primary school drama presentation

The Drama Teacher

Your Go-To Resource for Drama Education

100 Creative Scene Prompts for Primary Drama

Here is a list of 100 creative scene prompts for the primary Drama class. Each of these prompts includes a setting plus an action or activity suitable for elementary-aged children.

This is a useful series of prompts for generating improvisations or scenes in the primary Drama classroom, where students use their imagination and work collaboratively in groups to develop magical and mysterious scenes in fascinating environments.

Here you’ll find enchanted gardens, haunted libraries, space stations, pirate ships, secret treehouses, wizard laboratories, fairy tale castles, and more.

Students will be making potions, playing with talking animals, finding artifacts from lost civilisations, locating ghost trains , time-travelling, participating in intergalactic races, and exploring underwater kingdoms.

Students will create interesting characters such as explorers, inventors, spies, pirates, astronauts, researchers, secret agents, adventurers, and others.

I hope you find this list useful in your Drama class!

100 Scene Prompts Suitable for Primary Drama

Save 10% today on your lessons using the code GIVEME10

Creative Ideas For Teaching Drama Lessons

Where I teach, Drama is a mandatory part of the curriculum for students in Grades 1 to 8. I enjoy teaching drama, but I have heard from other teachers that they find this subject hard to plan for without a textbook or background experience. The following blog post outlines great drama lessons for your classroom. 

Below is a general outline of how to start your year and possible topics you can cover depending on the time you have for drama lessons. 

This Drama Lessons blog post contains affiliate links that are of no cost to the reader. If you make a purchase through the provided links, this blog will receive a small commission to help with the financial costs of maintaining the site.

Why Should Middle School Students Participate in Drama Lessons

At some point in your career, you might encounter a parent or a student who does not agree with drama lessons. Help them understand the value of the arts through a discussion about the value of drama skills. There are several reasons why middle school students should take drama classes:

• Boost Confidence: Drama classes can boost confidence by allowing students to express themselves in a safe environment, develop presentation skills, and use body language. 
• Develop Creativity: Drama classes can also foster creativity by encouraging students to explore different characters, scenarios, and emotions. 
• Learn Collaboration: Drama classes teach collaboration skills through group work and effective communication and teach students how to take feedback and make improvements.
• Improve Communication: Drama classes improve students’ communication skills by showing them how to express themselves clearly, listen actively, and understand others’ perspectives.

Overall, drama classes can provide students with a fun and engaging way to develop their interpersonal and presentation skills and learn about themselves.

Sample Drama Lessons Year Plan

• Brainstorm as a class how drama skills can be of benefit to other subject areas and in real life.
• Establish classroom rules together to ensure the safety of students.
• Co-create overall success criteria, then add to them for each new unit
• Explicitly teach the Elements of Drama – Role/Character, Focus, Emphasis, Place and Time, Relationship, and Tension.
•  Use Ice Breakers to get students more comfortable with drama and create a safe space.
• Use Drama Circles to get all students participating.
• Teach different drama skills through units.

Drama Lessons – Ice Breaker Suggestions

• Students share two truths about themselves and one lie, and then the class must guess which statements are true or false.
• Have students stand or sit in a circle.
• Pass around a regular classroom object like a ruler.
• The starting person says, “This is not a ruler; it is a snake,” and then acts out the snake.
• The second person takes the object and could say, “This is not a snake; it is a sword,” and acts out their chosen object. Students need to be creative.
• One student says, “I like my neighbour who [insert generic description here, e.g. is wearing shoes with laces],” and then everyone who meets that description has to get up and change seats. It is like musical chairs without music. Switch students who are saying the description each round.
• Students have to walk around the room like dinosaurs, lions, cheetahs, etc.
• Students sit in a circle and keep their ten fingers visible.
• Then the person who starts the game says something they have never done but hopes other people in the class have.
• If you have participated in the activity mentioned, then you must put down 1 of your fingers.
• Then the next person in the circle gets to say their sentence. Remind students that this needs to be suitable for school.
• This activity is an excellent way to start your year, as it gives all students a chance to participate. Here is a free drama circle .

Drama Lessons Suggestions

• Co-create scenarios with your students that they need to act out. 
• Arrange students into groups.
• Give each group a scenario and a limited amount of time to practice acting out their scenario and solution.
• Then, showcase each scenario to the class.
• Scenario 1 – Your group is baking cookies in Foods Class for the school bake sale. You guys are not paying attention and accidentally mix up the salt as sugar. One of you realizes your mistake and wants to tell the teacher. The rest refuse as they do not want to get into trouble.
• Scenario 2 -You are a happy family [parents and siblings] at the pet store, trying to decide what pet to bring home. All of you want something different. Act out this scenario and your solution.
• Scenario 3 – You are at a friend’s house, and your video game remote goes through their new TV.
• Reader’s Theatre  and Possible Reader’s Theatre Scripts
• Divide up a short novel; each group reads a section and creates a skit to present that section to the class. 
• Try Plays Magazine or Drama Notebook

Drama Lessons – Cross-Curricular Integration

• Interview an “Expert” from Science or Social Studies (Have students recap their new learning from a unit, e.g. Science or Social Studies)
• Character Hot Seat (Have one student be in the hot seat as a character from your reading material, then the rest can ask questions)
• Wax Museum (Students “become” a person from history and are completely still, they can be brought to life and become their person)
• Host a mock parliament to teach Grade 5 Government
• Read Fractured Fairy tales and then act them out
• Act out scenes from a class novel/lit circle

Drama Lessons Resources

• Council of Ontario Drama and Dance Educators
• Holiday Drama Lesson
• Drama Schemes, Themes & Dreams: How to Plan, Structure, and Assess Classroom Events That Engage Young Adolescent Learners by Larry Swartz and Debbie Nyman
• Dramathemes, 4th edition: Classroom Literacy that Will Excite, Surprise, and Stimulate Learning fourth edition by Larry Swartz (This is a popular book; check your school and district’s libraries for older editions.)
• More Than a Play by ETFO
• Stages: Creative Ideas for Teaching Drama, Revised 2nd Edition by Talia Pura

Related Posts

Leave a Comment Cancel Reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

This FREE persuasive writing unit is

• Perfect for engaging students in public speaking and persuasive writing
• Time and energy saving
• Ideal for in-person or online learning

By using highly-engaging rants, your students won’t even realize you’ve channeled their daily rants and complaints into high-quality, writing!

