Teaching through Drama is NOT Teaching Drama

There is a misconception among teachers on this. Like other literary texts, stop teaching them the technical aspects of each genre. In this case, don’t teach your students “What is drama?” but use it to teach the language aspects. That’s the whole purpose of the literary component. Treat it as a pedagogy with the language as the main content, not the other way round.

Why drama?

Why spend time and huge efforts on drama? Why give up lesson periods meant for grammar drills for drama? Why drama indeed! First of all, the benefits and advantages on using drama in the ESL context have been well studied and documented for decades (Do read this article by Zafeiriadou, 2009). I am not going to explain each research, as you can check out the whole list of research studies on this topic via Google Scholar. What is more important is to bear in mind that unlike most other methods, using drama in language teaching involves all four skills and provides a solid context for language learning. Plus, it provides a touch of motivation and element of fun to the classroom. It also helps to develop your students’ creativity and imagination. Well, talk about killing many birds with one stone!

“Tell me and I will forget.
Show me and I will remember.
Involve me and I will understand.”
Chinese Proverb

Teaching through Drama: The Basics

Unlike a play or a theatre that emphasises more on stage performances, drama refers to shared elements used to explore our emotions, our thinking, and to teach. When we talk about using drama in traditional classroom setting, we are not talking about creating a play for a performance, the focus is not on the final product (i.e. getting students to stage it, and evaluate!). What should be prioritised is the process! Now, if you have never taught using drama before, here are the some basic rules that you need to consider:

Before you start teaching your students using a specific drama, you need to read and understand it first. In other words, do necessary preparation.

It would be good to “dissect” each drama into parts and plans the language focus on each part. Do it like a TV series, change the one whole drama text into “episodes” according to your available time for each lesson. For each part, you can include related activities or games (i.e. miming or facial expression exercises)

As you move from part to part, emphasise on the sub-themes of each part apart from highlighting the language aspects. By the way, if your students can’t memorise the lines, allow them to use scripts cards or the scripts itself

Don’t be scared to improvise the drama or scripts. Don’t be too rigid in following the drama word by word. As much as you want your students to be imaginative and creative, allow some rooms for creativity.

Involve everyone. You know your students well, so do not let a specific group of students to rule the whole drama sessions. For each part or “episode”, rotate your students to hold different roles. For the weaker students, give them short sentences to begin. Once they are more and more confident, give them more.

Classroom drama is still part of your class, and management is just as important as your other lessons. Like a director handling a movie, you should let your students know the procedures for work. If you can’t find a place for your drama sessions, let your students work from their desks or seats.

Enjoy! Yes, create an enjoyable environment. Do not go into the classroom and start lecturing about the drama, telling them which question is going to come out in the exam or not. Make it a light moment that allows your students to learning English the fun way.

In the next article, I will share more specific activities related to the dramas selected for the new KBSM literature component.

By the way, even if you don’t know which text is included, you can always consider using the dramas available on the internet as part of your lessons. Using drama to teach grammar is probably a very good idea, as it fits the notion of “teaching grammar in context”. We’ll talk about that as well in future.

Note: If you have ideas to share, do email to us and we’ll acknowledge your contribution here. This is a platform for all teachers to share and contribute.

Do read this:

Fleming, M. (2001). Teaching drama in primary and secondary schools : an integrated approach. London: David Fulton

Fleming, M. (2003) Starting Drama Teaching. London:David Fulton Publishers

Useful Web Resources

Drama in ELT
http://www.dramainelt.org/

Creating Drama with Poetry: Teaching English as a Second Language Through Dramatization and Improvisation
http://www.cal.org/ericcll/digest/gaspar01.html

Script Formatting
http://www.humboldt.edu/~jmf2/floss/323rt.script.example.htm

The Drama Teacher’s Resource Room
http://www3.sk.sympatico.ca/erachi/

You might also like:

• So You Think You Can Teach ESL?
• Lesson Plan: Teaching Argumentative Essay
• Teaching “I wonder” by Jeannie Kirby – Idea 1
• Introducing Glogster – Learning via Interactive Poster
• Useful Websites on Teaching ESL Writing

On first reading, it is rather apparent that the poem seems to be a “lament” by the persona on everything around him or her. There is a strong sense of “deep thinking” and it resembles the typical “small thoughts” that we have when we’re observing our surroundings or wake up in the morning or even when we’re sitting alone, sipping our coffee at the corner of a coffee shop.

