Our play is coming up! What do you think about the 5th grade play?
This entry was posted
on Wednesday, April 29th, 2009 at 8:49 am and is filed under Class Issues.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
I think it’s a waste of time because you work on it all that time and you only do 8 minutes. That would be 45 minutes in total for 3 months of work. Yes it’s a tradition and you do learn from it, but you could use that 3 months for learning math that can help you get a good job that pays a lot, so we can have a good life. You also waste money buying all the supplies for your part of the play. This is what I think of the play, but we still have to do it and waste all that time and money.
Well, I believe that there shouldn’t be a fifth grade play because it cuts into our time learning new things. Sure it’s good to perform every now and then but this year we’re learning a lot of interesting things like algebra and physics. The amount of things that are taught in Mr. Chung’s class exceeds the amount taught in the past. If the fifth grade play takes too long to prepare for, then it might lessen the time we have for NASA projects, blogs, math, genetics, and the rest of the things we need to learn now or never learn it at all. The things that are keen to our education in the future are being cut out. When are we going to learn this type of algebra, history, propaganda that created wars, disputes, and races for power? Most of these things, NEVER!
Most teachers say it is for the children, but what if we, the students don’t want to do the play? What happens then? These are questions that most likely, won’t be answered by other teachers. When it comes to this the teachers might just say it is a tradition and we shouldn’t go against it. It still doesn’t answer the questions I ask.
I think the fifth grade play is irrelevant because it doesn’t help us in the future. Seriously how many people in the fifth grade are going to become actors when they grow up? Probably none of them . Also I think it is a big waste of time because we could be learning how to shoot a rockets into space using the quadratic formula. Also it’s a big waste of time when we’re going to use two whole months for 8 minutes of our fifth grade play. That’s ridiculous!!! Some people might say it’s for the kids, or they’ll remember it for the rest of their lives. I rather not have a fifth grade play than having to work at McDonald’s for all my life. Also, if you ask all of the kids in our grade if they want to do it, most of them probably won’t want to. That’s what I think about the fifth grade play. d:) .
I think the fifth grade play is both good and bad. I believe it is bad because when you are young, sometimes you are shy, so performing a play is scary and you might just not like performing arts. I believe that it is good because in the future you will have to talk to other people and performing a play is a good way to learn. If you work hard while you’re a kid, your life as an adult should be easier. When the fifth grade works on the play, they shouldn’t take months to prep for it. I can understand taking a month to prep for the play but the fifth grade takes a few months to prep. The administration says that our recess is taking away from our learning time when the fifth grade play is the thing that takes away from our learning.
The 5th grade play is a tradition of Kamehameha Schools, but for me personally, I don’t think we should do the play. But, it does help in some ways. Some ways the play helps are the 5th grade play builds courage and the ability to speak in front of many people. It also helps memorization and acting. But seriously how many of us will actually get a job in choreography? I am certainly not! And if I get a scholarship for acting, I am going to turn it down. And besides, the play will take up time to do algebra. And the props are going to have to be huge!!!! So, yeah, I don’t really care for the 5th grade play (although it may be fun).
Our play is coming up! What do you think about the 5th grade play?
Main question: Why or why shouldn’t we have the 5th grade play?
What I think about the fifth grade play is that it is nonsense. Some of us don’t even like to act. It’s not our passion.
One argument I think that the 5th grade play is nonsense is because if acting isn’t our passion, we will not be using this experience of acting for anything. Also, we would do worse if it was our passion. Even though acting makes a lot of money, we wouldn’t get as much money if we act junk, right? I could be learning or getting experience in our passion, instead of acting.
My second argument is that in the process, we waste so many things like paper and cardboard. That’s only for one class! Also, every class only has about 10 minutes on the stage! If we do succeed, it’s still not worth it.
Otherwise, acting IS the passion for some people, so we should have an option to be in the play. Also, us working is for the audience, not us, so we shouldn’t just think about ourselves, but or the audience. They didn’t come here for nothing, they came here to get something out of it.
The fifth grade play is a good experience for us, and to teaches everyone what we learned about the 50 years of statehood. It is also good for some people to step up to the plate and do things they never thought they could, like me! But I am still and always going to be quiet no matter what anyone tries to do or tell me. (It’s in my genes because my dad is quiet just like me, so I have that gene from him).
Some people in our school like watching the fifth grade play because it is really fun to watch. I know when I was in the younger grades, I was looking forward to watching it. But it is a lot of hard work to get everything ready in time. For example, the script, storyboard and many other things.
Some things that are bad about the fifth grade play is that you could be learning so much more if you didn’t do the fifth grade play. Well first of all, much of your time for about two months is going in to the play. Secondly, you are only going to have about 8 minutes to show what you learned. (Wow, that is so long)! Lastly, you don’t get that much out of it, well you get the what you learned, the joy of doing it and all, but what about the 8 minutes that you could have had, if you didn’t do it.
I think that we should have a 5th grade play because it is sort of a tradition for the 5th grade. It is also fun to just experience what it’s like to be in a play and have a spotlight on you.
I think another reason I think we should have a play is because it is just like taking all that you learned and putting it together in one play. And then all you have to do is think of a creative way to present it.
But I can see that if you don’t have a play, then you can learn even more than what you will learn if you do a play. Another down for the play is it is kind of just a waste of time because really, how many of us are going to get a job in performing arts? Why be actors when you can be doctors and scientists.
I think the way you should decide to whether or not you should have a 5th grade play is to have a vote on it every year.
I think that the fifth grade play has pros and cons. We study about our history and we learn more about our Hawaiian history. We also teach other students about history when we are doing the play. The fifth grade also gets to work with each other when we make the play.
But doing the play is also a waste of time. We could be learning a lot more than just our history. It is good that we learn about our kupuna’s lifestyle but we could learn about it even if we did not have the play. We could be learning another lesson that ties in with our history, too.
We do not need to learn performing arts unless we become a performer someday. To get a good job like being an engineer, we could learn math. We could also be a scientist and be prepared for the future.
It may not only affect our learning, but it can also affect the audience. If we do something that is not true and present it, then the audience will believe it and we just showed them propaganda. They will believe lies so that is why we have to do research which will take up a lot of our time.
I do not want the play, but I am fine with having it. It is a waste of time but at least we learn something. The school should give us more than just two months of making the play, if we have to do it.
