Categories of DramaCarl Sandburg ElementaryQuarter 1

Pantomime

MIME (Pantomime)Children use only facial expressions and body language to pass on a message script to the rest of the class.

Drama Games

DRAMA GAMESIn a drama game, you inhabit a world different from the one in which you live. You use your imagination to portray or dramatize something. By your actions, you show others what you want to depict. Acting out what you have prepared is an important part of “Drama Games”. Besides drama, you can build games by using dance, art, music, sports or any other type of activity. Improvising is a form of drama play.

Role Plays

ROLE PLAYSStudents are given a particular role in a scripted play. After rehearsal the play is performed for the class, school or parents.

Masked Drama

MASKED DRAMAThe main props are masks. With masks, children feel less inhibited to perform and overact while participating in this form of drama. They are given specific parts to play with a formal script. The actors create the full picture for the rest of the group--Interpreting content and expressing it using only the voice and body.

Puppet Plays

PUPPET PLAYSChildren use puppets to say and do things that they may feel too inhibited to say or do themselves.

Reader’s TheatreREADER'S THEATER

Reader’s theater was developed as an efficient and effective way to present literature in dramatic form; it is an interpretive oral reading activity. Students use their voices, facial expressions and hand gestures to interpret characters in scripts or stories. Teachers and students may adapt favorite stories for Readers' Theater through script writing activities. This is a wonderful activity for teachers and caregivers that are looking for ways to add fun, excitement, and meaning to oral reading activities. The very fact that the name contains the word “Readers”- indicates that it has a strong focus on the text. Text is the most important concept in Readers Theater.

Radio Drama

RADIO DRAMASimilar to script reading with the addition of other sound effects; the painting of the mental picture is important.

Performance Poetry

PERFORMANCE POETRYWhile reading/reciting a poem, the children are encouraged to act out the story from a poem.

Improvisation/Let’s Pretend

IMPROVISATION/LET'S PRETEND A scene is set, either by the teacher or children; with little or no time to prepare a script, the students perform before the group.