*Oceti Sakowin Essential Understandings are covered in some programming as well!*
Please ask.

Performance Residency

In addition to providing your students with exposure to the arts, Dakota Players creates a unique learning environment.  Dakota Players addresses many different learning styles of your students; the kinesthetic learners will be fully engaged in this process.  Your students will learn by doing. With the transition to the Common Core, it is sometimes difficult to figure out how to incorporate additional programming. Here are several points as to how Dakota Players can help your school achieve Common Core standards. 



 
Dakota Players and College and Career Readiness: “They demonstrate independence.”
Students who participate in Dakota Players programming are given roles, but they take the responsibility to create the characters from the information given. Students are urged to do independent research to more fully understand their characters. 

“They build strong content knowledge.”
Dakota Players offers a way of understanding the base knowledge of the theatre by experiencing it.  Students are also reading scripts, discussing and understanding the script's content and then demonstrating that knowledge through performance.

“They respond to the varying demands of audience, task, purpose, and discipline.”
Students in Dakota Players’ productions will have the opportunity to respond to an audience in a traditional performance setting.  This experience will deepen their public speaking ability.  

“They comprehend as well as critique.”
Using the scripts provided by Dakota Players, students are required to understand the story of the play.  Students then have to understand how their individual character contributes to the telling of the story.  We also create a safe space where students are urged to give critical feedback in a productive manner.  Students then synthesize this information in their performance.  

“They value evidence”
Students are asked to explain why certain performances may or may not seem effective. They have to identify specific ways to improve the performance.

“They use technology and digital media strategically and capably”
Between 1 and 5 students (depending on cast size) are utilized as Assistant Directors. In addition to helping throughout the week in rehearsals, these students run the light and sound for the performance.  These students get the opportunity to understand firsthand how lighting and sound can really influence the effectiveness of the performance. By running these elements, they can also understand how essential timing is when using these cues. 

“They come to understand other perspectives and cultures.”
Probably above all other aspects, this is the one that Dakota Players accomplishes most effectively.  Students play characters that are different than themselves, forcing them to understand the perspective of their character.