(a) General requirements. When Theatre, Middle School
1 is part of a departmentalized middle school, students may select
the following theatre course: Theatre, Middle School 1.
(b) Introduction.
  (1) The fine arts incorporate the study of dance, music,
theatre, and the visual arts to offer unique experiences and empower
students to explore realities, relationships, and ideas. These disciplines
engage and motivate all students through active learning, critical
thinking, and innovative problem solving. The fine arts develop cognitive
functioning and increase student academic achievement, higher-order
thinking, communication, and collaboration skills, making the fine
arts applicable to college readiness, career opportunities, workplace
environments, social skills, and everyday life. Students develop aesthetic
and cultural awareness through exploration, leading to creative expression.
Creativity, encouraged through the study of the fine arts, is essential
to nurture and develop the whole child.
  (2) Four basic strands--foundations: inquiry and understanding;
creative expression; historical and cultural relevance; and critical
evaluation and response--provide broad, unifying structures for organizing
knowledge and skills students are expected to acquire. Through the
foundations: inquiry and understanding strand, students develop a
perception of self, human relationships, and the world using elements
of drama and conventions of theatre. Through the creative expression
strand, students communicate in a dramatic form, engage in artistic
thinking, build positive self-concepts, relate interpersonally, and
integrate knowledge with other content areas in a relevant manner.
Through the historical and cultural relevance strand, students increase
their understanding of heritage and traditions in theatre and the
diversity of world cultures as expressed in theatre. Through the critical
evaluation and response strand, students engage in inquiry and dialogue,
accept constructive criticism, revise personal views to promote creative
and critical thinking, and develop the ability to appreciate and evaluate
live theatre.
  (3) Statements that contain the word "including" reference
content that must be mastered, while those containing the phrase
"such as" are intended as possible illustrative examples.
(c) Knowledge and skills.
  (1) Foundations: inquiry and understanding. The student
develops concepts about self, human relationships, and the environment
using elements of drama and conventions of theatre. The student is
expected to:
    (A) develop characterization based on sensory and emotional
recall;
    (B) expand body awareness and spatial perceptions using
mime;
    (C) respond to sounds, music, images, and the written
word, incorporating movement;
    (D) develop an understanding of the mechanisms of vocal
production;
    (E) identify theatrical vocabulary and terminology,
including basic anatomy of theatre spaces; and
    (F) identify the structure and form in examples of
dramatic literature.
  (2) Creative expression: performance. The student interprets
characters using the voice and body expressively and creates dramatizations.
The student is expected to:
    (A) demonstrate safe use of the voice and body;
    (B) imagine and clearly describe characters, their
relationships, and their surroundings;
    (C) select movements and dialogue to appropriately
portray an imaginative character drawn from personal experience, cultural
heritage, literature, and history;
    (D) dramatize literary selections and imitate life
experiences through dramatic play;
    (E) express emotions and ideas using interpretive movements
and dialogue; and
    (F) create environments, characters, and actions.
  (3) Creative expression: production. The student applies
design, directing, and theatre production concepts and skills. The
student is expected to:
    (A) create character, environment, action, and theme
collaboratively through the safe use of props, costumes, and visual
elements;
    (B) create suitable environments for dramatizations;
    (C) collaborate to plan brief dramatizations; and
    (D) use technology in theatrical applications such
as live theatre, video, and film.
  (4) Historical and cultural relevance. The student
relates theatre to history, society, and culture. The student is expected
to:
    (A) demonstrate the role of theatre as a reflection
of history, society, and culture through participation in dramatic
activities; and
    (B) explore the influences of theatre, film, television,
and electronic media such as key developments, figures, and works
in society.
  (5) Critical evaluation and response. The student responds
to and evaluates theatre and theatrical performances. The student
is expected to:
    (A) identify and apply audience etiquette at all performances;

    (B) develop simple oral and written observations about
the visual, aural, oral, and kinetic aspects of theatrical performances
such as informal playmaking or formal theatre;
    (C) identify production elements of theatre, film,
television, and other media; and
    (D) examine selected occupations in theatre such as
director, stage manager, actor, designer, running crew, front of house,
and educator.


Source Note: The provisions of this §117.211 adopted to be effective July 28, 2013, 38 TexReg 4575