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According to Longley, R. (2019) drama is the portrayal of fictional or non-fictional events through the performance of written dialog (either prose or poetry). Dramas can be performed on stage, on film, or the radio. Dramas are typically called plays, and their creators are known as “playwrights” or “dramatists.”
Performed since the days of Aristotle (c. 335 BCE), the term “drama” comes from the Greek words δρᾶμα (an act, a play) and δράω (to act, to take action). The two iconic masks of drama— the laughing face and the crying face—are the symbols of two of the ancient Greek Muses: Thalia, the Muse of comedy and Melpomene, the Muse of tragedy.
DRAMA IN EDUCATION (DIE)
Drama in education, the literature suggests, is founded on notions of the education of emotions, imaginative insight, the role of creative expression in education, and the effective development of the child. Possibly because of its intangible aims and as yet unarticulated developmental processes, its application within the classroom has not achieved widespread acceptance. Not surprisingly, drama is marked by the diversity of practice, with those involved in the area appearing “unable or unwilling to speak for themselves, with authority and unity in both academic and practical terms” (Norman, 1791)
The development of Drama in Education
Although drama activities have been included in curricula for many years, Clagg (1973) Suggests that drama teaching has not advanced conceptually since Caldwell Cook's pioneering work at Persa School, Cambridge. around the tum of the century. Such a view Is disputed by those who recognize. Slade's (1954), Courtney’s (1967), and Way's (1967) ‘substantial contributions to thinking about the role of drama in education. What is not given serious consideration, however, is the likelihood, implicit in Clegg's position, that the process model of drama in education which has evolved through the intervention of people like Slade has provoked the curriculum issues now surrounding the field.
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Drama in education has evolved into drama for learning, an active, interactive and reflective, shared, creative learning experience based on working in role.
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DIE is viewed primarily as a learning medium, where many skills and strategies used in theatre serve educational goals.
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Within drama in-education lessons the children are invited to shift back and forth, both as participants and as each other's audience, throughout the evolving drama. They are makers, performers and responders within the same drama at different times, while the teacher sculpts the learning.
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In DIE the emphasis is placed on the value of the process for the participants themselves rather than for an external audience.
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DIE Keeps content (i.e. what the drama is about) and form (how it is explored)
References:
https://www.thoughtco.com/drama-literary-definition-4171972 https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00405848409543133?journalCode=htip20 https://humanaseducaciononline.uta.edu.ec/mod/resource/view.php?id=101423&redirect=1
What and where is Drama in the national curriculum When the national curriculum came out in the early 1990s, teachers were expecting drama to be given separate subject status as an art form in its own right alongside music and art. It didn't happen.
Without a statutory curriculum for drama, teachers could cover what they wanted in drama if only they could find some time in which to do it. Unfortunately, most primary teachers did not find that time, and drama as a subject rapidly declined. When the national curriculum was reviewed, drama was made part of the statutory English curriculum as part of speaking and listening. Some drama teachers were pleased that it was now at least part of a statutory core subject.
Drama in education continued to be practiced as a pedagogy, it adapted and evolved in ways that fitted in with the emerging national curriculum requirements and educational demands of the day. Learning intentions were being made more specific and drama lessons were less able to flow with the children's ideas and had to fit more strictly within lesson times.
Lessons became shorter, had greater pace and were linked to national curriculum subject matter. It became increasingly unusual to see sustained, ongoing, cross-curricular, drama-based projects that were developing and sustaining the children's own ideas and were not constrained by lesson timetables.
Structuring the Drama Experience. Drama methods (also known as strategies or approaches) form the bedrock of the subject. They are the tools of the trade. Every drama teacher has a preferred way of using different drama methods, so there isn’t really a definitive rule about what method should be used in what situation, but some work better than others in certain contexts. These are just a small sample of some of the great methods you can use to teach drama. You may use all or only a small number of these
Learning in Drama Learning in Drama involves students making, performing, analyzing and responding to drama, drawing on human experience as a source of ideas. Students engage with the knowledge of drama, develop skills, techniques and processes, and use materials as they explore a range of forms, styles and contexts. Through Drama, students learn to reflect critically on their own experiences and responses and further their own aesthetic knowledge and preferences. They learn with growing sophistication to express and communicate experiences through and about drama. Making in Drama involves improvising, devising, playing, acting, directing, comparing and contrasting, refining, interpreting, scripting, practicing, rehearsing, presenting and performing. Students use movement and voice along with language and ideas to explore roles, characters, relationships and situations. They learn to shape and structure drama including use of contrast, juxtaposition, dramatic symbol, cause and effect, and linear and episodic plot forms. Responding in Drama involves students being audience members and listening to, enjoying, reflecting on, analyzing, appreciating and evaluating their own and others’ drama works.
