ContentsIntroduction 2What is drama?Why use drama to teach English to young learners?Why dramatize stories?How do I choose the most appropriate drama activity?When should I use drama for stories?

Part One: Drama techniques 4MimeUsing story dialogues and scriptsRole play and improvization

Part Two: Exploring the story 5SoundsObjectsCharactersScenesExploring one story

Part Three: Making the story real 11PuppetsMasksProps and costumesScenery

Part Four: Drama productions 13

Part Five: Drama and your pupils 16Introducing drama to your classEstablishing positive attitudes towards dramaClassroom managementThe role of correction

Bibliography 17

Photocopiable Worksheets 181 Working with sounds2 Miming objects3 Interview4 Role cards5 Mime and guess the scene 6 Character actions 7 Creating dialogue 8 Choosing a character for a stick puppet 9 Stick puppet

10 Finger puppets11 Simple hand puppets12 Drink box puppet13 Headbands and masks14 Script15 Drama activity chart

2

Introduction

Introduction

� What is drama?

Drama is essentially a creative activityinvolving movement, language,imagination, emotion, and socialinteraction to represent a story, asituation, a moment or an act. Dramacan also involve clothing, objects,scenery and music. When the word‘drama’ is mentioned several wordscome to mind: roleplay, acting,pretending, miming, performance,theatre, puppets, characters, scenes…the list is endless. In the classroom,drama activities range from simplegames involving movement, to anextended project culminating in publicperformance.

� Why use drama to teachEnglish to young learners?

Drama is an important part of theschool curriculum in many countries.Through drama, children expand theirknowledge of the world; they learnsocial skills and develop theircommunication skills. When they takeon the role of another character, theyconsider the thoughts, feeling andperspectives of people different fromthemselves. At the same time drama isa natural part of child’s play. Veryyoung children play ‘let’s pretend’ forexample, they feed their toy animals,or drive their toy trains to the station.Children often act out events in theirlives which helps them understand the

world and gives them practice in adultsituations in a safe environment

Since drama involves using languagefor interaction and communication,drama activities have found their wayinto the language classroom. Theemphasis on real communication inthe language learning has also meantthat language teachers need toconsider context, intonation and bodylanguage as well as the actual words inoral communication. Drama by itsvery nature involves all of theseelements.

When teaching English, teachers needto concern themselves with more thanjust children’s language learning.Children are still developing andgrowing physically, emotionally andintellectually, and this wholedevelopment is not separate fromtheir English learning. This needs to beconsidered when choosing activitiesfor the language classroom. Dramaactivities are ideal in this regard, asthey develop the whole child anddevelop the child’s language skills atthe same time.

� Why dramatize stories?

Stories are a major part of a child’slife. Children hear stories told to themor read to them by parents, siblingsand teachers. Stories are brought tochildren through songs and rhymes,but also through television and thecinema. Many preschool childrennaturally want to act out stories they

2

3

Introduction

enjoy and invite their parents, friends,siblings and even toys to play differentcharacters.

Events in stories often raisecomplicated life issues or theyintroduce children to aspects of theadult world they may not haveexperienced before. Dramatizingstories allows children to explorethese issues. For example, in thePenguin Young Reader Snow White andthe Seven Dwarves, Level 3, jealousy,romantic love, loyalty and revenge,and family relationships can all beexplored through drama. Drama alsogives meaning to the language of thestory. While familiarization of thestory is supported through readingand language activities, such as thosein the Penguin Young ReadersFactsheets, the story is furtherreinforced through dramatization.

� How do I choose the mostappropriate drama activity?

Choosing the right activity for yourpupils and for the story depends onmany things:

�The language ability of the pupils.Pupils with more language and greaterfluency can better handleimprovization activities, whereasbeginning pupils can mime and speakselected lines chorally.

�Their general confidence level. Someclasses have a higher energy level thanothers and will enjoy more active,

vocal activities. Some pupils are moreconcerned with accuracy and are lesswilling to try fluency activities, nomatter what their level.

�The size of the class. Most of theactivities in this Guide can be adaptedfor different class sizes, but someactivities require particular numbers ineach group to match the number ofcharacters in the story.

�The classroom environment. Youwill need to consider the use ofclassroom space in each activity andchoose those that can be adapted toyour classroom

�The nature of the story and the text.Some stories have more action inthem and are therefore more suitablefor miming activities, and some havelittle action. Some story texts containdialogues to act out, some stories areprimarily narrative and do not havemuch direct speech. You need toconsider which activities naturally arisefrom the story and the text.

� When should I use drama?

Pupils should be very familiar with thestory before using drama activities.Because drama requires confidence,spontaneity and imagination, pupilsshould know the story well and becomfortable with the language of thestory. Having pupils improvize ormime a story they do not know wellcan be demoralizing because itpresents challenges they cannot meet.

3

Introduction

4

Part One Drama techniques

of what they hear through theiractions. It is, therefore, particularlyappropriate for pupils with less Englishor as a lead-in to using a script orimprovization. Certain stories lendthemselves very well to mime becausethey contain a lot of concrete action.For example, in the short story‘Arnold’s Sporting Adventures’ inStory Shops Winners and Losers, Level3, pupils can mime each sport Arnoldtries. In the story The Golden Goose,Level 2, pupils will enjoy getting stuckto each other and walking around theroom with Simpleton. Young pupilscan pretend to taste the porridge andsit in the chairs in Goldilocks and theThree Bears, Level 1. Acting withoutwords can also be done with puppets.Worksheet 11 suggests simple handpuppets for Tom Thumb, Level 1.

