Add Som Dram to You Teaching adapted Mitzi

Add Some Drama to Your Teaching!: 

Add Some Drama to Your Teaching! How to put on a play and have fun doing it

General learning theories which support using drama to facilitate learning:: 

General learning theories which support using drama to facilitate learning: 1. Howard Gardner – Multiple Intelligences * Using methods that involve all of the intelligences ensures that more students will learn and retain material learned. *One can strengthen a weaker intelligence by working through a stronger intelligence. * movement * music * cooperative learning * visualization

Leslie Hart - Whole Brain Learning –: 

*We have two types of memory – spatial and rote. We understand best when facts are embedded in natural, spatial memory. * Learning is enhanced by challenge and inhibited by threat Leslie Hart - Whole Brain Learning –

3 instructional techniques associated with brain-based learning:: 

3 instructional techniques associated with brain-based learning: 1. Orchestrated immersion – creating environments that fully immerse students in an educational experience

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2. Relaxed alertness - Trying to eliminate fear in learners, while maintaining a highly challenging environment 3.Active processing – Allowing the learner to consolidate and internalize information by actively processing it

Total Physical Response:: 

Total Physical Response: * A significant pathway for memory retrieval is through the physical body – We often recall what we wanted to do by simply getting up and moving. *An optimal learning environment is rich with multi-sensory, comprehensibly contextualized input.

Reading fluency and language retention:: 

Reading fluency and language retention: Research shows repeated reading of the same text contributes greatly to reading fluency in general – not only fluency in the practiced text. (L.Ranger 1995) Studies of long-term memory in general and language acquisition in particular show that the most important factor is repetition. ( R. Gairns and S. Redman 1986)

Aristotle -: 

Aristotle - 'The more I want to get something done, the less I call it work.' Motivation is a key factor in learning

Drama activities often used in classrooms:: 

Drama activities often used in classrooms: 1.Role-plays and original skits – *Students are given a situation and asked to make up a conversation depicting the situation. *The language is limited to words and structures the students already know

Advantages of these activities:: 

Advantages of these activities: 1.Enjoyable motivating 2. Allow students to stretch their abilities by trying to remember words and structures 3. Practice speaking 4. Everyone participates 5. Creative outlet

Disadvantages compared to preparing a play:: 

Disadvantages compared to preparing a play: 1. 'One-shot' experience – retention minimal 2. Weaker students sometimes feel threatened and their relative incompetence is emphasized 3. Fellow students sometimes inattentive – at best, or critical – at worst 4. Not every student enjoys acting

A play, on the other hand:: 

A play, on the other hand: 1. Students choose to participate (or not!) 2. There is enough preparatory time for even the weakest students to excel in the performance 3. High motivation for repetition of lines – vocabulary and structures are internalized and retained 4. Students are exposed to a higher level of language than in creative drama

In short – reasons why to work on a play with your students:: 

In short – reasons why to work on a play with your students: *1. Fun, motivating *2. A taste of fluency *3. Confidence boosting *4. Provides a sense of accomplishment *5. Vocabulary enrichment *6. 'Sentence bank' – grammar enrichment *7. Individual creative outlet for everyone (including you!)

Alfred Hitchcock:: 

Alfred Hitchcock: Drama is life – with the dull bits left out.

Four General Principles:: 

Four General Principles: 1.The only two things you must have in order to put on a play are kids and a script. 2. The process is the main thing. It’s most important that the kids remember this as a pleasant experience. * Don’t worry about the Broadway critics! 3. No single child is the star of the play. Each child should be made to feel that the show can’t go on without him/her. 4.No one should be forced to perform. If you are preparing the play on class time, find some other way to include those who don’t want to perform - E.g. – prompters, the stage crew, publicity, making props or scenery, etc.

Decisions before you begin working with the students:: 

Decisions before you begin working with the students: Decisions you need to make: 1. Who will participate? 2. How much time do you want to devote to the project? Decisions to be made with the principal: 1. scope of project 2. date and place of performance 3. rehearsal time - if not during class time 4. help from others on staff?

Choosing the script:: 

Choosing the script: Considerations: 1. length - maximum 1 hour 2. musical or not? 3. amount of scenery and props needed 4. story appropriate for age group

Editing the script:: 

Editing the script: Principles: 1. Eliminate scenes which contain a secondary story line 2. Correct or delete phrases with incorrect grammar 3. Consider replacing low-frequency word with high frequency synonym 4. Create an additional character by sharing lines of one character between the original and the new character. (a friend, another pirate, another child in the family, etc.

The Process:: 

The Process: 1. Tell the story of the play – even if you think they know it ! 2. Acquaint the students with the text: *Let groups of students practice random excerpts of the script * Choose a scene to read in class * You read an excerpt and have a group of kids act it out as you read the lines ( in pantomime)

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3. Ask who wants to participate, and begin working on scenes with parts assigned at random, so that the kids can become familiar with the various parts in the play. 4.Estimate how many kids will want speaking parts and divide the script into that many parts. (The main parts can be divided among a few actors) 5. Make a form listing the names of the parts and approximately how many lines each part has. *Make sure there is a choice of different length parts.