The play to me can be good and bad for everybody. It is good for people that have a hard time talking to people because when they talk in front of the whole school, it could better their social skills. But the play is bad because we are spending a lot of our time for eight minutes, so that our family will see us on stage when we could be using that time for something else that’s more important than a play. And if you really think about it there’s a lesser chance of us becoming actors or singers compared to things we could learn in class to be engineers or doctors.
I think that the fifth grade play is helping you sometimes, but also you are wasting about a month an a half. After the play is over, you’ll think that month and a half was for nothing. I could have done so much stuff and had made cool things but instead we had to do the play.
The reason why it’s good to have the play is some people don’t like to talk and they are shy so when they get older they will have a strong voice. Also, you can learn a lot of background about the place that you are doing. For example, I learned that in America, they put up cartoons of Lili‘u as a cannibal. In the pictures, it had her by skulls of humans on the ground so it made people think she was a savage.
There are some good and bad things about the fifth grade play. A good thing is that we get to learn more about what we are studying and more about what other classes in fifth grade are studying too.
A bad thing is that in those two months that we spend so much time producing the play, we could be learning about something really interesting like the Salem Witch Trials or Fibonacci Numbers. I think that I would be much more interested in learning about these things than doing a play.
Personally, I think the fifth grade play should just be a little bit more longer if we put in all this effort.
I’m not saying that doing this play is bad, I’m just saying that we have better things to do than work on our play, like math or social studies. Also, the play is going to take up lots of time and that means that we’ll be missing all of the things that really matter. I think the only good thing about the play is that we are going to learning a lot from studying about the time period of the play, but we could still learn all these things in the classroom. The only thing that’s different about the play is that we’ll sharing all of the facts that we learned with our parents in a different way.
Sometimes it could be good for people who think they have a future in acting, but theres a really low chance that that’s going to happen. We should be in class learning more and more, instead of learning about one thing and then spending about a month trying to get together a play that has all the things that we learned about that one thing.
Its also critical that we don’t mess up on any of our facts about that time period, and if we do than that would be just like propaganda.
I think that we shouldn’t have a 5th grade play because we could be doing much more things. I would learn more about algebra and learn more about World War Two, Hitler and his Nazi soldiers, and how we beat them.
But in the play you can learn things about Pu‘uloa and teach it to other people so they can take your knowledge about how the Reciprocity Treaty was signed. We cab also learn about water rights, and we can learn about population changes in Hawai‘i.
I think that there are some good reasons to do the fifth grade play and some reasons not to.
Doing this play is a good way to teach people about what you have learned for the past two months. It’s fun and cool when you put all of these interesting facts into a performance everyone can understand.
But doing this play is also a waste of time. Think of all of the things we could do if we didn’t have the fifth grade play! We could be shooting rockets! Learning about our history is great but we also need to learn about current events or history of other countries so we can see all ways of thinking.
In all of that spare time instead of learning performing arts (which is in our usual schedule), we can do more algebra and read more interesting books like FEVER 1793.
Personally, I wouldn’t like to have the play but if we do have it’s okay with me. t’s a tradition that has been going on for over 10 years. Who would want to break that record?
Although we have to focus 2 months on 8 minutes of the play, it would be a great experience to just know that you studied hard and it paid off.
I think that we shouldn’t have the fifth grade play because we would have to work really hard to make the script and the props just for ten minutes of the play. We will take all this time for ten minutes, when we could of learned other things that will be more productive. Teachers say that we will remember the things that we did in our play but i don’t think that I will because i don’t even want to be in the play. That’s another thing, not everyone will be a big character in the play, They might just be the people walking by or the person behind the scenes. The play is more memorizing then learning because you have to memorize your script so you’re not doing very high level thinking.
I don’t really care if we have a fifth grade play because I am never going to be an actor. It has pros and cons, one pro is that you can have fun and maybe learn a little bit but you are wasting time. You could be learning algebra or something else that you will use in life.
If you like acting or enjoy being in the spotlight, then you will like the play, but if you’re like me and you don’t like acting, then I wouldn’t do the play. Think of all of the other things that you could be learning while you are writing a script or rehearsing lines with other people. You can waste time or learn really important things that will help you in life.
I’m not saying we should not have the play. They are fun to watch, but I don’t think we should spend a lot of time on the fifth grade play.
What I think about the play is that it is a waste of time! There is no reason for having to do it because most of the people in the audience will never remember it. It is such a waste of time. I mean, how many people will actually have dancing or singing as a career? I would rather be learning algebra even though it isn’t the easiest or funnest of subjects. Even though it has been a tradition at Kamehameha Elementary School to do the fifth grade play, I think we need a change.
Did you know that when you don’t do the 5th grade play, you can actually have 2-3 extra months of learning instead of learning how to act, sing and dance. Also, who in this world can actually think that a kindergartener could actually memorize all this information that we are shooting at them. I can tell you a story to prove it to you. Last year when I was in 4th grade, I asked my cousin what did she learn from the 5th grade play and she said that she liked the pretty shark costumes.
I think that we should do the 5th grade play, but spend less time on it so we can do other stuff like learn about the overthrow of the Hawaiian kingdom, or learn about things in history that were big but we tend to pass over in a textbook. I think it is ridiculous if we spend 2-3 months when we are only going to be on stage about 8 minutes. I think we should spend maybe 3 weeks on the play and then do rehearsals about twice. That way, it wouldn’t take as much time.
I don’t mind if we don’t have a play because it is a waste of time and we could be doing other things with our time but I highly doubt that that will happen because all the teachers, parents, and most of the students like the 5th grade play.
Anyway, you probably get my point. I think we should do the play but not spend too much time on it.
I think the play is not too important because why would the whole fifth grade spend time on the play when the play is only like 8 or 9 minutes for each class. I’m not saying the play is completely useless but we could be spending time doing something else like math.
In my opinion, I think the play is complete waste of time, no offense to anyone at all. But two entire months just for 8 minutes. I mean, come on people, that is just plain weird. We could be learning about WWII or slavery.
To tell the truth I don’t care at all for the play. I don’t think it is going to stop any time soon because people say the fifth grade play is a tradition and might never stop. But, who knows, maybe we won’t have a play next year.
