Drama Strategies

Here are a couple of the strategies that really stood out to me and that I would use in my future classroom! 

Tableaux/Still image

- Tableaux is a still image of a scene. Students (in groups) are required to use their bodies to represent a story or communicate a specific message without using words. Essentially, it is an activity for students to use their non-verbal communication skills to display what they learned. 

Magic Hand/Sculpting

- Magic Hand / Sculpting is where there is a director who stands in the front of the class and directs the class. As the director moves their hand to the right, the class must follow the movement. Therefore, the class must essentially just watch what the director does with his/her hand and then follow these movements. This is a great way for students to see what it is like to have control over their peers. Furthermore, it allows students to stand up and move around during class if the students are bored of sitting in their seats. 

Corridor of voices/Voice alley

- Corridor of voices or Voice Alley is an activity where students form two lines facing each other. Then they create an alley by joining their hands. As the students walk through the alley, the people creating the alley will be saying something to the people walking inside. The effect of this activity can show the cause and effect of bullying and how it feels to be complimented rather than insulted. This is definitely a great activity to incorporate into the classroom during Anti-Bullying Campaigns.

Soundscape/Sound Effects/ Sound Tracking

- Soundscape is a very unique and interesting drama strategy that adds a lot of effect to a read-aloud or guided reading. Essentially, the student must use their body percussion to create sounds that are taking place in a scene from a book. For example, if there is a train, students may rub their hands together to symbolize the trains wheels. Or students can make whooshing sounds to represent water. This is a great activity to make a story come alive and for students to collaboratively take on a new experience.

Caption making

- Caption Making is a drama strategy that builds on the traditional Tableaux. Students will create a tableaux and hold up a speech bubble reflecting what the character is thinking, what is happening in the scene, what the character might say. This provides students an opportunity to reflect and creatively express themselves. This is cross-curricular with Language Arts as students are reflecting on the book that is read and then writing a response to what they heard.

Thought mapping/Positioning

- Position mapping is a great diagnostic and consolidation activity that can be done for a variety of different subject areas. In this activity, the teacher places a symbol or an object that represents the question the teacher is asking. Then, the students must place themselves around this object. The closer the students are to the object, the more comfortable they are and the further they are the less comfortable they are with the subject.

Choral speaking/Choral reading

- Choral reading is a great literacy strategy that can lessen student's anxiety and tension to speak in class. Students are essentially reading or speaking as a group. This allows students to self-correct and listen to their peers while still participating in the activity.

Alter-ego

- Alter-ego is an activity that teaches students how to create convincing arguments. Essentially, there are three people in a group. One person is arguing the PRO's and the other person is arguing the CON's to a situation. The third person is in the middle and must decide whether to side with the angel or the devil based on their arguments.

Exquisite Corpse/Draw and Pass

- Exquisite Corpse or Draw and Pass is a very unique activity that combines visual arts into the mix. Students are each given a piece of paper, where they must write a phrase or draw a picture. Then they pass the sheet to the next person and the next person must add to the drawing or sentence. Once the page has gone around to everyone, each student reveals what their creation had turned into.