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fast lessons,ideas and activities

middle primary Ready-to-go ideas and activities for an exciting drama program

Wendy Blaxland illustrated by Dee Texidor

Copying of this book by educational institutions A purchasing educational institution may only photocopy pages within this book in accordance with the Australian Copyright Act 1968 (the Act) and provided the educational institution (or body that administers it) has given a remuneration notice to the Copyright Agency Limited (CAL) under the Act. It is mandatory that ALL photocopies are recorded by the institution for CAL survey purposes. For details of the CAL licence for educational institutions, contact: Copyright Agency Limited Level 19, 157 Liverpool St Sydney, NSW, 2000 Copying by individuals or non-educational institutions Except as permitted under the Act (for example, for fair dealing for the purposes of study, research, criticism or review) no part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means, without the prior written approval of the publisher. All enquiries should be made to the publisher at the address below. © 2004 Blake Publishing 1 86509 ISBN 1978 86509 027 027 1 6

Ready-to-Go Drama Middle Primary Blake Publishing PO Box 250 Glebe NSW 2037 Project management: Wendy Rapee Designed by: Wendy Rapee Illustrated by: Dee Texidor Photo credits: Thanks to the Marian Street Theatre for Young People for photos of their students. p 13 Eleanor Blaxland Ashby Printed in Australia by Printing Creations

Thanks — Thanks to my wide circle of friends and family, colleagues, drama teachers and students. Thanks for your wisdom, inspiration and generosity in freely sharing your ideas and responses to my text. And special thanks to Michael Anderson, Education Faculty of Sydney University; Allan Ashby; Audrey Blaxland, drama teacher and founding director of Marian Street Children's Theatre; Eleanor, Jessica and Tom Blaxland Ashby, actors; Jenny Jackson-Nylund, Sher Guhl, James Lugton, Margie McCrae, Helen and Cathy Martin and Terry Ryan from Marian Street Theatre for Young People; Denis Maher, from ATSIS NSW (Communications); Barbara Lions, Guy and Mary Ross, teachers; John Marsden — and Wendy Rapee, editor supreme. — Wendy Blaxland

contents How To Use This Book

4

Teachers’ File

5 6 7 9 10 10

Quick Starts

11

Take Your Own Time

16

Background notes Classroom organisation Technology tips Assessment Parental involvement Activities requiring little or no preparation that will enable you to promote your students’ creativity, imagination and skills 27 Worksheets covering the following activities:

Creating: characters 1-3 Creating: improvisation 4-7 Skills: movement, mime, voice, design 8 - 12 Elements: focus, climax, mood, symbols 13 - 16 Presenting 17 - 20 Responding 21 - 23 Context 24 - 27

Step by Step

Task cards which draw together and consolidate skills taught in the Quick Starts and Worksheets, containing clear step by step instructions for students

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Ready-to-Go - Drama - Middle Primary

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How To Use This Book This book is designed to offer busy teachers quick and helpful ways to teach drama, and all the exercises can be used in any order, many without any special preparation. Teachers new to drama can be assured the tips are proven and the exercises easy to use, and more experienced teachers will find plenty to extend their students. However, the book has also been carefully designed to cover all the outcomes for drama from the National Curriculum Profile for the Arts in a logical and comprehensive fashion. Often activities fulfil a number of outcomes from the profile, though only the main outcome is mentioned. Some exercises teach specific drama skills. But many also offer cross-curriculum links to literacy and numeracy skills, science, the social sciences and personal development. This lets teachers integrate drama into their teaching program. Drama is an active subject, rather than a subject just to write or talk about. So it is great fun, and students will remember whatever they learn by participating in such vivid activities. Feel free to adapt the exercises to suit your students, your time and your program. Take a chance — have fun yourself!

Teacher s’ File This explains why drama is so important and what the National Curriculum Profile for drama includes. It also contains ideas for classroom organisation and ways to structure a drama lesson and control excited students, as well as technology tips, assessment ideas and suggestions for how parents can be involved in drama activities.

Quick Starts This section is written for teachers, offering 20 activities and ideas to promote students' creativity and imagination. These can be used at any time with little or no preparation, and may be modified to complement a classroom theme. Headings guide teachers in choosing specific activities if they are looking, for instance, for warm-up ideas or ways to help students focus.

Take Your Own Time These 27 Worksheets are directed to students, with both individual and group activities. They cover creating characters and improvisations; the skills and elements of drama; presentation; student responses to drama and seeing drama in its context. Each Worksheet includes a heading indicating the main skill covered, and the major National Outcome achieved is shown at the bottom of the page, with an explanation of how it is achieved. Worksheets may also be modified and adapted to suit individual students or classes.

Step by Step Finally, eight task cards written for students are designed to consolidate skills and help students achieve more extended projects. They may be used for contract work at any time and in any sequence, and include both individual and group activities.

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Teachers’ File

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Teachers’ File

Background Notes Drama

3. Context

Drama is a powerful way of exploring the world. The essence of acting is becoming someone else, and actor and audience both walk a mile in that other person's shoes. The actor uses their whole self as an instrument: body, voice, mind, emotions and experiences. But we are all actors too: in dramatic play as children, and storytelling as adults. Drama is everywhere around us, in our everyday lives and rituals. We experience drama in a wide range of professional forms; in theatre, films, television and advertising, as well as forms from different cultures and times. We use drama to laugh, to cry and to reflect. It is an essential part of our lives.

Using their creativity

Creating, responding, putting drama in context There are three important strands in teaching drama: creating drama, responding to it and putting drama in context. 1. Creating

o Exploring First, students explore, create and develop ideas and feelings, sometimes stimulated by other art forms like music, art and stories.

o Making Then students shape their ideas by using the specific skills, techniques and processes of drama. These include improvisation using appropriate roles and characters; mime, storytelling, puppetry, reader's theatre and simple script work. Technical skills include using voice, posture and movement, simple props and costumes in improvised settings; and the elements of mood, focus, tension, contrast and symbol.

o Presenting Lastly, students learn to plan, rehearse and present drama for particular audiences or purposes. They work in groups and show tolerance for others and a capacity for completing tasks within time limits. 2. Responding Students learn to respond to drama and make judgements about both their own and other people's work, while understanding other points of view.

