Teaching Drama Portfolio Prezi

Teaching Drama Portfolio

By: Ekram Farah

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Drama Activity Reflection & List of Goals with Rationale

Play Critique/ What Should Children Watch

Story Theater Reflection/Backsatge View

Table of Contents

Reference

Spolin , V. (1986). Theater games for classroom: A

teacher's handbook. (1st ed, p. 81). Evanston,

IL:Northwestern University Press.

Drama Activity Reflection

Story Theater Backstage

Important aspect of play, film or television production

A source that I would recommend for children to watch

Once we organized the scenes and acted them out, we sat down together to discuss the different costume or outfit to wear to compliment the play. For the food costume our actors decided to draw the food on a Bristol board and hang it around our necks with matching colour of clothes For the caterpillar we have Hardeep wearing a green outfit and Amna with a butterfly costume. The Arianna who is the older lady is going to wear clothes that resembles and elderly person. After the preparation for the costume meeting was over we resume back to practicing for the play for one round and conclude our day for rehearsal.

I feel the most important aspect parent should consider is the language or content of the play. I feel that the language can really determine whether or not the play it is age appropriate for children to watch.

When setting a goal it should be something that is age appropriate for children to do. The objective should also be measurable and attainable to assess and evaluate. This is very important for teachers to observe where the child is lacking and succeeding in their developmental skills level. I know from personal experience how difficult it is to set goals that are hard to evaluate. However, children are quite good at displaying facial features when they are puzzled or don't understand something. To conclude goals are a great way to help scaffold what the child already knows, as teachers it is our job to help expand the child knowledge with new information.

Ekram Farah

Bloom's Elementary Drama Teacher

Benefit of watching a live play in theater

The experience of teaching a drama activity is quite interesting especially when you are teaching it to a class full of adults. During that time I believe I got the attention of the players by being very clear with the instructions of the game. However, after reading the cue cards I had mix reviews of being very clear and at times when I was not. So in terms of personal growth that is something that I would like to work on more in being clear with my explanations. Also a problem I faced with during my activity is one of my group members talking for me when some of the players were a bit confused. I personally feel that it was not my fault as I was talking and my group member kept on interrupting me, but I did understand where all the concern were coming from in my cue- cards and from my teacher. For future reference I should take more strong leadership role.

A drama I would recommend for children is the play Magic Roundabout. The play is age appropriate and allows the children to dramatize the action of the play through narration. It also teaches the children the value of trust, friendship and imagination. Another reason would be the environment; the play uses sounds which is very important to attract children and keep them focus.

The benefit of watching a live play allows children to experience the aliveness of the play in that atmosphere. For example, if the actor made a joke and the audience were laughing it would give a cue to the child it also be part of the audience to laugh as well.

List of Goals with Rationale

What are the specific technique used in a production to increase appeal for children

Goal Setting

The rendition of the story has been layout in the format of a skeleton. During rehearsal we discussed how we were going to act out the play. However, we became aware of some elements that had to be exclude from the play such as the narration and the background music. Essentially we had to make the different sounds with our mouths as well as changing the script that will enhance our actions as the character rather than telling our character to the audience.

Dear Parents or Guardian,

As a teacher at Bloom's Elementary my responsibility is to provide children the best possible learning environment. I believe to provide such a positive enriched learning environment, goals should be set to help guide the learning process for children. Goals are used to explain the purpose of the activity and the expectation received at the end of the learning experience. Once a goal has been established goal setting or objectives are formed surrounding the main purpose of the activity with specific developmental domains. To give an example is the Drama activity called Dog & Bone the goal of the game is for the dog to identify who the thief was who stole his/her bone.

Benefit of watching a play that is a film or television production

A source that I would not recommend for children to watch

The creators of the production try to incorporate fantasy and comedy to attract children. they also include communicating with their whole body, range of expression ,stage presence and the environment. An example would the promo workshop 2 who use their carnival theme to attract the audience.