Rethinking primary creative writing - inspiring young authors - supporting teachers.

Search This Blog

Progression in primary drama - going beyond the national curriculum.

When writing our forthcoming book, Teaching Shakespeare in Primary Schools: All the World's a Stage (Routledge, David Fulton, 2021), both Maureen and I felt that whole-school drama guidance for primary teachers - so integral to teaching Shakespeare's plays - was notably lacking from online resources currently available (apologies if you have produced such a document but we could not find it!). We decided to compile our own. In fact, you may have found this blog post from the reference in our book!

Our 'Progressions in Primary Drama' is posted below. It will soon be available as a downloadable pdf from our TES store. 

We have designed our progression for the three phases of primary education (KS1, Lower KS2, Upper KS2) around three strands identified in the National Curriculum. These are making drama , performing and reflecting and drama conventions . Each of these strands is again sub-divided into key areas. You will find the progressions below organised by strand and by phase.

As well as highlighting a range of key skills, we also felt it was important to provide examples of what these skills might look like in practice and how they might feed into children's writing. We have called this 'going beyond the National Curriculum' as we felt that our progression covers key areas essential for a 21st Century education that are entirely absent from the current policy. For example, we look at how children might be encouraged to appreciate aethetics, the link between drama and music, staging drama with growing independence and confidence and employing digital technologies such as film, video recording and digital animation. Our guiding principle was that drama should be exploratory, fun and something that emboldens children by allowing them to make meaningful decisions. 

We hope you find this useful. If so, please leave us a comment below. Feel free to share this blog online although please do tag us if sharing on Twitter using the handles @ARTiculate_UK and @C21Shakespeare .

Progression in primary drama by strand

Progression in primary drama by phase

Popular posts from this blog

Filthy wretch or poor thing rethinking the island, ks2, week 1, the dragon boat's afloat art with year 1.

• Queen's University Library
• Research Guides

Primary Junior Arts: Drama

• Lesson Plans
• Early Childhood
• Incorporating Diverse Perspectives
• Integrate the Arts
• Plays & Readers' Theatre
• Children's Literature
• Multimedia & the Web
• Professional Journals
• Drama & Related Teacher Associations

Quick Links

• Search Omni
• Omni Search Tips
• Education Guide
• All Education Guides
• Course Readings (Ares)
• All Queen's Library Hours
• Book Study Rooms
• Browse the Shelves

Online Lesson Plans for Drama, K to 6

Council of Ontario Drama and Dance Educators  

REGISTER for FREE ACCESS as a teacher candidate.

The Council of Ontario Drama and Dance Educators (CODE) offers teacher candidates at Ontario Faculties of Education free access to the lesson plans and other resources on their site. It's worth registering for this excellent value association membership!

The Royal Conservatory's Learning Through the Arts Lesson Plans site has a few drama lessons for the Primary / Junior grades. Curriculum connections are noted for each province.

  ArtsEdge from the Kennedy Center is a "free digital resource for teaching and learning in, through, and about the arts.

Drama Resource . A site managed by David Farmer, a former primary school teacher and now freelance drama consultant in London, England. the Drama Resource site includes a selection of free lesson ideas for drama teachers.

Drama Games .  From the Drama Resource site.

Classroom Lesson Plans , from the site maintained by Matt Buchanan, a theater director/performing arts center manager in New Canaan, CT.

OER Commons

Open education resources, including lesson plans, for teachers.  Modify and adapt the lesson plans to connect with the curriculum.

Drama Games & Short Activities

• << Previous: Overview
• Next: Early Childhood >>

Naxos for Music

Ideas for Drama Classes

• Last Updated: Jan 7, 2024 9:59 PM
• Subjects: Education
• Tags: classroom resources , drama , lesson plans , ontario grades 1 to 6 , primary junior drama , reader's theatre , teacher resources

Cookies help us to give you the best experience on our website. You can change your cookie settings if you wish. Otherwise we'll assume you're OK to continue. OK See our policy

January 17, 2020, by Rupert Knight

Making a play for drama in the primary classroom

In this blog, Colin Morley looks at current ITE perceptions of the arts are, before looking at what the actuality of the arts offers within schools.

He considers what the barriers are to their possible use and how drama might be used as a process tool within Primary teaching.

How are the arts perceived? In terms of ITE, the training nomenclature of arts subjects is that they are ‘non-core’ at Secondary (and most receive a smaller bursary than core subjects if they receive a bursary at all). There is barely half a day per year being given over to the arts subjects on some Primary PGCEs, giving us an intuitive impression that the arts are viewed by the state as deficit. Yet, although there are arguments that arts are not used enough in school, at least there are arguments, rather than an acceptance that they are not used at all. Thus we see discourses including STE(A)M, regular newspaper coverage and a reworking of notions of cultural capital in the recent (2019) document covering Ofsted inspections .

Indeed, for teachers, arts and creativity, despite the perception of deficit statutory guidance, are an inherent methodology already deeply embedded within schools. What can the arts offer in the primary school? In terms of place, most foyers, classrooms and school websites show clear indications of the values that school, teachers, students and parents have in terms of the arts. There is the richness of classroom displays as below, in which the music of Hans Zimmer is used as a methodology for exploring pirates.

There is publicity of formal presentations of the school in artistic formats (photos from school shows, examples of visual art pieces), as well as an acknowledgement of the informal provision, in after school clubs or school and community linked provision.