� Using story dialogues andscripts

Using written dialogues, either from astory or from a script based on astory, combines movement withcontrolled speaking. It is important tochoose dialogues that pupils can learneasily such as those with repetition orrhythm. Again, puppets can be usedand scenery, props or costumes canalso be brought in to aid pupils’imaginations. The Three Billy GoatsGruff, Level 1, contains both narrativeand simple repetitive spoken text.Pairs of pupils can also act out thescene in Little Red Riding Hood, Level 2,between the wolf and Little Red RidingHood on pages 10 and 11 with its

PART ONE Drama techniques

Broadly speaking there are three maintechniques to dramatizing stories:Using movement without speaking,which is called mime; using the printedword either from a story or from ascript devised from a story; and freerroleplay or improvization where pupilsuse their own language resources andcreative movement to act out whatthe characters of a story say or whatthey might say and do. There areinfinite variations on these three broadtechniques. Pupils can be thecharacters themselves or puppets canbe used. The whole story can bedramatized or just one or two scenes,or a character can be explored. Realobjects can be used as props; simplecostumes such as a hat can be worn.Each of these techniques can beadapted to give more support orcreate more challenge depending onthe level and needs of your pupils, andthey can all be used with the supportof a narrator, most often the teacher,to give structure to the story.

� Mime

Mime involves pupils imaginingthemselves as a character in the storyand using movement without words todepict the story as the teacher readsit aloud or describes a scene. Thistechnique focuses on the listening skillas pupils demonstrate understanding

4

5

Part Two Exploring the story

simple question and answer pattern.Many children’s stories can be turnedinto scripts for plays. If the scriptincludes some choral speaking,narration and simple lines, then allpupils can participate. Worksheet 14is an example of a script based on thestory, The Musicians of Bremen, Level 1.It is possible to turn this script into afull stage production (see Part Fourfor more details).

� Role play andimprovization

In this technique, pupils act out a storyor scene creating the dialoguethemselves as they go along, withoutmemorizing a script or reading from astory text. Pupils therefore need touse whatever language they have toexpress the character’s meaning. If theroleplay is based on the story, thepupils’ dialogue may be very similar tothe dialogue in the story. This showsthe teacher what language the pupilhas acquired from the story already.Roleplays can also be based on anarrated scene from a story (withoutdialogue), or on an entirely new sceneintroduced by the pupils or teacher.Simple, repetitive stories such asGoldilocks and the Three Bears, Level 1,are suitable for improvizing at thislevel. For Level 4 pupils, The Pied Piperof Hamelin has several suitable scenesfor improvizing, such as the meetingbetween the Mayor and his men onpage 9, or the meeting between theMayor and the Pied Piper on pages 11and 12.

PART TWOExploring thestory

A story contains several elements –sounds, characters, objects and scenes– which can be explored through thedramatic techniques described in PartOne. Focusing on a particular elementof a story helps pupils increase theirimagination and creativity in astructured way.

� Sounds

Adding sound effects to your story is asimple way to bring the story to life.The sounds can be actual sounds inthe story, or narrative expressions togive response and meaning to the linesof the story. All pupils can participatein making the sounds and it can bedone with classes of any size.

First, establish the various sounds inthe story and at what point theyoccur. Discuss with the class if thesound should be loud or soft, long orshort, and so on. Have the whole classmake the sounds in unison while youcall out the scenes. Then read thestory aloud in a dramatic voiceshowing pupils the illustrations in thebook at the same time. Pause at theappropriate moment while the wholeclass makes the sounds. Alternatively,the class could be divided into smallergroups and each group is responsiblefor a sound or, if they are confident,

5

6

Part Two Exploring the story

pupils can make up their own sounds.Read the story and pause as eachgroup makes their sound at theappropriate moment.

Here is the text of The Little Mermaid,Level 1, with suggestions for sounds inbrackets. Worksheet 1 also givessound effects for The Princess and theFrog, Level 3.

6

The sea king lives in a castle. His castle is under the sea. The king

has six sisters. They are girls with fish tails (swish swish swishy swish).

One mermaid looks at the ships. She likes to see the men and women

(Oooh!). Men and women have legs, not fish tails (stomp feet

rhythmically). She can see a handsome man (romantic Ahhhh!). It is

very windy (whooo! whoooo! or other blowing sounds). The ship is going

down. The men and women jump in. (Help! Splash!) The little mermaid

does not like to see the men and women in the water. The little

mermaid helps the handsome young man. She likes him (romantic

Ahhh!). She swims to the sea monster, he will help her get legs. ‘Drink

this,’ says the sea monster. ‘Swim to the sand. Find the young man

again. ‘Thank you,’ says the little mermaid and drinks it quickly (glug,

glug glug). The little mermaid swims to the sand and has legs! (stomp

feet). She speaks to the young man. The little mermaid likes the young

man, but he likes another girl (aw!!). She goes to her sisters. She is a

mermaid again. (swish swish swishy swish) She is unhappy now. (crying

sounds) ‘What’s the matter?’ ask her sisters. She does not answer,

she looks at the ships (big sigh).

