Discussion – After reading the book students can discuss relevant themes and issues presented in the story - For example, Hope, Letting go, animal cruelty. From this discussion, many of the activities will evolve.

Storytelling / Tableaux - What happened next? Student can create the story of what happened to the bear after the final page of the book. This takes its form as a still picture or tableaux, to compliment the other illustrations in the book.

Game – A good warm up game might be something like cat and mouse. This games has a student (mouse) trapped inside the circle of students who is trying to find its way out of the circle without another student (cat) catching them. This game can evoke feelings of entrapment. This could be a theme that can be further explored from the book.

Meeting – There are several towns folk shown in the book. The citizens (students) could conduct a meeting about the circus coming to town. This could involve people discussing the use of animals in the circus and the moral issues associated with it. This activity may have to be set in the modern times as the ‘animal activist’ may not have existed in medieval times.

Art / Writing – Students could write an article or design a poster that relates to animals performing in the circus. Students can choose to take a side in the issue, or be neutral in their approach.

Interview - Students can pair up and conduct a hot seat type interview with the bear itself. One student is a reporter hot on the scene, and the other is the bear hanging from the pole. The purpose of the interview is to evoke an emotion from the bear – one that may or may not have been seen in the illustrations of the book.

Movement – Students could display the thoughts of the bear through an expressive action or piece of movement.

I was trying to think of some other children’s literacy books that would be good as a pretext, and I suddenly realised that I didn’t actually know a whole lot of children’s books. I definitely think I need to do a bit of research in to Children’s literacy’s and what is out there these days. I’m sure there are 1000’s of books however I can’t manage to think of one. I’m certainly going to have to pull up my sock if I’m going to be a primary school student. Either that, or get down to the library asap!

OK, So Jenny Simons
When looking at the Jenny Simons article I can’t help but find parallels between her ways of teaching and ‘Inquiry based’ learning as a pedagogy. For me, the whole basis is that the students take responsibility for their own learning and development of knowledge, through a creative and explorative way. I realise that Simons ‘craft knowledge’ refers to the use of drama for learning however I feel if an inquiry unit was heavily drama based, they would be of almost the same structure.

Moving on, I’m very excited that teachers (especially non drama specialist) are open to the idea of Drama as a learning tool. The activities set out by Simons for the three different groups were a great example of how drama can explore different things not seen in an original text. It also goes to show how if you are a willing teacher and opened to ideas and offers from the class, the drama can be taken in a direction not predicted by the teacher. I guess too, the teacher’s intentions for the learning still need to be acknowledged and not taken too far beyond.

When asked to think about another literacy text with a particular historical context that would be good to explore prior to learning I kept thinking about my ‘Learning through Drama’ assignment on the stolen generation. I think an issue of this nature would really benefit from a literacy pre-text just because the content is rather deep for students to take in. Again, without specifically thinking of a book or song, my focus for the pretext would have something to do with ‘missing you’ or ‘something lost’. I would try and have the pretext connect to the student’s current worlds as a way of paralleling the history to them losing their favourite gadget or something equivalent. When I think about it, many songs would be great for unit as a pretext.

Also when I think of the stolen generation, I can’t help but think of “Stolen” the play, and “Rabbit Proof Fence” the movie. These literacy’s could actually be units themselves, but if you look at the unit as a learning through drama task (of which I am for the purpose of the assignment) I think it needs to be dealt with differently. Actually, I think these two literacy’s serve more as a ‘post text’, if there’s such a thing, so as students don’t take on these dramatic roles and stories whilst exploring the unit.

On that note, I’m off to the library…….. Kiddies section of course!

The Adults, Learning and Drama article by John O’Toole gives plenty of examples where drama is used to educate adults. This usually takes place in or around the workplace where adults play out possible scenarios or role play different situations. I think that adults might not be as receptive to drama as children as they don’t seem to be able to let go of their inhibitions as easily. Children have the cunning ability to be able to talk without thinking first, for adults, it’s a lot harder. My fear with teaching drama to adults is that they want to analyse everything too much and not just open their minds and bodies to the magic and possibilities that drama bring.
On the flip side of things, adults do bring with them a wealth of experience, knowledge and deep inner thoughts that can all be wonderful tools in drama education. These are the areas that I would tap into if I was in a position to teach adults drama.