Such community provision might include the visits of an art practitioner to a school and there are a number of ongoing projects which feature this such as HMDT Music’s TIME project which is an ongoing multi art project across six Primaries in Lancashire.

However, there are implicit issues with this notion of artist as visitor, most notably that of what might be left behind when the visit is over, a ‘back to normal’ – ing of the classroom and school, possibly leaving little or no tangible benefit for the students or teachers. Indeed, according research conducted by Galton (2010) this normal-ing might be welcomed by some teachers, and there is anecdotal evidence of a de-skilling of teachers in terms of the arts (and other areas such as PE) when an external practitioner comes in and works with a class in the absence of their usual teacher. In terms of creativity Bereczki and Kárpáti (2017 p7) also found there was a reticence from some teachers and that “Common misconceptions identified included the idea that creativity requires originality but not appropriateness, is an inborn talent mainly related to arts and humanities and requires the production of tangible products” . As a way to deal with this they proposed (p56) that “Training needs to address teachers’ beliefs about creativity by including opportunities for participants to make their beliefs explicit and reflect on them.”

With this in mind, and as a way of countering the perceptions of Galton and the possible lack of buy in, it is important to consider how the arts, and especially drama, can be seen as key tools of a teacher’s repertoire, and that these are tools of process rather than explicit product. We do not expect Science teachers to split atoms in class and neither do they expect to do so. Similarly, by having drama as a process tool, rather than an end in itself, we can enable the teacher to still perceive themselves as a teacher rather than as a potential BAFTA award winner. Having the teacher as teacher with art skills also removes the potential of ‘back to normal’-ing after a visiting practitioner has gone.

How might drama be used within the primary classroom? If we look at its naturalistic elements we can use it as a way of exploring lives and narratives –

• Phone conversations / texts between characters who do not contact in a text or who are involved in a particular issue • Hot seating: a pupil answers questions about the character they are playing (from a scripted play, a novel or a devised character) in role, with or without preparation. You can have other characters asking the questions ‘in role’ or just general questions from a whole class. Hot seating can be group work as well as whole class. The teacher can also be in role. You can have two people in the hot seat who work together on giving answers. One example is shown in this clip . • Meetings- Locals deciding what to do about – eg – what do we do about all the homeless people on their street • Interviewing: two characters in role, one plays the part of an interviewer, the other the interviewee. This is similar to hot seating, except everyone is in role. • A Life in a Day – this can be used for filling back story – The Sunday Times magazine has good examples of these • Overheard conversations – a character hears others talking about him / her and reacts for audience to see • Conscience alley: Pupils form two lines facing each other. A character moves down the alley and each pupil in turn voices the character’s thoughts. Or, everyone in the alley can ask a question of the character-who can remain silent or try to answer the questions. This technique can be used to develop scenes in devised pieces, as in this example . • Paired improvisation: Participants work together in role exploring a given context. A useful strategy for quickly getting everyone into the drama. For instance, two parents argue over whether or not to apprentice their child to a chimney sweep ‘master’. • Speech and thought bubbles: Large cartoon-type bubbles can be cut out of card and laminated. Young people are generally familiar with these devices from comics and cartoons. Their main purpose in a session is to demonstrate that what someone is saying may not be what they are thinking, and to encourage pupils to be economical with dialogue. To demonstrate this, it is necessary to freeze the action and physically place the balloon or bubble by a character’s mouth or head, so the class can consider what is really going on. A well-known painting could be used as a stimulus. Pupils are invited to study the painting. One group adopts the actual positions of the characters. A second group uses speech bubbles to suggest a conversation between those characters. The third group considers this and uses thought bubbles to suggest what some of the characters may actually be thinking. This can be developed further, as in the TV show Peepshow.

The non-naturalistic elements of drama can also be used as explorative tools:

• Freeze frame(tableau/still image): as with video, a split second and the action of the drama is frozen, like a photograph. Freeze frames are an extremely useful device in drama. You can use them at the start, middle or the end of a scene; once the scene is frozen characters can reflect in role on the significance on what has just taken place, or they can explain how they really think at that particular moment. Be inventive-there are many ways to utilise this technique. • Sound tracking / sound scaping – using instruments or voices to create a London street scene / background to a poem / passage/ description of a landscape, as in this example . • Role on the Wall – Adding to the character outline below with the thoughts of the character in the head, the feelings in the body, the actions in the arms and legs. The way the character is viewed by others can go in the space around the body • Costuming / Found objects– The exploration of what a particular collection of objects tells us, the finders. Using realia can have a powerful impact on children. Putting together a watch, a train ticket, a photo, a key and a phone number will start speculation immediately and this can be used in a wide range of scenarios • Defining space – Murder scene tape of a body’s location/ sectioning particular areas of the classroom off • Collective drawing – What Scotland was like under Duncan, then under Macbeth? • Diaries, Letters, Journals, Letters – These can be made into still images to illustrate, like photos • Line of opinion – all homeless people should be got rid of – strongly agree / disagree • Flashbacks/forwards: a very useful in technique in improvisation where you can ask groups to flash back or forward days, weeks months or years to other moments in the lives of the characters they are depicting or events they are showing.

The use of drama especially as a pedagogic tool is evident in two main aspects: the use of the body as tool for narrative and as a symbol in itself. In recent classroom observations of Primary teachers with little or no drama background I have witnessed a range of practice:

The use of the life stories and impacts of different characters. This was in the study of local history (embodied in the character of a mill owner discussing a reason for his actions). Another class studied medicine (Florence Nightingale gave a voice over). The development of architecture was explored (via the arguments of Gustav Eiffel for a new city structure), and the unpicking of the ideas behind the theory of evolution as the character of Charles Darwin gave a rationale for his approach. The use of the body as symbol was also seen in the form of freeze frames to demonstrate learning or understanding across subjects. For example the positioning of students holding tightly together to represent the atomic bonds of a solid – different from that of a more widely dispersed set of bodies as the students created a symbol of themselves as a gas. There was also the use of bodies as houses (and flame) as the events of the Fire of London were enacted.