7

Part Two Exploring the story

� Objects

Many stories have objects which arecentral to the plot, for example themagic lamp and the magic ring inAladdin and the Lamp, Level 3. Mimingobjects from a story or several storiesis a simple technique, and theconcrete nature of objects makesthem easier to mime. Worksheet 2 isa miming game which uses objectsfrom Sleeping Beauty, Snow White andthe Seven Dwarves and Hansel andGretel, all Level 3 stories. Pupils workin groups of four to six. Check thatpupils know the meaning of the wordson the cards. Each group has a set ofcards face down on the table. Pupils inturn take a card and mime the object.The other pupils must guess theobject and the story it comes from.The first person to guess correctlygets to keep the card. The pupil withthe most cards is the winner.

� Characters

Drama activities can focus on morethan just a character’s words. Pupilscan also explore the character’sactions, their voice, the way theywalk, their inner thoughts and feelings,and their past experiences.

Action symbol

With the class, decide on an action orsimple mime to represent thatcharacter. Practise these actions withthe whole class by calling out thecharacter. The whole class then doesthe action. Next read the story to theclass. Each time a character is

mentioned the pupils do the action forthat character. For example, for LittleRed Riding Hood, Level 2, here arepossible actions for each of the maincharacters:

� Little Red Riding HoodArm bent as if holding a basket,skipping

� The WolfHands up as paws and a snarling face

� GrandmotherHands over face in a gesture of fear

� WoodcutterSwinging an axe

Walking characters

If possible, clear a space in theclassroom for pupils to walk around. Ifthe size of the classroom or furniturerestricts this, ask pupils to walkbetween the desks and up and downthe aisles. Call out the name of acharacter from the story. Pupils mustimagine that they are that characterand walk the way they imagine thecharacter to walk. After a fewseconds, call out another character.Encourage pupils not to follow eachother. For example, in the story SnowWhite and Rose Red, Level 2, the twosisters would walk side by side or armin arm, the bear could walk with bigslow steps, the dwarf fast little stepswith a grumpy expression; and theprince could walk with relaxedcomfortable strides, hands behind hisback or on his hips with his head heldhigh.

7

8

Part Two Exploring the story

8

Find your partner/group

In this activity each pupil is given acard with a character’s name on it.There should be at least two cards ofeach character, depending on yourclass size and the number ofcharacters in the story. Shuffle thecards and hand out one to each pupil.Tell the pupils not to show their cardto each other. Pupils should walkaround the classroom saying a linespoken by their character in the story.The pupils should find the other pupilswho have the same character. Pupilsshould be encouraged to speak in thevoice of their character. To give pupilsmore support, the line could bewritten on the card. To make theactivity more challenging pupils canimprovize a line that the charactermight say or think.

Here is an example using Tom Thumb,Level 2� Don’t eat me! (Tom)� I was scared! (mother)� You can work for us. (2 bad men)� What a clever little boy!(policeman)� Well done, Tom! (the King andQueen)

Interview a character

This activity allows pupils to explore acharacter in more depth, for instance,to find out a character’s intentions, ortheir point of view. In this waycharacters are given real, humanqualities which leads to a deeperunderstanding of the story butperhaps more importantly, encourages

pupils to examine stereotypes ornegative portrayals of people andanimals sometimes found in traditionalstories.

One pupil plays the role of thecharacter and one or two other pupilsinterview the character. The activitydemands a degree of creativity andspontaneity. For more support,Worksheet 3 is a planning sheet forpupils’ questions. At the same time,those in character roles can gettogether to discuss their character inpreparation for the interview. Aspupils interview a character they cantake notes on their responses forreporting back later. This activity issuitable for stories such as A Thief inthe Village, Level 4, where thecharacters’ intentions and feelings arenot explicitly expressed in the story.Pupils could roleplay and interview BigWalk and Duke, for example. InHansel and Gretel, Level 3, pupils caninterview the stepmother to find outher point of view. Worksheet 4provides even more support forinterviews between the police andJake Lima, and the police and the twochildren in the first cartoon story inStory Shop: The Present, Level 2.

A variation on this activity is to haveone or two pupils give a characteradvice or discuss a particular problemthe character is having. Again, inHansel and Gretel, Level 3, pupils couldtry to persuade the father to stand upto his wife and not leave his childrenin the forest. In The Pied Piper of

Hamelin, Level 4, pupils could persuadethe mayor to pay the Pied Piper, ortry to convince the Pied Piper not totake the children from the village.

� Scenes

Dramatizing scenes helps to breakdown a story into more manageableparts. In these activities, scenes areexplored through mime, dialogue orboth.

Snapshot scenes

Choose several scenes from the story.Put pupils into groups according tothe number of characters in the story.A scene is called out to the wholeclass, or that part of the text is readaloud. Pupils quickly decide who iswhich character and pose as if theywere in that scene. For many scenes,pupils may arrange themselves like theillustration in the book. For example,in Sleeping Beauty, Level 1, the scenesmight be:� The king and queen are on thebalcony speaking to the crowd.� The good fairies lined up to see thebaby.� The princess has fallen asleep.� The Prince walks through the castle.Everyone is sleeping.� The princess wakes up and seeseveryone.� The prince and princess getmarried.