After doing a quick search, I found a book that deals directly with Creative Play and Drama for Adults. There is a blurb about the book on the web. It’s interesting that they talk about adults perspectives that ‘Creative Play’ is childish and that where their hesitation to join in Drama stem from. Anyway, have a look if you like -

http://www.speechmark.net/speechmark/New_Titles/creativeplayadult.htm

Although these activities are amazing in their portrayal, I found that more often than not we were exemplifying the “stereotypical bully” rather than emphasising the diversity of people who bully. It was mentioned through our discussions, however every time we were to portray a bully, they were all loud speaking, physically powerful people. Contrary to this, the victims were all shy, quietly spoken and timid people.

After participating in each activity, it was extremely clear as to the purpose and message behind it. In most cases, it wasn’t until we’d finished the activity and viewed examples from other groups that we fully understood the concept behind the activity and it’s rational. Every single activity we did would certainly create valid discussions for a group of school students.

Using drama as your vehicle for teaching and learning allows students to vent their feelings and opinions on the issue through their performance. Most activities relied on us, as the students, to create a scenario in which bullying occurs. If students were experiencing bullying in their own life, they could use this drama piece as a form of identification or therapy – regardless of their place within the bullying experience.

During last years Health Education unit, we looked quite closely at mental health issues, with particular focus on the Mind Matters resource. I looked at Self Esteem as an issue in schools (for both students and staff) and the use of a dramatic performance to overcome these issues. It was driven by the notion that if children feel good about themselves they will have an easier time handling conflicts and resisting negative pressures. Self Esteem also deals with the need for inclusion both within the immediate surrounds of school and the wider community. A self esteem health education program was implemented by creating a dramatic experience for students that encouraged cooperation rather than competition. This was done through the J Rock program where students perform a story or theme through drama, dance and music. J Rock’s philosophy is non competitive, professional, educational and accessible. The J Rock performance piece also becomes an educational tool for parents, staff, peers and the wider community. By producing an 8 minute dramatic piece on a moral issue or subject, it also becomes a form of visual literacy. The performance can be shown at information evenings to generate discussions on the topic or issue, and create thinking amongst the community. Therefore this piece actually serves as an added educational tool with a purpose beyond its initial health program.

In terms of looking at health issues in a dramatic sense, here are a few things I found -

http://www.thefa.com/NR/rdonlyres/5A26EE52-902C-442B-945C-C7B0B0BEBFCB/55250/Schools_TacklingRacism.pdf

This link looks at tackling racism in sport through the English and Drama curriculum. This is not a solid drama process, however many of the task are drama related…… have a look, there are some good ideas in there. I particularly like that they are looking at racism through sport – so immediately they are engaging the student’s interests. They refer to “Sport” as either a player or a spectator, therefore including most students.

http://www.dramamagazine.co.uk/docs/makebelieveforreal.pdf

This article describes a drama process about racism in regards to the civics and citizenship curriculum. It’s not actually a step by step account of how it was done, rather a reflective article on the process. This article has some great reflective comments from the student’s perspective.

http://www.winwinresolutions.org/WinWin-A/Win-Win_Home.html

This website is a company that run workshops about conflict, through drama. They have several different workshops for students depending on the year level and they also explore conflicts between teachers and students and parents and students.

http://www.royalarmouries.org/extsite/view.jsp?sectionId=2607

This site looks at dealing with family conflict by using the pre text Romeo and Juliet to students aged 11-14 years.

There are many more sites on the internet that deal with social issues through drama but I won’t bore you with them all. I will however leave you with this quote from a report I found that was based on teaching the war through drama.