I agree with Amylyn because if we do the play then we would be wasting our time because a majority of our class does not want any part in performing arts. Also, how is it going to help you when we grow up? Sure,it will help us with our shyness and make us talk much better in front of a crowd or a group of people, but the dancing and singing won’t help us when we grow up. Also, not many people watch plays. If we want people to know about what happenedd to our country, then we should do it in a different way like have a public opening like the Ho’olaulea! But instead of having games, we can have people do Hawaiian games and make Hawaiian toys that we can take home! If we do the play, we would only get our message out only to our families.
I don’t think we should have the play because it takes up too much of our school time. We could be doin math or science instead(which is way more important considering our future job technologies). I mean, it is cool if you’re gonna be an actor someday, but you’re not 100% sure you’ll get the part in a hit movie. All I’m saying is we should work more on USEFUL subjects than performing arts.
I don’t think we should have a play because it takes up to much time learning about it when we could be doing other things like building rockets or learning about the world. I think that everyone thinks we are doing a play because it makes a impact on our learning about our culture but learning lines and making a script is what wastes time. It is like a really stretched out lesson. Also how many people really are going to be actors? I think that we should be using our time more wisely.
At first, I thought that the play was pretty irrelevant, but now there’s 6 days left until the play and I think I learned a lot; but I also think that we could spend a little less time on the play because we spent 3 months on the play for 8 minutes of our life!
I think that the play is actually not a waste of time. It is actually a very good thing to do because it actually teaches people about our Hawaiian history. The play also teaches of Hawaii’s struggle to stay an independent Kingdom with a monarchy of their own. Another thing the play teaches are the last days of our monarchy, and the final days before the day of statehood. Before, I thought that the play was a waste of time but it’s not as vacuous as I thought it would be. I thought it would be better if we just learned history in class, but it turns out that we are learning after all. My perspective has completely changed on the play.
I think we should do the fifth grade play because it gives us a chance to learn more about our history. For example, Mrs. Burgess’ class didn’t even know what the Big Five was, but by doing the play they got to learn about the them.
Our class got to learn about some important people in history like who Joseph Nawahi was. He was a great man who tried very hard to stop the Reciprocity Treaty, but died of T.B. in the late 1800s.
By doing the fifth grade play, we get to learn more about our Hawaiian culture and how in the 1800s, Hawaiians didn’t have many choices that were open to them, and how they encountered many problems like the Reciprocity Treaty, the loss of ‘olelo, the Big Five and others.
I think that we shouldn’t have plays because it takes up too much time just for all the costumes and props (making the props was fun though). I also agree with what Tyanna said about how the play is just a stretched out lesson because it’s good to learn about the Reciprocity Treaty and all of that stuff but we don’t need to do the lesson for weeks. We could do other stuff like math and learning about the world.
When we do the play we aren’t really learning the facts, we are just learning how to memorize the script. We are doing all this work for a long time, just for ten minuets on the stage. For some people, acting is their thing but for most people plays are not what they do, so like Tyanna said, not that many people are going to be actors anyways.
Part of me thinks that the 5th grade play is a waste of time because it takes us about 2-3 months, maybe more to get ready for the play. The play is only an hour long but your class only gets 8-10 minutes to perform, so during all the preparation we could be learning many important things. Doing a play can be stressful and stress is bad for kids like us. But the other part of me is saying that the 5th grade play was a good thing because it is a good way to work out fears. The 5th grade play also helps us because we get to learn about what part in our Hawaiian history we are going to act out.
I think that the play is really fun, but it probably could be shorter. I think that when we had to get all the information that we needed for the play, we learned a lot. I think that when we went around to the different classes, we got to learn what the other class’ plays were going to be talking about. I also think that Mrs. Zisk’s information really helped us learn more about how the Hawaiians protested against the takeover of the Hawaiian kingdom. Some of the bad things that happens when we do the play are that it takes a ton of our time, and we probably will never be somewhere where we will have to act in front of other people again.
I think that there are both good sides and bad sides to the play so it really doesn’t matter to me if we have a play or not.
I think it’s good and bad because we learn how to speak correctly by enunciating, and speaking slowly and loudly. Also, we learn to get experience on stage and everything else that comes with being on stage. The bad things are we are wasting a couple of months. Instead, we could be doing stuff that would help us in the future.
Now I realize that the play is not fully bad and that we could learn a lot of things from the play and teach others. We can learn how to support others and work together. Also, we learn how to speak loudly and enunciate, and also to get rid of our shyness and shame. Another thing is that we can teach people about our history because our friends and families might tell their friends and the friends, and so on.
For the play, I need to work on speaking louder like on level 8, and to talk slowly. I need to pause and cheat out.
Also, I think that our class is improving since the first time we did rehearsal in the theater. All thanks to Mr.Chung for pushing us to do our best. I think that we will do well, but I think that we need to work on things, like not talking in the wings and making sure the audience does not see us. Another thing is that we should practice our soft talking and walking.
I think that the play is kind of fun and good for us because we learn a lot about Hawai‘i, and also learn how to speak, enunciate, and to speak in front of a crowd. Also we experience the life of an actor. That’s cool because most of us won’t experience that ever again! :’( .
Some of the bad things are that we’re wasting time because it took like one whole month to get ready for the play and I think it could have taken less time.
So altogether I don’t really care if we have the play because there are good and bad things about it.
I think that the play might be good for us. This will teach us how to enunciate words, speak clearly, and it’s just fun. I think I can improve on my speaking because I was soft before and now I am loud. I think I also improved my confidence because before I didn’t even want a part, but then I beleived in myself and the next thing am now King Kaläkaua.
Now after learning the play, and experiencing what it’s like to be in this play, I think that there are both good and bad in this play. The bad thing is that we are still holding back on everything else like math. The good thing is that we are learning a lot from this. Not only are we learning how to project our voices, speak clearly, and act, but we are also learning more and more about our Hawaiian history.
One thing is that the 5th graders have been doing this play for a long time, and think that’s another reason we should have this play.
I think the play is good and bad. Some of the good things are we learn how to talk clearly and have the experience of being on stage. We also learn how to use our voice to the fullest (which means our loudest) and not to hold back. But, some of the bad things that the play brings are we spend a lot of our time on the play which takes time of our time away from learning time. The play uses our knowledge of Hawaiian history, so at least we are putting our knowledge to use.
The fifth grade play is a tradition for the fifth grade, they usually do it every year. Maybe if we didn’t have the play then a lot of people will be disappointed. Plus, people gain a lot of knowledge from the play in a fun way.