Students look at drama in its past and present contexts, discussing how drama is made and used for a range of purposes, such as their class drama work, drama in public forms like storytelling, film and live performances, and drama in cultures other than their own.

Students can express their creativity through drama. They work, sometimes individually but most often cooperatively in groups, to explore, shape and share drama, and to evaluate it. This draws on all their thought processes: logical, conceptual, symbolic and analytical. Drama benefits all students, from every background and culture. It builds confidence and self-esteem, and develops a wide range of talents, because it involves so many personal and interpersonal skills. Importantly, drama not only lets students with special performing and allied talents shine; it is also a wonderful creative medium for students with disabilities. Students who find academic skills difficult often flower in drama.

Drama in the curriculum Drama can be taught separately or integrated into other areas of the curriculum. It is the perfect medium to integrate the other art forms such as dance, music, media and the visual arts. However, it can also provide an imaginative but tangible experience for students in every area of the curriculum. Using drama in science, students can creatively investigate body systems like lungs; in social science role-play a local election; in personal development explore feelings through improvisation; in literacy skills bring written scenes to life; in mathematics experience multiplication through finger puppets. Above all, because it is active, drama is fun. Students learn through dramatic play and games, and love it!

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Teachers’ File

Classroom organisation Classroom routines

Teacher tips

If possible, restrict drama class numbers to fifteen. An hour is ideal with younger students; with older students an hour and a half. A dedicated drama space like a hall or large open space is ideal, but must be private enough to give students freedom to experiment without watchers, and prevent drama distracting other classes. Otherwise, move classroom furniture to provide a clear space. Always define the boundaries of the drama space clearly, making sure delicate or dangerous equipment like lighting is safe.

Decide on a visual or verbal attention signal to prompt students to stop moving and speaking and focus on the teacher. This signal can be a chime bar, the word 'freeze' drawn out at length, raising an arm or just starting a fun series of movements for students to mirror till they are all focused and quiet. Practise using this signal as a game in early lessons, particularly with younger students, until it is second nature.

Rules for drama lessons might include

o wear comfortable clothes such as sports uniform o help prepare the space, and put everything back afterwards o always keep hands and feet to yourself o take turns doing and watching o be a good listener, with eyes to the person

To calm excited drama students ask them to • switch to slow motion • work without voices or whispering or • reward the first student to respond to the agreed attention signal. Drama games are great fun, teaching students how to follow instructions, focus, and cooperate too. But they should lead on to other work.

speaking, voice quiet, body still and mind on the person speaking.

Establish these rules through drama games in the early lessons.

Important principles

o Drama lessons are active, with a rhythm between doing, watching and reflecting. o Encourage students' awareness of their own

safety and that of others while they share the physical and emotional drama space. More boisterous students may need to consider other people's needs more; less confident students may need encouragement and equal time performing.

o Keep instructions short, clear and simple. o In student improvisations, taking a role yourself

is a powerful tool. Become an expert, an official or a newcomer.

o Highlight any good work by individual students.

o While all students are working at the same time

within the full group, extend their skills by coaching e.g. 'Remember it's freezing … be aware of your fingers too … keep your focus clear'.

o Model appropriate and inappropriate work,

e.g. facing the audience to deliver crucial lines clearly versus facing away and speaking softly.

o Model constructive criticism of all class

contributions. Ask students 'What worked?' Comment on specific details first before offering constructive suggestions and inviting contributions from students.

o Relate warm-ups and games to the drama lesson's main theme.

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Teachers’ File

Classroom organisation Suggested drama lesson routine

o Take off shoes and socks. If necessary, keep

both shoes and socks on. Socks alone can be slippery and dangerous.

work to settle individuals and promote group cohesion. Games can combine a physical warmup with focus skills and promote social cohesion in one fun activity. Breathing and voice work follows. Then work on other skills or themes can begin.

o Sit in a circle, ready to begin. The drama circle

o During each lesson students move from

o Ideally, begin each lesson with a physical

o At the end of the lesson leave time to wind down

Presenting drama

Equipment

Students at this level still work primarily for the experience of acting rather than to show to an audience. In the middle primary years students have developed the skills to plan and present drama for a particular audience or purpose, for example by developing scenes to present to other classes, experimenting with the elements of role, dramatic action and language, and exploring the way props and settings can enhance roles and situations. They also work in groups to plan, shape and share their work, showing tolerance and a capacity to complete tasks within time limits in improvised, self-devised stories which aim to achieve a particular goal, as well as memorising simple scripts.

The simplest performances are often the most effective. Sets, costumes, make-up, lights and music can certainly enhance drama, but are extras. The most flexible drama equipment is a collection of cloth of different lengths, colours and textures, preferably material that does not crush. It can be used and re-used as symbolic set elements or costumes, fastened by simple knots, by re-usable elastic or cords. Look for oddments, roll ends or sales. Plain coloured tops and pants are easiest if you need to costume a crowd. Collections of hats and shoes are wonderful prompts for characterisation. Try op shops or ask students for unwanted family items. Make-up can be as simple as clay and ochre, and inexpensive face-paints are also available.

Look for good quality scripts appropriate for your students. You could try the School Magazine, Currency Press or the Australian Script Centre in Hobart.

Another wise investment is a series of sturdy blocks or rostra in different sizes to let students experiment with levels in space. They can be used imaginatively in many ways. But you can also create props, sets and costumes very cheaply from recycled material or even for free: use newspaper for hats, cardboard boxes for sets, plastic bottles for musical instruments. Challenge yourself and your students to spend as little as possible! Rules? Share equipment, and return it neatly.

visibly demonstrates that everyone is valued equally, lets everyone be aware of each other, and creates a group of watchers into which a performer can step. It also promotes focus and reflection. warm-up, then move into relaxation and focus

Remember:

O Students may share their work if they wish but

should not have to. The process is as important as the product and not all explorations work.

