Interpreting Literature Through Drama and Play Lesson Plan PDF

INTERPRETING LITERATURE THROUGH DRAMA AND PLAY  INTRODUCTION  Using drama as a teaching tool promotes the interests of students in literacy. It is based on the premise that an involved child, and an interested child will learn. Drama, in this case, directly involves the child, so it is valua...

INTERPRETING LITERATURE THROUGH DRAMA AND PLAY  INTRODUCTION  Using drama as a teaching tool promotes the interests of students in literacy. It is based on the premise that an involved child, and an interested child will learn. Drama, in this case, directly involves the child, so it is valuable tool in literacy development (Mc Master, 1998).  It compasses the four modalities of language arts: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Children who are challenged in writing and reading would most likely respond positively to the imaginative and multisensory learning offered by drama. INTRODUCTION  Since drama is a natural part of children’s lives, this art form can encourage students to learn interactively and actively as encourages students to understand and express various points of view.  Students also develop soft skills like creativity, communication, inquiry, self-confidence, empathy, cooperation, leadership, and negotiation (Farmer, 2011).  So, when it comes to developing literacy, incorporating drama in the curriculum and class dynamic will enrich the learning process.  According to Literary Devices (2017), the drama is a mode of fictional representation through dialogue and performance. 'A drama is composed in verse or prose that presents a story either in pantomime or dialogue.“  The use of drama in the classroom: Connects to Reading, Enhances Communication, Inclusive Learning, Social & Active Learning, Promotes Critical Thinking, Integrates Communication & Literacy.  Facilitating dramatic experiences that are based on literature is vital because acting out stories motivate students to process and share information. Story dramatization introduces children to the writing process that allows them to creatively express their ideas and feelings, as well as develop their social skills (Rieg & Paquette, 2009).  Since drama combines action and activity, the brain is able to retain and learn information easily. There are various teaching strategies in drama that teachers can employ depending on the lesson objectives. This lesson discusses two categories of educational drama— Text- Centered Drama and Text-Edged Drama.  According to Wolf (2004), Text-centered drama can take many forms, but its primary virtue is the text. This means interpreting the words on the page is the driving force. One famous type of Text-Centered Drama is Readers Theater. It develops reading fluency because it involves children reading parts in scripts.  As a teacher, it is important to be sensitive to the capabilities and reading levels of the students to be able to assign proper reading parts to the students carefully. Readers yes there is a strategy that combines reading practice and performing. It enhances the child’s reading skills and confidence because they practice reading with expression and with a purpose (Bafile, 2003).  Another form of Text-Centered Drama is Puppetry. Puppets are movable dolls that a puppeteer manipulates. The body movements provide visual impressions that convey emotions and thoughts through movement. These can be used to teach an array of topics in the classroom. For primary students, puppets develop oral and language skills. Once a puppet speaks, the children listen.  They also identify and understand different words and phrases. For shy students, puppetry is recommended because speaking through a puppet shifts the audience’s attention away from the students, which will then make them more confident with speaking in public (Belfiore, 2013).  The other category of educational drama is Text-Edged Drama, which emphasizes a dialogic approach to drama (Wolf, 2004). Children start with a text whether from a book, play, picture, object, or film clip-and then explore it. Rather than simply performing it, students elaborate upon it.  They begin to think carefully about the context of the text and how this reflects various roles and people's social standing. This means that there is an emphasis on connecting one's self and seeing things from new perspectives. Groups may be assigned a certain scene or idea, and no learner is responsible for one particular role or character. This is because exploration is everyone's responsibility.  Text-Edged Drama has a "Teacher-In-Role" feature, which is the practice of teacher structuring within the drama by participating in fictional encounters with their students (Heathcote, 1995). This means teachers participate side-by-side with students. Note, however, that the teachers are not domineering.  Another feature of Text-Edged Drama is critical space. Critical space allow children and their teachers to live in the life of the drama and then step out into real life by critiquing it (Wolf, 2004).  Put simply, the feature focuses on critical evaluation of the dramatic exercise, questions that the teacher can raise this important part of the process can be as simple as asking” What do you think of the dance of the main characters?” or it can also be something like, “Could you feel the pain of the antagonist on the performance? “  These types of critiquing questions create deeper connection to the text among students, making learning more meaningful. As children develop new perspectives through drama, they explore creative ways to express themselves, whether in writing, speaking, listening, and reading. THANK YOU!!