Classroom Drama

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses several articles that deal with the use of drama in the classroom. The paper examines how drama instruction, such as role-play, miming, puppetry, improvisation and readers theatre, in the early elementary classroom can improve learning. The paper highlights the positive experiences that children gain from incorporating drama in their every-day lessons.

From the Paper:

"Barbara Ryan Larkin (2001) shares her classroom experience with drama among elementary school students. Her young students would ask to act out stories they read in class, and once Larkin began studying the theories behind drama in education, she came to realize the beneficial effects that taking time to do so would have with student development. Rather than leaving drama for a separate area of study, Larkin found that "drama is presented as a meaningful context for children to read, write, speak, and listen. Struggling students especially seem to be motivated by this experience." (Larkin 2001) Reader's theater is one way of approaching drama in education. It is an interpretive activity where students practice and perform with each other, using methods like repeated readings and improvisation to enhance comprehension and to build on knowledge. Larkin's students responded very excitedly to reader's theater, immediately embracing the opportunity to take on characters, learn scripts, block scenes, and perform with and in front of one another. The teacher read a story to students, helped them learn the vocabulary, reviewed the entire text of the script as a class, then let students develop parts in groups. "

More papers on Classroom Drama:

• Term Paper # 91224 : "Reader's Theater "
• Research Paper # 94815 : "Reading Motivation"
• Essay # 68338 : "The Multiple Intelligence Theory "

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