O Try appreciating all work that is shared with others

individual work all done at the same time, to working in pairs, to group work. At this level students work on skills individually or in pairs within a large group, but also in small groups on tasks with time limits. and reflect, ready for the next lesson; put on shoes and socks and clear everything away.

with a verbal or unspoken 'thank you' rather than applause, to show it is work in progress rather than performance.

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Teachers’ File

Technology tips

CD players or tape recorders A good CD or tape player is an invaluable asset in teaching drama. Music can underscore relaxation exercises, and provide springboards for warm-ups and improvisations. Music is particularly helpful for drama which explores emotions.

Cameras, video and still Class drama work is ephemeral by nature. Recording it in still or moving images gives students a visual tangible record and helps them reflect on their drama work. A video camera gives students instant feedback. Students love seeing themselves on video, and viewing themselves as an audience member gives them a point of view they can get no other way. Be prepared, however, to encourage and support students if they don't like what the camera records. Older students can learn to videotape their peers' presentations. A digital still camera will minimise mistakes and enable classes to put the images directly on computers. With conventional cameras, use high-speed film to record inside. Don't forget to record the processes of creation, discussion and rehearsal as well as any performances.

Television Videos and DVDs of films and television programs are vital tools to expand students' experience of drama in different contexts. They enable students to see a wide range of performers, performances and styles, and to experience drama from different cultures. They can also encourage students to perceive the wide range of current forms of drama, from video music clips to cartoons, commercial advertisements to films. Include students' own work in your library of videos or CDs.

Tape recorders can also be used to record student discussion to document the process that is happening.

Computer software and the Internet Students can use a range of computer programs to provide easily reproducible artwork for posters and programmes and scan in photos for drama reports. Check with promoters if they will give your school their computer programs or CD-ROMS, for a trial period. Students can also use the Internet as a research tool to find out about drama in different cultures and times, to explore current music clips and the background of actors, films and shows of all sorts, and to share opinions of films and television programs. Many television shows, film characters, animation studios and products also have sites where children can play interactive games using characters, thus expanding their experience of drama in quite a different direction. These sites and games can be used to prompt student discussion of the differences between the characters in animated and live movie versions of the same story, and in computer games; and so begin to refine their experience of different dramatic forms.

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Teachers’ File

Assessment Assessment of drama is tricky, because drama takes place in real time and so vanishes, but also because the process of creating drama is as important as the final end product. Our responses to drama are always subjective, so assessment needs to be based on clear evidence.

liked. Every response must be acknowledged as valid, but older students especially need to be encouraged to formulate their reactions and find reasons for them. To build students' drama vocabulary, discuss how the elements and techniques of drama are used and refine their responses.

Teachers can use a variety of techniques to assess drama. These include videotaping discussions and presentations, and asking students to keep work diaries or journals.

Expose students to a wide variety of performances for different purposes and in different cultures and times, from informal situations such as their own class drama work to live plays, film and television drama. Acknowledge the dramatic elements in everyday events, life stories and special events such as festivals.

To assist your assessment process and obtain feedback from your students, carefully model constructive criticism by prompting students to speak first about what they

Parental involvement Encourage parents to be involved with their child's drama experiences in a wide variety of ways. Parents who recognise the drama in everyday events, and tell stories from their own lives and cultural backgrounds, give children a rich dramatic heritage to draw on. A wonderful home prompt for dramatic play is the dress-up box, with cloth to knot or drape into everything from wings to cloaks, and old clothes, hats, jewellery and shoes. Parents can also encourage children to use music to prompt dramatic play, dancing and movement. Some children may prefer privacy for these explorations; others may like an audience — and parents are usually wonderfully enthusiastic audience members. Hand, string and finger puppets make inexpensive gifts which promote dramatic play, and puppet theatres are easy to create behind sofas or between chairs. Encourage parents and children to experiment with home performance spaces. They can use sheets or

cloth to mask areas inside or exploit the dramatic resources of their own homes such as doorways, stairs, balconies or woolsheds. They can find performance spaces outside too, from cloth hung over a clothesline to areas in gardens and parks. Remind parents also to share the wide world of dramatic performances with their children. This may range from lavish staged musicals, through to plays and puppet shows designed specifically for children, to films and concerts. It is worth remembering a wide variety of dramatic events are free, especially at fairs, fetes, festivals and cultural gatherings. When parents discuss these performances with their children they should respect their children's opinions. Finally, many parents are often only too happy to help if their child is taking part in a dramatic performance. They may be able to contribute time, expertise or materials for costumes, props, make-up, sets and so on.

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Quick Starts

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Our Wonderful Trip

Hug Tag

) p game ( Warm-u 'in'. This t. ent to be d tu s e n er studen Choose o t try to tag anoth ht g u us ing ca student m way to avoid gett or touch g nly But the o coming 'it' is to hu ne. But e b re s s a fi and thu roup hug r the tagger G . e ls e e e someon gs togeth y don't roup clin e g th a if n , e d h n w split' a ,3 ,2 '1 ll caught. may ca ls may be e' each other. a u id iv d part, in ts to 'sav e studen Encourag ourite! A big fav

Open Your Eyes ( Sense work: sight ) When students are still lying on their backs after a relaxation exercise, ask them to send their eyes wandering around the space as if seeing it for the first time, then focus on one object to explore with their eyes. Prompt them to examine its shape, size, colour, weight, and other details. Now stretch and then sit up slowly to describe the object to a partner who must guess what it is.

( Improvisation ) Show another class the great excursion your class has just enjoyed. Decide who will play the roles of teachers, people or animals the class interacted with, bus driver or train driver, parents who came, and students. Have students show how they got to their destination, what happened, and how they got home. Include any funny or dramatic incidents or what the food was like. Use minimal, inventive props such as chairs and cloth.