The use of drama tools as processes rather than ends in themselves was seen in how, in all of the above examples, there was then a more summative (in each case written) piece of product created.

As a way forward it might be worth considering how artistic approaches, especially drama with its rich narrative possibilities might be used to replace or accompany how a current scheme is being taught. This has benefits not only for the pupils in terms of the possibilities of engagement, but also for the teacher in terms of extending repertoire as well as the school itself.

Questions to consider:

• How might I rework a current scheme to include drama? • What might my class as a whole gain from using drama? • What might specific children gain from using drama?

And finally – • Might using drama (and recording what happens) reduce my workload?

Galton, M. (2010) Going with the flow or back to normal? The impact of creative practitioners in schools and classrooms, Research Papers in Education, 25:4, 355-375.

• Share on Facebook
• Share on Twitter
• Share on Google+
• Share on LinkedIn

Previous Post

No comments yet, fill out a comment to be the first

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Subscribe by email

About this blog, useful links.

• Schools Partnership Gateway
• Course Information
• current issues
• professional development
• Uncategorized

Recent Posts

• Is it possible to abolish primary homework? A view from Norway
• Social Justice, Anti-racism, and Decolonisation: what place do they have in Teacher Education?
• How can we support male primary teachers?
• My science teacher is telling tales
• A collaborative approach to research-informed teaching

• Primary Hub
• Art & Design
• Design & Technology
• Health & Wellbeing
• Secondary Hub
• Citizenship
• Primary CPD
• Secondary CPD
• Book Awards
• All Products
• Primary Products
• Secondary Products
• School Trips
• Trip Directory
• Trips by Subject
• Trips by Type
• Trips by Region
• Submit a Trip Venue

Trending stories

Top results

• 8 Drama Games For Primary Kids To Ignite Imagination

Drama games – Simple ideas for primary school

Need to inspire your pupils and encourage creativity? Try these easy-to-follow and fun exercises, says Samantha Marsden…

These drama games from Samantha Marsden are simple to explain, don’t need any resources and are perfect for primary-aged children. ..

Drama games for primary students

Drama games for send pupils, how to teach literature through drama games, 1 | yes, let’s.

Initiate an action by saying something like, “Let’s bake a cake.” Pupils reply with, “Yes, let’s!” and then pretend to bake a cake.

Invite students to shout out ideas too. For example, someone might shout, “Let’s wash a lion!”. Again, everyone replies “Yes, let’s!” and mimes washing a lion.

Continue the game like this, with no idea being too silly.

2 | Lie about how you got here

Ask students to sit in a circle. One by one, each student lies about how they got to class.

This could be by flying car, unicorn, or time travel. Anything goes in this exercise. Encourage students to really tell a story and give details.

3 | Soundscape drama games

Ask students to sit in a circle. Explain that they’re going to create the atmosphere of a place with sounds. Try these ideas:

Ask someone to start. They must repeat their chosen noise or phrase over and over again.

Then the person next to that student adds their noise, and so on.

4 | Acting to music

Ask everyone to lie down and play a piece of music. After about 30 seconds, tell students that when they’re ready, they can stand up and move around the room in response to how the music is making them feel.

The music may inspire them to, for example:

• be a wizard, skipping to wizard school
• walk through a cave, terrified
• sit quietly and reflect on happy times

Tell children to follow their intuition and not to pay attention to anyone else in the group. It’s about whatever the music inspires in them .

5 | I’m sorry I…

One person – let’s call her Rania – stands up and approaches a person sitting in a circle – let’s say Maya – and she apologises for something.

Rania might be very sorry because she has lost Maya’s pet dog, or she’s cast an irreversible spell on her brother. Maya reacts how she likes.

Maya can then pick someone else in the circle and approach them to apologise for something.

6 | Broken down lift

Mark out a square or rectangle that is about the size of the floor space in a lift. Ask four actors to think up an objective for the character they will play.

They get into the lift in character, and the improvisation begins. Explain that at some point in the improvisation, they need to imagine that the lift breaks down.

7 | Magic box drama games

Sit in a circle with your students and mime placing an imaginary box in front of yourself. Explain it’s a magic box and inside there are many different kinds of objects.

Open the lid and mime taking something out of the box. Put the thing back into the box and ask the audience to guess what it was.

Pass the magic box to the next person to mime with.

8 | Lead with your…

Direct students to walk around the room. Now explain that you will call out a body part that students are to lead with.

Let’s start with the nose, for example. Ask the students to think about what type of character might lead with their nose.

Lead with many different body parts. Then ask the class to sit down and see if any volunteers would like to show some of the characters they’ve created.

Use these drama games to encourage your children with SEND to expand and explore what makes them unique, rather than shrinking to fit a non-existent ‘norm’…

Drama games for acceptance 

Too often, SEND pupils are required to shrink themselves to fit in. But drama is a place that allows them to expand and express themselves.  

Things I will often be found saying in the drama class are: “There is no wrong way”, “Don’t worry about what others think”, and “Do the first thing that comes into your head”.

However, not all drama activities are helpful. There are some harmful drama games out there that can panic children and make them feel rejected.  

“Drama is a place that allows them to expand and express themselves”

When choosing content, I recommend making sure you choose drama games and activities that bring the class together. Avoid drama games that have  winners  and  losers.   

Drama games for focus 

I’ve seen children who usually struggle with focus pay attention well in the drama classroom. Pupils with ADHD can find drama practically engaging.

A well-planned drama lesson should be fast-paced, and engage students physically, vocally, creatively, and mentally. When performing a live improvisation in front of the class, there is no room for your attention to drift!  

There are many drama activities to help students slow down and focus, too, such as relaxation exercises to music, Stanislavski’s circles of attention, Lee Strasberg’s imaginary object exercise, and counting to 20 as a group.  