In terms of achieving the learning goals, I feel the dogs where able to identify who the thief was within 5 seconds limitation, the players were also very much enthusiastic with the game and were able to grasp the bone as quietly as they can. This game can be definitely used in a drama program to help children to develop abilities such as experiencing their sensory skills in detecting who the thief is, concentration for hearing noises around you and relaxing in a quite atmosphere. The game also provide non -verbal movement of acting. In the case of variation to be include in the game I would incorporate a sash to blindfold the dog so that he/she wouldn't open their eyes until they are directed to. I think this would have deepen the understanding of the players more when I teaching the class.

When rehearsing there was a lot of confusing and problem solving going on in order to get the play looking very organized and entertaining. We had to make sure where we were standing on the stage and when to transition to the next scene. Like the time when the caterpillar was being born and how we had to huddle him to make the noise of an egg cracking. How the caterpillar is to going to find food and create a table for him. How are the unhealthy food going to enter into the stage and tease the him etc.

The goal setting are provided as followed:

Cognitive: The dog will identify 1 thief within 5 second.

Psycho-motor: The player will grasp the bone from the dog within 5 seconds.

Affective: The player must accept their turn in stealing the bone when pointed at.

The story theater our group decided to do is the the Hunger Caterpillar by Eric Carle. The story is about a very hunger caterpillar who eats all sort of food and eventually transforms into a beautiful butterfly. The lesson that our group wants the children to learn from is the benefits of eating healthy food and how bad food can affect people's health. Once we agree with the theme of the story we each divided the roles to be play. The type of roles that are being played are as followed:

The Caterpillar: Hardeep

The Cookie: Ekram

The Cupcake: Emily

The Candy: Camillie

The Carrot: Taryn

The Leaf: Nadia

The Apple: Sarah

The Lady: Arianna

The Butterfly: Amna

A source I would not recommend for children to watch is the play Mump and Smout, as it contents violent scenes which can leave a very impressionable idea for children to think it is okay to hurt people.

A benefit children can gain from watching a play that is televised or film is the children being able to relate to a problem or situation they might be facing. An example would be the Mump and Smout where the child was getting ridicule on how he was behaving or responding.

Table of Contents

Free Choice

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Table of Content

Set of Criteria with Rationale

Drama Activity Lesson Plan

Workshop #1

Introduction

What Kind of Teacher Am I?

Book Review

Letter

Introduction

As a suggestion I would recommend switching the games according to your liking and standard for children. The review for this book for anyone who a wants to use the book as guide for new learning

Dog & Bone

This course allowed me to view myself as a teacher and really evaluate what kind of teacher I would like to be. The workshop also brought perspective as to the areas I should focus more and improve in. Throughout this semester I seen a dramatic development growth in being a lot more confidence in speaking and participating in class activity.

Although rubric are a great way to assess the child developmentally, they can be challenging to create and evaluate at times. However, I believe rubric should not be excluded as they provide a good tool to challenge children/ student in areas they might need more assistant and further support. It is also a use of motivation to achieve greatness.

Ekram Farah

Bloom's Elementary Drama Teacher

Problem Solving: Anticipated Problem 1 – A student coming into class late. Solution 1 – The side coach can explain to those students who come late to class. Anticipated Problem 2 – The instruction of the game was not clear enough for the class. Solution 2 – Demonstrate how the game is played to the class with my group workshop members. Anticipated Problem 3 – The player refuses to become the dog. Solutions 3 – Have that player pick another dog in his/her place.

Reflection Questions for Players: Do you guys feel the dog was using his sensory skills to detect who the thief was or was the dog just guessing.

Positive Reinforcement: K – I really like how you used your sensory skills to try to detect the thief. S - You’ve done a great job in trying to grasp the bone from the dog. A – You’ve been very supportive in participating with the activity.

Target Age: 8- 10 years

Purpose: The purpose of this drama activity is to allow full parPticipation, body involvement and sensory engagement with the students.

KSA Objectives: K - The dog must try to identify who the thief is within 5 seconds. S - The players will grasp the bone from the dog within 5 seconds quietly. A - The player must accept their turn in stealing the bone.

How age appropriate? : I choose this age range because children during this stage spend a lot time in group work activities and role play. Since the drama activity incorporates both characteristic the students can begin to develop ownership in decision making and display emotions.