Back To Our Space ( Grounding ) After a warm-up and relaxation exercise, leave students lying on their backs and bring them back to an awareness of their own body in the physical drama space. Ask them to sense their points of contact with the floor: back, heels, arms, fingers and back of head. Then let them move slowly to contact the floor with other parts of their body, and find an interesting way to sit up slowly.

ld i u B s ' t Le

of a e name th ) y k r a o S w g their roups. ( Group small g e to build usin Useful in k r o r it. a ts w at they ly build r, a Studen th te t ia c d je e b m xo a ca im comple groups use, a bridge, other ll a d n a o w the bodies, ns include a h view ho t and n o e ti s th e n g c a sug group c the same obje h c a E t. d boa eate have cr nces. groups on the differe t n comme

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It!


Cat and Mou se game ) le, in a circ s ( Group d n ta s y ent pla dents to Ask stu nds. One stud other ha ; an linking e circle t must th e id ts a u a cat o inside it. The c d the e an s , u e o s u am mo e th try to h tc le must ring c ir try to ca c e in th lowe students y raising and e b th it protect d hands to let e cat e th k their lin rough or keep aught th use is c e o mouse m e en th plac out. Wh exhausted, re t . a ts c tuden or the other s h it w them

Finger Puppets ( Voice puppets ) Let students use washable felt-tip pens to draw eyes and mouths on their index fingers and make two characters who can have a conversation. Encourage students to develop different voices for each character, and resolve the scene. A whole hand of finger puppets can become a group. The fingers of a whole class can become a crowd!

Hello ( Characterisation ) Ask students to work in pairs. They must decide on a situation in which two people are meeting each other. It might be parent and child meeting after time apart, greeting a new member of the family for the first time, doctor and patient, soccer star and fan. Show how the two meet, and then leave the drama space together.

...and Goodbye ( Characterisation )

Beware the Plague ( Warm-up ) Ask students to walk around the space, exploring it freely. Move high and low, fast and slow, forward and backwards. But don't touch anyone else — you might catch the plague and die a horrible death! Any student who touches another can have fun dying dramatically. Then ask students to freeze. Now halve the space they are allowed to use. Keep halving the space to increase the challenge of sharing the space without touching.

Now for farewells. Pairs decide who is saying goodbye, where, when and why. They might be going off to work, an airport farewell, the end of a party, the end of the school year. Encourage students to think of where the farewell takes place, and how the characters feel in the situation. They should create a scene long enough to make this apparent.

quick starts © Blake Education 978 1 86509 027 6


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Treasure Chest ( Motivation ) Create a reward system, for excellent behaviour or outstanding work, as a powerful control mechanism. Find an enticing box like a pirate's treasure chest, stock it with quirky small gifts (wrapped) — and lock it. Special pencils, stickers, spinning tops, foil masks are all available very cheaply. When each student reaches a certain number of stars on a chart they may choose a mystery gift from the treasure chest. Make sure every student achieves a gift by the end of term.

Where Have I Come From? ( Improvisation ) Ask each student to enter the acting area in turn, performing an action that shows where they have come from. For instance, if they have been in a swimming hole or pool, they might shiver and rub themselves dry, hopping from foot to foot. The rest of the class should try to guess where they have come from.

The Ceremony

( Creating )

Ask students how their family celebrates important po ints in their lives, such as the ends and beginnings of years, birthdays, gre eting people who join the family and saying farewell to those who leave. De scribe one of these ceremonies in de tail. Talk about what elements of drama they see in it such as costume, music , participation by the audience, assessi ng the ceremony as a piece of theatre. Can students recreate it to sh ow what happened?

Animal Movement

Newcomers

( Movement )

( Improvisation ) Ask students for stories of what it was like for them or their parents arriving in Australia. What were their first impressions? For non-migrant students, ask what it was like starting a new school. Discuss what it feels like to be a newcomer. Now ask students to imagine being an Aborigine watching Europeans arrive. Show a meeting. Take several of these stories and bring them to life.

Let students explore the way animals move: first, familiar pet animals such as cats and dogs, then farm animals like horses, sheep and ducks. Continue with wild animals, both native and exotic: suggest crocodiles, camels, mice, lions, owls. Then create a zoo, an ark or a national park, and populate it with animals and the humans who would interact with them, like rangers, tourists, hunters or zookeepers.

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hj The Class Machine ( Movement ) Ask one student to repeat a rhythmic movement such as swinging one arm, and then add a sound to it. Once this is established, another student must find a way to add to it, using another movement and sound. Students attach themselves one by one to create an amazing machine. Emphasize the need to use different levels and sounds, and to relate to the parts of the machine already working.

Make Me Laugh ( Focus ) Ask students to sit in pairs. One must try to stay poker-faced, while the other tries any odd faces and gestures to make their partner laugh. No touching is allowed. Now have them swap roles. If any students are very good at resisting, more than one person can help try to make them laugh. An excellent focus and control exercise.

's n i a t p Ca g! n i m o C ame )

are -up g students on is , ip h s ( Warm ace is a w an instructi left ama sp the follo Your dr erson to de 'port' (run to 'bow' p t s a L ack), crew. s inclu 'stern' (b the mmand n out. Co rboard' (right), o ' (climb s to ta side), 's mb the rigging ll to your knee 's li a (f 'c ta ' , s p t) a in eck (fron alute), 'c ya), b the d (s u r ' c g s in ' , an com spot) gling ny e), 'man ptain's g a a 'c w ), , b e nos scru m ey ands to splat fro motion). gone' (h ook up, wipe w e in slo ' (l 'seagull ' (dive over sid ard overbo

Bring It To Life

Concentration

( Scriptwork )

( Focus ) Sit in a circle and begin a clear rhythm that the whole class can join, such as clap hands, slap knees, click right fingers, click left fingers. Once the rhythm is established, call out two names to the rhythm: your own, and the name of someone else in the group. Without breaking rhythm, the person whose name you called must first say their own name and then the name of someone else whose turn will be next.

Take a written text that you are using with the class. Find a climactic scene or one that is written largely in dialogue. Write out the dialogue. Cast it with the class and bring it to life. Don't forget that students can make themselves into objects such as furniture or landscape to be part of the scene.

quick starts © Blake Education 978 1 86509 027 6


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Take Your Own Time

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1. Worksheet

CREATING: CHARACTERS

Name:

Hats!