Now when I think about the play, it seems so fun but when I get on stage, I turn stiff and talk fast. I think I really need to work on that in the next 5 days or else, it’s game over. On the bright side, this will help me have another option for my career choice but it’s at the bottom of my list. =D
Actually, practicing has changed my life. Before I thought plays were boring, but now when I hear play, I perk up and listen because I don’t want to miss anything.
After getting into the play and learning more about the play, I think that the play is not really a waste of time. It is really fun. I like it because you get go in to the big auditorium and you also learn more about our past in a different, more fun ways of learning. It also can help or get you into acting because you never know who is watching you, like maybe a Hollywood director. It also lets you feel how an actor feels when you have the spotlight on you for your three or so lines. It lets you feel special because we only have one fifth grade play. Before I thought plays were boring but now after seeing and doing it, I think it is cool.
I think the play is somewhat good and bad because if we have a play, then we learn about our Hawaiian culture and we can teach other people. We also can learn to enunciate our words and project our voice. On the other hand, if we don’t have a play, we could learn other stuff like science or life lessons. I would not really care if we have a play or not.
I think it is bad we have the play because if you think about it. Not many people are even going to become actors or actresses. Also, I don’t really know how this is going to help us later in life because if we work on things like science or math, we can become doctors or surgeons. If we work on the play, then maybe some of us will become actors. I rather be a doctor. Even though the play is a tradition, traditions change sometimes.
Oh well, it’s not my decision whether we have a play or not, but these are my feelings.
I personally think the play has two sides, where it can be good and bad at the same time. I don’t think the play is totally bad, but it can take time away from specials. Having a play can be good too because it can be an experiment for us students to be able to act on a stage.
In my opinion, working so hard in a play when each class only haw a short time on stage does not make sense. But I do enjoy working on it. Plays take a lot more work then I thought they did before. Another good thing that comes out of this is that we learn a lot about the process of the play. Also, every year the fifth grade does a play so it’s sort of a tradition.
I think that the play is okay but is still a waste of time, I would still rather have algebra homework instead of the play. One thing that I liked about the play was making the props. I thought that it was fun, and it was my favorite part. Everything else I thought was pretty boring.
But there are some good things that the play does, it teaches you how to enunciate and to not be nervous when you talk in front of a lot of people. Other people have different opinions but I do not like to be in plays. I would much rather sit on the side and watch.
I think we give good information and I am happy we are still doing the book, Fever 1793. I think I could do more acting with my hands. I thing we could be louder and dance better at the end.
I think that the play has some good things about it and also some bad. Some people like performing arts and being in the spotlight a lot, but when we grow up and get jobs, a lot of us are not going to be actors. But the things that we had to miss to do the play like math could help us get more realistic jobs such as engineers and doctors. Another con is we spent several months on being on stage for just 8-10 minutes! I myself didn’t really enjoy working towards the play, but the play itself, I thought was fun.
I think for the most part, the play was a success because we got all of our props done and sung all of our songs well. I think the message we sent across was very strong and had an impact on everyone who watched our play. Dr. Chun, the CEO and everyone who watched it said that it was the best play they watched!!!! I think that was an awesome complement!!!! But we can’t brag about it, we have to be ha‘aha‘a. I think next year’s play is going to be better because of the knowledge that has been passed down which can be used in their play which will send a stronger message.
I think that the fifth grade play was a complete success because we got so many great comments from everybody including the CEO of Kamehameha schools. We got so many comments that there were thoughts that we might do the 5th grade play again. I had a lot of fun doing it because the whole elementary school learned a lot and our parents and the teachers learned a lot. Even Admiral Kihune said this was the best play so far.
I think that all of us did so well in the play, and it was a very good one to remember. Also what happened is that I heard from the trustees and Dr.Chun that it was the best play yet and it’s an honor to hear that. I mean, that’s our headmaster and the trustees. All of us got so many positive compliments about our play and I am very surprised that it might not be over yet because some teachers said that we should do it again someday for maybe the high schoolers or middle schoolers. In my opinion, I think that we should do it again. It will just make our Hawaiian history stronger and us more powerful to become great Hawaiian leaders.
I think that the play was funner than I expected it to be because when we first started rehearsals, I still hated the play. But when we did the play for real, it was a lot of fun. Also, I thought that the play was really good, the only part that I didn’t like was when we had to sit in the back and not talk. I didn’t like it because my allergies were really bad that day and it was really boring. I liked it when everybody told us that we were good and that the play was awesome. We got compliments that were very different than what I thought we would get. Some people even said that we should take it to Broadway.
I think our fifth grade play was terrific. I thought the fifth grade play was going to be a waste of time because it took about a month or two to get everything ready. I was wrong because in those months, I learned a lot of details on the annexation of Hawaii. When the day came, I was scared to do the play because we had the first scene and I had big time stage fright. As soon as I saw the large crowd I freaked out but luckily I didn’t freeze up. I think I did a good job and so did everybody else. The person who I felt was the most outstanding was Kanoa, for learning the Joseph Nawahi part and performing it perfectly. The play went so smoothly, we got awesome comments. For example, people said that was the greatest play out of all of the other 5th grade plays. Also, it was suggested that we take the show on the road! I think we should share this play with more people outside of our school and family so we can teach them the knowledge of our Hawaiian history in a fun and entertaining way.
March 6th, 2009 at 9:07 am
I think it’s a waste of time because you work on it all that time and you only do 8 minutes. That would be 45 minutes in total for 3 months of work. Yes it’s a tradition and you do learn from it, but you could use that 3 months for learning math that can help you get a good job that pays a lot, so we can have a good life. You also waste money buying all the supplies for your part of the play. This is what I think of the play, but we still have to do it and waste all that time and money.
March 6th, 2009 at 9:15 am
Well, I believe that there shouldn’t be a fifth grade play because it cuts into our time learning new things. Sure it’s good to perform every now and then but this year we’re learning a lot of interesting things like algebra and physics. The amount of things that are taught in Mr. Chung’s class exceeds the amount taught in the past. If the fifth grade play takes too long to prepare for, then it might lessen the time we have for NASA projects, blogs, math, genetics, and the rest of the things we need to learn now or never learn it at all. The things that are keen to our education in the future are being cut out. When are we going to learn this type of algebra, history, propaganda that created wars, disputes, and races for power? Most of these things, NEVER!