Guess the scene

In this activity, the scenes are mimedby a group of pupils and the otherpupils try to guess or describe what ishappening. The scenes can be written

on slips of paper for the miming groupto read. An example of this isWorksheet 5 for Cinderella, Level 2.This activity could also be done as ateam activity, with one team mimingthe scene for another team.

Dialogues

Many stories have a combination ofnarration and direct speech. Pupils cancreate a dialogue between characterswhere the original story has narration.This allows pupils to bring particularscenes to life through the spokenword, and to explore characters inmore depth.

Written dialogues

In Rapunzel, Level 4, pairs of pupils canwrite the dialogue between the manand his wife after he has stolenvegetables from next door, the Princeand the Princess as they chat in thetower, and the Prince and Rapunzelwhen they see each other again. Afterthe dialogue has been written, pairs ofpupils can practise them and act themout. This activity is suitable for Levels3 and 4 but can also be adapted forLevels 1 and 2. Worksheet 7demonstrates one way to adapt thisactivity for a Level 1 story, SleepingBeauty.

Improvized dialogues

Prepare a list of several scenes from astory the pupils know well, and thenumber of characters in each scene.To encourage spontaneity, ask pupilsto walk around the room in noparticular direction. Ask pupils to

9

Part Two Exploring the story

form a group containing the numberof characters in the first scene. Whenpupils are in their groups, describe thescene from the story. Groups quicklydecide on characters and act outscene with whatever language theyhave.

Pinocchio, Level 4, has several distinctscenes for this activity: Geppettomakes Pinocchio, the police put him inprison, puppet show and the puppetmaster, the cat and the fox, the bluefairy, the donkey children, meetingGeppetto in the fish, and going home.

� Exploring one story

The ideas above can be used in aseries of lessons exploring one storythrough drama. After pupils are veryfamiliar with the story they can buildup their dramatization first throughsimple mimes or sounds, thenrecreating scenes, to extendingscenes through improvization orcharacter exploration. It helps to‘brainstorm’ various activities aroundone story before planning a series oflessons or choosing particularactivities.

10

Part Two Exploring the story

Read story, pupilsmime objects

Walkingcharacters

Creatingdialogues

Mime andguess

Worksheet 6

ScenesMother tells son to sell cow, Jack andold man trade, Jack shows mother the

beans, Jack meets the Giant’s wife,Giant looks for Jack, wife talks to

Giant, Jack tells his mum about theGiant and the castle

SoundsCreaking castle door, Giant’s feet

stomping, Giant eating, Giantsnoring, bread oven door closing,

hen clucking, feet running, axechopping, beanstalk, Giant falling

Interview Jack’smother, Giant,

Giant’s wife

CharactersJack, Jack’s mother, oldman, Giant, Giant’s wife

ObjectsBeans, cow, plate of Giant

food, bag of gold, hen,harp, axe

Jack and the BeanstalkLevel 3

Read story, pupilsmake sounds

PART 3 Makingthe story real

Concrete items, such as puppets,props and costumes, support dramaactivities based on stories. They helpto bring the story off the page of thebook and into real life. Pupils find thatthings they can touch, hold, see, andwear, help them with the meaning ofthe story. Young pupils are able tobelieve in puppets, and in some waysthey are more ‘real’ to the pupil thana classmate acting as a story character.

� Puppets

Pupils enjoy talking to puppets andmaking puppets talk so they are idealfor dramatizing stories. Many of thestories and activities already describedare suitable for puppets. Pupils canmake their own simple puppets. As acraft activity, making puppets givespupils exposure and practice in thelanguage of instructions and reinforceslanguage describing the characters of astory. When making puppets in class,make sure you show pupils a model ofthe puppet, demonstrate clearly howto make the puppet, have enoughmaterial for everyone, and make ‘cleanup’ a structured part of the lesson.

There are several types of puppetsyou can make. Some have movingmouths and some do not, some workbetter for animals, some for people.Choose the type of puppet suitable for

your story, your pupils and yourresources. Here are simple puppetsthat can be made with few materials.

Stick puppets

Worksheet 9 shows how to make astick puppet for The Ugly Duckling,Level 3. The worksheet itself givespupils reading practice. Worksheet 8is a planning sheet to help pupilsremember all the characters in thestory and think about which characterthey want to make. Of course, if youplan to dramatize the whole story, youwill need to make sure all of thecharacters are made.

Finger puppets

These simple puppets involve drawing,colouring, cutting and sticking.Worksheet 10 gives finger puppettemplates for the characters in TheTinderbox, Level 2.

Hand puppets

These puppets are made by drawingon your hand with non-toxic,coloured markers. Worksheet 11shows several ways of doing this usingthe characters in Tom Thumb, Level 2.

Drink box puppets

Many types of puppets can be madewith ‘junk’ or recyclable materials.This puppet is made by cutting andfolding an empty drink carton.Worksheet 12 is a reading activitywhere pupils label the pictures,complete the words and finally, followthe instructions to make the puppet.

11

Part Three Making the story real

� Masks

Masks representing the characters inthe story are worn over the face.Pupils will enjoy making masks asmuch as they do puppets. Be sure tokeep glitter and other decorativematerial away from the eyeholes as itmight come off and get into a pupil’seye.

When making elastic masks, makesure they only cover the eyes andupper face, or make an adequate holefor the mouth and nose so the pupilcan breathe. Worksheet 13 showsthe robber’s mask in The Musicians ofBremen, Level 1. Stick masks are madejust like stick puppets. The pupil holdsthe mask over his/her face as they areacting. Stick masks are easy to makeand allow the pupil to breathe, butmovement is restricted as one hand isalways used to hold the mask. Stickmasks would be suitable fordramatizing The Three Billy Goats Gruff,Level 1.

� Props and costumes

Props are objects used by thecharacters in the drama, and costumesare the clothing that the characterswear. Props help pupils play out ascene and costumes help them stay incharacter. Props can be items found athome or they can be made withpaper, scissors and glue. Costumesneed not be a whole suit of clothes,and they need not be exactly like theclothing in the illustrations in the

story. Usually, a hat or a jacket isenough to represent a character, andthey are easily removed so pupils canswitch roles. Some costumes like hatscan be made by the pupils as a craftactivity. Old adult clothing is oftenenough to put the pupil in an adultrole. Here are suggestions for propsand costumes for different PenguinYoung Readers.

� Goldilocks and the Three Bears, Level 1Props: 3 bowls and 3 spoons, a smallchair, a pillow.Costumes: elastic masks from PenguinYoung Readers Teacher’s Guide to UsingStories in Class, photocopiableworksheet; a headband with yellowhair made from strips of paper.

� The Golden Goose, Level 2 Props: an axe, bread, a golden goosemade from cardboard and colouredpaper.Costumes: a green coat or greenbutton-up shirt brought from home.

� Snow White and the Seven Dwarves,Level 3Props: make a mirror and a swordfrom cardboard and aluminum foil, anapple, and a hair comb.Costumes: make crowns and hatsfrom paper, bring in a headscarf.

� The Pied Piper of Hamelin, Level 4Props: a recorder or a plastic whistle.Costumes: a hat with a feather madefrom paper.

12

Part Three Making the story real

� Scenery

Scenery represents the arrangementof the environment, the buildings, theland, the furniture, and so on in astory. Scenery can be as simple asarranging classroom furniture torepresent roads, houses, caves andbridges, or as involved as a life sizemural designed and created by a classover several weeks. Some scenery iskey to the story such as the greengrass and the bridge in The Three BillyGoats Gruff, Level 1, or the bed thatGoldilocks sleeps in. In these twostories, classroom furniture can beused: 3 chairs together can be a bed,and they can also be a bridge.

Making backdrops or murals for apuppet theatre or a dramaperformance is another worthwhilecraft activity for pupils and can providemeaningful language practice if pupilsare encouraged to plan their sceneryand talk about it, or if they createscenery from a description, ratherthan copying from the illustrations inthe book. For The Ugly Duckling, Level3, pupils can create backdrops onlarge pieces of paper to be used withthe stick puppets in Worksheets 8and 9. These backdrops can bepainted, drawn and coloured, or cutand pasted. Scenery for this storycould include the following: springtime with nest and eggs, water withweeds, farmyard and barn, the river, ahouse, a cold rainy day, inside theman’s house, and the lake by a castle.A simple puppet theatre can be made

by suspending a blanket between twopieces of furniture in the classroom.The backdrops can be stacked on topof each other in chronological orderand can be taken down one at a timeas the story progresses. Pupils kneelbehind the blanket and move theirstick puppets in front of the backdrop.

PART FOUR Drama productions

Dramatizing a story can consist of ashort 10-minute classroom activity toa whole lesson or series of lessons.The result of classroom dramaticwork does not necessarily need toend in a public performance. As it hasbeen shown in this Guide, classroomdrama activities serve many learningpurposes, the most important being toraise pupils’ confidence in expressingthemselves. However, pupils may alsoenjoy and learn from putting on a fulldrama production as a project for theterm or school year. Rehearsalsthemselves provide purposefulrepetition of language. Making propsand scenery develops social andorganizational skills. Putting on aproduction, however, involvesconsiderable planning. A puppettheatre, like the one suggested abovefor The Ugly Duckling, Level 3, may bea more manageable production foryour class in your school.

13

Part Four Drama productions

14

Part Four Drama productions

PRODUCTION CHECKLIST

Script

Is the script suitable for your pupils in terms of level, interest, familiarity and soon? Does it need to be adapted? Is the length suitable?

Cast

Are there enough characters for most, if not all, of your pupils to play? If not,do all pupils have meaningful and significant work to contribute, such asarranging scenery or working with lighting or music? Are the characters suitablefor the pupils’ culture, maturity, gender, and personalities?

Director

Will you be the director? Or you and another pupil?

Costumes

What clothing should the pupils wear? What items of clothing do you need?What can be made? What can be brought from home or borrowed?

Props

Which props are essential? Can you or pupils bring in props from home orgather them around your school? Can you make any of the props?

Make up

What make up is necessary? Are you using make up or face paints which aresuitable for pupils’ skin?

Scenery

What scenery do you need? What furniture do you need? Who will make it?When, and with what materials? If some pupils are acting in the play and someare making the scenery, how will you manage different pupils doing differentthings at the same time?

Lighting

What lighting is needed? At what points in the play? How will it be provided?

Music

Is music needed? What kind of music and for which parts of the play? Do youhave musical instruments, a CD player or a hi-fi to use in the performancevenue? If not, can you and the pupils make musical instruments?