Knowledge and skills of Drama In Drama, students physically inhabit an imagined role in a situation. By being in role and responding to role, students explore behavior in the symbolic form of dramatic storytelling and dramatic action. In purposeful play, students’ exploration of role sharpens their perceptions and enables personal expression and response. Their intellectual and emotional capacity grows, specifically the capacity to feel and manage empathy. As audiences, students learn to critically respond to and contextualize the dramatic action and stories they view and perceive. Creating, performing and viewing drama enables the exploration of ideas and feelings. The exploration of dramatic forms and styles, and associated cultural, social and historical contexts, diversifies students’ expression, understanding and experience of their world. Students discover and explore the elements of drama, applying principles and making and responding to drama in various forms. The information below outlines the knowledge and skills that students need to develop in drama. Terms specific to this curriculum are defined in the glossary and a hyperlink to examples of bandappropriate knowledge and skills is provided with the content descriptions. The elements of drama The elements of drama work dynamically together to create and focus dramatic action and dramatic meaning. Drama is conceived, organized, and shaped by aspects of and combinations of role, character and relationships, situation, voice and movement, space and time, focus, tension, language, ideas and dramatic meaning, mood and atmosphere and symbol.
Principles of narrative (story) The elements of drama are combined to shape narrative (story) through using contrast, juxtaposition, dramatic symbol and other devices of story.
Viewpoints In making and responding, students learn that meanings can be generated from different viewpoints and that these shifts according to different world encounters. As students make, investigate or critique drama as actors, directors and audiences, they may ask and answer questions to interrogate the playwrights’ and actors’ meanings and the audiences’ interpretations. Meanings and interpretations are informed by social, cultural and historical contexts, and an understanding of how elements, materials, skills and processes are used. These questions provide the basis for making informed critical judgements about their own drama and the drama they see as audiences. The complexity and sophistication of such questions will change across Foundation to Year 10. In the later years, students will consider the interests and concerns of artists and audiences regarding philosophies and ideologies, critical theories, institutions and psychology.
Materials In developing knowledge and skills of drama, students use the materials of their voices and bodies (movement, facial expression, gesture, posture). They also use the production components of props, costumes, lighting, sound and staging equipment and performance spaces.
Drama strategies as 'brain-friendly' thinking frames
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Drama strategies should be carefully selected according to the teacher's learning intentions and purpose.
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Within the creative drama process there is the opportunity for teachers to focus on enabling their pupils to use, develop and apply a range of thinking skills while working in a multi-intelligent and multisensory way.
Drama strategies enable access to a variety of visual, auditory and kinesthetic learning experiences and provide a flexible framework for visual, auditory and kinesthetic modes of expression
The interest in and the development of children’s thinking skills has gathered pace in recent years and it is obvious to the drama specialist that high quality ‘process’drama has much in common with the high quality thinking process
The overall balance of the lesson's activities in relation to visual, auditory and kinesthetic experience, learning and expression; whether the strategies balance in terms of multisensory experiences;
Whether the children have been static or moving for some time;
whether to support a free-flow of ideas for possible development or narrow and deepen the pupils' thinking focus on a particular moment; .
the degree of support and structure required for individuals and different groups of pupils to succeed;
which character or what event or moment they want the children to focus attention on;
whether equality of opportunity to participate actively is possible for all pupils within the overall lesson; the drama linked capabilities and prior drama experience of the individuals and different groups of children; the degree of support and structure required for individuals and different groups of pupils to succeed;
a balance of opportunities to work individually, in groups and as a whole class;
whether equality of opportunity to participate actively is possible for all pupils within the overall lesson;
DRAMA STRATEGIES SUPPORT FREE-FLOW OR FOCUSED THOUGHTS
Too much freedom at the wrong point can immobilize thought and Thoughttracking can give rise to a stream of thoughts.