Theatre enables us to observe ourselves and by so doing to “discover what is not and imagine what we could become.”
Arendshorst, T, 2005 Drama in Conflict Transformation
http://www.beyondintractability.org/essay/drama/ (accessed 03.04.07)

Students Role
Students play the role of cadet journalist who need to investigate a particular story. Before they set out on their way, they are briefed by two very different newspaper Editors. One is very straight down the line, the other a very excentric editor who will do anything to sell a story…..

News Story
Word comes in that a wild snake as been let lose in the local primary school. It was spotted in the morning by several students, and then captured by the school care taker ready to be handed over the appropriate animal authorities. Whilst waiting for the authorities to arrive, the snake somehow escapes and is running wild around the school……….. What happen? Did someone let the snake out of the bag? Who was it?

Suspects
Student # 1 – Jason.
A problematic students who is always getting himself and others in to trouble.

Student # 2 – Gemima
An intelligent students whom seems to know a little too much about snakes

Teacher
A animal activist teacher who sometimes seems to care more about animals than her students

Care Taker
He was last seen capturing the snake – was he negligent in his job?

Parent
A distressed parent who is always trying to blame the school for everything

Task
Students must interview each of the suspects (played by Deakin students) and in pairs write a report based on what they think happened to the snake. They can either choose to write an informative piece which incorporates viewpoints from all involved, or a colourful piece that may embellish the truth somewhat.

This is the lesson in a nutshell, however as this is a topic that relies on the students input, things may change along the way, which is something that we as teachers will allow and follow. I’m really excited to see how this task works, and the kind of response we’ll get from the students. The more engaged they are, the easier it will be for us to carry out our part of the lesson. This is also a great opportunity for us to build on our improvisation stills, and perform in front of an audience that have the ability to change our direction.

Keep posted for news on how the class goes………

I found a useful website that looks at process drama and gives several examples. It connects wonderfully with what we’ve been discussing in class and can prove to be a useful reasource for when we’re in the big bad world of teaching

http://www.readwritethink.org/lessons/lesson_view_printer_friendly.asp?id=269

Enjoy

If I were to predict my MI test, I honestly think it would have been exactly the same as my final results. As a teacher I would love for my students to also know where they stand in terms of MI. This allows student to work on their weaknesses but also celebrate and embrace their strengths and be proud of the type of learner they are. I think it’s also good for students to know they are not the only one who isn’t mathematically inclined, or musically based. Within my own strengths as a teacher, I can also lead the class in ways that many other teachers may not be comfortable in doing.

If you were to look at Drama on its own, not across the curriculum, you would assume it is filled with only right brain activities - And for the most part I think that’s true. But what inspired me, were the amount of examples and activities that were listed and suggested in the readings that catered for both Left and Right Brain students. I think Drama brings an exciting element to the curriculum by allowing several of the MI’s to be at work during the one task. Take for example some of the environmental issues we were discussing in class. When Jo asked if someone could explain how states of matters work, one student was able to give a brief lecture on the in’s and out’s of liquids turning into solids and so on. For some, this explanation was enough. Through words and text, they were able to comprehend what was being taught. For someone like myself – a Right Brainer – that information kinda went over my head. However, when it was explained again using our bodies, we were given another way of explaining the content which was perhaps more suited to our MI’s and learning styles.

Seeing these teaching styles back to back really excited me. I would probably have never thought to explain scientific information in a dramatic way. It’s not something I’ve seen a lot of, however I definitely want to explore it further as my teaching career develops. Had I only have thought of doing something like this last year when I was stuck in a science lab with grade 6 students studying plant structures!!!!

I would just like to finish by adding….I have sat at my computer for about 6 hours today trying to write two blogs. There have been welcomed distractions, a lot of procrastination, and not much motivation. This is most probably because I find it extremely hard for me to sit and write! If we had the option to present this blog as a visual diary of some description I think I would have done it in a second! It’s interesting that at a university level they often teach us about “different ways of teaching and learning” however whenever they put it into practice, there’s only one option!
Just some food for thought!