Drama in the classroom can help students build confidence and learn how to act with their imagination. Drama can help students explore the world of emotions and develop problem solving skills. Students learn how to read a script and pretend to act as a certain character. They are also able to write their own plays and see them come to life as they are acted out. Using drama in the classroom helps the students understand the themes of the lessons as they participate in these fun activities. This is a great way for students to be excited to write, use their imagination, and then be able to organize their stories in a way where they can be performed.
When I was in elementary school I was I able to attend a program called Academic Enrichment, although we always called is AE. This was a pull out class that dealt primarily with drama,writing stories, and performing. As a child I thought this was extremely cool and I think it helped me think outside of the box. I am not scared to use my imagination. In my students, I see that many do not understand the concept of imaginative play. They only talk or write about true things, if I try to prompt them to use their imaginations, they look at me like I am crazy! I feel that drama in the classroom is extremely important because it helps the students relax into writing and gently eases them into using their imaginations.
A study that I found that discussed the importance of drama in the classroom:
Wee, S. (2009). A case study of drama education curriculum for young children in early childhood programs. Journal of Research in Childhood Education, 23(4), 489-501. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.
Amanda Wright states, " I do believe that imagination is a powerful tool and an excellent tool in building language and literacy among students. The reason is if you read a story to a class of thirty-six students, you are going to have thirty- six different pictures to that story because they all visualized different things". This is a great quote because it explores how the students all learn different and how they take the same stimuli and apply it to themselves differently. Very interesting!
ReplyDeleteLindsy Hughes relates an experience: "At school last week, we had an amazing assembly on the writing process. It included developing details, deciding on a genre, and editing through dramatic role playing". While reading of her experience, I realized I failed to mention a great resource for schools! Look up the IMAGINATION MACHINE. They are a little company that will come to your school and act out certain pieces of writing. They are hilarious! The students get really excited to see their writing come to life. This year they will be at my site while I am on maternity leave, however that will be a day I visit, because I don't want to miss them!