7/25/2019 Story Drama Info Sheet

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Story Drama

There are three foundational elements of theatre: community, empathy, and shared

meaning. All three of these elements can be explored through story drama.

When students use drama to explore the themes and issues of a story, they begin to

draw upon their own experiences to see story incidents from the viewpoint of themselves and

others. Experiences in drama promote a literacy that is three-dimensional - it’s not just reading,

but full understanding.

Step one of creating a good story drama is to find the right book. Picture books tend to

be used because though they have few words, those that are there tend to hold resonances of

metaphor, symbolism, and poetry. The book absolutely must have gaps in the story in which

something isn’t clearly told; stories that suggest other stories/stories that show different attitudes

of people are usually best. And finally, the illustrations must be rich and evocative and the

material contained in the story must expand deeper learning in terms of specific curriculum.

With a story drama it’s important to note that:

Anyone can play any role.

It’s best if some personal attachment is felt to the ideas, themes, and/or underlying

human issues present in the story (the story must be engaging).

Key understandings and questions are at the heart of every story.

The structure of story drama is that you present activities to get students interested in/thinking

about the story or some of the themes in the story, and then you follow that by reading the story

and doing more activities to enrich students’ understanding of various aspects of the book.

These activities and games aim to connect the students personal memories to the themes and

morals in the literature presented.