Since drama classes will take place outside of regular school hours, you'll need to work with the administration to secure a place to meet, establish times to meet and procure a contact form for students in case of emergencies. If there are any special rules about after-school transportation, including pick-up times for parents or whether students are permitted to walk home, being aware of them will help you develop accurate time frames for the program. Holding an informational assembly or putting flyers up around the school can help you gain student interest.
Once your group is assembled, you can start by playing theater games with students, activities that practice vocal skills and physical movement while getting to know each other and establishing trust. In one activity, students describe themselves with adjectives that begin with the same letters as their names and dramatize the adjectives as they say them. For example, one student might be "Energetic Elizabeth" and jump up and down. In another activity, students can pretend to be statues in a wax museum, such as historical figures or celebrities, and guess who each one is.
Characterization, the art of playing another character, is a key element of drama. You can use improvised scenes as a way to get students to develop original characters through voice, movement and the use of costumes and props. For example, students might work in groups to create scenes set in a specific time and place. If a group's assignment is a diner in the 1950s, they might play teenagers plotting to sneak into an Elvis concert. Each student can create his own character that fits into the story. Improvisation activities can also develop skills like projection, enunciation and expression.
Theater is about more than acting and characters. Students also need to learn about the hard work directors, stage managers and stage crews put into a performance. You can do lessons about the backstage aspects of theater, including costume design, props, lighting and set design. Students can also learn how stage directions are determined, including the difference between stage right and left and upstage versus downstage. You can do an activity to practice where you call out directions, such as "upstage right," and instruct students to move to that part of the stage with poise and confidence.
Giving students a final project to work toward will lend extra initiative and meaning to the classes. While putting on a full-scale play is one option, it may take more time than your group is allotted to make the necessary preparations of casting, rehearsals and set design. An alternative event is to hold a theater showcase night where students can present individual projects. For example, student actors could memorize monologues or dramatize scenes, while those with an interest in the technical aspects could display costume and set designs in the lobby or contribute those elements to student performances.