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Introduction The Purpose
This is a drama source
book for children in grades 3 through 8. Here are:
- Drama
vocabulary words and their definitions, and
- Activities
to help students understand basic theatre concepts and to start developing
skills for:
creating stories to improvise (playwriting and screenwriting), improvisation (acting), scene design, critiquing their work and the work of others, storytelling and puppetry. (See the navigation list that directs you to instructions for using the activities with the children.)
This 'dictionary' and
set of activities are based on a set
of premises that are related to
the national theatre standards and child drama/process drama practices.
The concepts and activities may act as reinforcement for
any drama activity, but are particularly appropriate for drama integrated
with general school subjects. Currently we are interested in drama integrated
with Social Studies content, but drama is naturally a part of the Language Arts and
certainly can be integrated into Science and other subject area lessons.
Our intention is that students learn about drama as they learn other subject
matter.
The material in the Theatre book is written
for the students to read, but you can use the material as a lesson plan
and do the presentation yourself.
 
Drama Teaching Strategies
Teaching about drama
and film is like any good teaching, but there are several strategies that
are particularly important to the performance areas. They are listed and described here. Examples of practical classroom strategies are included in the lesson plans that follow this introduction.
- Questioning, who, what,
how and why questions to develop original ideas;
 leading brainstorming
sessions; questioning to guide student analysis and interpretation of
the drama work
- Side Coaching, quietly responding to student drama behaviors such as warm-ups, imaging activities,
improvisations and rehearsals to deepen their concentration and heighten
the quality of their work
- Stepping into Role, assuming a character in the
students' improvisations to facilitate their involvement
- Assessment, gently guiding
student's oral criticism of their creative work and performance. Our suggestion
is to use the questions we've supplied in the Criticism section and
then to help the students develop their own rubrics. Also see Assessment at http://artswork.asu.edu/arts/teachers/assessment/index.htm
- Classroom Control, assuring
that all students are respected and that all feel free to commit to
the drama work. This requires that students listen to one another, cooperate
and willingly compromise to reach consensus, and develop careful response
to the work so that the self esteem of everyone is always reinforced.
- Use of Computers as a teaching tool, our teachers put the computer text on the video
screen in their classrooms when they read the text with the students. They
use the computer lab when the students work individually to do online research
about the play.
 
The Standards Met
The Drama curriculum
focuses on:
- The
elements of drama: character, problem and sequence, setting
- Playwriting
requirements for finding the voice and motivation for characters, then
writing dialogue and stage directions
- Screenwriting
requirements for visualization of environment and action
- Acting
skills: concentration, interaction with other characters, vocal variety,
physical freedom and control, development of consensus in a group
- Technical
theatre understanding of environment, set and costume design
- Positively
critiquing scripts and performances
- Ultimately,
the comprehension of character motivation and story meaning so that
the students can construct their own premises about the world around
them
The Language Arts curriculum
focuses on:
- Developing
vocabulary
- Summarizing
stories and historical material, drawing defensible conclusions about
characters and stories, drawing conclusions about cause and effect,
comparing and contrasting characters and stories with real life
- Developing,
writing and polishing scripts
- Speaking
and listening
The Technology focus
is on:
- Reading
and typing online
- Searching
the web for material related to the Social Studies
- or other subject area content
Vocabulary
Within each activity lesson, vocabulary words are in red and underlined. Each
word is linked to he Theatre Book definition.
My Vocabulary is listed at the beginning of each activity lesson.
When the students click on this link they will open a page that has listed
the vocabulary words for that general topic. There is bubble for the students to type in words of
their choice to include in their own dictionary. There is also space for
them to use the word in a sentence. The thought is that the students can
type their words online and then print the words for inclusion in a folder
for new words. Or the students can print the page and write in their answers.
Here is an example.
My Vocabulary: Plays and Screen
Plays
Choose one or two words to add to YOUR dictionary. Choose words you
like, words you want to use when you write and talk to others. Write
the word in the text box below. Look up its meaning and write that
in. Then write a sentence to test your ability to use the word.
| comedy
dialogue
hero
prose |
tragedy
verse
villain |
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May the drama activities be fun for your children and deepen their understanding of your classroom work. We’d be pleased if you’d like to share some of your drama experiences and lessons with us. We are always looking for material to add to the Teachers section of Artswork.
Let us know artswork@asu.edu.
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