Drama

Teacher Resource

Drama Teacher

The teacher page is used to complement the student page.

Introduction

Welcome to Drama. Drama involves using dramatic elements and conventions to express ideas, considering particular audiences and particular purposes, through dramatic action based on real or imagined events (ACARA, 2017).

Elements of drama are:

tension
role
character
relationships
situation
place and space
time
symbol

In this unit, students will make and respond to drama by exploring:

the nature and contribution made by different groups and individuals in the community;
how and why do people choose to remember significant events of the past.

Students will work through the two sections as recommended by the Australian Curriculum.

Content descriptions in each arts subject reflect the interrelated strands of making and responding.

making includes learning about and using knowledge, skills, techniques, processes, materials and technologies to explore arts practices and make artworks that communicate ideas and intentions.
responding includes exploring, responding to, analysing and interpreting artworks.

By the end of this unit students:

Role can be established using movement, voice, performance space, cues and turn-taking, for example, pretending to be someone else within a given or original story.
Purpose and context are used to shape roles, language, place and space to express ideas, for example, pretending to be a ringmaster within a circus scene.
Dramatic action is structured by being in role and building story dramas, for example, ‘Where the Wild Things Are’ by Maurice Sendak.

Assessable Elements

Students demonstrate evidence of their learning over time in relation to the following assessable elements:

Knowledge and understanding

Creating

Presenting

Responding

Reflecting

Assessment

A variety of assessment may be used, including forming and presenting (formative and summative task).

Summative tasks:

Student Booklet completed with scene description and character profile.

Students perform in role. Australian Curriculum - The Arts: Drama Year 3 and 4, portfolio samples.

Collection of work

Students will have a portfolio with their collection of work.

Student Booklets

The student booklets contain worksheets. A copy of this booklet can be provided to each student to work through. Alternatively provide students worksheets as required. For the Classroom Circus two booklets have been created. One booklet is for students with additional needs.

Assessment Rubric

Year 3 Drama Standard Elaborations https://www.qcaa.qld.edu.au/downloads/p_10/ac_arts_drama_yr3-4_se.pdf

Students with Additional Needs

It is required that children will have multiple opportunities to achieve and consolidate the same age-cohort curriculum with reasonable adjustments to assist achievement.

The learning experiences within this unit can be differentiated by increasing the:

Duration needed to complete tasks and assessment
Adjustment to the group size for teaching

Differentiation of material for specific activities

Significant Artwork

Circus Oz is a celebration of diversity; a new form of circus that blends theatre, modern dance, popular culture and current social issues with traditional circus skills and acts. It is renowned for its vibrant energy, satire and slapstick humour, creating daring, jovial and socially aware live performances which explore themes ranging from equal opportunities and Aboriginal land rights to asylum seekers. Unlike traditional circuses, animal acts are not featured and members of the circus come from varied backgrounds, not necessarily from traditional circus families. Circus Oz travels extensively across Australia. The Circus concept was selected as it is a rich source for students to develop their drama skills. Students will present a celebratory event (Australia Day, Harmony Day, Chinese New Year) in the form of a Carnival. Circus Oz viewing on https://www.youtube.com/user/circusoz

This story is about a boy named Max who, after dressing in his wolf costume, wreaks such havoc through his household that he is sent to bed without his supper. Max’s bedroom undergoes a mysterious transformation into a jungle environment, and he winds up sailing to an island inhabited by malicious beasts known as the “Wild Things.” After successfully intimidating the creatures, Max is hailed as the king of the Wild Things and enjoys a playful romp with his subjects; however, smelling the food that his mother has delivered for him, he decides to return home. The Wild Things are dismayed. Children love this story and it was adapted into a film.

This was selected for students to devise, perform and respond to a drama based on storytelling. In the context of the ‘Melting Pot’ theme further extension activities for the dynamic role of families and the diversity in our roles and relationships.

Saltbush: Children’s Cheering Carpet https://www.outoftheboxfestival.com.au/event/OOTB_Saltbush_14.aspx

Saltbush is an exquisite interactive journey through the culture and landscape of Aboriginal Australia, celebrated through live dance, music, song, digital projections and stories. The performance follows the footsteps of two friends from different Aboriginal backgrounds as they cross Australia. Saltbush is part of ‘Out of the Box’ festival for children. The performance was selected for students to respond to dramatic traditions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander stories, culture and drama.

The Classroom Circus

Resources Year 3 Drama Booklet and Modified Drama Booklet for students with additional needs.

Drama Booklet - Classroom Circus

Modified Drama Booklet - Classroom Circus

Exploring – Knowledge and Understanding

Teacher reads a media release to the class that the circus is coming to town. It contains information about an event that the school is seeking to commission, and asks for expressions of interest for performers. Contained in the media release is information about the style of presentation and criteria to be used.

Media release to Year 3

The Harmony Day Circus is coming to town!