PRODUCTION CHECKLIST continued

Performance location

Where will the performance take place? Is it large enough? Is there enoughroom for the expected audience? Do you need to book or reserve the venue?

Offstage

Do you need an ‘offstage’ area before, during or after the play? This could bethe same room as the performance if the audience is not allowed to enterbefore a certain time.

Rehearsal schedule

Will you rehearse during class or after class? Do you need parental permission?Have you scheduled the date of the dress rehearsal?

Date(s) and time (s) of performance

When is the performance? Will you have repeated performances?

Invitations and announcements

Who is your audience? Who will design the invitations? How will they bedistributed? How else will the play be advertised?

Photographs or videotaping

Do you want the performance recorded in any way? Who will do it?

Worksheet 14 provides a scriptcreated from the story The Musiciansof Bremen, Level 1, suitable for a fullproduction. It can be done with largeor small classes, because the numberof pupils in the chorus is unlimited andthere can be more than three robbers.Since the story is more suitable for 5-7 year olds, the teacher should be thedirector and the narrator. Forcostumes, Worksheet 13 shows howto make headbands and masks. Pupilsplaying robbers can wear black, andthe pupils playing animals can wearbrown and gray clothing. Face paintscan be used for whiskers on the

15

Part Four Drama productions

animals… and the robbers! Propsneeded are a stick for the master andplates and spoons for the robbers.Pupils can paint two large backdrops.One backdrop is the countryside forthe first half of the story, and theother is a house at night time for thesecond part of the story. A table andchairs are needed for the scene in thehouse. When night falls in the story,the lights in the classroom can beturned off and pupils can turn ontorches. When the one robberreturns to the house, the animals canhold their torches under their facespointing upwards for a scary effect.

PART FIVE Drama and yourpupils

� Introducing drama to your class

� Introduce drama into yourclassroom in small amounts, so pupilsbecome used to movement, mime,voice, sound and so on. Adapt thesimple activities in this Guide to useas warmers or short activities inother topics you may be working onin your class. For example, pupils cando the Walking Characters activity(page 7) with the teacher givinginstructions such as ‘you are late forschool’ ‘you are very tired’, ‘you arewalking on hot sand’, and so on.

� Use dramatic elements when youtell or read stories. For example usegestures, use different voices for thecharacters, and bring in props to holdup and use as you tell or read thestory.

� Start with simple activities thatpupils can do all together, and slowlybuild up to activities which demandmore spontaneity, confidence andcreativity.

� Establishing positiveattitudes towards drama

� Establish a safe environment bygiving pupils plenty of chances to usedrama with trusted classmates, or todo mime or say lines together withthe whole class. Not all dramaactivities need to end withperformances in front of the wholeclass.

� Be sensitive about casting – someboys may be uncomfortable playingfemale roles and vice versa, or somepupils may not like to take on the‘bad’ characters. However, it may beappropriate to encourage pupils totake on different roles in order toexplore them and expand personalboundaries.

� Praise pupils for their efforts.

� Offer constructive feedback and donot to be over critical.

� Never force pupils to perform oruse performance as punishment.

� As pupils increase in imaginationand confidence, let them contributetheir ideas to the activity.

� Make dramatic activities a regularpart of the teaching programme.

16

Part Five Drama and your pupils

17

Part Five Drama and your pupils

17

� Classroom management

� Plan the number of characters andnumber of pupils for your activities inadvance so each pupil has a role toplay.

� Plan the use of space in yourclassroom.

� If groups are performing for thewhole class, be sure to give the othergroups a purposeful task while theywatch.

� Enlist pupils in helping to arrangethe classroom. Do this on a regularbasis so it becomes a part of theclassroom routine.

� If pupils are deliberately misbehavingthen ask them politely and non-judgementally to sit down and watch.Invite them to join in again after theyhave calmed down.

� The role of correction

� Refrain from correcting pupils’grammatical mistakes duringimprovization tasks which areintended to focus on language fluencyand expression.

� After an improvization activity focuson particular phrases or vocabularyitems that pupils needed to expressthemselves better, but avoid focusingon small grammatical errors.

� For activities with more controlledlanguage use, some self- correctionmay be useful for the pupil.

� Correction of mistakes shouldnever take over the main aim of adrama activity.

� Rehearsals for performancesprovide opportunities to work onlanguage accuracy. In this case, pupilssee the purpose of the correction andare motivated to be accurate.

Bibliography

Chaplin, Alison (1999). Drama 7 to 9.Scholastic Ltd: UK

McCaslin, Nellie (2000) Creative Dramain the Classroom and Beyond, seventhedition. Addison Wesley Longman Inc.

Phillips, Sarah (1999) Drama withChildren. Oxford University Press.

The Princess and the Frog

Splash! Knock, Knock “Ribbit, ribbit” Hurray!

Hop, hop, hoppity hop Creaaak!

Ahhhhh! Ssssslurp! Slam! Clop, clop, clop, clop

Pitter patter pitter patter.

Splash, splash, splash! Ribbit, ribbit.

