Creative dramatics

Resources for You and Your Teacher!

 

Creative dramatics is not limited to staged, formal plays. You can gain so much more from your regular school subjects if you make learning come alive using creative dramatics! We all have different ways in which we learn. By actually "doing" what it is we are to learn, we retain more information about that particular subject. You learn to listen more carefully and communicate with others in a more confident way. Plus, it's a lot more fun! We have some suggestions for you to liven up your subjects and share with your teacher.

Skills you acquire using creative dramatics:

1. problem solving
2. analyzing
3. creative thinking
4. planning
5. organizing
6. empathy
7. self-confidence
8. communication
9. listening
10. reading

    Techniques include:

Pantomime walks-acting out situations in your own self-space (without touching others).

Chain pantomimes-one person begins and the next move is passed on to next person.

Coached pantomime-you or your teacher reads a scenario(situation) and students react.

Story dramas-whole stories or parts of stories are acted out.

Role playing-you share information about famous people or events by acting them out rather than just by writing a report or reading about them.

Games-simple activities based on some form of creative dramatics. (see more games)

 

Primary Ideas:

Here are a few of our ideas, now that we have you going, you can think of some of your own!

Science

Dramatize the stages of growth of a plant beginning by being a seed being planted. Describe the stages and a slowly you can become a plant. (Coached pantomime)

Before you visit the zoo, go on an animal walk. Create a story about animals usually found in the zoo, moving in their natural surroundings. Talk about how the animals move, what their habitat is like, share simple tasks, describe what they see. Switch animals every so often. Before you switch to another animal one good technique to use is to say the word, "Freeze!". (Coached pantomime)

To learn about the types of simple machines, try acting them out. You can divide into small groups or do this by yourself. Place strips of paper with the description of a simple machine written on the paper. It is up to the you to show how your machine works and have the others guess. (Game)

To learn about compound machines you can create a class machine. Each of you has a special job that makes another part of the machine move. You have to decide what you machine is going to make first (Ex. ice cream) and then you decide, as a group, all the parts of the machine and what each part will do. Create a movement for your part and a simple sound. Have your teacher start the machine and then have the "machine" move to a variety of beats from very slow to fast. This is very fun! (Chain pantomime)

Show the order of the planets by being one. (Pantomime)

Language Arts

Poetry is perfect outlet for creative dramatics. Good poetry has many descriptive words that give you clues about how you could be moving. You can also write poetry of your own. once you act out a poem, you will realize how important good descriptive words are in creative writing. Your teacher can read a poem while you act out the poem in your self space. Perhaps your poem is about a snowman in winter. You create yourself, move around like a snowman, out comes the sun and you slowly melt! (Coached pantomime)

One good way to learn about "point of view" is to try it out! Think of the story of the Three Little Pigs. You could act out the story from the point of view of the pigs and then the wolf. You could do the same with Hansel and Gretel. The point of view of the children vs. the witch. (Story drama)

Reading/Math

Acting out a sequence is a perfect time to some creative dramatics. Place parts of a story or math story problem on strips of paper. Hand out the strips of paper for each activity. Get together and decide who acts out what is on the strip first. Present your actions and see if the audience thinks you placed everything in the right sequence. (Game)

Social Studies

This is a great area for role-playing. You can take any event or famous person such as George Washington and become that person. You will have to research the background information then present you creative drama to the group. Learning is more fun this way! (Role play)

 

Intermediate Ideas:

Here are a few of our ideas, now that we have you going, you can think of some of your own!

Science

Robotics is a great topic for creative dramatics. You can learn about how a robot moves and then create one of your own. You will have to act out the movements of the robot and others will guess what your robot does. Does your robot work for NASA, is it a medical robot, etc? (Game)

Oceanography is a great time to go on a virtual journey into the depths of the ocean. Try to follow along with you or your teacher being a guide for the under water journey. You will act out the creatures and learn about the pollution in the waters and react. (Coached pantomime)

Learn about the structure of an atom. Learn how the brain works. Demonstrate to others by acting out how these things move and work. (Pantomime)

English

Place the parts of a sentence on slips of paper and then you can draw a slip of paper. You become the word and see if you can place all the parts in the correct place. (Game)

Idioms are great for creative dramatics. Place several idioms on slips of paper. Draw one out of a box and act out your idiom. See if your audience can guess what you are. (Game)

Learning how to write sentences that are spoken can be confusing at first. To learn where to put the quotation marks and commas, you can write some dialogue on slips of paper. You and and a partner could read the lines slowly while others try to write the dialogue correctly. (Game)

Language Arts/Reading

You could write your own pantomimed/spoken skit. Get a group of friends to perform your skit. (Story drama)

You could take a story that is already written, perhaps a mystery. Divide the story into scenes. Choose who will play the characters. You will have to give your characters some action and lines. Place each scene in different sections of the room. When you and your friends are ready, you could go around the room and each section could present their part of the story. (Story drama)

Social Studies

This is a great area for some wonderful role playing. You can role play events and famous people. Just pick the topic! Do the research. Get into your role and present it to an audience. You will have fun and learn, and your audience will learn more and be entertained, too. Think of the events in the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, the Spanish American War, and others. Famous characters in American history such as Buffalo Bill Cody, Daniel Boone, and many more. (Role play)

 

You can videotape your presentations while you perform them live. It is fun to see yourself and you can also see the things you did wonderfully and the places where you could improve. If you don't have a video camera, you could use a tape recorder to hear how you sound (that is if you are not doing pantomime)!