Most teachers say it is for the children, but what if we, the students don’t want to do the play? What happens then? These are questions that most likely, won’t be answered by other teachers. When it comes to this the teachers might just say it is a tradition and we shouldn’t go against it. It still doesn’t answer the questions I ask.
March 6th, 2009 at 9:16 am
I think the fifth grade play is irrelevant because it doesn’t help us in the future. Seriously how many people in the fifth grade are going to become actors when they grow up? Probably none of them
. Also I think it is a big waste of time because we could be learning how to shoot a rockets into space using the quadratic formula. Also it’s a big waste of time when we’re going to use two whole months for 8 minutes of our fifth grade play. That’s ridiculous!!! Some people might say it’s for the kids, or they’ll remember it for the rest of their lives. I rather not have a fifth grade play than having to work at McDonald’s for all my life. Also, if you ask all of the kids in our grade if they want to do it, most of them probably won’t want to. That’s what I think about the fifth grade play. 
d:) .
March 6th, 2009 at 9:18 am
I think the fifth grade play is both good and bad. I believe it is bad because when you are young, sometimes you are shy, so performing a play is scary and you might just not like performing arts. I believe that it is good because in the future you will have to talk to other people and performing a play is a good way to learn. If you work hard while you’re a kid, your life as an adult should be easier. When the fifth grade works on the play, they shouldn’t take months to prep for it. I can understand taking a month to prep for the play but the fifth grade takes a few months to prep. The administration says that our recess is taking away from our learning time when the fifth grade play is the thing that takes away from our learning.
March 6th, 2009 at 9:21 am
The 5th grade play is a tradition of Kamehameha Schools, but for me personally, I don’t think we should do the play. But, it does help in some ways. Some ways the play helps are the 5th grade play builds courage and the ability to speak in front of many people. It also helps memorization and acting. But seriously how many of us will actually get a job in choreography? I am certainly not! And if I get a scholarship for acting, I am going to turn it down. And besides, the play will take up time to do algebra. And the props are going to have to be huge!!!! So, yeah, I don’t really care for the 5th grade play (although it may be fun).
March 6th, 2009 at 9:21 am
Our play is coming up! What do you think about the 5th grade play?
Main question: Why or why shouldn’t we have the 5th grade play?
What I think about the fifth grade play is that it is nonsense. Some of us don’t even like to act. It’s not our passion.
One argument I think that the 5th grade play is nonsense is because if acting isn’t our passion, we will not be using this experience of acting for anything. Also, we would do worse if it was our passion. Even though acting makes a lot of money, we wouldn’t get as much money if we act junk, right? I could be learning or getting experience in our passion, instead of acting.
My second argument is that in the process, we waste so many things like paper and cardboard. That’s only for one class! Also, every class only has about 10 minutes on the stage! If we do succeed, it’s still not worth it.
Otherwise, acting IS the passion for some people, so we should have an option to be in the play. Also, us working is for the audience, not us, so we shouldn’t just think about ourselves, but or the audience. They didn’t come here for nothing, they came here to get something out of it.
March 6th, 2009 at 9:21 am
The fifth grade play is a good experience for us, and to teaches everyone what we learned about the 50 years of statehood. It is also good for some people to step up to the plate and do things they never thought they could, like me! But I am still and always going to be quiet no matter what anyone tries to do or tell me. (It’s in my genes because my dad is quiet just like me, so I have that gene from him).
Some people in our school like watching the fifth grade play because it is really fun to watch. I know when I was in the younger grades, I was looking forward to watching it. But it is a lot of hard work to get everything ready in time. For example, the script, storyboard and many other things.
Some things that are bad about the fifth grade play is that you could be learning so much more if you didn’t do the fifth grade play. Well first of all, much of your time for about two months is going in to the play. Secondly, you are only going to have about 8 minutes to show what you learned. (Wow, that is so long)! Lastly, you don’t get that much out of it, well you get the what you learned, the joy of doing it and all, but what about the 8 minutes that you could have had, if you didn’t do it.
March 6th, 2009 at 9:22 am
I think that we should have a 5th grade play because it is sort of a tradition for the 5th grade. It is also fun to just experience what it’s like to be in a play and have a spotlight on you.
I think another reason I think we should have a play is because it is just like taking all that you learned and putting it together in one play. And then all you have to do is think of a creative way to present it.
But I can see that if you don’t have a play, then you can learn even more than what you will learn if you do a play. Another down for the play is it is kind of just a waste of time because really, how many of us are going to get a job in performing arts? Why be actors when you can be doctors and scientists.
I think the way you should decide to whether or not you should have a 5th grade play is to have a vote on it every year.
March 6th, 2009 at 9:22 am
I think that the fifth grade play has pros and cons. We study about our history and we learn more about our Hawaiian history. We also teach other students about history when we are doing the play. The fifth grade also gets to work with each other when we make the play.
But doing the play is also a waste of time. We could be learning a lot more than just our history. It is good that we learn about our kupuna’s lifestyle but we could learn about it even if we did not have the play. We could be learning another lesson that ties in with our history, too.
We do not need to learn performing arts unless we become a performer someday. To get a good job like being an engineer, we could learn math. We could also be a scientist and be prepared for the future.
It may not only affect our learning, but it can also affect the audience. If we do something that is not true and present it, then the audience will believe it and we just showed them propaganda. They will believe lies so that is why we have to do research which will take up a lot of our time.
I do not want the play, but I am fine with having it. It is a waste of time but at least we learn something. The school should give us more than just two months of making the play, if we have to do it.
March 6th, 2009 at 9:24 am
The play to me can be good and bad for everybody. It is good for people that have a hard time talking to people because when they talk in front of the whole school, it could better their social skills. But the play is bad because we are spending a lot of our time for eight minutes, so that our family will see us on stage when we could be using that time for something else that’s more important than a play. And if you really think about it there’s a lesser chance of us becoming actors or singers compared to things we could learn in class to be engineers or doctors.
March 6th, 2009 at 9:28 am
I think that the fifth grade play is helping you sometimes, but also you are wasting about a month an a half. After the play is over, you’ll think that month and a half was for nothing. I could have done so much stuff and had made cool things but instead we had to do the play.