Match the sounds to the part of the story

The golden ball bounced into the pond.__________________

She saw a small frog. ____________________________

The princess ran faster and faster. _________________

He quickly hopped up the hill. ___________________________

He knocked on the door. _______________________________

The princess opened the door. __________________________

She shut the door very quickly. _________________________

He stuck out his long pink tongue and

took some lettuce. __________________________________

She walked up the stairs quickly. _______________________

“Good night my pretty friend,” she said. __________________

The prince and princess got married. ____________________

They were next to the pond looking

for six frogs. ______________________________________

18

Worksheet 1 Working with sounds

Snow White and the Seven Dwarves

Hansel and Gretel

Beauty and the Beast

19

Worksheet 2Miming objects

the queen’smagic mirror

a poisoned comb

bread

a hot oven

a rose

a sword

a stick

cookies, cakeand chocolate

wood

a ring

a poisoned apple

small whitestones

a bone

the Beast’smagic mirror

a new blue suitand grey shoes

✄

✄

Title of story:

Character:

20

Worksheet 3 Interview

My questions Character’s reply

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

You are the policeman.

Ask Jake Lima some questions.

QUESTIONS ANSWERSWere you at home today?

Where were you?

Why did you go there?

When did you leave your house?

Do you know these two children?

You are the policeman.

Ask Sam these questions.

QUESTIONS ANSWERSWhat is your full name?

How did you get to Jake Lima’s house?

Who were you with?

Why were you in Jake Lima’s tree?

Is this your first time at Jake Lima’s house?

What did you see?

You are the policeman.

Ask Maria these questions.

QUESTIONS ANSWERSWhat is your full name?

How did you get to Jake Lima’s house?

Who were you with?

Why were you in Jake Lima’s tree?

Is this your first time at Jake Lima’s house?

What did you see?

21

Worksheet 4Role cards

The Present

✄

✄

✄

The two ugly sisters make Cinderella work.

A letter arrives. The ugly sisters decide to go to the ball.

Cinderella is sad. Then the Fairy Godmother arrives.

The Fairy Godmother gives Cinderella a beautiful dress and shoes.

The Prince dances with Cinderella. The ugly sisters watch them.

It’s 12 o’clock. Cinderella runs away from the Prince.

The Prince finds her shoe.

The Prince tries the shoe on the ugly sisters.

The Prince sees Cinderella. The shoe is hers!

The Prince and Cinderella get married.

22

Worksheet 5 Mime and guess the scene

Cinderella

The old man showing the magic beans.

Jack climbing the beanstalk and seeing the castle.

Jack jumping into the bread oven.

The Giant eating and falling asleep.

Mother chopping down the beanstalk.

Mother throwing away thebeans angrily.

The Giant stomping aroundlooking for Jack.

The wife with a big plate of food.

Jack stealing the gold and climbing down the

beanstalk.

The Giant falling down.

23

Worksheet 6Character actions

Jack and the Beanstalk

Sleeping BeautyWrite the words next to the part of the story.There is one missing.

“Here is a present for the princess. Ha! Ha! Ha!”“Ouch! My finger!”

“Who are you?” “I am a prince.”“My people! This is our new baby!”

“Oh, she’s lovely!”“Oh dear! She’s sleeping!”

“Will you marry me?” “Yes!”“What’s the matter? Everyone is sleeping!”

24

Worksheet 7 Creating dialogue

Page 1

Look at the baby princess.

Page 2 and 3

She is a beautiful baby. The goodfairies give presents. Page 4 and 5

Oh no! The bad fairy. She gives abad present. Page 6

She hurts the young princess. Page 7

It puts her to sleep. Page 8

The princess sleeps and sleeps.

Page 10

Everyone is standing andsleeping. Page 11

He touches her …. Page 12

and she wakes up. Page 13

Everyone wakes up.Page 14

Everyone smiles. They arehappy.

Page 9

“Who lives in that castle?”

Page 11

“She’s beautiful!”

“Hello! Hello!”

The Ugly Duckling

Which 3 characters from the story are missing?

1______________________________

2______________________________

3______________________________

Now, circle the character YOU will make into a stick puppet.

25

Worksheet 8Choosing a character for a stick puppet

the mother duck

the baby ducks

the ugly duckling

two white ducks

hens

geese

a frog

wild geese

the hunter

the old woman

the hen

the cat

flying swans

two girls

the mother

the ugly duckling as a swan

three swans swimming

children

You need:

some card

crayons or pencils

scissors

white glue

tape

a wooden stick

26

Worksheet 9 Stick puppet

1. Draw the character.

2. Colour it.

3. Cut it out.

4. Glue on the wooden stick.

5. Let it dry.

6. Put on some tape.

The Tinderbox

27

Worksheet 10Finger puppets

[ The soldier ]

[The first dog]

[The third dog]

[The Princess]

[The Queen]

[The old woman]

[The second dog]

[The soldier’s friend]

[the King]

Tom Thumb

[Mother and father drawn on fist, with thumb and knuckle as the mouth]

[Bird drawn on right hand with all 5 fingertips touching in a point- this isthe beak. Eyes drawn on fingers, wings drawn on back of hand)

[Fish drawn on left hand in same position as the bird]

28

Worksheet 11 Simple hand puppets

Write the words under the picture.

scissors an empty drink box paper

glue colored pens or crayons tape

______________ ______________ ______________

______________ ______________ ______________

Fill in the blanks

1. C____ your drink box.

2. Clean it and dry it.

3. F______ it.

4. Dr_____ and c________r ears, eyes, hair etc.

5. Cut them out.

6. St________ them on with glue or tape.

7. Make your puppet talk!

29

Worksheet 12Drink box puppet

The Musicians of Bremen

The donkeyDraw and cut out ears

Tape or glue onto strip of paper.Glue the ends together

The cat

The dog

The cock

The robbers

Punch holes in each side. Tie some elastic string in the holes

30

Headbands and maskWorksheet 13

Scene 1Narrator: Once upon a time there was a

donkey. He lived in Bremen. Hismaster was very mean.

