Drama
Workshops
Drama and Literacy
Workshops using drama strategies of frozen pictures, hot seating, role playing and many more to increase cognition, character relationships, plot and theme and increase writing skills about literature. Also a variety of theater-in-education techniques are demonstrated and teachers learn through hands on, engaging work how to increase imagination, creativity and thoughtful discussions and reflection.
Drama and Reading
Drama can engage learners and provide ways for students to show what they know in reading comprehension, develop communincation skills and understanding of literary elements such as plot, character, conflict and more. Strategies are taughtthrough hands on, engaging workshops for teachers who have had little drama background; as well as more advanced drama strategies.
Integration of Puppetry, Improvisation and the Making of Plays
Workshops use drama strategies to tie into more content areas, connecting History, Non Fiction, Visual Arts and Culture exploration. Multiple entry points and practice increase communication skills, writing and thinking skills.
Drama strategies integrated in the classroom enliven and engage students and help them interact with texts in different ways than when students sit at desks and answer questions, particularly at risk and reluctant students. They give students a chance to be active, to work with others and to make and express meaning.
Drama strategies provide a means for developing procedures for reading and learning content and ways for engaging deeply with that content. The drama strategy is the how and can work with any what. Drama strategies are a way of teaching curricular content where the relationship between human beings is important, or where the relationship of human purposes, needs, ideas, and issues to the content is important. “The drama strategies are parallel to reading. It’s like it turns reading inside out so the kids can do together what they should be doing inside their heads when they read.”
- Drama strategies give students new entry points into text. The goal is to get student’s minds to move to new places – to be transformed
- Drama strategies can engage students in a physical way with reading strategies
- Drama strategies harness the power of the social nature of learning:
- Engaging, confronting, challenging, socio-constructive, and democratic
They are action-oriented and participatory, they require:- Students to work together
- Active involvement by all
- Provide a variety of roles and ways to participate
- Begin with and are driven by student interest, what they already know and what is socially relevant.
- Develop new interests
- Enable students and teachers to construct meaning and new understandings
- Give everyone a voice
- Engaging, confronting, challenging, socio-constructive, and democratic
- Drama strategies invite students to imagine and think
- They exist on the threshold of what is real and what is imaginary.
- They can be manipulated, experimental and yet will have the power of reality.
- Reasoning must be visible, knowledge made accountable; open to revision and evaluation
- They promote inquiry into what could be, into causes, meaning and ramifications.
- Students will observe and experience new positions and perspectives, consequences, and different courses of action.
- Drama strategies are engaging, motivating
- They are fun, providing meaningful context
- Make use of student’s strengths using different learning styles
- Creating meaning with text and different literacies through gestures, visuals, oral language and movement.
- They are a major boost to self concept
- Drama strategies help students achieve because they offer
- choice and control
- social interaction and involvement
- sense of developing competence
- active assistance to meet new challenges
- connection to high levels of personal relevance and social significance.
Materials

Acting Through Improv
Improv Through TheatresportsMore games, more lesson plans, progressing through skills such as movement, concentration, imagination, creativity, physical communication, spontaneity, narrative, characterization, problem solving.
Each acting skill has one week of sequential theatre exercises and games.
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