in Oberlin (and there is a difference - we promise!). The reason why I'm having the kids write skits is because I am a Theatre major and I wanted to somehow incorporate my knowledge of theatre into my project.
Before we began writing the first skit I gave the students a brief synopsis of what each skit would try to accomplish. They were then asked to create their own characters and write character sketches based on these ideas. I had them do this because I've had to do it many times for various acting classes, and I've found that it really helps in developing more realistic characters. Plus, I knew it would make writing the skits much easier if each student had a definite character and that character's feelings on the topic at hand down on paper before we began writing.
Links:
- See photos of the participating students
- Read Skit #1 (International Focus)