The reason why it’s good to have the play is some people don’t like to talk and they are shy so when they get older they will have a strong voice. Also, you can learn a lot of background about the place that you are doing. For example, I learned that in America, they put up cartoons of Lili‘u as a cannibal. In the pictures, it had her by skulls of humans on the ground so it made people think she was a savage.
March 6th, 2009 at 9:47 am
There are some good and bad things about the fifth grade play. A good thing is that we get to learn more about what we are studying and more about what other classes in fifth grade are studying too.
A bad thing is that in those two months that we spend so much time producing the play, we could be learning about something really interesting like the Salem Witch Trials or Fibonacci Numbers. I think that I would be much more interested in learning about these things than doing a play.
Personally, I think the fifth grade play should just be a little bit more longer if we put in all this effort.
March 6th, 2009 at 9:52 am
I’m not saying that doing this play is bad, I’m just saying that we have better things to do than work on our play, like math or social studies. Also, the play is going to take up lots of time and that means that we’ll be missing all of the things that really matter. I think the only good thing about the play is that we are going to learning a lot from studying about the time period of the play, but we could still learn all these things in the classroom. The only thing that’s different about the play is that we’ll sharing all of the facts that we learned with our parents in a different way.
Sometimes it could be good for people who think they have a future in acting, but theres a really low chance that that’s going to happen. We should be in class learning more and more, instead of learning about one thing and then spending about a month trying to get together a play that has all the things that we learned about that one thing.
Its also critical that we don’t mess up on any of our facts about that time period, and if we do than that would be just like propaganda.
March 6th, 2009 at 9:53 am
I think that we shouldn’t have a 5th grade play because we could be doing much more things. I would learn more about algebra and learn more about World War Two, Hitler and his Nazi soldiers, and how we beat them.
But in the play you can learn things about Pu‘uloa and teach it to other people so they can take your knowledge about how the Reciprocity Treaty was signed. We cab also learn about water rights, and we can learn about population changes in Hawai‘i.
March 6th, 2009 at 9:54 am
I think that there are some good reasons to do the fifth grade play and some reasons not to.
Doing this play is a good way to teach people about what you have learned for the past two months. It’s fun and cool when you put all of these interesting facts into a performance everyone can understand.
But doing this play is also a waste of time. Think of all of the things we could do if we didn’t have the fifth grade play! We could be shooting rockets! Learning about our history is great but we also need to learn about current events or history of other countries so we can see all ways of thinking.
In all of that spare time instead of learning performing arts (which is in our usual schedule), we can do more algebra and read more interesting books like FEVER 1793.
Personally, I wouldn’t like to have the play but if we do have it’s okay with me. t’s a tradition that has been going on for over 10 years. Who would want to break that record?
Although we have to focus 2 months on 8 minutes of the play, it would be a great experience to just know that you studied hard and it paid off.
March 6th, 2009 at 9:55 am
I think that we shouldn’t have the fifth grade play because we would have to work really hard to make the script and the props just for ten minutes of the play. We will take all this time for ten minutes, when we could of learned other things that will be more productive. Teachers say that we will remember the things that we did in our play but i don’t think that I will because i don’t even want to be in the play. That’s another thing, not everyone will be a big character in the play, They might just be the people walking by or the person behind the scenes. The play is more memorizing then learning because you have to memorize your script so you’re not doing very high level thinking.
March 6th, 2009 at 9:56 am
I don’t really care if we have a fifth grade play because I am never going to be an actor. It has pros and cons, one pro is that you can have fun and maybe learn a little bit but you are wasting time. You could be learning algebra or something else that you will use in life.
If you like acting or enjoy being in the spotlight, then you will like the play, but if you’re like me and you don’t like acting, then I wouldn’t do the play. Think of all of the other things that you could be learning while you are writing a script or rehearsing lines with other people. You can waste time or learn really important things that will help you in life.
I’m not saying we should not have the play. They are fun to watch, but I don’t think we should spend a lot of time on the fifth grade play.
March 6th, 2009 at 9:58 am
What I think about the play is that it is a waste of time!
There is no reason for having to do it because most of the people in the audience will never remember it. It is such a waste of time. I mean, how many people will actually have dancing or singing as a career? I would rather be learning algebra even though it isn’t the easiest or funnest of subjects. Even though it has been a tradition at Kamehameha Elementary School to do the fifth grade play, I think we need a change.
Did you know that when you don’t do the 5th grade play, you can actually have 2-3 extra months of learning instead of learning how to act, sing and dance. Also, who in this world can actually think that a kindergartener could actually memorize all this information that we are shooting at them. I can tell you a story to prove it to you. Last year when I was in 4th grade, I asked my cousin what did she learn from the 5th grade play and she said that she liked the pretty shark costumes.
March 6th, 2009 at 10:03 am
I think that we should do the 5th grade play, but spend less time on it so we can do other stuff like learn about the overthrow of the Hawaiian kingdom, or learn about things in history that were big but we tend to pass over in a textbook. I think it is ridiculous if we spend 2-3 months when we are only going to be on stage about 8 minutes. I think we should spend maybe 3 weeks on the play and then do rehearsals about twice. That way, it wouldn’t take as much time.
I don’t mind if we don’t have a play because it is a waste of time and we could be doing other things with our time but I highly doubt that that will happen because all the teachers, parents, and most of the students like the 5th grade play.
Anyway, you probably get my point. I think we should do the play but not spend too much time on it.
March 6th, 2009 at 10:10 am
I think the play is not too important because why would the whole fifth grade spend time on the play when the play is only like 8 or 9 minutes for each class. I’m not saying the play is completely useless but we could be spending time doing something else like math.
March 6th, 2009 at 10:16 am
In my opinion, I think the play is complete waste of time, no offense to anyone at all. But two entire months just for 8 minutes. I mean, come on people, that is just plain weird. We could be learning about WWII or slavery.
To tell the truth I don’t care at all for the play. I don’t think it is going to stop any time soon because people say the fifth grade play is a tradition and might never stop. But, who knows, maybe we won’t have a play next year.
March 7th, 2009 at 10:16 am
I agree with Amylyn because if we do the play then we would be wasting our time because a majority of our class does not want any part in performing arts. Also, how is it going to help you when we grow up? Sure,it will help us with our shyness and make us talk much better in front of a crowd or a group of people, but the dancing and singing won’t help us when we grow up. Also, not many people watch plays. If we want people to know about what happenedd to our country, then we should do it in a different way like have a public opening like the Ho’olaulea! But instead of having games, we can have people do Hawaiian games and make Hawaiian toys that we can take home! If we do the play, we would only get our message out only to our families.