Make a hat using newspapers and sticky tape: it can be practical or silly, huge or tiny. Create a character to go with your hat. Think about how your characters might form into groups. To help you, list six words that describe your character. Work in your groups to create a story. Show your story to your class. Notes about your character (include your list of six words).

National Outcome 3.7 Explores and uses several drama elements and uses specific skills, techniques and processes such as improvising and role-playing. Uses simple costume elements to build characters and create an improvisation © BLAKE PUBLISHING READY-TO-GO DRAMA—MIDDLE PRIMARY © Blake Education 978 1 86509 027 6


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2. Worksheet


Name:

Surprise Birthday Party! Your class is going to throw a surprise birthday party. The guests will be the main characters from a written text you are studying. Decide which character you will play. Now meet and mingle with the other party guests. Have fun! To plan your party consider the information below: Text

Author

Who will attend the party?

Describe your character

Describe the party scene. Who is the party for and where will the party be held?

National Outcome 3.6 Explores ideas and feelings through drama. Takes characters from written text as a stimulus for improvisation

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© BLAKE PUBLISHING READY-TO-GO DRAMA—MIDDLE PRIMARY


3. Worksheet


Name:

Clean Up Australia Your class is helping clean up a local park as part of National 'Clean Up Australia Day'. Some parents don't want their children to take part. Select different roles: parents, children, teacher Show what happens either at home before school, or at school, or at the park. Either write the note from the parent who doesn’t want their child to take part or design a notice to tell people what is happening in the park.

National Outcome 3.8 Plans and presents drama for a particular audience or purpose. Explores different points of view in a group improvisation © BLAKE PUBLISHING READY-TO-GO DRAMA—MIDDLE PRIMARY



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4. Worksheet

CREATING: IMPROVISATION

Name:

My Teacher is from Outer Space Imagine your teacher is from outer space and doesn't know anything about Planet Earth. Through role-play you need to explain to them about your planet. Try explaining day and night, seasons, the weather, food, shelter, dangers etc. Make notes for a Survival Manual for other visitors from outer space.

Survival Manual Planet:

Weather:

Length of day:

Food:

Suns and moons:

Shelter:

Seasons:

Dangers:

National Outcome 3.6 Explores ideas and feelings through drama. Uses role-play and imagination to explore familiar concepts

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© BLAKE PUBLISHING READY-TO-GO DRAMA—MIDDLE PRIMARY


5. Worksheet


Name:

Seeds

How are seeds spread? Choose a type of seed and show your class the plant’s life cycle. To warm up imagine you are: • a dandelion clock which is blown away • a burr that clings to an animal's legs • a huge coconut, ready to drop. Drop off and bounce, roll into the sea and float away. Reach land again, send down a root, send up a shoot, grow tall, wave in the breeze, develop coconuts and — thump! A coconut falls again . . . Draw the life cycle of your plant with labels describing how you moved. Think of words like light/heavy, fast/slow, high/low.

National Outcome 3.6 Explores ideas and feelings through drama. Imaginatively recreates the life cycle of plants © BLAKE PUBLISHING READY-TO-GO DRAMA—MIDDLE PRIMARY © Blake Education 978 1 86509 027 6


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6. Worksheet

CREATING:IMPROVISATION

Name:

Disaster! As a small group, create an exciting place like a mountain or cave using simple props you can find easily.

THERE IS A DISASTER! Decide what roles you will play and show your class what happens. Plan your story here. 1. ORIENTATION: Who? Where? When? Why?

2. COMPLICATION: What happens?

3. COMPLICATION: What happens next?

4. RESOLUTION: How does it finish?

National Outcome 3.7 Explores and uses several drama elements and uses specific skills, techniques and processes such as improvising and role-playing. Uses simple props to improvise a setting and create a story

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© BLAKE PUBLISHING READY-TO-GO DRAMA—MIDDLE PRIMARY Ready-to-Go - Drama - Middle Primary

7. Worksheet


Name:

Our Local History 1. Within small groups, look at early paintings or photos of your local area. 2. Now bring the painting or photo to life by showing what happened before the photo was taken. 3. Glue a photocopy of the painting or photo below. OR: 1. Find out about an interesting event that happened in your district or school a long while ago. 2. Recreate the story. 3. Sketch a scene from your role-play below.

To help you create your scene make a list of how things have changed (clothes, trees, buildings).

National Outcome 3.6 Explores ideas and feelings through drama. Uses local paintings, photos or stories to stimulate improvisation © BLAKE PUBLISHING READY-TO-GO DRAMA—MIDDLE PRIMARY © Blake Education 978 1 86509 027 6


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8. Worksheet

SKILLS: MOVEMENT

Name:

Dancing Feet Pose as a frozen statue. When the music begins wake up your feet, then your legs, arms, body and head. Let your whole body move to the beat.

Freeze in a new position when the music stops. When the music starts again bring that pose alive too. Sketch your favourite statue position and describe how your body moved.

My favourite statue pose

How did your body feel as you danced? Did you like moving to fast or slow music? Did you move in wriggly or smooth ways? National Outcome 3.7 Explores and uses several drama elements and uses specific skills, techniques and processes such as improvising and role-playing. Explores movement to music

24 © Blake Education 978 1 86509 027 6


9. Worksheet

SKILLS: MIME

Name:

Pass the Parcel 1. Sit in a circle. 2. Pick up an imaginary object and show what it is without using words. 3. Now give it carefully to the person next to you. 4. They must change it into something else and pass that on. Make sure everyone knows what you are holding — without speaking! Write down a description of three objects that were made, without naming them. Give them to a classmate to guess what they were. Were they right? Were you right?

1. 2. 3. National Outcome 3.8 Plans and presents drama for a particular audience or purpose. Creates an imaginary object and communicates what it is to others © BLAKE PUBLISHING READY-TO-GO DRAMA—MIDDLE PRIMARY © Blake Education 978 1 86509 027 6


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10. Worksheet

SKILLS: VOICE

Name:

The Breath of Life

1. Take a deep breath and feel how your lungs work. 2. Practise breathing in deeply, right from your toes, and out through your fingertips. 3. Imagine using your breath to: • blow up a balloon • blow out birthday candles • dry the washing • move a yacht. 4. Then standing up, become the balloon, the washing, the yacht: and stop! 5. How are you breathing now? 6. Find an old photo of yourself to glue in here. Label it showing where your lungs, windpipe, teeth, tongue, lips and throat are.