For counting to 20 as a group, each number is said by one person at random. If two people say the number at the same time, the group go back to number one. It’s a great activity to calm the energy and bring the class back to focusing on a common goal. 

Drama games for inclusivity 

When taught well, drama is a subject that offers a safe space to express creativity, to work in teams, all while increasing confidence. But when taught badly, it can further exclude.   

‘Yes, lets’ is one of my favourite warm-up drama games, as everyone’s ideas are welcomed and executed. This involves proposing an idea to be mimed, and a positive response (think improv basics). For example, you might say, “Let’s all read a book” and everyone shouts, “Yes, lets” – at which point you all mime reading a book.

You might continue, “Let’s all ride a unicorn”. Pupils reply “Yes, lets”, and you all mime riding a unicorn. After you give a few examples, and when the game is in full swing, ask students to put their hands up if they have an idea.

Explain that all ideas, except for violent ones, are welcome. Try and give as many pupils as possible a go, and encourage (but don’t force), reluctant children to offer an idea.  

Dyslexia and drama games

Drama can be very empowering for  students with dyslexia . I have dyslexia and for a long time, drama was the only subject I was good at.

It was a place where I didn’t have to worry about words, numbers, or remembering information. I could use my imagination, and verbal reasoning skills, which were my strengths. It was one of the few practical subjects where I could get up on my feet and do.  

“Drama can be very empowering for students with dyslexia”

I’m not alone as I’ve taught dozens of students with dyslexia since, who also love drama as it’s a subject where they get to use their strengths and forget about their weaknesses.

Try different explanations

People receive information in different ways, and for inclusivity, I believe it’s important for the teacher to communicate using several methods. I often explain an activity in two different ways, or sometimes three, always using words, tone of voice, movement, and facial expressions to communicate. Because for some children, visual signals can really help them.  

For example, if I have a SEND student in the class who responds well to pictures, I will make sure to include visuals in my explanations for the whole class. If I ask the class to imagine it’s snowing, for instance, I will pretend to be very cold, and may even hold up a picture of snow.

I am likely also to play a piece of music that sounds snowy too, so that pupils have audio and visual guides to improvise with as they go on their snowy adventure.  

How to deal with overwhelm

If a pupil becomes overwhelmed, try and keep the class energy calm. Some focus drama games, breathing exercises, or mindfulness activities might help to bring down the energy of the group.

Offer the overwhelmed student a quiet place to sit, and explain that they may watch and join in when they are ready.  

If the class is independently rehearsing short scenes or improvisations, some SEND students might benefit from rehearsing in a quiet space, away from the rest of the class. This can prevent other children practising becoming a distraction, or being too overwhelming for them.  

• Outline the content of the class at the start of the lesson to help SEND pupils who respond well to structure. Many children with SEND find it comforting to know what to expect. If possible, write this on a board to help anchor these pupils. 
• No idea is too   silly in drama. Encourage and praise pupils when they share their creativity. 
• One way to start the class is to get children into a circle and then ask them to do a vocal warm-up. For example, ask them to moo, meow, or woof to the tune of ‘Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star’. Or you can do some tongue twisters, or funny sounds, all together.  
• Follow this up with a quick movement warm-up. For example, ask the class to imagine chewing on a big toffee, or biting into a rotten apple, or that they are a tiny seed growing into a beautiful flower, slowly.  
• For inclusivity, never tolerate any unkind comments, looks, gestures, or laughs. If this happens, take the offending pupil aside and explain kindness and acceptance are essential in drama. If this doesn’t improve the behaviour, you may need to remove them from the group temporarily. 

From pretending to eat chocolate cake to navigating Narnia in their imaginations, exploring literature as performers will fuel pupils’ creativity and inspire deeper textual understanding …

Bringing drama games and acting techniques into your classroom makes the study of literature more active. It will inspire pupils to engage with literature in a practical, character-driven way.

Thinking about the study of literature can conjure images of quiet libraries filled with students poring over books. However, reading and writing both involve the study of people, relationships, and what it means to be human, though – just like acting.

So it’s no coincidence that there are many actor-writers. Examples include Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Tina Fey, Spike Lee and, of course, Shakespeare.

Larraine S Harrison, author of  Drama and Reading for Meaning Ages 4-11  (Routledge 2022), explains how using drama games in the classroom can work:

“Stepping into an imaginary context encourages children to view texts through the lens of different perspectives,” she says. “It fosters an emotional engagement that can motivate and inspire children to peel back the layers of a text and dig a little deeper.”

Acting techniques can build a bridge between text and imagination, maybe even inspiring a love of reading for life. Here are some ideas to help you apply this approach in your classroom…

Acting activities for literature

‘Yes, Let’s’ is a simple, well-known  drama game  that can also be adapted to help students connect with a text.

To play, explain that everyone acts out what the idea-caller (you, the teacher) calls out. For example, if you are studying  Matilda,  you might say, “Let’s all be Bruce and eat a chocolate cake.”

“Acting techniques can build a bridge between text and imagination”

The class should then reply “Yes, let’s!”, after which everyone pretends to eat chocolate cake.

Give it about a minute before you call out the next idea.

Next you might say, “Let’s all copy sums from the board, Ms Trunchbull is watching!” and the class would reply, “Yes, let’s!” before pretending to do this.

After you’ve shared a few ideas, ask pupils to share their own ideas for things that everyone can do.

Yes, Let’s can work with any text. For example, if you’re studying  The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe , students are likely to love it if you say, “Let’s all walk through the wardrobe into Narnia!”

To extend this, you could read out a description of Narnia from the text while students walk around and imagine the world you’ve described.   

Character studies

One way to study literature is to help students get inside the characters’ minds and worlds.

Konstantin Stanislavski, one of the most influential acting teachers in the world, coined the term ‘given circumstances’. This refers to the environmental, historical, and situational conditions in which a character finds themselves.