Both freedom and constraint of thought at appropriate points are essential to the creative process.
Through drama strategies, teachers are able to offer varying degrees of freedom and constraint to the participants at different points in the drama process.
Teachers need to be sensitive to the pupils' creativity at different stages of the drama process, introducing or adapting the basic strategies to free them up or support them as necessary.
NAME THE STRATEGY •
The teacher may decide to introduce adaptations from time to time but what is basically expected from them will already be clearly understood.
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No instruction is necessary about when each person will have their opportunity to speak. The children will know what carrying out a certain strategy involves and can set it up with little, if any prompting.
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If children are made aware of what is basically expected organizationally in relation to specific named strategies, this will save a considerable amount of the teacher's 'setting up' time.
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Children benefit from knowing and using the language of drama. Even with young children, teachers should name the strategies they are using and help them to build their conceptual map of that strategy in action.
LINK THE STRATEGIES TO WHAT THE CHILDREN ALREADY KNOW AND UNDERSTAND
Television and videos are a huge factor in children's understanding of dramas. This knowledge can be very useful in teachers to help in the teaching of theater and help children understand strategies such as Freeze-frame and techniques such as flashback, slow motion, etc.
Children can also imagine themselves in drama as creators of fiction, as filmmakers and editors of their own dramas. By using different dramatic strategies as if they were editing tools, the soundtrack of your dramatic scenes can be rejected or edited. Scenes can be rewritten, filmed, or played back. Images can be modified and enhanced.
Theater strategies allow the teacher to ensure that all children (and the teacher) stay inside and can contribute to a Big Picture drama for the whole class. Everyone is empowered, through the developing framework of various strategies, to create and contribute to the whole, to the bigger picture of evolving class drama.
PLAY WITH THE STRATEGIES
Drama strategies are infinitely adaptable and open to development by teachers. The more experienced and confident teachers become at using them, the more experimental they can feel about playing with them
It is important as a teacher to be able to feel playful and creative. Reflective and experienced drama teachers can break free from the notion that they must follow drama strategies to the letter.
A strategy is after all just that - and strategies evolve. Alert teachers are on a voyage of professional discovery in every lesson and are working on a level that is sensitive to the learners' thinking and understanding.
Drama strategies are infinitely adaptable and open to development by teachers. The more experienced and confident teachers become at using them, the more experimental they can feel about playing with them
TEACHER IN ROLE
WHAT IS IT ?
Teacher in role (TiR) is an invaluable technique for shaping the dramatic process and developing students’ learning. Simply put, the teacher or facilitator assumes a role in relation to the pupils. This may be as a leader, an equal, or a low-status role – whatever is useful in the development of the lesson.
Teachers choose roles carefully in order to engender different interactions and dynamics within the context of the dramatic environment. Adopting different roles in a fictional setting and allowing students to explore the information of the setting through dialogue is an interactive and engaging method of teaching.
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IMPORTANT POINTS
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There are several inescapable reasons why you should not be afraid to step into role and why it will expand your teaching immeasurably. 1. Principles of good teaching stress the importance of accessing the children's knowledge and scaffolding their learning upon it. So often we begin with their supposed ignorance, by virtue of the fact of our age, authority and the knowledge of the curricular area that we have acquired.
Secondly, if the children can see that their teacher is taking the drama seriously, and being involved in it, this will reinforce their own seriousness (though it might take some practice before they are comfortable with the teacher joining in and encouraging their play in the classroom).
Teacher-in-role empowers the teacher to manage the structure and alter the action while the drama is running, instead of being stranded on the sidelines and having to continually stop the drama. Inrole, you can provide a lead and also incorporate fresh, important contextual information indirectly
FREEZES / STILL IMAGES
What is it? Individuals or groups devise an image using their own bodies to crystallize a moment, idea, theme, or picture. Contrasting images can be made to represent actual/ideal, dream/nightmare versions. This method highlights important moments and focuses thoughts and ideas in a simplistic but very powerful way.
How does it work? A good way to explain a freeze frame (also known as still image) is that it is like pressing the pause button on a remote control, taking a photo or making a statue. The images can be made quickly without discussion, or they can be planned and rehearsed.