The poem is written in an “a a b b” rhyme scheme, a popular scheme used to create a “song-like” poem. In fact, some teachers have spent time changing this poem into a song, to help the students.

“I wonder” by Jeannie Kirby

I wonder why the grass is green
And why to each other we’re often mean?
Who taught us how to curse and hate?
And lead us to betray our faith?

Why can’t we learn to live and love?
And give all praises to him above
Why must we strive to put others down?
Why not wear a smile instead of a frown.

Must we forever devise new ways?
To hurt each other instead of praise?
For aren’t we all the same in his sight
Don’t we all rise in the morn and sleep at night?

For who amongst us has not shed a tear
Or hurt by another who never seemed to care.
And which of us has not done the same
To hurt another or caused some shame.

When shall we learn to let go of the past
And live each day like it’s our very last?
Which will you be, an foe or a friend?
Would you still hate today, if this was your end?

Don’t we yet know that it clouds our fate
When we ignore love and foster hate.
When hate fills your heart, it makes you blue,
For the person most hurt will always be you.

Lets rise each morning, smile and say
“Thank you God, for yet another day”
“Thanks for your love and tender care
And give me more love in my heart to share.

This poem is rather straightforward to be taught. The key here is to build up the mood or sense of emotional outburst. One way is to use the Lemon Tree song by Fool’s Garden. The song is essentially similar in terms of how the persona is expressing his or her opinion on things that “just didn’t turn out right” and the sense of disappointment and emptiness. In Jeannie’s poem, the persona laments on human’s ignorance in promoting love and peace. In the Lemon Tree, the persona laments on his long-lost love (perhaps a girlfriend).

It is often good to start a literature lesson with a song, as means to attract students’ attention and highlight salient features of a specific text. In terms of themes, always start with an easy surface theme before going deeper like in “I wonder”, tolerance and acceptance would be ultimate theme.

LEMON TREE

By Fool’s Garden

I’m sitting here in a boring room it’s just another rainy
Sunday afternoon I’m wasting my time I got nothing to do
I’m hanging around I’m waiting for you
But nothing ever happens- and I wonder

I’m driving around in my car I’m driving too fast
I’m driving too far I’d like to change my point of view
I feel so lonely I’m waiting for you
But nothing ever happens- and I wonder

I wonder how I wonder why yesterday you told me
’bout the blue blue sky and all tall that I can see is just a yellow lemon-tree
I’m turning my head up and down
I’m turning turning turning turning turning around
And all that I can see is just another lemon-tree

I’m sitting here I miss the power I’d like to go out
taking a shower but there’s a heavy cloud in side my head
I feel so tired put myself into bed where nothing
ever happens- and I wonder

Isolation – is not good for me
Isolation – I don’t want to sit on a lemon-tree
I’m steppin’ around in a desert of joy Baby anyhow I’ll get another toy and every thing will happen-and you’ll wonder
I wonder how I wonder why yesterday you told me
’bout the blue blue sky and all tall that I can see is just a yellow lemon-tree
I’m turning my head up and down
I’m turning turning turning turning turning around
And all that I can see is just another lemon-tree

In the next part, we’ll look specifically at the language features, themes as well as several other activities that can be done using this poem (lesson plans included).

You might also like:

• Teaching English through Drama in Malaysian ESL Classrooms
• Lesson Plan: Teaching Argumentative Essay
• The New KBSM Literature Component 2010
• Useful Verbs and Adjectives List for Writing
• Lesson Plan: Teaching Prepositions – Going Places

This is a lesson plan made for teaching the poem "If" by Kipling using Simple Plan’s song – Perfect. It’s a lesson that students really enjoy and can relate it well.

You might also like:

• Teaching English through Drama in Malaysian ESL Classrooms
• Lesson Plan: Teaching Argumentative Essay
• Teaching “I wonder” by Jeannie Kirby – Idea 1
• Lesson Ideas: Blogging Activities
• Form 4 – Introducing Descriptive Writing

Good activity for testing students on the characters of Animal Farm

You might also like:

• Useful Websites on Teaching ESL Writing
• Teaching English through Drama in Malaysian ESL Classrooms
• Teaching “I wonder” by Jeannie Kirby – Idea 1
• Lesson Ideas: Blogging Activities
• Form 4 – Teaching “If” Using Song