The five lessons
- Lesson 1: stage areas. Teach the nine area grid on a blank plan, then have students stand in named areas on the real stage or a taped floor. End with the area guide's mirror example.
- Lesson 2: notation. Build a class key together, then practise writing single notes. Students set the same key in Spikemark so their drills are graded against it.
- Lesson 3: taking blocking. Project a Trifles scene in projection mode. Play each note to the room, have students write it on paper, then reveal the answer and discuss.
- Lesson 4: the prompt book. Students print a prompt book page, a cue sheet and the key legend, and assemble a small binder for one scene.
- Lesson 5: calling cues. Run a calling scene on the projector at the easy level with the whole room calling, then let students call alone at a harder level.
What students can practise between lessons
- The daily blocking drill: one scene a day, graded on actor, area, move and shorthand.
- Practice by script: 14 scenes and 137 notes from 4 public domain plays, untimed or on a note clock.
- The calling drill: three levels, from fewest cues, go within 0.9 seconds to every cue, go within 0.4 seconds.
- The prompt book pages: the key legend, area grids, a cue sheet and a run sheet.
Running projection mode
Open projection mode on the classroom computer. Choose a scene, play the first note, and give the room time to write. Reveal the answer: the plan marks the area and the shorthand appears in large type. Ask who wrote it differently and why; notation differences are a good discussion, area mistakes usually come from reading the plan from the house. The answer key stays hidden on screen until you ask for it, and prints on its own.
Assessing the unit
Each student's progress page shows how many notes were right in all four parts and how many cues were called clean. A printed certificate of practice records the totals. Use them as evidence of practice, not as a grade on their own.
Common mistakes
- Starting with calling before students can read blocking and areas; calling is easier once the book makes sense.
- Using a copyrighted script for handouts. The public domain scenes here can be copied freely.
- Letting each student invent a key. Agree a class key first, then allow changes later.
- Skipping the discussion after a reveal. The miss sentences are a starting point, not the lesson.
Sources
Checked on 27 September 2026. Stage management notation and calling have no single governing standard; what is written here is common practice in our own words. Where your teacher, stage manager or company does it differently, follow them.
- Spikemark's grader. The four part blocking grade and the cue timing grade described on this page are the rules the drills apply; every example on this page is computed by them.
- Susan Glaspell, Plays, Project Gutenberg ebook 10623. Trifles (first performed 1916), the kitchen description and the lines used in the drills; opened 27 September 2026.
- Henrik Ibsen, A Doll's House, translated by R. Farquharson Sharp, Project Gutenberg ebook 2542. The Act I room description and opening scene; opened 27 September 2026.
- Plays by Anton Chekhov, Second Series, translated by Julius West, Project Gutenberg ebook 7986. The Proposal and The Bear; opened 27 September 2026.