How effective is it? Freeze frames are a quick and effective way to start a drama session. They can easily be used with any age from children to adults. Participants create an image using their bodies with no movement. Freeze frames can be made by individuals, small groups or even the whole group.
How to develop it? Freeze frames are quick to create but they can be used as steppingstones to more sophisticated drama activities and performances. This video shows a group of teachers on a course with a teacher developing a movement/dance piece from a sequence of three freeze frames about WW2 evacuees. It also shows how we used dance/movement to explore science themes.
ACTION CLIP Action Clip
Working with freeze frames is a very accessible drama strategy, suitable for those new to drama as well as old hands. It is only a small step to move from still images into improvisation just follow these simple steps to create an Action Clip 1 Start with a freeze frame created by a group. 2 Use thought tracking to find out what each of the characters are thinking and feeling. 3 Explain that you would like the group to bring the scene alive for a few moments with speech and movement. Initiate this by saying “or simply clapping your hands to start the scene. 4 Let the improvisation run for a short time ideally before the performers run out of steam and then end it with another signal such as “Cut! ”,“ or by clapping your hands a second time. The improvisation will usually last for just a few seconds and certainly, no longer than one minute.
-Action Clip gives the students the opportunity to enjoy acting out a small part of the story without worrying about how to start or finish the scene. -The teacher can easily control how much is shown, especially if the students start to repeat themselves or run out of things to say. -After a few sessions of working in this way students will become more confident about devising and presenting short scenes.
FOR EXAMPLE: -Fairy tale tableaux are a good place to start simply ask small groups to choose a fairy tale and create three still images (Beginning, middle and end) -Improve students’ vocabulary skills by asking them to illustrate a word or phrase in a story using a still image. -Fun can be had making group objects that turn from one thing into something else for example Cinderella’s pumpkin turns into a coach, mice into horses, a rat into a coachman, and lizards into footmen. -In Science, groups can develop a series of images showing the process of metamorphosis (e.g., caterpillar to butterfly or frogspawn to frog).
Through Still Image and Freeze-frame you can: -hold a dramatic moment still for shared critical analysis, inter-thinking and interpretation -offer a shared, common visual focus -deepen engagement and concentration and focus attention on parts of and whole images -support the critical analysis of key moments -stop the drama moving on superficially at too fast a pace -invite and generate curiosity and discussion around important moments and characters within them -encourage individual and shared reflection and evaluation -provide a memorable visual image -stimulate the next part of the drama Sequencing images Making and presenting a series of still images can enable children to focus on tagging, linking and making sense of a series of key moments in a drama. If the images represent different moments in time, then they can provide a chronological timeline visually.
Multiple Images A single moment in time can be represented by a range of devised images all linked to a particular moment. This enables a single moment to be represented visually in a variety of ways- for example devising images of the same moment in different places, such as inside of many different houses in a village just as “story time” is about to start. We may ask older children represent a character’s conflicting thoughts or feelings, through symbolic still images or shapes.
Still and moving image A devised still image in a drama can be activated and brought to life for a few moments (through improvisation) and then frozen again as a Freezeframe image This is a bit like starting with a paused film clip, which is played and then paused again. The moving images in drama can be rewound and replayed at different speeds. The image can also be played or replayed silently or with dubbed sounds or speech. Thinking aloud in and through the image A still image either devised or else arrived at through Freeze-frame can be linked to Thought tracking, with the characters within the image being asked to speak their thoughts aloud at the exact moment depicted within the image Speaking aloud in and through the image A devised still image or Freeze-frame (frozen action) can be developed further by holding the image still while each of the characters within the image is invited to speak aloud what they think their next utterance would be.
Both speaking and thinking aloud through the image If characters at a particular 'held' moment are asked to speak a character's next utterance and thought aloud then an incongruity of thought and utterance may be revealed. The reasons or motives for this can be considered and discussed with the class — for example, 'Why is it that a character might be thinking one thing yet saying another at this moment? Confusion? Dishonesty? Fear of the sack? Asking questions of characters in the image When a moment is held still through either a devised image or a Freeze-frame, those studying or 'reading' the image will begin to have their curiosity aroused and will try to interpret and make meaning of the presented image. Linked to Hot seating, the characters within the image can be questioned by the audience at the exact dramatic moment portrayed and will answer in role. The still image holds the moment still to give time for the revealing of the different characters' motives' thoughts and feelings at a particular moment.
