In middle school, students begin moving from creative drama to more formal theatre. Though the sixth grade emphasis remains on creative drama, curriculum and instruction in seventh and eighth grades begins to focus on interpretation and performance as students gain a deeper understanding of theatrical elements, principles, and conventions. Activities that utilize dramatic subtexts begin to develop more complex characterizations within young actors. Nurturing the seeds that were planted in elementary school creative drama, students apply improvisation skills to unscripted theatre work.

Seventh- and eighth-graders continue work in creative drama and begin to examine scripts, learn basic acting techniques, and explore aspects of technical theatre. Through reading scripted materials, students analyze characters, study dialogue, and design stage movements to solve theatrical problems . Middle-schoolers acquire the knowledge and skills to be successful in theatre through research, creative thinking, problem solving, and improvisation.

Scheduling

The TEKS for sixth-graders continue to emphasize creative drama, but in the 7^th grade, the introduction to formal theatre makes it feasible to combine 7^th and 8^th graders in a mixed-age class . Beginning and intermediate theatre students can be taught in one class as long as their teacher carefully attends to the appropriateness of assignments for students at various stages of skill development. Flexible grouping can also be used as a tool to support increased student learning.

Other considerations for scheduling and class size include:

• Space limitations
• Safety of participants
• Age and maturity of students
• Range of instructional activities included in the curriculum
• Amount of student-to-student interactions through discussion, peer evaluations, and group projects.

Facilities

A variety of facilities, equipment, and materials for classroom instruction, technical construction, storage, rehearsals, and performance support theatre instruction in middle school. The following types of performance spaces are most effective for theatre in grades 6-8:

• Standard classroom. A classroom with moveable desks or tables and chairs can provide a clear space for instruction and rehearsals.
• Flexible theatre space (i.e., a theatre room or a black box theatre). A large room with a high ceiling can be used for rehearsals, laboratory scenes, and small-scale productions. This setting provides a close connection between performers and the audience, limited scenery needs, and platforms and lighting instruments that can be arranged to create various stage configurations.

A grade 6 theatre program benefits from an alternative facility, or clear space, to best accommodate creative drama activities. In grades 7 and 8, a classroom may be used for instructional purposes, but a performance facility is also necessary. A flexible theatre space is preferable to a traditional proscenium theatre that seats a large number of people, has acoustical challenges, and may limit exploration of alternative staging and performance styles.

Students who are just beginning to explore aspects of performance are usually more at ease performing for smaller groups, and a small space demands less of the adolescent’s developing voice. The TEKS for 7^th and 8^th graders develop self-confidence, perceptual awareness, and basic principles of acting and script interpretation. These concepts and skills can effectively be developed in a small, flexible theatre space.