Drama Portfolio

ENTRY #1 THE IMPORTANCE OF THE BASICS 

I've taught several drama workshops, summer programs and of course, in-school drama lessons, and a large part of the success of all of these lessons is the consistent use of these classroom management/group gathering strategies. 

CIRCLE UP

Circle Up can be used in any classroom during any type of lesson that requires moving. It can be a useful classroom management tool if you use it consistently. 

Retrieved from Mr.ElementaryMath.blogger

How it works - Ask the students to create a circle where they have enough room to move easily without invading anyone else's space. Tell the students to memorize where they are standing so they know where to go next time you say "Circle Up". In my placement class we didn't have enough room to make a real circle so we changed the command to "Blob Up!"

When to use it - At the start and at the end of drama or dance lessons to gather and consolidate. The more often you use it, the faster the students can respond and create the circle. 

Suggested grade level - Any grade level! Especially recommended for younger grades. 


HOME BASE

Creating a personal space that students can retreat to can be a very powerful tool that has endless uses not only for drama and dance class, but general group work as well!

Retrieved from Duplincountyschools.org

How it works - Students walk around the classroom and find a spot to claim as their home base. The only rule in place is that their spot should not be over lapping with someone else's spot. Students will memorize their spot so they know to retreat there whenever the teacher asks them to go to "Home Base". 

When to use it -  Again as with Circle Up, Home Base can be used as you need it. It could be place for students to start a game or to go to when transitioning into a new game. Similarly with Circle Up, this strategy is most effective when used consistently so students become used to finding their space with ease. 

Suggested grade level - Great for any grade level

ENTRY #2 - CHORAL READING

Our class this week focused on the aspect of voice, in particular, using choral reading and the creation of soundscapes to encourage students to explore sound collaboratively. I really enjoyed both activities but I decided to focus on choral reading this week!

Choral reading can be done using various texts, though I find poems and picture books work best. Never under estimate the power of a good picture book. Picture books are great tools for junior to intermediate grades, pictures allow students to use their inferencing skills and intermediate grades in particular love to analyse children's literature.  

Retrieved from class pictures

How it works - The Ontario Curriculum defines choral reading quite clearly: The reading or reciting of a text by a group. Preparation for a performance may involve interpretation of the text; experimentation with language, rhythm, volume, pace, and different numbers of voices; and rehearsal.

Curriculum Connections

B1.1 engage actively in drama exploration and role play, with a focus on identifying and examining a range of issues, themes, and ideas from a variety of fiction and non-fiction sources and diverse communities, times, and places (e.g., adapt roles and develop improvised scenes based on human rights issues and/or environmental issues such as species extinction; dramatize opinions about cultural appropriation; role-play historical characters; prepare a presentation about peace for Remembrance Day; use choral speaking and role playing to interpret poetry). 

Lesson Ideas 

• Students choose a picture book from the library and do a choral reading of it, focusing on changing voice for different characters, tone of voice, and dynamics. 
• As a class one of the suggested books is read using a colour coded chart such as this one for the class to follow. 

Suggested grade level- Choral reading can be adapted to suit every grade level. For younger learners start small with maybe a coloured coded paragraph and work on speaking clearly as a class. For older learners let them take ownership of their learning and choose a poem, book or media text and split the reading themselves using strategies you have taught them. 

ENTRY #3 - SOUNDSCAPES

There are several ways to modify soundscapes to fit the grade level you are teaching. Soundscapes can be created in numerous ways, when my group presented in class this week we focused on the element of voice and we gave our "students" the opportunity to choose a theme or setting from which to create a soundscape. I will include our full hand out here for future reference. 

Drama Voice Handout

This video clip shows a soundscape where students chose their setting and created their own sound. My group chose a hockey game for our soundscape and I conducted the sounds. 

One piece of advice I have after watching myself conduct my team is to make sure to emphasize to your students that conductors should move slowly and make eye contact. I realized that I got too excited and moved a little too fast for my team near the end. 

Lesson Ideas

Make a language connection by choosing a book to create sound from. Following Christine's example with the garden theme, I found two books that would provide rich opportunities for soundscaping. 
Some suggestions (all Canadian authors!):

ENTRY #4 - COMMUNITY BUILDING GAMES 

The stronger the classroom community the more secure students will feel when participating in activities that call for them to take risks and explore their silly side! And as I am entering the educational as an Occasional teacher, small simple community building games are a great way to get to know your students fast!

For example, in our first few classes we would warm up with simple team building games to get us to trust each other, one of my favourites pictured here was The Wind Blows which I still use often. 

The Wind Blows. Retrieved from class Week 2

I've compiled a list of community building games that I will share here:

Back to Back Drawing: Working in pairs, one person must describe a shape without naming it, whilst their partner must try to draw the shape they are describing to try and get as close the original shape as possible. This activity focuses heavily on verbal communication and listening skills. 

Photo Finish: The aim of the challenge is for the whole group to step across the line at exactly the same time. If one person is out of sync, then they must start over again. This activity involves planning, communication, timing and resilience.

Marble Tube: Marble Tube is a fun team challenge activity, where participants have to work together to get the marble(s) from the start to the finish line without touching the floor and only using the piping to touch the marble.

Connect: Student shares something simple about themselves (favourite hobby, favourite colour, if they have a pet etc.). If any other student shares that same interest or fact they say “CONNECT” and that student will start to share a new fact. The game continues in this way until everyone has shared. 


Classroom Knowledge: Come up with a series of questions specific to your classroom and test your team's knowledge. "What color is the alphabet?" "How many people are in the IT department?" "How many windows are there in the classroom?" "What brand are the computer monitors?" "What month of the year is most common for birthdays among our students?" 

ENTRY #5 - BIBBITY BIBBITY BOP

To finish up my entries I thought I would share a game I used in my last placement that was such a big hit with my students that it made its way into almost every subject I taught. The game is called Bibbity Bibbity Bop and it is just about as silly as it sounds. There are four rules to this game, though several variations exist (which makes it even more fun!). This video will explain the first two rules that never change: 

The reason I think this game was such a huge hit with my students was because it was simple and fast paced. It kept my students entertained and engaged while also developing their attention to detail, their reaction time and their focus. 

One of the rules involves an action that takes a fair amount of concentration to complete quickly which my students were determined to become proficient at, so I decided to use it to my advantage.  During math class if my students were writing down a note I would get them to do the action which we called the "elephant" when they were finished. 

Soon after, I would start using the game as a classroom management tool. If a student was talking I would point at them and say "BOP" and they would immediately stop, which I must admit was just as much fun for me as it was for the students. The game never lost its charm and we played it on my very last day with great verve and energy! 

Retrieved from class photos 

Lastly, I was reminded of the chair exercise we did in our first week of class while writing these entries because for me it represents all the possibilities that drama can hold. Learning to look at life in diverse ways, to approach familiar objects with a new perspective, these are life skills that are developed through activities like this one. Drama is a subject that is dear to my heart and one I believe carries strategies that can revolutionize the learning environment. I hope to continue to add to this portfolio as I gain experience as an Occasional teacher!