Asking questions of objects within the image Still images may contain objects (as well as characters) if the children that are empowered to speak u— for example' become objects and/or geographical features within an imagined landscape. They can commentate on the action, characters and events as inanimate, longstanding eyewitnesses
More visual and reading information about Still Image: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIueLbP7NOI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvP7dsC7WKc https://conference.iste.org/uploads/ISTE2017/HANDOUTS/KEY_109666902/StillImage.pdf
CONSCIENCE ALLEY Action Clip A conscience alley is a technique for student debate that draws all learners into the collaborative development and presentation of an argument. Learners work in teams to develop a compelling argument in response to a question set by the teacher, as in a classic debate. In a conscience alley, teams present their arguments at the same time to a neutral adjudicator, who hears both sides then select the most compelling argument.
This challenges learners to communicate their argument in a manner that is simple enough to understand quickly, yet compelling enough to capture the attention of the adjudicator. While students are learning from home, this activity can be simplified and facilitated using online word processor tools. The conscience alley can become a written document that engages learners in the same critical thinking, collaboration and persuasive communication as the original activity. Video for a better understanding https://youtu.be/-Hs0LirW9v8
A useful technique for exploring any kind of dilemma faced by a character, providing an opportunity to analyze a decisive moment in greater detail. The class forms two lines facing each other. One-person (the teacher or a participant) walks between the lines as each member of the group speaks their advice. It can be organized so that those on one side give opposing advice to those on the other. When the character reaches the end of the alley, she makes her decision. Sometimes known as Decision Alley or Thought Tunnel.
This drama technique can easily be applied to a range of subjects across the curriculum, whenever a character is faced with a decision. It may be that you reach a certain point in your drama lesson, or while reading a story aloud, or describing an historical event, when such a moment occurs. Turn the situation round on the children/students so that they have to consider the issues involved. Then in role as Abraham Lincoln, or Oliver Twist, or Red Riding Hood, you walk down the Conscience Alley as members of the group whisper their advice to you.
For example: Ask the pupils to create two lines; approximately a metre apart, each line taking an opposing viewpoint. Pupils could choose which side of the argument they wish to voice or be told which viewpoint to take. Pupils who lack confidence can ‘pass’ e.g., by clapping or repeat a comment that has already been spoken. One pupil is then chosen to walk between the two lines as each side voice their thoughts. This pupil then has to decide what their decision will be. The pupil can be asked to walk through the alley more than once. Alternatively, a number of pupils could take turns. This means that pupils in line could: • Voice more than one argument • Add gestures • Use appropriate expression • Improve their argument
The pupils in the lines could represent part of the setting e.g. the walls of Ann Frank’s room, the pages of her diary, her pen, the German trucks outside in the ghetto and voice their thoughts in role. The activity could be developed as a ‘paired improvisation’ or ‘telephone conversation’ allowing pairs of pupils to extend their argument into a short discussion. Skills • Deepen understanding of situation • Develop empathy • Consider and voice differing view points • Use persuasive language • Take on character roles • Discuss and reflect on character motivation and actions
THOUGHT TRACKING What is it?