National Outcome 3.7: Explores and uses several drama elements and uses specific skills, techniques and processes such as improvising and role-playing. Explores the use of breath physically and imaginatively

26 © Blake Education 978 1 86509 027 6


11. Worksheet

SKILLS: VOICE

Name:

Beg Pardon? 1. As a class, choose your favourite line from a play or a tongue-twister like 'a good cricket critic'. 2. Stand in two lines facing each other. 3. Line A says the line or tongue-twister. 4. Line B asks 'Beg pardon?'

5. Start to walk backwards slowly until you can't hear your partner. 6. Then walk back to each other, still speaking in turn. 7. Now swap roles. 8. Write down your line, and then three tips to help people project their voices further, for example “take a deep breath”.

My line: My tips: 1.

2.

3.

National Outcome 3.7 Explores and uses several drama elements and uses specific skills, techniques and processes such as improvising and role-playing. Uses voice to increase projection and focus © BLAKE PUBLISHING READY-TO-GO DRAMA—MIDDLE PRIMARY © Blake Education 978 1 86509 027 6


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12. Worksheet

SKILLS: DESIGN

Name:

Design a Poster Design a poster to display around your school promoting one of your class performances. Make sure your poster will catch people's attention. Think about how to use colour, line and shape. Have fun!

Remember to include this information: o Name of show o Name of author o Presented by whom o Presented for whom o Where it is on o When (day, date, year, time) o How much it costs.

National Outcome 3.8 Plans and presents drama for a particular audience or purpose. Designs a poster to gain the attention of potential audience

28 © Blake Education 978 1 86509 027 6


13. Worksheet

ELEMENTS: FOCUS

Name:

Who’s the Boss? In small groups choose a situation where one person is in control—maybe they are a team captain or a teacher.

Make a frozen stage picture showing who is the leader and why. Now find a reason for someone else to become the leader.

Play the scene ending with another frozen picture showing the new leader. Sketch one of the two scenes below.

How did the staging make it clear who the leader was?

National Outcome 3.7 Explores and uses several drama elements and uses specific skills, techniques and processes such as improvising and role-playing. Explores elements which contribute to audience focus and perception © BLAKE PUBLISHING READY-TO-GO DRAMA—MIDDLE PRIMARY © Blake Education 978 1 86509 027 6


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14. Worksheet

ELEMENTS: CLIMAX

Name:

Aboriginal Art Look at a reproduction of a recent Aboriginal painting, or photographs of Aboriginal rock paintings or carvings. Use the characters or events shown to make a story and act it out. Draw the climax of your story here. Use some of the art elements that inspired your story.

What dramatic elements make this the climax of your story?

National Outcome 3.6 Explores ideas and feelings through drama. Uses Aboriginal art as a springboard for improvisation; investigates dramatic tension

30 © Blake Education 978 1 86509 027 6


15. Worksheet

ELEMENTS: MOOD

Name:

How Did You Feel ? Think of a time when you felt really excited, or shy; triumphant, or lonely. Find a way to show that emotion to your class. You might choose to: • make a still picture using other people • act out what happened in mime • act it out with words and movement • use sounds or music. Using clipped or torn magazines and newspapers, find words, pictures or just colours to create a mood collage of your emotion.

National Outcome 3.6 Explores ideas and feelings through drama. Explores feelings through bodies and/or voices in a group © BLAKE PUBLISHING READY-TO-GO DRAMA—MIDDLE PRIMARY



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16. Worksheet

ELEMENTS: SYMBOLS

Name:

Our Place Decide on a place to show as a map: your home, school, local shopping area, park or playing area, country. Make your drama space into this map with your group. Use yourselves as all the important landmarks: cities, trees, doors, etc. Draw your map here, with a key showing who became what.

National Outcome 3.7: Explores and uses several drama elements and uses specific skills, techniques and processes such as improvising and role-playing. Imaginatively recreates a space using simple props

32 © Blake Education 978 1 86509 027 6


17. Worksheet

PRESENTING

Name:

Group Tangle 1. As a group, stand facing inwards, holding both hands out in front to make a big pile of hands. 2. With each hand, find another hand to hold. 3. Lift hands up to see who is holding whose hands. 4. Gently untangle the group without letting go of any hands. Respect everyone's needs and suggestions. Did the group untangle into one circle or two? 5. Create a word bank of words to describe how you felt during your tangle.

ed

t wis

t

stretched

tick

lish

National Outcome 3.8 Plans and presents drama for a particular audience or purpose. Works in a group, showing tolerance and a capacity for completing tasks © BLAKE PUBLISHING READY-TO-GO DRAMA—MIDDLE PRIMARY © Blake Education 978 1 86509 027 6


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18. Worksheet

PRESENTING

Name:

Readers’ Theatre Find or write a poem that expresses a clear feeling (joy, sadness, relaxation, amusement). Write the poem down here. Perform the poem with a group, using voices and movement.

National Outcome 3.6 Explores ideas and feelings through drama. Consciously uses voice and gesture to express feelings by bringing text to life

34 © Blake Education 978 1 86509 027 6


19. Worksheet

PRESENTING

Name:

Injured Animal! An animal has been hurt. Within small groups create a role-play. 1. Decide what animal it is. A pet? A wild animal?

4. Develop your story showing what happens.

2. Brainstorm ideas for how to deal with the situation.

5. Practise the story until your group is happy with it, and the words stay mostly the same. Write them down. Learn them.

3. Check your ideas with an adult. Choose the best way to help the animal.

6. Now show the class how to cope with this sort of emergency.

What happened?

