Building Characters with Values: Avatar Project & Super People’s Project in Performance and Media Arts

We welcomed Term 2 in 5th and 6th grade with refreshers on the elements of performance! Now, we are diving into complex design projects focused on character development—both on stage and in videos.

As we near the completion of Term 2, our projects are also wrapping up, with some set to be showcased at upcoming culminations. For 5th grade, we are finalizing the Super People’s Design Project, which will be presented during the Toy Study and Comic Con Culmination on Tuesday, March 12, 2024, at 5:30 PM. This interdisciplinary project integrates work from Tech, Art, Music, and Adventure & Wellness (A&W) classes.

For 6th grade, we are completing the Avatar Design Project, wrapping up video production by the end of the term. Pieces of this project, including their art class masks, will be showcased at the Sum of Our Parts Culmination on Thursday, March 21, 2024, at 5:30 PM. Both projects develop essential soft and hard skills across various disciplines, with a core focus on Performance and Media Arts (PMA).

Students have explored storytelling through The Hero’s Journey (character creation through struggle), Story Mountain (plot structure), and C.R.O.W.—an improv concept that helps shape stories through Character, Relationships, Objectives, and Where/Setting. These skills build on foundational elements of performance, including facial expressions, body language, spatial awareness, character connections, and audience engagement.

Currently, students are designing costumes and masks using colors and symbols that reflect their core values. Soon, they will film videos incorporating interdisciplinary elements: power accessories (from Tech class circuits), theme songs (from Music class), artistic medallions (from Art class), and boxing moves (from A&W class).

In Term 1, students created Avatar Masks based on their core values. In Term 2, they began crafting stories inspired by those masks. This journey included our annual March of the Avatars, where students paraded their masks from the Art room throughout the school, ultimately displaying them in the Upstairs Learning Space (USL) for the community to see.

Students have now completed Stage 1 of the Avatar Project, which involved mask creation in Art, reading Binti in Humanities, and identity development in Advisory. Moving into Stage 2 within PMA, students will integrate Character Building, World Building, and Story Building, bringing the project full circle in an immersive interdisciplinary experience. Their term will culminate in a Science Fiction Short Story Video, using online editing software to create out-of-this-world scenes with green screen keying effects and more.

I look forward to seeing all these incredible projects come to life at the upcoming culminations. I’m excited for students to share their creative processes and showcase how they’ve harnessed their “magical powers” to construct futures beyond our imagination!