Week 9: Drama

This week’s drama lecture and workshop focused on Storytelling. I was looking forward to this for a special reason. My cooperating teacher from my professional experience had been to one of Victoria’s storytelling workshops in the past (for professional development) and she absolutely raved on about how fantastic it was! In fact, she was so inspired by what she had learnt and gained from the workshop that we began a storytelling unit with our class in my third week of professional experience. I count myself quite lucky to have seen and experienced the first few lessons of this storytelling unit in practice in the classroom; I was able to witness how wonderful it is and am 100% convinced that it has a great impact and benefit for students. When I am a qualified teacher, I will use storytelling in my drama sessions with my class, without a doubt!

I had the opportunity to run the second lesson to the Storytelling Unit – below is the lesson plan and the bare bones of the story which I told to the class.

Storytelling

- Lesson 2 -

LESSON AIM: Students develop a sense of growing confidence in drama. Students become more familiar with the concept of ‘storytelling’, and engage in a group activity of creating a storyboard of critical scenes from a story.

SYLLABUS OUTCOMES:

- [DRAS3.2] Interprets and conveys dramatic meaning by using the elements of drama and a range of movement and voice skills in a variety of drama forms.

- [DRAS3.4] Responds critically to a range of drama works and performance styles.

·       exploring traditions associated with different forms of drama (eg storytelling)

·       appreciating drama by viewing others’ performances and acknowledging how this can change their own drama practice

- [VAS3.2] Makes artworks for different audiences, assembling materials in a variety of ways.

- [EN3-5B] Discusses how language is used to achieve a widening range of purposes for a widening range of audiences and contexts

LESSON OUTLINE:

RESOURCES	- IWB - ‘Three Balls of Yarn’ : Story - A3 paper
Introduction 25 min	1)    Warm-up: Yes, let’s! - Have student’s stand in a circle. ·      1 - Student says ‘Let’s ____’ filling in what they want to do and acts this motion out. Everyone in the circle repeats “Yes, Let’s!” in unison and completes the action. ·      2 - Student says to another student, ‘Let’s ____’ filling in what they want to do and acts this motion. The other student replies ‘Yes, let’s!’ and also acts out the motion. This continues with the student asking another student, and so on…
	Recap last lesson: Storytelling - What are some features storytelling that make a story engaging for an audience?
	Set the scene - Provide background information to the story (i.e. setting - Persia)
	Storytelling - Teacher tells and performs the Persian tale - ‘Three Balls of Yarn’**
Body 25 min	Reflecting on story: Key Questions - Who were the characters in the story? How were they brought to life?  ACTIVITY - Establish the critical moments from the story, and write on IWB - Each table receives a ‘critical moment’. They are to capture the critical moment in an illustration on their story card. This will be part of a bigger storyboard, which is what the whole class is constructing together. - Inform students are to provide a caption for that scene of the story in written form
Conclusion 10 min	- Students retell the story together (in their groups) -> storyboard, animatedly reading their caption

ASSESSMENT:

Observe: Students actively participate in the drama warm up activity

Storyboard: Students cooperate to create a storyboard for a critical scene of a story

**BARE BONES – ‘THREE BALLS OF YARN’

•  Long ago, there lived in Persia a poor housewife named Mara. Each day she would go out looking for anything she could add to the meals she would cook for her husband and baby daughter, Leila.
• One day, she happened to wander into a palace garden. She spotted a rotten fig, went to take it, then a horrible witch appeared…
• Time passed, and life improved for Mara, her husband and their daughter (who grew up to be one of the most beautiful girl in all of Persia). One day, Leila was playing hide-and seek with her friends in the fields. She noticed a purple butterfly…
•  The witch kidnapped Leila. She was locked up in a tiny room, spent all day knitting and had little to eat. Seven years passed.
• Leila is forbidden to do three things: to open the chest under the stairs, look at herself in the mirror, or gaze out of the window. Leila is curious, as does the three things she is forbidden to do. She opens the chest and finds three balls of wool, then looks into the mirror…
•  Leila gazes out of the forbidden window; encounter with the prince.
• Leila and prince escape from the witch’s palace.
• Witch realises that Leila has made an escape, is furious, and sets off to catch her. When the witch is within an arms reach of her, Leila throws the green ball of wool. Suddenly, a green dense forest of thorny trees appears, and the witch gets caught up in it.
• The witch catches up. Leila tosses the blue ball behind her, and a vast blue ocean with waves appears, and sweeps the witch up.
• But the witch returns. Leila tosses the final red ball; it’s her last chance. A wall of red, blazing fire appeared and engulfed the witch.
• Leila and the prince are safe, and happily continue their journey to the prince’s kingdom, where they lived in peace for many, many joyful years.

I found the lecture and workshop with Victoria extremely helpful. I learnt more about the details behind the use of storytelling, and the nature of impact upon the listener. Victoria emphasised that the oral story is ‘unmediated by the written text’; it is ‘soft and malleable’ and ‘yields to the pleasures and needs of the audience’. One thing that stood out to me was that as the storyteller we must be aware of not providing an overload of detail in the story. It is the students’ role to explore their imagination as they listen. Apart from learning all about storytelling, Victoria taught us a series of drama activities that could be used in the classroom. One activity was ‘Vocal Tennis’ – an exercise to develop an awareness of voice (ie. its different qualities). We found this very fun as we practiced the activity, and I am sure students would find it even more fun!

I am sad that our drama lectures and workshops have come to an end, yet have found every single one so useful. I began the course rather anxious about teaching drama, but now, I am filled with a longing to jump into the classroom to teach and integrate drama whenever possible. I have a renewed appreciation for drama, and most definitely realise its significance within the classroom.