Master: Come here, donkey! Come here,you!

Narrator: So the donkey ran away.Chorus: Run away donkey, run away fast.

Run away donkey, don’t go back!Run away donkey, don’t be slow! Run away donkey, go go go!

Scene 2Narrator: What now? the donkey thought.Donkey: I like to sing! I can sing with

friends! Hee haw! Hee haw! HeeHaw!

Narrator: Then the donkey met a dog.Donkey: Hello, dog!Dog: Hello, donkey!Donkey: Can you sing, dog?Dog: Yes I can! Woof, woof! Woof,

woof!Donkey /Dog: Hee haw! hee haw! / Woof woof!

Woof woof!Chorus: Hear them sing, what a beautiful

song!Hear them sing, all day long!

Narrator: Then the donkey and dog met acat.

Donkey/ Dog: Hello cat!Cat: Hello donkey, hello dog!Donkey: Can you sing, cat?Cat: Yes I can! Miaow! Miaow! Miaow!

Miaow!Donkey/DogCat: Hee haw!/Woof woof!/ Miaow!

Miaow!Chorus: Hear them sing, what a beautiful

songHear them sing, all day long!

Narrator: Then the donkey, the dog and thecat met a cock.

Donkey/DogCat/ Hello cock!Cock: Hello donkey, hello dog, hello cat!Donkey: Can you sing, cock?Cock: Yes I can! Cock-a-doodle do!

Cock a doodle do!Animals: Let’s sing in Bremen! Hee haw!/

Woof woof! / Miaow Miaow! /Cock-a-doodle do!

Chorus: Hear them sing what a beautiful song: Hear them sing, all day long!

Scene 3Narrator: Soon it was night time. Animals: We’re hungry!Donkey: Look! Dog: What?Cat: A house!Cock: Where?Donkey: There!Dog: A house!Cat: Beds! Animals: FOOD!!Narrator: The donkey, the dog, the cat and

the cock went to the house. Theylooked inside and they saw…

Chorus: ROBBERS!Animals: Let’s sing! Hee haw! /Woof woof!

/ Miaow Miaow! /Cock-a-doodledo!

Chorus: Hear them sing, what a terrible song.Hear them sing, all night long!

Robbers: What’s that?! Robber 1: Help!Robber 2: Help!Robber 3: Let’s go!Narrator: And the robbers ran awayChorus: Go away robbers, go away fast!

Go away robbers, don’t come back!Go away robbers, don’t be slow! Go away robbers, go go go!

Scene 4Narrator: The animals were happy!Animals: FOOD!Cock: I’m hungry!Cat: Me too!Animals: (slurp, slurp)Narrator: But one robber came again.Animals: (snarl)Robber: Big monsters! Big teeth! HELP!Chorus: Go away robber, go away fast!

Go away robber, don’t come back!Go away robber, don’t be slow! Go away robber, go go go!

Animals: Let’s live here forever! Hee haw!/Woof woof! / Miaow Miaow!/Cock-a-doodle do!

Narrator: And the musicians of Bremen livedhappily ever after!

Chorus: Hear them sing, what a beautifulsong! Hear them sing, all day long!

All: THE END!

31

Worksheet 14Script

The Musicians of Bremen

L 1 5-7 Goldilocks and the Three Bears Mime, improvization, props, costumes,masks

5-7 Sleeping Beauty Mime scenes, written dialogue

5-7 The Musicians of Bremen Controlled dialogue, masks and headbands, full production, script

7-9 The Three Billy Goats Gruff Controlled dialogue and narrator, stick masks, scenery

7-9 The Little Mermaid Sounds

L 2 5-7 Tom Thumb Hand puppets, mime, character voice and lines

5-7 Story Shop: The Present Roleplay interviews

7-9 Little Red Riding Hood Controlled dialogue, character mimes

7-9 The Tinderbox Finger puppets

7-9 Cinderella Mime and guess the scene

9-11 Snow White and Rose Red Walking characters

9-11 The Golden Goose Mime, props, costumes

9-11 Aladdin and the Lamp Objects

L 3 5-7 The Ugly Duckling Stick puppets, scenery, puppet theatre

5-7 Jack and the Beanstalk Sounds, mime objects, mime scenes,dialogues, walking characters, interviews

5-7 The Princess and the Frog Sounds

7-9 Hansel and Gretel Mime objects, interviews, advice tocharacter, mime scenes

7-9 Snow White and the Seven Dwarves Mime objects, props, costumes

7-9 Story Shop: Winners and Losers Mime

9-11 Beauty and the Beast Mime objects

L 4 5-7 Pinocchio Improvization

7-9 Rapunzel Written dialogues

7-9 The Pied Piper of Hamelin Improvization, giving advice, props andcostumes

9-11 A Thief in the Village Interviews and other stories

32

Worksheet 15 Drama activity chart

Penguin Young Readers and Drama activities in this Guide