When studying a book or script, ask pupils to choose one of the characters, and a particular point in the book. They can then write out the character’s circumstances at that time.

For Stanislavski, six questions make up a character’s given circumstances:

•  When?
•  Where?
•  For what reason?

You can reassure the children that for some of the answers, different people will have different interpretations, and that’s great.

Here is an example of a character sheet template that I like to use with pupils:

• Where do you live?
• What’s your bedroom like if you have one?
• Have you had any life-changing events? If yes, what happened and how did it change you?
• Who do you have significant relationships with?
• Who’s your favourite person?
• Who’s your least favourite person?
• If you had three wishes, what would you wish for?
• What do you most want from life?
• What scares you the most?
• What’s your life philosophy in a nutshell?
• What makes you angry?
• What’s your biggest secret?

Begin by asking the children to choose a character from the text that’s being studied. Then ask them to answer the questionnaire in first-person.

Encourage them to draw the answers from the text when possible, and to fill in blanks with their imaginations.

Actors and directors spend a lot of time thinking and talking about objectives (the character’s wants).

You can ask pupils to write down, discuss, or improvise the character’s objectives. This can be done on a per sentence, per scene, or whole-story basis. According to Stanislavski there are two types of objectives: the objective and the super objective.

The objective is the want in the scene, or sentence. The super objective is the character’s main want – their life ambition perhaps – or the overarching desire that drives the story.

Of course, opinions may vary on what a character’s objective and super objective are. That’s all part of the fun when investigating a text together! Ask your class to share parts of the text that support their argument.

You can also split students into pairs and ask them to create an improvisation from objectives. For example, if you’re studying  Alice in Wonderland , you could ask them to create an improvisation with Alice and the White Rabbit.

Explain that Alice’s objective is to get home. Meanwhile, the White Rabbit is running late, and their objective is to arrive for a job for the Duchess.

Give the pairs five minutes to come up with an improvisation. Then ask them to share with the rest of the class if they feel comfortable doing so.   

Hot seating

To help students get into the minds of the characters you’re studying, you can try hot seating.

Place a chair in front of the class, and then ask for a volunteer to sit on it. Task them with thinking of a character from the book, or script, you’re working on.

Ask them to try and think of all the character’s given circumstances. Their answers should include their age, name, job, place that they live, friends, family, likes, dislikes, fears, wants, and so on.

Explain to the child that they can make up any information that hasn’t been given in the text. Now, in character, the improviser answers questions from the audience in character. If they don’t know the answer to a question, they can make up an answer, or say, “I don’t know”.

The audience can ask any questions they like; see the character sheet template for ideas.

If you think some children might need a little more support, begin by providing some information about the characters. Write each character’s name on the board, then list their given circumstances, wants, fears, habits, relationships, and so on.

Make sure you explain that it’s okay for the same character to be played and hot-seated more than once; different interpretations are exciting!

These drama games come from the imagination of Samantha Marsden. She’s the author of 100 Acting Exercises for 8-18 Year Olds (£15.99, Methuen Drama). Follow her on Twitter at @SamMarsdenDrama . Download eight more drama games for kids or a KS2 improvisation lesson plan from Samantha Marsden.

Sign up to our newsletter

You'll also receive regular updates from Teachwire with free lesson plans, great new teaching ideas, offers and more. (You can unsubscribe at any time.)

Which sectors are you interested in?

Early Years

Thank you for signing up to our emails!

You might also be interested in...

Why join Teachwire?

Get what you need to become a better teacher with unlimited access to exclusive free classroom resources and expert CPD downloads.

Exclusive classroom resource downloads

Free worksheets and lesson plans

CPD downloads, written by experts

Resource packs to supercharge your planning

Special web-only magazine editions

Educational podcasts & resources

Access to free literacy webinars

Newsletters and offers

Create free account

By signing up you agree to our terms and conditions and privacy policy .

Already have an account? Log in here

Thanks, you're almost there

To help us show you teaching resources, downloads and more you’ll love, complete your profile below.

Welcome to Teachwire!

Set up your account.

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur adipisicing elit. Commodi nulla quos inventore beatae tenetur.

I would like to receive regular updates from Teachwire with free lesson plans, great new teaching ideas, offers and more. (You can unsubscribe at any time.)

Log in to Teachwire

Not registered with Teachwire? Sign up for free

Reset Password

Remembered your password? Login here

Chase March – Official Site

Wedding DJ for Sarnia, London, ON. Writer, Educator, Radio Host, Hip Hop Headucatorz

Teaching Tip – A Great Drama Rubric

Who has time for drama?

I have so much stuff I need to teach that I can’t afford to spend time letting the kids act out goofy little skits.

Have you heard these excuses before? Have you used them yourself?

I know that classroom teachers have a huge responsibility and that principals and school boards often focus on literacy and numeracy, so much so that the arts often get little or no attention at all. This really is a shame.

I must admit that I don’t find a lot of time for drama in my classroom. I’m sure I could do a lot more. However, I don’t just use the Christmas concert as my sole drama activity like some of the other teachers I know.

I typically use three Drama activities each year, one per term. I will cover these strategies in more detail starting next week for Teaching Tip Tuesdays. I have a great rubric that I use to assess all three of these activities and you will find it below.

In the first term, I do a unit on poetry. I teach the students how to use tone of voice, action, and props to present the poem dramatically in front of the class. This is a great assignment since I can use it for an Oral and Visual Communication mark as well as a Drama mark.

In the second term, I let the students work in partners or groups of three. I let them choose a comic strip from the newspaper to act out. They need to rehearse their performance and memorize their lines. Comic strips are great since they already are visual and don’t have a lot of dialogue. This allows the students a quick and easy skit to act out. They are funny as well which always helps.

In the third term, I work with small groups and guide them into cooperatively writing a radio play. This is much like Reader’s Theatre but since the students have a hand in creating the characters and the story, they are much more interested in it.

