The Tortoise Website

The Tortoise Website
Click on image to go to Author website. "THE RACE IS NOT TO THE SWIFT." Eccl. 9:11

Sunday 12 April 2015

Empowering Students With Short Plays For The Classroom

By Joanna Walsh


Educators all around the world have one thing in common. They want their students to learn and to enjoy doing so. With short plays for the classroom they can achieve this goal. This is why these literary learning aids are so sought after by educators and curriculum designers around the world.

With a short play, a teacher is able to keep students occupied. The students may be placed in groups to work on their own interpretation and presentation of the piece. It may take fifteen to twenty minutes for the groups to adequately plan for a five minute presentation. In addition, each group will require roughly five minutes for their performance.

Sometimes a drama piece can inspire a production that exceeds that classroom space. These are often converted into school plays that are performed for the entire school and sometimes outsiders as well. When students get to show off their talents through school plays that may be viewed by the entire school population, or, in some cases, invited outsiders as well, their self esteems are boosted.

Through the preparation of these performances, students learn crucial skills that will help them in their lives as adults. They learn to work with others as the planning and execution phases cannot be done without team work. The ability to work in a team is a crucial skill that appears in almost all job descriptions these days. Additionally, the leadership skills of students get sharpened during these activities as they get to take on roles such as directing and producing the production.

A teacher may use a play as a springboard for the teaching of one or more lessons. The principles explored through the storyline serve as re-enforcers of behavioral goals. These principles include, loyalty, trust, determination and justice. These principles are brought to the fore when discussions on characters and their traits are facilitated. The teacher, in discouraging the emulation of negative characters can highlight the consequences that characters with negative traits face. For characters that demonstrate positive traits the rewards or resulting triumph can be highlighted.

Some of the more practical curriculum centered goals are met through the use of these teaching tools as well. Language and art skills can be taught through the use of these pieces. In addition to the use of language, students learn to apply science concepts especially when it comes to creating sound effects of lighting.

Finding the right drama script is easy for many teachers. They are able to browse one of the many teacher support websites and find a script that suits their students age group and interests as well as the lesson. Some teachers craft their own scrips to make them unique to their situation. Sometimes the script is created as a special project with students and teacher contributing to the finished play. This is very important as, in some circumstances, the perfect script is simply not out there as yet.

Inspired teachers inspire their students using creative teaching aids such as drama. Those students who are inspired go on to change the world for the better. There is therefore no denying the value of drama in the classroom.




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