National Outcome 3.8 Plans and presents drama for a particular audience or purpose. Creates and memorises a script for a particular purpose © BLAKE PUBLISHING READY-TO-GO DRAMA—MIDDLE PRIMARY © Blake Education 978 1 86509 027 6


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20. Worksheet

PRESENTING

Name:

No Bullying! Think of a situation where someone was being bullied. As a class discuss how the person coped. Develop this into a sketch to show to children beginning school. Plan what will happen using the boxes below. Remember who your audience is.

Who is being bullied? Who is bullyin g?

What is happening? (e.g. pushing or saying mean things, leaving someone out)

How does the person cope? (e.g. not reacting, staying near friends, telling an adult)

National Outcome 3.8 Plans and presents drama for a particular audience or purpose. Develops characters in an improvisation for a specific purpose, then polishes and presents it

36 © Blake Education 978 1 86509 027 6


21. Worksheet

RESPONDING

Name:

Fan Club Find out about an Australian actor or performer you like. Use performances you have seen, magazines and the Internet. Write a letter to them saying what you like about their work. Draft your letter here before you send the final version.

Dear

National Outcome 3.9 Responds to key features of drama. Shares their opinions about an actor’s work © BLAKE PUBLISHING READY-TO-GO DRAMA—MIDDLE PRIMARY © Blake Education 978 1 86509 027 6


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22. Worksheet

RESPONDING

Name:

Where Was the Show?

List two different spaces where you have seen drama. Consider these types of performances: O storytelling O special celebrations O plays O festivals O television O films. Performance 1

Performance 2

Where? Outside or inside? Who else was in the audience and how were you seated? Was there special sound or lighting?

What effect did the space have on the drama?

National Outcome 3.9 Responds to key features of drama. Identifies different performing spaces and their effects

38 © Blake Education 978 1 86509 027 6


23. Worksheet

RESPONDING

Name:

You're a Star! Use a still or video camera to record one of your drama improvisations. Play it back or look at the photos. Use the following checklist. What did you think of your performance? What worked well? Congratulate yourself. Could your performance be seen and heard and understood? What elements of drama might you work on to help improve the overall performance (e.g. costume, props, setting, music, mood)?

Try your performance again. National Outcome 3.9 Responds to key features of drama. Discusses and assesses their own recorded work © BLAKE PUBLISHING READY-TO-GO DRAMA—MIDDLE PRIMARY © Blake Education 978 1 86509 027 6


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24. Worksheet

CONTEXT

Name:

Real Life Drama Think of a ceremony you have attended, like a wedding or a school prize-giving. Describe the dramatic elements in this event.

Dramatic elements include: o costume o props o setting o music o mood.

My Ceremony

Dramatic Elements

National Outcome 3.10 Discusses drama from several cultures. Identifies dramatic elements in real-life ceremonies

40 © Blake Education 978 1 86509 027 6


25. Worksheet

CONTEXT

Name:

Costumes and Make-up Using your library or the Internet find out about the costumes and make-up of ONE of these theatre traditions:

o Carnivale, Rio de Janeiro o traditional indigenous Australian performance o commedia dell’arte, Italy o Kathakali, India

Draw or paste a picture of ONE costume or make-up design here. Label it and describe things like: what it is made of, what are its colours, and whether the colours mean anything special. National Outcome 3.10 Discusses drama from several cultures. Researches costumes and make-up from a particular theatre tradition © BLAKE PUBLISHING READY-TO-GO DRAMA—MIDDLE PRIMARY © Blake Education 978 1 86509 027 6


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26. Worksheet

CONTEXT

Name:

What's On? Find the entertainment section in your local or city newspaper. Look at each sort of performance in turn.

Live drama

Musicals

Films

Concerts

Newspaper

Special Events

Date

Choose two types of entertainment you would like to go to. Why did you choose these? My choice 1:

My choice 2:

Which was the best advertisement? Why?

National Outcome: 3.10 Discusses drama from several cultures. Finds out about a range of dramatic events in their own culture and responds to them

42 © Blake Education 978 1 86509 027 6


Circus

27. Worksheet

CONTEXT

Name:

Working in Drama What jobs are there in drama? Look at theatre programmes, websites of theatre companies, and advertisements in a newspaper’s entertainment or employment section to research what jobs there are in drama. List the occupations and find out what the people do. These may include actor, director, stage manager, designer, finance manager, publicist.

What do they do in this job?

Job title

National Outcome: 3.10 Discusses drama from several cultures. Finds out about occupations in the world of drama © BLAKE PUBLISHING READY-TO-GO DRAMA—MIDDLE PRIMARY © Blake Education 978 1 86509 027 6


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Step by Step

44 © Blake Education 978 1 86509 027 6


1.

Group Sculptures

TASK CARD

What to do: 1. As a small group decide on a mood or emotion that you want to explore to create a group sculpture. Hope? Despair? Anger? Joy? Peace? 2. Stand in a circle. Silence. Concentration.

What you need o a group of people

o concentration!

3. Now, without any signal, one person goes to the centre of the circle and takes a position showing this mood. Make sure it is an easy position to hold for a while. 4. When the first person is still, another person adds to the sculpture. Relate your pose to the first person, but vary your level or direction. 5. Keep on adding one person until everyone has become part of the sculpture. You may need to wait your turn. 6. Now each person can look around at the sculpture.

2.

TASK CARD

Silk Magic What to do:

1. Show how silk is made! Research this first. 2. Work in groups. Start as tiny silkworm eggs. 3. Hatch, eat mulberry leaves, grow.

What you need o imagination o lengths of cloth (optional)

4. Now your skin is too tight! Freeze. Crawl out of your old tight skin and feel the new loose skin. 5. Continue eating until you are huge. 6. Look for a good place to spin your cocoon for protection while you become a moth. 7. Now you can either: Change slowly from a caterpillar into a pupa chewing a hole in the cocoon to emerge as a moth. Or: You can have the silk spun off your cocoon by some humans to make a single long thread. Then the silkworm dies. 8. Humans can then weave the thread into cloth. © BLAKE PUBLISHING READY-TO-GO DRAMA—MIDDLE PRIMARY



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3.