March 13th, 2009 at 7:27 pm
I don’t think we should have the play because it takes up too much of our school time. We could be doin math or science instead(which is way more important considering our future job technologies).
I mean, it is cool 
if you’re gonna be an actor someday, but you’re not 100% sure you’ll get the part in a hit movie. 
All I’m saying is we should work more on USEFUL subjects than performing arts.
March 15th, 2009 at 1:04 pm
I don’t think we should have a play because it takes up to much time learning about it when we could be doing other things like building rockets or learning about the world. I think that everyone thinks we are doing a play because it makes a impact on our learning about our culture but learning lines and making a script is what wastes time. It is like a really stretched out lesson.
Also how many people really are going to be actors? 
I think that we should be using our time more wisely.
April 16th, 2009 at 2:44 pm
At first, I thought that the play was pretty irrelevant, but now there’s 6 days left until the play and I think I learned a lot; but I also think that we could spend a little less time on the play because we spent 3 months on the play for 8 minutes of our life!
April 16th, 2009 at 3:01 pm
I think that the play is actually not a waste of time. It is actually a very good thing to do because it actually teaches people about our Hawaiian history. The play also teaches of Hawaii’s struggle to stay an independent Kingdom with a monarchy of their own. Another thing the play teaches are the last days of our monarchy, and the final days before the day of statehood. Before, I thought that the play was a waste of time but it’s not as vacuous as I thought it would be. I thought it would be better if we just learned history in class, but it turns out that we are learning after all. My perspective has completely changed on the play.
April 16th, 2009 at 3:17 pm
I think we should do the fifth grade play because it gives us a chance to learn more about our history. For example, Mrs. Burgess’ class didn’t even know what the Big Five was, but by doing the play they got to learn about the them.
Our class got to learn about some important people in history like who Joseph Nawahi was. He was a great man who tried very hard to stop the Reciprocity Treaty, but died of T.B. in the late 1800s.
By doing the fifth grade play, we get to learn more about our Hawaiian culture and how in the 1800s, Hawaiians didn’t have many choices that were open to them, and how they encountered many problems like the Reciprocity Treaty, the loss of ‘olelo, the Big Five and others.
April 16th, 2009 at 3:32 pm
I think that we shouldn’t have plays because it takes up too much time just for all the costumes and props (making the props was fun though). I also agree with what Tyanna said about how the play is just a stretched out lesson because it’s good to learn about the Reciprocity Treaty and all of that stuff but we don’t need to do the lesson for weeks. We could do other stuff like math and learning about the world.
When we do the play we aren’t really learning the facts, we are just learning how to memorize the script. We are doing all this work for a long time, just for ten minuets on the stage. For some people, acting is their thing but for most people plays are not what they do, so like Tyanna said, not that many people are going to be actors anyways.
April 16th, 2009 at 4:11 pm
Part of me thinks that the 5th grade play is a waste of time because it takes us about 2-3 months, maybe more to get ready for the play. The play is only an hour long but your class only gets 8-10 minutes to perform, so during all the preparation we could be learning many important things. Doing a play can be stressful and stress is bad for kids like us. But the other part of me is saying that the 5th grade play was a good thing because it is a good way to work out fears. The 5th grade play also helps us because we get to learn about what part in our Hawaiian history we are going to act out.
April 16th, 2009 at 4:11 pm
I think that the play is really fun, but it probably could be shorter. I think that when we had to get all the information that we needed for the play, we learned a lot. I think that when we went around to the different classes, we got to learn what the other class’ plays were going to be talking about. I also think that Mrs. Zisk’s information really helped us learn more about how the Hawaiians protested against the takeover of the Hawaiian kingdom. Some of the bad things that happens when we do the play are that it takes a ton of our time, and we probably will never be somewhere where we will have to act in front of other people again.
I think that there are both good sides and bad sides to the play so it really doesn’t matter to me if we have a play or not.
April 16th, 2009 at 4:36 pm
I think it’s good and bad because we learn how to speak correctly by enunciating, and speaking slowly and loudly. Also, we learn to get experience on stage and everything else that comes with being on stage. The bad things are we are wasting a couple of months. Instead, we could be doing stuff that would help us in the future.
April 16th, 2009 at 6:17 pm
Now I realize that the play is not fully bad and that we could learn a lot of things from the play and teach others. We can learn how to support others and work together. Also, we learn how to speak loudly and enunciate, and also to get rid of our shyness and shame. Another thing is that we can teach people about our history because our friends and families might tell their friends and the friends, and so on.
For the play, I need to work on speaking louder like on level 8, and to talk slowly. I need to pause and cheat out.
Also, I think that our class is improving since the first time we did rehearsal in the theater. All thanks to Mr.Chung for pushing us to do our best. I think that we will do well, but I think that we need to work on things, like not talking in the wings and making sure the audience does not see us. Another thing is that we should practice our soft talking and walking.
April 16th, 2009 at 6:30 pm
I think that the play is kind of fun and good for us because we learn a lot about Hawai‘i, and also learn how to speak, enunciate, and to speak in front of a crowd. Also we experience the life of an actor. That’s cool because most of us won’t experience that ever again! :’( .
Some of the bad things are that we’re wasting time because it took like one whole month to get ready for the play and I think it could have taken less time.
So altogether I don’t really care if we have the play because there are good and bad things about it.
April 16th, 2009 at 7:05 pm
I think that the play might be good for us. This will teach us how to enunciate words, speak clearly, and it’s just fun. I think I can improve on my speaking because I was soft before and now I am loud. I think I also improved my confidence because before I didn’t even want a part, but then I beleived in myself and the next thing am now King Kaläkaua.
April 16th, 2009 at 7:32 pm
Now after learning the play, and experiencing what it’s like to be in this play, I think that there are both good and bad in this play. The bad thing is that we are still holding back on everything else like math. The good thing is that we are learning a lot from this. Not only are we learning how to project our voices, speak clearly, and act, but we are also learning more and more about our Hawaiian history.
One thing is that the 5th graders have been doing this play for a long time, and think that’s another reason we should have this play.