These aren’t the only things I do in the classroom for drama. I sometimes have the kids act out science concepts, social studies events, and health and safety situations. The students really respond well to drama activities.

Of all the drama activities I do in the classroom, I only need one assessment tool. I developed this rubric by taking bits and pieces of other rubrics that I liked and mashing them together. The book Drama Themes, which I highly recommend by the way, originally inspired me to create this rubric.

You will notice that there are a lot of things you can look at when assessing a work of drama; practise, use of voice, setting, action, comedy, role development, role portrayal, and the overall performance.

I wouldn’t try to assess all of these things at one time. I might only look at three things for a primary class. I tell my students that I will be looking for a good tone of voice, that they use some actions, and I will also be looking at how well them work in their groups.

I really like using this rubric and I hope it will help you in bringing drama into your classroom. If you have any questions, comments, or tips you’d like to share, please contact me. I’d love to hear from you.

Don’t forget to check all the other great Teaching Tips as well.

Teachers helping teachers is what it’s all about.

Chase March

12 responses to “Teaching Tip – A Great Drama Rubric”

Great Rubric! Thanks – – plan on using it for a 7th grade one-act interpretation of biogeochemical cycles…

Hi Anonymous,

I'm glad you like it and plan to use it.

If you have any teaching tips you'd like to share, please send them my way. I'd love for you to write a post about what you do in your classroom.

Hi Chase, I'm teaching a lot of planning time coverage again this year which means I teach drama once a week for half the school year. Needless to say I am running out of ideas so I was excited to stumble upon your rubric here. I'm going to try out your comic strip lesson plan with my grade 3/4 group. Keep up the great ideas! Amber

I have an older drama curriculum based on picture books. It's called "Treasure Chest." It's a great resource that you probably won't be able to find.

I'll see if I can digitize it and post it here in an upcoming Teaching Tip Tuesday.

Happy Teaching!

Thanks Chase.

Hi, this is my first year teaching elementary drama K-5. Is am more used to middle and high school. I have been struggling with the younger grades especially two very unruly second grades and K. I use finger puppets, bag puppets, reenact fairytales, and music movement, but I am running out of ideas! I love teaching drama but I am concerned about assessments, standards and how to show objective during evaluations with Kindergarden. Any help you can give will be greatly appreciated. The kids seem to like it but sometimes think its play.

I love the comic strip idea as well. Tried to email but it did not work. Can you email me?

I am in the opposite position. I’m teaching intermediate this year and all of my experience has been primary / junior. Didn’t think it would be such a big difference, but it is.

I understand your concerns. I just sent you an email and will try to draft a post addressing these topics.

Thank you for the comment!

Great rubric. Hits on many of the essential comments that are required in drama performances. I will use with performance in my Multicultural Literature class.

Thanks for leaving a comment Fortenberry! Glad you find it useful!

I just loved your rubric. Your rubric has even reached deep down into Africa and I will be using it to assess my drama performances for my Grade 8 Creative Arts class. Thank you!

So glad I could help. If you need anything else or would like to share what you are doing in your class, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Aleksandr Sergeevich Pushkin . Made by Irina Lipenko teacher Irina M.Uskova Zelenograd Moscow

Aug 09, 2014

50 likes | 233 Views

Aleksandr Sergeevich Pushkin . Made by Irina Lipenko teacher Irina M.Uskova Zelenograd Moscow. 1799-1837. Aleksandr Sergeevich Pushkin was born on May the twenty sixth , 1799 in Moscow.

Share Presentation

• irina m uskovazelenograd moscow
• ruslan andludmila
• new generation
• aleksandr pushkin

Presentation Transcript

AleksandrSergeevich Pushkin.Made by Irina Lipenkoteacher Irina M.UskovaZelenograd Moscow 1799-1837.

AleksandrSergeevich Pushkin was born on May the twenty sixth,1799 in Moscow.

His mother was NadegdaOsipovna.He lived with his nurse ArinaRadionovna.He loved her very much and dedicated poems to her.

My favouritepoem is «Ruslan andLudmila»; «Village».Some of themost popular films are based on his novels and poems such as «Dubrovsky»; «Tale of the Priest and of his Workman Balda»,«The Tales of Belkin».

Aleksandr Pushkin died in 1837 in a duel.His work lives foreverand each new generation will spend time enjoying poems, songs, films and cartoons based on the works of Pushkin.

• More by User

Irina Artwork - Art By Irina

Welcome to my online art gallery. Discover, share and buy affordable original artwork for your home or office, direct from the artist's studio. Original paintings, custom made to order commissions and hand made limited edition prints by an emerging artist.

361 views • 8 slides

Irina Solodova

The potential of the corporate philanthropy in the local community development and limitations of the third sector organizations involving . Irina Solodova. The Monitoring of the Russian Civil Society. The empirical data originates from the monitoring of Russian civil society:

363 views • 20 slides

Alexander ( Aleksandr ) Pushkin

Alexander ( Aleksandr ) Pushkin . 1799-1837. Early Life. Born in Moscow on June 6, 1799 into a wealthy family The second of 8 surviving children Pushkin’s great grandfather was African, and he inherited many of his features Began writing poems as early as age 7

587 views • 10 slides

Irina Tyshkevich

Agents for change: Robotics for girls: A robotics curriculum for middle school years &amp; The Impact of Robot Projects on Girls’ Attitudes Toward Science and Engineering . Irina Tyshkevich. By: Leonne Tanis Advisor: Dr. Jim Ostrowski, Professor of Mechanical Engineering.

255 views • 9 slides

Sviridova Irina III IR

Sviridova Irina III IR. Brown University Columbia University Cornell University Dartmouth College Harvard University. Princeton University the University of Pennsylvania Yale University. Locations of Ivy League schools. Ivy covering West College, Princeton University. Brown University.

