Volume 1 Number 15

Hi Folks,

Well, I've just finished adding a huge collection of new material to the Drama Education website.  Check out the Lessons section and the Resources section and see what I mean.  The archives and referrals have been almost doubled from what they were.   Over 100 new articles listed in the Resources section and there are close to 150 lessons or programs of work in the Lessons section.  New teachers particularly will find a wide range of material to expand their repertoire.   Teachers who have been at it a while will find something to freshen up their current offerings.  If you want to share any of your materials feel free to contact me and we'll work out a link or I'll archive it.

I am still running my online survey.  A few people have queried the meaning of "digital environments" - really this just refers to any computer-mediated communication system.   PLEASE: refer any colleagues to the survey, especially those who might not normally be browsing the web.    I would like to ask for your assistance in completing a short survey I am conducting.  It relates to my return to studies at university.  It has 12 questions and should take less than 2 minutes of your time.  Essentially it is a quick look at attitudes towards Drama and Technology.

LESSON/ACTIVITY IDEA

• An exercise in playing with style.

This activity came about as a bit of collaboration of ideas between myself and the pre-service teacher , David, I'm currently supervising.   So thanks David for taking a basic idea and providing the stimulus for something more substantial.  On that note, I 'd also like to prod all other Drama teachers into opting to host and supervise pre-service teachers when the opportunity arises.  I personally feel I gained a lot from the teachers who supervised me through my student teacher practices. (Thanks Cathy, Joan and Alison) and that I have a responsibility to make some sort of contribution to those coming up through the training systems.   I've heard teachers gripe occasionally that "pracs" make it much harder and that students don't know what they're doing... well DUH!  they are there to LEARN in the early stages and to DEMONSTRATE at the end... I've had only one pre-service teacher that I found to be troublesome.. and part of that trouble was my sense of commitment to assisting her learning - eventually time ran out and I had to recommend she not graduate.   More often than not, I've had enthusiastic young people who are willing to learn and take on responsibility... in the long run they've nearly always made my job easier and without fail I HAVE LEARNED SOMETHING myself.  So next time student teachers are being offered - PUT YOUR HAND UP!!

On to the activity... deceptively simple but potentially very useful in getting younger students to develop an awareness of style.

Stage 1

Divide your class into small groups - 4/5 students per group is ideal.   Now assign each group a Nursery Rhyme or Fairy Tale that they will be required to enact - they can be very simple and the presentation the students are to create is a simple dramatic enactment of the tale - Jack and Jill, Humpty Dumpty, Three Little Pigs, etc are all suitable.   Give students 3-5 minutes to devise a simple staging of the story.   Not everyone is required to act - some can act as director.

Have the students present their scene to the class.  Encourage the basic awareness of staging conventions.

Stage 2 

Working in the same groups and with the same story the students are now asked to create a News Report about the event they just depicted.  They can have newsroom anchors, roving reporters, eye-witness reports, victim reports, statements from officials connected with the event .. eg.  Captain of the Kings Men, the paramedics attending Jack, the legal representative of Humpty who is suing the King for lack of safety features on the wall..

Allow about 5 minutes to prepare the scene and once again present the scene to the class.  Noticing how the story is changed by the way it is told.  What becomes the focus, how is this "presentational" style different for an audience.

Stage 3

The next stage is to continue the exploration but keep changing the parameters - do it as a mime, do it so that actors have to represent the environment and inanimate objects, etc..  

Stage 4

As is usual with most Drama it is essential that proper reflection and de-briefing occurs.  Students should be challenged to explain their understanding of the activity and what they noticed.  They may even be asked to write a little in their journals about the lesson.

RECOMMENDED WEBSITE

Books and Writers

• An impressive gallery of information about a range of writers - includes a good many playwrights.  Well worth investigating.

PROFESSIONAL NEWS

• IDEA 5th World Congress in Ottawa, Canada 2004 
  CALL FOR PAPERS

http://www.idea2004.ca/

Download the necessary paperwork at the website.

The next world congress will take place 2-8 July, 2004 in Ottawa, Canada. 
Hosted by Theatre Canada, this congress will follow a theme of:

"The Universal Mosaic of Drama: walking diverse pathways together; finding new directions".

For further information about this event, please contact the organizing committee at the following address.
Wayne Fairhead wfairhead@oise.utoronto.ca

RECOMMENDED RESOURCES

Theatre Arts I Students Handbook : An Introductory Course 
by Penny Engelsman, Alan Englesman, Rebecca Wendling

Theatre Arts 2 Student Handbook
by Alan Engelsman, Penny Engelsman

Creative Drama for the Classroom Teacher
by Ruth Beall Heinig, Ruth Bell Heining

Focusing on materials and methods for teaching drama, rather than on theory or history, this text offers a collection of  practical, progressive techniques for using informal drama in elementary classrooms. KEY TOPICS: It covers role drama that introduces key features of the British approach to drama teaching; literature for narrative pantomime; pantomime activities and stories; verbal activities and improvisation; planning drama lessons; and more. For creative drama instructors.

Creative Drama Resource Book: For Kindergarten Through Grade 3
by Ruth Beall Heinig

The teaching of performing arts has often mystified teachers and daycare providers. This book is ideal to help them overcome their hesitations and begin teaching the performing arts in their K-3 classrooms. KEY TOPICS: Written by a teacher with over 25 years of experience, this book is chock-full of activities that will help readers incorporate theater arts and creative drama in their classrooms - from puppetry to play attendance. Includes over 20 sample lesson plans! K-3 teachers, daycare providers, and after-school program facilitators. 

Kim Flintoff

Copyright © September, 2004