Drama as a Teaching Tool

Incorporating Drama Across the Curriculum

*What is Drama?*Is drama easy?

*How can I incorporate drama if I have no prior training?

*What does the Ministry of Education say about Drama education?

*How will drama help my students learn?*What strategies would be useful in my subject

area?

What is Drama?

Drama is defined as “the enactment of real and imagined events through role-play, play making and performances, enabling individuals and groups to explore, shape and represent ideas, feelings and their consequences in symbolic or dramatic form.” (SACSA, p.12)

 What are the basic elements of drama?

Brian Woodland (1993), describes the basic elements of drama as: • Role Playing

• Acting as if you were someone else• Acting as if you were yourself in another situation

• Narrative• Ordering events to create meaning• Using narrative as in story telling and plotting

• Language• Verbal• Non-verbal such as, body language, facial expression, the use of space

• Symbols and ritual• Use of space and movement

Common Myths About Teaching Drama

• You need to be a good actor• You need to be creative and artsy• You need specific timetable allotment• You need a large space such as an auditorium

Want to hear the good news?NONE OF THESE MYTHS ARE TRUE!!

The Ontario Arts Curriculum grades 9 and 10 document (2010) also asserts that “Education in the arts involves students intellectually, emotionally, socially, and physically. Learning through the arts therefore fosters integration of students’ cognitive, emotional, sensory, and motor capacities, and enables students with a wide variety of learning styles to increase their learning potential. For example, hands-on activities can challenge students to move from the concrete to the abstract, and the students learn that, while the arts can be enjoyable and fulfilling, they are also intellectually rigorous disciplines” (p. 4)

The Ministry’s Viewpoint

The Ontario Arts Curriculum grades 1-8 document (2009) asserts that “education in the arts is essential to students’ intellectual, social, physical and emotional growth and well-being…The arts provides a natural vehicle through which students can explore and express themselves and discover and interpret the world around them” (p. 3)

“Tell me and I’ll forget. Show me and I may remember. Involve me and I

understand”-Chinese Proverb

How Will Drama Help my Students Learn?

Here are a few reasons why you should use drama in your classroom…- Encourages Communication and Social Skills- Teaches Cooperation - Fosters teamwork and collaboration- Nurtures Imagination- Strengthens Critical Thinking Skills- Teaches Culture- Reinforces Concepts - Fosters self-confidence and personal growth

How Should I Include Drama in my Classroom?

Readers Theatre

∗ Readers Theatre is a dramatic presentation of a written work in a script form.

∗ Readers read from a script and reading parts are divided among readers.

∗ No memorization, costumes, blocking, or special lighting is needed.

∗ Scripts are held by the readers.

Hot-Seating

∗ Questions are asked to someone sitting in the ‘hot seat’ who answers in character.

∗ Students in the class have the opportunity to ask questions to a character or expert in the field they are studying

∗ Students can be asked to research historical characters with opposing points of view and then be hot-seated by the class as part of a debate.

Mantle of the Expert

∗The learners are framed ‘as if’ they are experts

∗Through their work they create an imaginary enterprise

∗The enterprise has a client that commissions them to work on a project

∗The emphasis is on the tasks the students need to do, to make the “enterprise” a success and to serve the needs of the client

∗The project work creates opportunities to explore the curriculum creating meaningful, cross-curricular contexts for learning

Role-Play

∗Involves an activity which a student or a group of students dramatizes his or their real reactions to certain problematic situations

∗The purpose is to find out how students will normally conduct themselves once they are confronted with a particular kind or conflict or difficulty

Role-PlaySpecial Education: Role-playing real-life situations allows students to rehearse a skill or scenario which they may encounter in their daily routines. This develops familiarity with the potential actions and motions before they occur in a real setting

ESL:Role-playing in an ESL classroom, provides a practical forum for students to put vocabulary and expressions into proper context. In an ESL classroom there are many opportunities to use role-play. A trip to the bank, ordering food at a restaurant or a conversation between friends are just a few examples of how role-play can be used.

Role-Play

Science: students examine case studies revolving around a particular dilemma: carriers of cystic fibrosis are considering having a baby; a person’s father has just been diagnosed as having Huntington’s disease.

History:Drama makes history come alive. Role-play a great way for students to develop empathy and understanding for the challenges of living in another time period. Students could enact a group of soldiers having a conversation in the trenches.

Now let’s see role-play in action!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMblT0ormuc

https://youtu.be/6ijNxnSf7qQ

Still Not Convinced?

Let’s hear how other educators feel about drama based instruction

Drama can also be incorporated into other subjects such as math and

science!

https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/enhancing-learning-through-drama#

Drama is the Smart Choice!

There are a plethora of resources available to help educators incorporate drama into their daily instruction.

Not only will this create a fun engaging atmosphere in your classroom, it will help your students learn!

ResourcesDrama Toolkit. (2015). Hot Seating. Retrieved from http://www.dramatoolkit.co.uk/drama-strategies/hot-

seating

Eduyan, Kirstal. (2013). Role Playing Approach in Teaching. Retrieved from http://www.slideshare.net/KirstalEduyan/role-playing-approach-in-teaching

Mantle of the Expert. Mantle of the Expert. Retrieved from http://www.mantleoftheexpert.com/copyright-notes/

South Australian Curriculum. Standards and Accountability Framework, primary years band. Retrieved from

http://www.sacsa.sa.edu.au/ATT/%7B85CFF734-68DE-4F6D-A626-4EA1EDEC69C2%7D/SACSA_5_PYB.pdf

The Ontario Ministry of Education. (2010). The Ontario curriculum, grades 11 and 12: The arts. Ontario: Queen’s Printer for Ontario.

The Ontario Ministry of Education. (2009). The Ontario curriculum, grades 1-8: The arts. Ontario: Queen’s Printer for Ontario

Woolland, B. (1993). The teaching of drama in the primary school.  Essex, UK:  Pearson Education Ltd.