Sock Puppets

What you need o an old odd sock

What to do:

o scissors

1. Put the hand you don't write with into the sock. Fingers in the toe area, thumb in the heel.

o felt-tip pen

2. Close your hand to make a mouth.

o two buttons o needle and thread OR two small rubber bands

o scrap of material for tongue (optional)

4.

TASK CARD

3. Mark on the sock where you want the eyes: probably near your knuckles. 4. Sew on the buttons to make eyes. Or just make eyes from two small pinches of sock bound with small rubber bands, and mark the pupils. 5. Mark a tongue with the felt-tip (or sew in a strip of material). 6. Perhaps add ears, hair etc. 7. Have fun getting to know your puppet. Name it. 8. Work with others to develop a short improvisation involving two or more puppets. Use different voices.

Make a Script

TASK CARD

What to do: 1. Find a Dreamtime story, folk or fairy tale to bring to life. Look for a gripping story, an exciting climax, vivid characters, humour, action and interesting staging. 2. Decide who your audience will be. Another class?

What you need o a Dreamtime story, folk or fairy tale

o computer or paper and pen

o video or tape-recorder

o patience

3. Break the story down into scenes. 4. Play through each scene. Tape the result if possible. 5. Write down the best dialogue, including actions. 6. Work on the script, keeping your audience in mind. 7. Decide who will play each character. Different people can play one character, or be objects at different times. 8. Learn the words. Think of the meaning as you say them each time. 9. Rehearse to make it as good as possible. 10.Perform it for the audience you have chosen.

46 © Blake Education 978 1 86509 027 6


5.

You're an Explorer!

TASK CARD

What to do: 1. In groups decide which early European exploring party in Australia to recreate. Will you map the coast with Flinders or become the first local explorer in your area?

What you need o research skills o props o minimal costumes

2. Find out what these explorers did. Who went? When? Where did they go? What did they take? Who went with them, including animals and convicts? What happened on the way? What happened in the end? 3. Research the country they went through. What animals did they meet and what were the reactions from Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander people? 4. Now turn the drama space into the country they went through. Use a few props, and your imagination. 5. Decide who will take which parts (including the animals). Go exploring! Perform this for another class.

6.

Make a Half Mask

TASK CARD

What to do:

What you need o cardboard o elastic o stapler o scissors o glue o coloured pencils or felt-tip pens

o decorations

1. Decide what your mask will look like. An animal, fantastic and beautiful? A person with a big nose? Make a rough sketch. 2. Cut out a mask shape that covers the top half of your face, so you can breathe and speak! 3. Hold the mask against your face. Carefully mark where you need the eye-holes with a pen. 4. Put the mask down. Cut out the eye-holes. 5. Decorate your mask with colour and anything else it needs. Feathers? Cloth? Glitter? Streamers? Whiskers? 6. Staple on a length of elastic to hold on your mask. 7. Use your mask. Watch how it works in a mirror. 8. Let your mask help you create a character. Use your character in a story.

o a mirror © BLAKE PUBLISHING READY-TO-GO DRAMA—MIDDLE PRIMARY © Blake Education 978 1 86509 027 6


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7.

Same Story - Different Versions

TASK CARD

What to do:

What you need o video or DVD machine

o videos o or a story-teller (one of you?)

o or a live performance (yours?)

o big sheet of paper

o felt-tip pens

8.

1. Watch two versions of the same story. It might be two videos, one animated and one with live actors, or a story told by a story-teller and on video, or a live performance and a video. 2. Write the names of the two versions as headings across the sheet of paper. 3. Now write other headings down the side, such as: type of performance, story-line, big ideas, characters, symbols, climax, sets, costumes, props, audience space. 4. Talk about the first version. Write what you noticed or how you felt under each heading. 5. Then do the same for the second version. 6. Now decide which version you liked best. Which version was liked by more people in your class? Why? Do some people like both?

Vote For Me

What you need o As a class group decide who will be your candidates (at least 2) for election to your local council.

o paper o cardboard o felt-tip pens etc o a cardboard box o videotape recorder (optional)

TASK CARD

What to do: 1. Divide into groups of supporters. Decide what candidates will do on council if they win. Put in cycleways? Support sports' facilities? Local theatre? 2. Now decide how to encourage people to vote for your candidate. Posters? Personal letters? Talking to individuals? 3. Each candidate or a supporter must give a twominute talk about what they will do.Then prepare brief speeches, a victory speech and another speech in case they are not elected. 4. Prepare ballot papers with the names of the candidates. Decide how many can be elected. 5. Prepare an 'electoral roll' from the class roll. 6. Vote for the candidates. 7. Count the votes, with proper scrutineers. Celebrate!

48 © Blake Education 978 1 86509 027 6


middle primary The Ready-to-Go Series has been designed to help teachers painlessly incorporate important perspectives into their teaching program. Each Ready-to-Go book includes the following sections: Teachers’ File Ideas for classroom organisation as well as background notes, technology tips, assessment ideas, and suggestions for parent involvement Quick Starts Fun and stimulating activities, games and ideas requiring little or no preparation time

Drama is a powerful way of exploring the world. The activities in Ready-toGo Drama open this world up to you and your students. By engaging many of their thought processes—logical, conceptual, symbolic and analytical—your students will unleash their creativity. Drama benefits students at all academic levels by boosting self-esteem and confidence. Ready-to-Go Drama activities highlight all three levels of student interaction with drama—they will create drama, respond to drama, and analyse drama within many contexts. The inspiration you gain from teaching these activities will complement your teaching across all Key Learning Areas whether you dip into the activities or move through them sequentially.

Take Your Own Time Over 25 worksheets which can be used in any sequence, or adapted to suit individual students or classes Step by Step Task cards written for students, including group and individual activities.

Other titles in this series Ready-to-Go Art Ready-to-Go Behaviour Management Ready-to-Go Celebrations Ready-to-Go Civics and Citizenship Ready-to-Go Music Ready-to-Go Science Experiments Ready-to-Go Self-Esteem Ready-to-Go Speaking and Listening Ready-to-Go Thinking Skills

LOOK OUT FOR MORE NEW TITLES COMING SOON! ISBN 1-86509-027-1

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