Theatre Book Premises

This book and the activities are based on a number of premises related to current classroom practice, the national theatre standards and to child drama/creative drama practice.

1. Drama is a remarkable means for students to express themselves and to construct a meaningful view of their world.
2. It is essential that students learn to analyze, interpret and evaluate the drama in the media that they view daily, as well as the occasional live performance they may attend.
3. In this educational climate, it is very difficult for teachers to justify activities that don't help students learn to read, write and cipher; therefore, it is the easiest 'sell' to integrate drama into the general classroom curriculum.
4. Drama always has a 'story' and that story can come from daily life, literature, history or other subject matter, thus making it a perfect companion for social studies, language arts, and science study.
5. Improvisation is the 'gold standard' for work with students. It encourages them to recall, to think, to listen, to develop verbal fluency; it is a way for all students, even the less able readers to learn and to be successful.
6. In the development of an improvisation, it is the student who should be given the most decisions, not the teacher. Even the very young student can make decisions about character, setting and problem. Teacher guidance, is, of course, essential. It is the teacher who generally will select when and for what subject a drama activity is appropriate. It is the teacher who will help students learn about the form of drama and the content of the story matter. It is the teacher who will help the students make decisions about which choices are 'playable,' which characters are within their understanding, which action can be created in the school setting. But the basic content should be the students'. For instance, much of the content will be serious, but the students love humor. They should be helped to include humor in their work.
7. Students, at least by the third grade, realize that drama/theatre is a performance art. They can explore topics through improvisation, but they should be allowed to perform their improvisations for their peers and parents. They should be helped to develop their performance skills to do these presentations successfully.
8. In our experience, the school day is so busy that setting aside time to rehearse and perform is too time consuming. We have gone to videotaping the work. It takes less time from the classroom and this is the students' medium - and it also allows them to critique their own work.
9. It is important for students to realize and understand the importance of the dramatic environment - the setting, lighting, sound, props and costumes - to the communication of the story.
10. Taking time to build sets, props and costumes may take too much time from classroom studies. Videotaping can occur in a number of places around the school that suggest the play's setting. A few props and costume bits can suggest character and action, and certainly pantomime can be taught to replace the props!
11. The students, as artists, should be guided to critique their own work. As with editing writing, students should realize that drama material should be rethought and reworked until their message is communicated. They should also be helped to transfer their critical vision to their audience experiences with film, TV, and live theatre.
12. The work should always be engaging and entertaining for the students. They should have great fun!