457 views • 29 slides

Irina Petrova , MA

Simulation of the Job Hunting Process: Learning English in a Realistic Context or Learning Career Skills in the English Lesson. Irina Petrova , MA. English for Specific Purposes I. 4 ECP = 104 hours of work Classwork (3×16 weeks) : 48 hours Independent work: 56 hours

278 views • 11 slides

Irina Todorova May 2014

International Organization for Migration IOM’s Role in Assistance and Protection of VoTs with special considerations for children. Irina Todorova May 2014.

477 views • 33 slides

By Héctor, Irina and Rubén

First term project: The three vital functions of: Dromedary and spiky malaysian plant. By Héctor, Irina and Rubén. The dromedary has eukaryotic cells and animal cells. Type of cells. Nutrition. Obtaining nutrients: Food is crushed by the teeth.The molecules are broken down.

212 views • 11 slides

Irina Masakova Rosstat

Agenda item 3 Invited paper 16. On strategy of implementation of the updated System of National Accounts in the Russian Federation. Irina Masakova Rosstat. Current situation. System of National Accounts in Russia is based on concepts of SNA-93.

357 views • 19 slides

Irina Shoshmina [email protected]

Irina Shoshmina [email protected]. Institute for High Performance Computing and Information Systems St.Petersburg, Russia. High Performance Simulation (NWO/RFBR). High Performance Simulation on the Grid Dutch-Russian Grid testbed

250 views • 13 slides

Irina Issakova

Daxiang Xu. Boris Logvinskiy. Bernard Low. Shu Yang Quek. Irina Issakova. Team Purple Knights DART of Yahoo! 1995 Case E-145 October 1, 2007. Purple Knights’ Decision. Jerry and Dave should accept the offer by Sequoia Capital.

217 views • 6 slides

NATIA MELKADZE IRINA CHAPICHADZE

NATIA MELKADZE IRINA CHAPICHADZE. PH international. What is Classroom Management? Instuctions Tools Problems Tips for Classroom Management. What is Classroom Management?.

250 views • 11 slides

Ivan Kisel (KIP, Uni-Heidelberg), Irina Rostovtseva (ITEP Moscow)

Study of L1 CA track finder with new STS geometry and possibilities of parallel computing. Ivan Kisel (KIP, Uni-Heidelberg), Irina Rostovtseva (ITEP Moscow). Adaptation to the New STS Geometry. The STS geometry is changing Previously in each STS station the hits had the

253 views • 10 slides

Irina V. Kartavtseva, Irina N. Sheremetyeva

GENETICAL FEATURES OF CHROMOSOMAL FORM « C » OF MICROTUS MAXIMOWICZII FROM THE RUSSIAN FAR EAST. Irina V. Kartavtseva, Irina N. Sheremetyeva Institute of Biology &amp; Soil Science, Far Eastern Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences, Vladivostok (Russia) Anastasia B. Ryabkova

346 views • 17 slides

Irina K. Tezaur

Proper Orthogonal Decomposition (POD) Closure Models for Turbulent Flows. Irina K. Tezaur Extreme Scale Data Science &amp; Analytics Department, Sandia National Laboratories, Livermore CA Data Science Reading Group Seminar Thursday, May 18, 2017.

1.06k views • 106 slides

Irina Vodă. 3rd International Scientific Conference on &quot;Energy and Climate Change&quot;. Structure of Electricity Balance of Romania for the year 2020, Established Based on Optimal Primary Energy Resources Using the Multi-criteria Analysis Model. 7, 8 October 2010 Athens (Greece). CONTENT

209 views • 20 slides

Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin

Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin. The greatest Russian poet. The greatest Russian poet Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin was born in Moscow on the 26 th of May, 1799. He was not only a poet, but also a dramatist, a novelist and a writer of short stories. Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin.

546 views • 7 slides

• My presentations

Auth with social network:

Download presentation

We think you have liked this presentation. If you wish to download it, please recommend it to your friends in any social system. Share buttons are a little bit lower. Thank you!

Presentation is loading. Please wait.

Cultural mistakes in English language Feofanova Varvara Grade 9 School 852 Moscow, Zelenograd.

Published by Warren Fowler Modified over 8 years ago

Similar presentations

Presentation on theme: "Cultural mistakes in English language Feofanova Varvara Grade 9 School 852 Moscow, Zelenograd."— Presentation transcript:

Interacting & Responding: Gang Culture

How to be a good language learner. Think about your native language – it’s probably English. You were a fluent speaker before you even started school.

Everyday life of American people as compared with British way of life. Executors: Razumeeva Albina Student of the 10th form, gymnasium № 70. The teacher:

EFFECTIVE LEARNING MANAGEMENT

Module 14 Thought & Language. INTRODUCTION Definitions –Cognitive approach method of studying how we process, store, and use information and how this.

Chapter 3: The Direct Method

APPROACHES and METHODS IN LANGUAGE TEACHING

How to Improve Your Spoken English? Presented by Miss Indu Goswami Principal, KV Sector 25, Rohini, Delhi.

The Audio-Lingual Method

Everything you need to know about French language acquisition

Grammar-Translation Approach Direct Approach

Performance at the teachers' meeting Produced by Koshevets AV Osakarovka 2013.

The Grammar – Translation Method

Academic English Seminar Skills “An Introduction to EAP – Academic Skills in English” Lesson 1.

Communicative Language Teaching Vocabulary

Unit 1 Language and Learning Methodology Unit 1 Language and learning I.How do we learn language ? 1 ) How do we learn our own language ? 2 ) How do.

Aptitude Tests - LAB  Paul Pimpleur developed Language Aptitude Battery in 1960s with 6 subtests Grade-Point Average in academic areas other than foreign.

Language and Cognition. Language is the arrangement of sounds to communicate ideas…  1. Language is arbitrary-words don’t sound like the ideas they are.

English Education Despite All the Negativity Adult students‘ of English Survey Results- Italy, Lithuania, Slovakia, Spain, Turkey L. Andziuliene, E. Zadarackaite.

About project

© 2024 SlidePlayer.com Inc. All rights reserved.