Drama- 2/8/11

Drama= So much fun. There are endless ideas to incorporate drama into teaching. I love that drama will get you out of your shell. Some of my favorites that we've done in class:

• Story as One- One person selected to start the story, they talk slow so everyone else can follow along with them. Then they point to someone else to take over and everyone tells the story at the same time following the selected person. It incorporates focus, creativity, and on the spot thinking.
• Mirror Game- You can either do this in pairs or as a group. If in pairs, person A will do slow motions with hands and person B follows them as if they were a mirror. If doing in a big group, one person goes out in the hall, the rest of the group follows the "leader" mysteriously and the person tries to guess who the leader is. As the teacher you can side coach, or give instructions.
• Machines- In groups of 5-6, make a machine given criteria of lines, etc. You each make sounds to go with your machine. Super fun.
• Interview a Character- This would be great for history. You pick a character (president, war hero) to be and bring him/her to life. Someone else interviews you.
• Character as One- This is when 3-4 people are all the same character. The teacher guides or interviews them as if they are that person. The risk level is lower as far as shy or embarrassed students.
  

Our class did presentations on the Social Studies curriculum. Everyone did a great job. The book we chose was Henry's Freedom Box. Click here to see our lesson plan incorporating drama. It was hard to do a 1-1.5 hour lesson in just 15 minutes but I think overall we did well. The activities were fun to do. I will definitely remember the books everyone presented on much more than a book that was only read.

It was so ironic because a few days after I checked out the book from the library my 2nd grader made a comment about slaves. It was an easy way to explain to him by reading him that book. We talked about how hard it would be to be torn from your family.

Drama shows the greatest impact among students. We must incorporate drama into teaching. We discussed 4 of the elements of Drama

1. Character
2. Setting
3. Story/Plot
4. Audience- very critical that kids learn how to be an audience

You must incorporate the following 6 principles of drama with the elements:

1. Symbol
2. Focus
3. Tension
4. Contrast
5. Balance
6. Form

There are UNLIMITED possibilities!!