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Peter Pan Name__________________ Class_____ Telephone number____________ Choose 3 parts. Write - 1, 2, 3 Big parts are marked with a * Medium parts are marked with a andamp; ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ *1.Peter Pan - #1______ 14. Chief Ho-hum _______ andamp;27. Starky _______ *2. #2______ 15. Bobby _______ andamp;28. Sissu _______ *3. Wendy - #1______ 16. Carly _______ *29. Captain Hook #1 _______ *4. #2______ 17. Toodles _______ *30. #2_______ andamp;5. John - _______ 18. Nibs _______ I only want to sing and dance _______ andamp;6. Michael _______ %19. Slightly _______ I want to be on the stage crew_______ *7. Mr. Darling _______ 20. Billy _______ *8. Mrs. Darling _______ 21. Andy _______ 9. Nanna _______ 22. Tommy _______ 10. Tiger Lilly 23. Jimmy 11. Indian #1 24. Sammy ________ 12. Indian #2 ____________ 25.Teddy __________ 13. Indian #3 ___________ andamp;26. Smee _______

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6. Assign the parts in the privacy of your own home! Try to give each student of his/her choices. *Your main considerations should be enthusiasm and dependability of the student. *Even the weakest student can learn a part if he/she really wants to and even the very best student won't learn a part if he/she doesn't really want to !

Rehearsal options:: 

Rehearsal options: 1. Invite only those who have parts in the scene to be rehearsed to the rehearsal. 2. Divide the students into scenes – according to parts, and have the groups rehearse on their own while you circulate, listen and give tips. 3. Set up actor and 'coach' pairs, and give the kids time to work on reading and memorizing their parts.

Directing tips:: 

Directing tips: 1. To get the actors to speak more clearly – tell them to say each line as if someone just said 'What?!' If they don’t understand, wait until they say something unintelligible and then (you) react with a very exaggerated 'What????!' 2. Think of each moment in the play as a still photo. Arrange the kids and props so that the audience can see everyone and the stage is full. 3. Spaces between people on the stage should be twice as wide as they are in normal interactions. The audience perceives the people to be closer than they actually are.

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4. In order to rehearse the sequence of movements on the stage, as well as entrances and exits, have the kids run through the scene at high speed ('fast forward') 5. In order to rehearse expression and enunciation, have the kids go through the scene in slow motion.

Helpful questions for the actors:: 

Helpful questions for the actors: In order to encourage more convincing acting, ask the actor – 1. Who are you? (tell me about the nature of the character you are playing) 2. Where are you? 3. How do you feel? 4. What do you want? 5. What are you trying to do?

Choreography: 

Choreography *Simple synchronized movements nothing fancy required or desirable. *Teach the movements after the students know the song fairly well.

Props and scenery:: 

Props and scenery: The main thing to remember is to keep it simple. The audience only needs a hint to understand who the actors are and where the scene is taking place. Two or three paper trees can be a forest; a few chairs and a desk with a table cloth can be a living room; mobile bulletin boards can be decorated to be the backdrops – either collage, or a painting or drawing on sheets of paper or inexpensive cloth- etc.

Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory: 

Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory

Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory: 

Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory

Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory: 

Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory

Costumes:: 

Costumes: The key word is: simple! Unless you have a volunteer whose passion is creating elaborate costumes, use minimal hints to get the idea across to the audience – a hat, a tie, a shawl, etc. Make liberal use of Purim costumes owned by the kids.

Scarecrows in The Wizard of Oz: 

Scarecrows in The Wizard of Oz

Mary Poppins: 

Mary Poppins

Helpful Student Committees:: 

Helpful Student Committees: A. Stage Crew - kids to move props on and off the stage during the performance B. Scenery - plan and make the scenery and possibly parts of costumes and props, hopefully with the help of the art teacher C. Costumes - decide on and organize costumes, with your help D. Publicity – invitations, posters, announcements, etc. E. Party after the performance - plan and set up ( refreshments etc.)

Making scenery: 

Making scenery

Putting It All Together: 

Putting It All Together After you have staged each of the scenes and taught movements for each of the songs – A. Rehearse the play straight through with as little stopping as possible B. Include the stage crew in the rehearsals - use all of the props C. If the rehearsals aren’t where the performance will be -try to have at least one rehearsal on the stage where the performance will be during the week before the show

The Performance :: 

The Performance : *Be calm - or pretend to be! *Talk softly next to the person you wish to speak to - never shout across the room, it only adds to the general panic. *Smile a lot! *Calm is contagious - so is hysteria! *After making sure that everything is OK backstage - SIT IN THE AUDIENCE! The kids will be fine and will work things out if they know that they have to. Enjoy the show!

The Peter Pan cast - 2004: 

The Peter Pan cast - 2004