April 16th, 2009 at 8:01 pm
I think the play is good and bad. Some of the good things are we learn how to talk clearly and have the experience of being on stage. We also learn how to use our voice to the fullest (which means our loudest) and not to hold back. But, some of the bad things that the play brings are we spend a lot of our time on the play which takes time of our time away from learning time. The play uses our knowledge of Hawaiian history, so at least we are putting our knowledge to use.
The fifth grade play is a tradition for the fifth grade, they usually do it every year. Maybe if we didn’t have the play then a lot of people will be disappointed. Plus, people gain a lot of knowledge from the play in a fun way.
April 16th, 2009 at 8:08 pm
Now when I think about the play, it seems so fun but when I get on stage, I turn stiff and talk fast.
I think I really need to work on that in the next 5 days or else, it’s game over. On the bright side, this will help me have another option for my career choice but it’s at the bottom of my list. =D
Actually, practicing has changed my life. Before I thought plays were boring, but now when I hear play, I perk up and listen because I don’t want to miss anything.
April 16th, 2009 at 8:37 pm
After getting into the play and learning more about the play, I think that the play is not really a waste of time. It is really fun. I like it because you get go in to the big auditorium and you also learn more about our past in a different, more fun ways of learning. It also can help or get you into acting because you never know who is watching you, like maybe a Hollywood director. It also lets you feel how an actor feels when you have the spotlight on you for your three or so lines. It lets you feel special because we only have one fifth grade play. Before I thought plays were boring but now after seeing and doing it, I think it is cool.
April 16th, 2009 at 8:59 pm
I think the play is somewhat good and bad because if we have a play, then we learn about our Hawaiian culture and we can teach other people. We also can learn to enunciate our words and project our voice. On the other hand, if we don’t have a play, we could learn other stuff like science or life lessons. I would not really care if we have a play or not.
I think it is bad we have the play because if you think about it. Not many people are even going to become actors or actresses. Also, I don’t really know how this is going to help us later in life because if we work on things like science or math, we can become doctors or surgeons. If we work on the play, then maybe some of us will become actors. I rather be a doctor. Even though the play is a tradition, traditions change sometimes.
Oh well, it’s not my decision whether we have a play or not, but these are my feelings.
April 16th, 2009 at 9:16 pm
I personally think the play has two sides, where it can be good and bad at the same time. I don’t think the play is totally bad, but it can take time away from specials. Having a play can be good too because it can be an experiment for us students to be able to act on a stage.
In my opinion, working so hard in a play when each class only haw a short time on stage does not make sense. But I do enjoy working on it. Plays take a lot more work then I thought they did before. Another good thing that comes out of this is that we learn a lot about the process of the play. Also, every year the fifth grade does a play so it’s sort of a tradition.
April 16th, 2009 at 9:43 pm
I think that the play is okay but is still a waste of time, I would still rather have algebra homework instead of the play. One thing that I liked about the play was making the props. I thought that it was fun, and it was my favorite part. Everything else I thought was pretty boring.
But there are some good things that the play does, it teaches you how to enunciate and to not be nervous when you talk in front of a lot of people. Other people have different opinions but I do not like to be in plays. I would much rather sit on the side and watch.
April 17th, 2009 at 7:38 am
I think we give good information and I am happy we are still doing the book, Fever 1793. I think I could do more acting with my hands. I thing we could be louder and dance better at the end.
April 29th, 2009 at 6:18 pm
I think that the play has some good things about it and also some bad. Some people like performing arts and being in the spotlight a lot, but when we grow up and get jobs, a lot of us are not going to be actors. But the things that we had to miss to do the play like math could help us get more realistic jobs such as engineers and doctors. Another con is we spent several months on being on stage for just 8-10 minutes! I myself didn’t really enjoy working towards the play, but the play itself, I thought was fun.
April 29th, 2009 at 8:22 pm
I think for the most part, the play was a success because we got all of our props done and sung all of our songs well. I think the message we sent across was very strong and had an impact on everyone who watched our play. Dr. Chun, the CEO and everyone who watched it said that it was the best play they watched!!!! I think that was an awesome complement!!!! But we can’t brag about it, we have to be ha‘aha‘a. I think next year’s play is going to be better because of the knowledge that has been passed down which can be used in their play which will send a stronger message.
April 30th, 2009 at 4:58 pm
I think that the fifth grade play was a complete success because we got so many great comments from everybody including the CEO of Kamehameha schools. We got so many comments that there were thoughts that we might do the 5th grade play again. I had a lot of fun doing it because the whole elementary school learned a lot and our parents and the teachers learned a lot. Even Admiral Kihune said this was the best play so far.
April 30th, 2009 at 5:43 pm
I think that all of us did so well in the play, and it was a very good one to remember. Also what happened is that I heard from the trustees and Dr.Chun that it was the best play yet and it’s an honor to hear that. I mean, that’s our headmaster and the trustees. All of us got so many positive compliments about our play and I am very surprised that it might not be over yet because some teachers said that we should do it again someday for maybe the high schoolers or middle schoolers. In my opinion, I think that we should do it again. It will just make our Hawaiian history stronger and us more powerful to become great Hawaiian leaders.
April 30th, 2009 at 6:21 pm
I think that the play was funner than I expected it to be because when we first started rehearsals, I still hated the play. But when we did the play for real, it was a lot of fun. Also, I thought that the play was really good, the only part that I didn’t like was when we had to sit in the back and not talk. I didn’t like it because my allergies were really bad that day and it was really boring. I liked it when everybody told us that we were good and that the play was awesome. We got compliments that were very different than what I thought we would get. Some people even said that we should take it to Broadway.
April 30th, 2009 at 8:00 pm
I think our fifth grade play was terrific. I thought the fifth grade play was going to be a waste of time because it took about a month or two to get everything ready. I was wrong because in those months, I learned a lot of details on the annexation of Hawaii. When the day came, I was scared to do the play because we had the first scene and I had big time stage fright. As soon as I saw the large crowd I freaked out but luckily I didn’t freeze up. I think I did a good job and so did everybody else. The person who I felt was the most outstanding was Kanoa, for learning the Joseph Nawahi part and performing it perfectly. The play went so smoothly, we got awesome comments. For example, people said that was the greatest play out of all of the other 5th grade plays. Also, it was suggested that we take the show on the road! I think we should share this play with more people outside of our school and family so we can teach them the knowledge of our Hawaiian history in a fun and entertaining way.