Brainball: Teaching Inquiry Theater as a Team Sport

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This volume of the Brainball series gives the theater classroom teacher an intentional, sequenced process for creating inclusive theatre pedagogy that maximizes students learning. In addition, the Brainball technique offers concrete forms of meaningful assessment applicable to the theater classroom, and connects easily to our newly published national standards in theatre arts education. Brainball is a purposeful and process-driven set of teaching strategies that gets students to express their human experience through representative actions. The book focuses on creating experiences that allow students to grapple with what is going on in their lives and then work through the joys and pains through role-play activities. This book is also an excellent resource to help guide teachers in intentionally planning to get students to develop positive dispositions, collaborative teams and supportive communities where everyone contributes and everyone has an important role.

Reviews

The Brainball technique and theater are a natural fit. As a collaborative art form, theater relies on effective group processes that value individuals strengths and contributions. This volume of the Brainball series gives the theater classroom teacher an intentional, sequenced process for creating inclusive theatre pedagogy that maximizes students learning. In addition, the Brainball technique offers concrete forms of meaningful assessment applicable to the theater classroom, and connects easily to our newly publishednational standards in theatre arts education. -- Jennifer Chapman, Associate Professor and Coordinator of Theater Education, University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire
Brainball Theater Edition is one of those rare text for teachers that delivers. Not only does it give the reader a wealth of background knowledge in both theater and inquiry based education, but it also lays out lesson plans that are easy to follow. As a theater director it is refreshing to see a textbook so student focused. It brings relevance of what theater is to each student by making them an integral part of the theater process. Brainball Theater Edition can bring a strong program to any classroom that uses it. It creates an environment where students are allowed to make the personal choice to truly learn not just memorize for a test. This multitiered curriculum is not just about what students learn, it is about how they learn it. -- Laurie Tangren, 6th grade Teacher/Theater Director, Centennial Middle School, Lino Lakes, MN
Teaching theatre is hard work; learning theatre is even harder. Brainball: Theatre Edition provides theatre educators with a brilliant opportunity to expand their capacity to help students learn. The theatre classroom can be a challenging space for students; it asks them to question their assumptions, explore who they and others are, and portray concepts and experiences they may not be familiar or comfortable with. Hand-in-hand with those challenges, performing (or, as Kolis would say, the expression of the human experience through representative actions) presents a world of opportunity for teachers and students to learn; that learning is often difficult for the students and even more so when the theatre educator struggles to know how to help them. As concrete and solution-focused as Brainball: Theatre Edition is, the book remains wickedly smart and insightful, exploring not just what or how to teach students but why that learning is valuable not just for the students but also for the educator. This is a learning opportunity for the whole class; a wise educator would pick up this book and invite students along on the journey. -- Zach Schultz, Enriched English 9 and Theatre Teacher, North High School, Eau Claire, WI

Author Bio

Mickey Kolis is the author of three books, a veteran public school science teacher, and currently a university professor. Making learning relevant is his highest professional aspiration. Benjamin H. Kolis is an actor and theatre devisor in Minneapolis, Minnesota. His show CLOCKED recently won an Audience Pick Award at the Minnesota Fringe Festival. Tara Lorence currently teaches middle school theater in Columbia Heights, MN. She graduated in 2012 with a double major in Theater and English Education from the University of Wisconsin- Eau Claire.