Dear Parents or Guardian,

I am writing this letter to inform you about the process of evaluation I conducted in my drama class with the children. As mention in my earlier letter it is my responsibility to set goals for the children; to determine how the child is doing in my class. I am required to assess and evaluate the student, according to the rubric I set and planned. To further explain what a rubric is, it is essentially a level of standard in which the child happens to be in compliance with each development domain. The categories are as followed: excellent, good satisfactory and needs improvement.

This portfolio comprises a semester’s worth of work in the Teaching Drama for Children course at the University of Guelph-Humber. The portfolio should be read as an overview of the importance of teaching drama and the value of what play and drama can bring forth for children and adults. Upon leaving this course, I would like to take away many of the benefits of the use of teaching drama. The practice of applying theories and providing constructive lesson plans that are age appropriate helps me in the development of future lesson plans as wells as the revision of others. My goal is to require more in the principles that underlines early childhood professionals; this in due course enhances my understanding of teaching philosophies better.

What Kind of Teacher Am I?

What sets me apart from other teacher is the passion and fascination of helping children be the person they can be and achieve in life. I will know that I have completed my goals when students show the confidence and encouragement to conquer anything they set their minds to.

Description: (Steps necessary to play the game – in point form)

1. A large empty space safe from any hazardous items.

2. Form into a large circle with the classroom.

3. Ask or nominated a student to become a dog and have his/her eyes closed.

4.Nominate a player to be the thief.

5. If the thief is successful, have the dog wake up and guess the thief.

6. If the dog guesses wrong the thief then becomes the dog.

7. However, if the dog guesses right then the dog remains the dog.

The Theater Games for Classroom by Viola Spolin is a great book to consider having as a resource or reference book. This is a must have for any teacher or parents who wants to incorporate or introduce drama for children. The author provides a lot of resources of different games and lesson plans promoting improvisation, creativity, problem solving, communication, movement, sensory skills, memory skills, team building and many more. The book is very versatile and can be adjusted to any situation for anyone.

Focus: The focus of the activity is for the students to become a dog and try to remain the dog as long as they could.

Organization: For the activity I will need a bone (a stuff ball will symbolize the bone). Also the layout of the room is going to be spacious and clear of any sort hazardous items deemed harmful.

Side Coaching Prompts: K - Try to challenge yourself and attempt to identify the thief in less than 5 seconds. S - Have a strong hand coordination in not dropping the bone. A – Try to become apart of the activity by participating in stealing the bone.

I believe the teacher I want to be is the kind of teacher who is committed to setting high expectations for all students; having a clear, written-out objectives; being prepare and organized well in advance; engaging with students and encouraging them to look at an issue from various different angles; building a strong positive relationship with students; and lastly, communication with parents frequently. An activity I have learned through drama class is the game called Human Knot Icebreaker. This game can mostly be used as warm-up activity. It forces the students to challenge themselves to work as a team, communicate, problem solve and getting to know each other in the short span of time of the activity.

To give an example would be the drama game Dog & Bone. In order for the student to receive a excellent in a cognitive domain, the student must identify the thief in less than 5 seconds. Likewise, to receive a poor or needs improvement the student has to past the 5 second mark and mention more than 1 thief. To really understand of what a rubric is and how it looks. I have attached a sample of a rubric for the Dog & Bone dram activity.

Although he book is very handy to have I do find it at times to be a bit complex for children to understand as the book was published quite some time ago. I would appreciate if the author can republish the book to be user- friendly for teachers.

Knowledge: E- No errors, Identify in less than 5 seconds; G - No errors, Identify thief within 5 seconds; S - No errors identify thief past the 5 seconds mark; N - 2+ error, Mention more than 1 thief and past the 5 second mark

Skills: E- Student was able to use his/her body to grasp the bone in less than 5 seconds quietly; G- Student was able to grasp the bone within 5 seconds quietly; S - Missing 1 Student was quiet, but lacks the ability to grasp the bone within 5 seconds. N- Missing 2 Student was disruptive in obtaining the bone.Past the 5 second limit.

Attitude: E- Shows effort and enthusiasm in stealing the bone; G - shows effort but is not really enthusiastic; S- Lacks the effort in participating in the game; N- Student refuses to take turn.