Action Clip
A thought-track is when a character steps out of a scene to address the audience about how they’re feeling. Sharing thoughts in this way provides deeper insight into the character for an audience. In rehearsal it’s an effective way of exploring characters and scenes in greater depth. Stopping the action and sharing thoughts enables the actor to fully understand how their character thinks or feels at any given moment. Sometimes the character might feel something different to the words they’re speaking. This is called subtext and thought-tracking is a useful way of exploring it to realise the many layers within a scene. Thought tracking (also called thought tapping) is a quick-fire strategy enabling children to verbally express their understanding of characters and situations without the need for rehearsal. Students gain confidence to speak in front of others, preparing the ground for them
to move into extended improvisation. It is surprisingly easy for pupils to identify with a role and express their thoughts after holding a still image for a few moments. The teacher can efficiently gather feedback from all the students. Thought tracking is a natural follow-up to still images and freeze frames. Once children have made an image, explain that when you tap them on the shoulder you would like them to speak the thoughts or feelings of their character aloud. At the beginning this may just be one or two words, but children will soon gain confidence to express themselves in longer sentences. It doesn’t take long to thought-track each child in a group so that you reveal a wide range of attitudes and feelings from different characters. We can use thought-tracking to: - Create and share the thoughts of one character at a particular moment in the drama - Create and share the thoughts of one character at various moments in the drama, (revealing whether or not their thinking has changed over time) - Create and listen to the thoughts of different characters at the same moment in the drama (revealing a range of inner thoughts) - Create and listen to the thoughts of various characters at different times in the drama (thus revealing which characters’ thinking has shifted) - Generate a soliloquy (thinking aloud) - Generate content for an improvised monologue (which might subsequently be scripted). Thought-tracking can be ‘set up’ in various ways: Individual and collective thoughts: The inner thoughts of one character might be spoken by only the person role-playing that character. Alternatively, several people might be asked to speak out loud the one character's inner thoughts Stepping into the scene (as ‘thoughts’): Teachers can freeze a scene and then invite other students to step into it, stand close to a character and voice that character's thoughts. One character can end up with several people standing alongside or behind them, voicing their inner thoughts.
Replaying scenes (with or without the addition of ‘inner thoughts’): Characters’ inner thoughts during scenes can be replayed in various ways, for example: We can just hear the characters talking aloud to each other (without revealing their inner thoughts) The scene can be replayed, with each character pausing after speaking, (to allow someone else to speak their inner thoughts for them) The scene can be replayed with the direct speech now mimed by the characters, with just the inner thoughts of the characters being spoken by their shadows throughout. Time sequencing a character's thoughts: Students can be asked to devise two or more still images that depict different significant moments in the drama. At least one of the characters will appear in every scene. This can help us highlight and track changes in a character's thinking during the drama.
Passing thoughts: The students stand in a circle. A character stands in the middle. The students in turn can decide to cross the circle, walk past the character and speak the character's thoughts aloud as they pass by. Variations of this are that: -As they pass by, they can speak their own ‘in role’ thoughts about the character in the centre -As they pass by, they can speak their personal, ‘out of role’ thoughts about the character in the centre -They can speak directly to the character as they pass by, (rather than about them. What might we do with a character's inner thoughts? Thought collage: Thoughts that have already been gathered through thought-tracking can then be used to create together a Thought Collage, (a type of Voice Collage). The students stand close together, with their eyes closed. They improvise together ‘blind’, using the character's thoughts. They can use changes in volume, repetition, words, phrases or whole sentences. Their collective ‘thought collage’ should gather momentum, reach a crescendo and then gradually slow down and end in silence.
HOT-SEATING What is it? The method may be used for developing a role in the drama lesson or rehearsals, or analyzing a play postperformance. Even done without preparation, it is an excellent way of fleshing out a character. Characters may be hot-seated individually, in pairs or small groups. The technique is additionally useful for developing questioning skills with the rest of the group.
Example
How do you do hot seating? The traditional approach is for the pupil playing the character to sit on a chair in front of the group (arranged in a semi-circle), although characters may be hot-seated in pairs or groups. It is helpful if the teacher takes on the role of facilitator to guide the questioning in constructive directions. If the background of the character is familiar to the pupils, then it may not be necessary for those playing the characters to do much preparation. Although some roles obviously require research you may be surprised at how much detail students can add from their own imaginations. It is important that the rest of the group are primed to ask pertinent questions.
Topic: Luca by Enrico Casarosa Teacher’s role: He/she is going to divide into two groups (characters and spectators). Also, he/she prepares the students, in this case, Luca who is going to sit in the hot seat, so the student is ready to replay the questions. Student’s role: The group of spectators will select a character, in this case, the main character LUCA, to whom they will ask different questions such as: Why did he choose this character? or what did he like about this character?
Key points A technique for students to answer questions from the group whilst in the role. Characters can be placed ‘on the Hotseat’ away from the drama, or respond from within it. It’s a great way of developing character, and gaining greater understanding of a character’s actions and motivations. With younger children, teachers can place themselves on the Hotseat and respond in role to answer questions from the class.