Roll up! Roll up! Every student is going to go to the circus. We need students in this class to learn skills to present a performance celebrating Harmony Day! This will be a classroom parade combined with circus theatre. Get your tickets now!

Investigate celebratory events, like Harmony Day, Australia Day or Chinese New Year and choose a topic of common interest to develop into a celebration (the theme selected for this resource is Harmony Day with circus theme). Activity 1 in Drama Booklet

Research carnival and parade events from various cultural and historical contexts. Look at videos, books and websites www.circusoz.com https://www.youtube.com/user/circusoz

Discuss the use of symbols in the parades. Discuss how the mood was established, changed and enhanced. Activity 2 in Drama Booklet

Use Edward De Bono’s ‘Six Thinking Hats’ when researching about performances and parades. This should answer questions about Harmony Day and the Harmony Day circus:

Questions

What is Harmony Day?

What nationalities are in our school and communities?

What performance styles and cultures are usually used in celebratory events and parades?

What protocols do we need to follow in consideration of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander members of our community?

White hat (the facts) — what, where, who, when etc?

Red hat (feelings and emotions) — how do you feel about being involved?

Black hat (negative aspects) — what will be difficult, what is boring to watch?

Yellow hat (positive and constructive) — why is this important to us, what are some exciting things we know?

Green hat (creative new ideas) — what can we do to make it fun, how can we encourage more people to be involved?

Blue hat (analysing and evaluating) — what do we know, what do we need to know, how are we going?

Drama Booklet - Where the Wild Things Are

Developing – Creating and presenting

Focus questions:

What makes an event or moment significant?

What elements can be used to convey role or character?

What will focus the audience’s attention here?

What is the best way of symbolising the meaning of this scene?

Activity 3, 4, 5 in your Drama Booklet.

Parade skills development

Brainstorm to consider dramatic possibilities of your event. Collaborate with Music and Health and Physical Education teacher or organise a local artist to visit to the classroom. Students will need to learn ribbon twirling, juggling and balancing activities.

Let’s explore emotions – facial expressions, gestures and body language convey these emotions to others.

Prepare a combination of pictures of faces (from magazines or internet) and single emotion/feeling words on separate cards. Happy, sad, frightened, angry. Students perform different emotions. Please refer to word bank in drama booklet and add to the list.

Hot seat role play – give student a role or character to play. Class members should guess what or who they are.

Circus costumes

Circus costumes are always very colourful. Can you think of any reason why this is so? What colours do you think we should wear in our performance?

Acts

You are the ringmaster announcing the next act in the circus. What is it? How will you introduce it? You want to excite the audience about what is to come. Can you use really expressive words? Remember you should speak loudly and clearly.

Sharing/Presenting

Practice your performance in the parade. Rehearse with all students so they feel confident in their performance.

Perform in your role.

Activity 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 in your Drama Booklet.

Reflect

Look through photos or video of performance with students. Ask students which was their favourite moment?

Was the event/performance a success?

What did you learn about performing?

Did the audience respond to your performance?

Is there anything you would change about the performance and why?

What was the benefit to the school or the community from the performance?

Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak

Resources Year 3 Drama Booklet – Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak.

Through the Drama Booklet activities students will:

Explore ideas and narrative structures

Develop skills in sustaining roles and relationships

Share by performing dramatic action

Read, view and listen to the book Where the Wild Things Are via the book, YouTube and clips from movie.

Exploring

Facilitate class discussion:

What does the story make you think about?

How can you describe the characters in the story?

How might this story relate to you and your family?

Things raised might include:

Students discuss what happens in their house when they are causing mischief.

Different roles of parents and diversity of families.

Our families are all special even though we are different, linked to ‘Melting Pot theme’.

Developing Activity 1 in your Drama Booklet

Organise class into small groups and choose one main idea from the story. How can we be wild like the wild things?

Discuss ways to represent that main idea through voice, gesture and movement.

Form small groups and choose a different ending. Sharing how you build tension in the performance. Look at roles, relationships, setting.

Miming like the Wild Things

Teaching movement: move and gesture to create belief in the character and the situation. Think about the reason for moving and awareness of the audience.

Activity

The children find a space, then stretch their arms out and swing them to make sure they will not hit each other. The teacher further leads the exercise by asking children to shake/move their bodies and then stop.

Wild Things – the teacher divides the class into small groups. How would you imagine a Wild Thing’s face looks? Give each group a different expression to perform. Without using your voice one group will pretend to roar, another group will gnash their terrible teeth and another group will roll their eyes and show their claws.

Wild Thing (animal) noises

Teacher reads aloud “And when he came to the place where the wild things are they roared their terrible roars and gnashed their terrible teeth and rolled terrible eyes and show their terrible claws”

The whole class uses movement, facial expression and voice to re-enact this.

Teacher then asks students: What sort of sounds would be made by: