Drama Series: Teacher in Role & Writing in Role

This strategy is appropriate named, and revered as an invaluable technique for shaping the dramatic process. The teacher assumes the role of a character, evoking their emotions and attitudes while the students pose questions to the teacher. This reciprocal dialogue between the students and teacher add to the level of creativity and excitement. By taking on this role, you are able to question, challenge, organize thoughts, summarize ideas, and engage all students in dramatic action. Not only are the students learning valuable lessons within this activity, but they are also engaged in the inquiry process by posing their own questions and finding the answers. Within the classroom the teacher can pose as an expert, witness, book character, and so on; the possibilities are endless! I suggest having a movement or action (placing a hat on and off) to signal to the students when you are in role; if behaviours need to be addressed it does not jeopardize the authenticity of the scene. In order to gage a deeper understanding of what the students were able to take from the conversations, you could ask the students to ‘write in role’ or write as their character would for assessment purposes. Within my drama class at Brock University, the teacher played the role of a capture soldier to commemorate Remembrance Day, while the classmates wrote a letter in reflection of their experiences at war. However, this level of depth may not be suitable for younger ages, so you would have to carefully consider the topic before engaging in this activity.

Drama Series: Flash-back & Flash-forward

Imagine skipping to the middle of a story and having to create a beginning and end based off of the information in the text; this strategy is appropriately named as students are asked to do just that. This activity assesses their comprehension skills, but also allows the students to direct the story to suit their own interpretations. This strategy should be a staple in every teacher’s toolbox as it gives the students enough structure to form a story, but also enough flexibility for them to showcase their creativity and imagination. In order to differentiate this strategy, you could have the students create tableaus or drawn depictions of a flash-back/flash-forward scene that would still assess their comprehension, exploration of characters, and consequences as a result of previous action. However, if they choose to create a tableau or picture, I would ask for a verbal explanation as well so that their answers can be full explained and/or supported. This strategy would be appropriate for a variety of age levels because of the differentiation and learning strategies available, and would suit numerous texts across subject areas.

Drama Series: Gibberish

This drama strategy invokes the use of gibberish (nonsense speech with no recognizable words) to communicate a thought or idea. This activity relies heavily on non-verbal cues such as facial expressions, movements, and gestures to communicate so it may be more appropriate for older students who have a stronger grasp of these concepts. One of the great things about this activity is that it provides insight into the lives of students with language barriers. However, this strategy may be difficult to assess; I suggest posing a question to the students so that you can control the dialogue and actions you will hear/see. For differentiation you could pose more challenging questions/ideas to higher achieving students. A cross curricular link could explore the perspectives of immigrants moving to Canada with Grade 4 Social Studies who are suddenly thrust into an unfamiliar culture and language. Matt Buchanan has provided a comprehensive list, ranging in difficulty that the students could attempt to describe or model using gibberish. That being said, be wary of the level of excitement the students can display within this activity; classroom management becomes key when using engaging strategies such as this. Also be prepared with additional clues/movements if the students are having difficulties communicating their ideas. Overall, this is another fantastic Drama tool that would be beneficial for a variety of grades and subjects.  

Drama Series: Tableau & Teacher Tap In

Tableaus are perhaps the most common drama strategy as they allow the students to represent scenes of a book or film with their bodies. Tableaus are essentially frozen pictures, or in student-friendly language, they are similar to the Mannequin Challenge. I prefer to couple this strategy with Teacher Tap In, which asks the students to explain the perspective of the character they chose when tapped on the shoulder. To take this a step further, when tapping the students on the shoulder you could also ask them how they believe another character from their scene might be feeling in order to gain a deeper understanding of their perspective taking abilities. The combination of both strategies worked exceptionally well within my grade 6 classroom, and it provides an engaging alternative to reading & writing responses. For teachers who would like to try this activity I will include a link to my Brock Lesson Plan for you to read; it includes all of the essential information regarding curriculum expectations, minds-on, action, and consolidation, but also ideas for differentiation and assessment.

Drama Series: Thought Mapping

From an educators’ perspective there is one Drama strategy that lends itself to diagnostic assessment, referred to as Thought Mapping/Positioning. In order to dispel any myths, this is not the same as mind mapping (a written strategy used to organize thoughts). Thought Mapping/Positioning is used to demonstrate the student’s comfort level when starting a new subject. A chair (or any other object) is placed in the centre of the room and the more comfortable the students feel with the subject the closer they stand to the chair. An example of an appropriate question would be: “how comfortable do you feel teaching drama?” The reaction was mixed within my classroom when this question was asked, as some of us were practically sitting on the chair, while others were nearly out the door. This visual cue gives a clear indication as to the comfort levels of the students, and how quickly/slowly the subject should be approached. It may also be an opportunity to address any underlying concerns before they become an issue. Thought mapping remains an appropriate strategy for any age-range or subject, and it will become a useful tool for any educator to have in their back pocket.  

Introduction to The Drama Series!

I consider myself to be a strong advocate for the arts, so I thought it would be beneficial to share my experiences within my Drama Education class at Brock University and how they can be applied within the classroom both as drama lessons, and cross curricular. I have created what I refer to as “The Drama Series” which lists five drama strategies that can be utilized within the classroom. The Arts are absolutely essential, transformative mediums within the learning environment because of their effects on student motivation and achievement (Hartle, Pinciotti & Gorton, 2015). According to the Arts Education Partnership (2013), educators who integrate the arts into the curriculum find that they are better equipped to meet the needs of all students, but results are particularly robust with disenfranchised students (Hartle et al., 2015). Therefore, the arts can be a powerful tool to close the gap between learners, but also increase the creative and critical thinking skills for non-exceptional students.

Reference

Hartle, L., Pinciotti, P., & Gorton, R. (2015). ArtsIN: Arts integration and infusion framework. Early childhood 

       Education, 43, 289-298. doi:10.1007/s10643-014-0636-7