How We Practice Our Veterans Day Performance Without Losing Instructional Time

 This is the third post in my series about putting together a simple Veterans Day class performance for parents. I've already shared why I think a Veterans Day presentation is worth doing and how I assign speaking parts to individual students. Now everyone has a part. It's time to practice.

Who has time to run a drama camp? Not you - and not me. One reason I like doing a simple Veterans Day program with elementary students is that we can get ready in small chunks. A few minutes here and there does the trick.

First, Send the Speaking Parts Home

Once I've assigned the parts, each student gets an individual practice card. We read through the lines at school, and then I send them home with one request: practice saying this out loud. By the time a child has performed their line for Mom, Dad, Grandma, the dog and possibly an unwilling neighbor taking out the trash, they're much more comfortable saying it at school. Many memorize it along the way, but that's a bonus, not the expectation.

Practice in Tiny Pieces

I don't start with full run-throughs of our Veterans Day script. For the first few days, we squeeze practice into little openings in the day. I have kids read their line to two different people before lunch, during a transition or during carpool, and eventually everyone reads it to me.

I'm listening for the basics: Can I hear you? Are you reading too fast to understand? Do you know how to pronounce the words?

Figure Out Where Everyone Goes

Once the kids are comfortable with their lines, we figure out where everyone will stand. I put each student in a spot. This is when I discover which two kids absolutely cannot stand next to each other without poking, whispering or making each other laugh. I separate them now. It saves unnecessary crabbing later.

Next, we practice getting into those spots quickly. Once they can do that, we add the movement: Who steps forward to speak? When do they move? Where do they go when they're finished?

If everyone knows where to be and when to move, the whole thing suddenly looks surprisingly organized.

Give Them a Safety Net

Memorization isn't the goal. I tell students to keep their individual practice card with them even if they know their line, and I use the large prompting cards during rehearsals and the performance. If someone freezes—and you know someone will—they look at me. I'll be holding their line, and we keep going. No teacher whispering across the room while 23 others wait.

Keep the Whole-Class Rehearsals Short

As we get closer to our Veterans Day presentation, we put everything together. We run it. I pick one or two things to fix. We try those again. Then we're done.

Elementary students reach a point where another rehearsal doesn't make things better. They begin to shut down, or perform their line in a strange theatrical voice they've decided the occasion requires. And... there's the sign that we've practiced enough for the day!

Prepared Is Good Enough

I'm not trying to produce a Broadway show. I want students to understand what they're saying, speak loudly enough for our families to hear them, and work together as a group. That's prepared enough for me.

The individual practice cards and large prompting cards I use for this process are included with my Veterans Day Class Performance Script, along with the 24 student speaking parts and line-assignment sheet.

Veterans Day Script: Class Performance, Assembly & School Program

Next in the series: How I set up our Veterans Day performance for parents—from where everyone stands to the little details that make performance day run smoothly.