References: https://dramaresource.com/hot-seating/ https://www.twinkl.es/teaching-wiki/hot-seating
To sum up hot-seating is an exercise for developing a role in drama lessons, rehearsals and other creative arts. Although this approach isn’t set in stone for artbased environments. You can adapt this technique for all sorts of situations, like World Book Day or knowledge tests on historical figures.
ROLE IN THE WALL
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In Role on the Wall, the outline of a body is drawn on a large sheet of paper, which is stuck onto the wall. This can be as simple as a drawing of a gingerbread man (download template below), or the teacher can carefully draw around one of the participants lying on a roll of paper. Alternatively you can project an image onto the paper and draw around the silhouette.
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Words or phrases describing the character are then written directly onto the drawing or stuck on with sticky notes. This drama technique can be carried out as a group activity or by individuals writing about their own character. You can include known facts such as physical appearance, age, gender, location and occupation, as well as subjective ideas such as likes/dislikes, friends/enemies, opinions, motivations, secrets and dreams.gg
Directions Draw a large outline of a head/shoulders or human figure on paper; leave plenty of space to write inside and outside the figure. Name the character for the group and provide any necessary context. Invite the group to name out words, phrases, or messages that this specific person might receive. Write student responses on the outside of the figure. When a “message” is offered, invite participants to think about where it comes from. Connect messages to the messenger visually on the paper through color or a line and encourage students to find multiple answers. Types of responses can also be grouped together on the paper to provide further visual organization. Next, ask students how the character might feel inside, based on the outside messages, and write those feelings on the inside of the figure with another color. Finally, ask students to connect specific “outside” messages to the inner feelings, and draws lines between those connections on the figure.
Notes • You can vary the approach, for example known facts can be written around the silhouette, and thoughts and feelings inside •
Key lines spoken by the character can be added
• The class can return to add more ideas, thoughts and feelings as they discover more about the character over time •
Sticky notes can be moved around and grouped thematically
• Role on the wall can be used as a way to develop ideas for improvisation or rehearsal • The approach can be used for historical people or for creating fictional characters
Mantle of the Expert is an education approach that uses imaginary contexts to generate purposeful and engaging activities for learning. Within the fiction the students are cast as a team of experts working for a client on a commission. The commission is designed by the teacher to generate tasks and activities that fulfil the requirements of the client as well as create opportunities for students to study wide areas of the curriculum.
A class of students are cast (within the fiction) as a team of archaeologists excavating an Egyptian tomb for the Cairo Museum. To complete the commission they research ancient Egyptian history – learning about tombs, artefacts, and rituals – and in the process study history, geography, art, design and other subjects, as well as develop their skills in reading, writing, problem solving, and inquiry.
The technique can be used to actively explore issues across the curriculum through drama, empowering pupils by giving them an opportunity to assume responsible roles and make decisions in guiding the outcomes. In the UK, many schools are adopting Mantle of the Expert as a cross-curricular approach.
Mantle of the Expert works by the teacher planning a fictional context where the students take on the responsibilities of an expert team. As the team, they are commissioned by a client (within the fiction) to work on a commission, which has been planned by the teacher to generate tasks and activities that involve them in studying and developing wide areas of the curriculum
Eavesdropping is a great ESL activity to get students talking and listening to each other. It can be great practice for conversational elements/strategy (for example: tone, assertiveness), key expressions (e.g. idioms, phrasal verbs), specific details (e.g. recording phone numbers) and more.
Etymology
Techniques
The verb eavesdrop is a back-formation from the noun eavesdropper ("a person who eavesdrops"), which was formed from the related noun eavesdrop ("the dripping of water from the eaves of a house; the ground on which such water falls").
Eavesdropping vectors include telephone lines, cellular networks, email, and other methods of private instant messaging. VoIP communications software is also vulnerable to electronic eavesdropping via infections such as trojans. into the eaves (overhanging edges of the beams in the ceiling) of Hampton Court to discourage unwanted gossip or dissension from the King's wishes and rule, to foment paranoia and fear, and demonstrate that everything said there was being overheard; literally, that the walls had ears.
Network attacks Network eavesdropping is a network layer attack that focuses on capturing small packets from the network transmitted by other computers and reading the data content in search of any type of information. This type of network attack is generally one of the most effective as a lack of encryption services are used. It is also linked to the collection of metadata.