Using drama in the classroom is a fantastic way to excite your students about learning. Creative drama provides concrete language experiences, motivates learners, promotes independent thinking and allows students to express themselves through movement and interaction Teaching drama does not necessarily mean that you have to add another subject to your already full curriculum. Drama can be used in virtually every subject in a variety of activities. It promotes growth and development while teaching an educational concept in an enjoyable way.

This pathfinder is designed to help you search out activities and materials you can utilize to make drama come alive in your classroom. Each section emphasizes a different area of creative drama. Remember, “To be, or not to be, that is the question.”

Curr/Ref LangArts F663 1981

Curr/Ref LangArts H981 1968

Lollipops Nov/Dec 1997 pg 34

Curr/Ref LangArts G312 1989

Curr/Ref ActBks K52 1993

Curr/Ref PhysEd B479 1987

Curr/Ref PhysEd B479 1996

Curr/Ref PhysEd B479 1996

Musical Drama

The following materials will teach you how to use dramatic music such as opera and musical theater in the classroom.

Curr/Ref Music G317 1988

Oasis Jan/Feb 1997 pg 44

Curr/Ref Music F354 1985

Good Apple Newspaper Sept/Oct 1997 pg 32

Songs in Action by R. Phyliss Gelineau contains over 500 ready-to-use activities that use song to introduce young children to important musical concepts.

Use the article from this Oasis Magazine to teach your class about the world of Opera. It contains a brief history of Opera in addition to activities and reproducible pages that you can use in a social studies or history lesson.

Musical Mysteries by Kathleen Fergusson contains a chapter about musicals. There are activities and reproducible worksheet pages to use with musicals such as Fiddler On the Roof, My Fair Lady, and The Sound of Music.

Introduce your elementary students to the school rules with this Rap from The Good Apple Newspaper. Students will want to follow your classroom guidelines when you present them to this rhythmic beat!

Shakespeare

Below you will find books that can help you teach your students to love Shakespeare and Elizabethan Theater.

Curr/Ref LangArts H221 1993

Curr/Ref LangArts L767 1985r

Curr/Ref LangArts M877 1990

Shakespeare A Teaching Guide by Sharon Hamilton introduces the works of William Shakespeare in an innovative and exciting way. Some activities in this book include pantomime, acting, writing papers, and more.

Romeo & Juliet: Plainspoken by Greta and Susan Lipson is a speech-by-speech modern translation of one of Shakespeare’s greatest plays. This book contains ideas for writing, discussion and improvisation activities.

Shakespeare Make Easy by Muriel Morris is an illustrated approach to teaching plays such as Hamlet, Othello, and the Taming of the Shrew.

Theater & Plays

Following is a list of short plays and reader’s theater you can use in your classroom.

Curr/Ref LangArts B916 1982 a-b

Curr/Ref LangArts B916 1985 a-b

Curr/Sec SocSci Hist 1994 tx 1-18

Short Plays for the Classroom, Primary by Juanita Bryson. 32 fun and exciting plays such as The Three Little Pigs, Jack Sprat, and Hansel and Gretel, to use in your Primary grades classroom.

Short Plays for the Classroom, Primary by Juanita Bryson. 9 fun and exciting plays such as The Clothes Make the Emperor, and Fifth Ring of Saturn to use in your Intermediate grades classroom.

Spotlight on Readers Theatre is a collection of short drama you can use in your intermediate and high school classrooms to teach about historical figures such as George Washington Carver and Paul Revere.

Puppetry

The materials below will provide you with creative ways to make and use puppets in your classroom activities.

Curr/Ref LangArts M366 1998

Curr/Ref LangArts C367 1986

Curr/Ref ActBks S785 1986

Curr/Ref ActBks E92 1987 a-c

Curr/TA

Puppet Tales by Valerie Marsh shows you how to use fresh foods as puppets in telling stories. Bring laughter and learning to your classroom with these 20 stories.

Super Story Telling by Carol Catron and Barbara Parks teaches how to make a variety of puppets from hands, paper plates, and spoons.

Fingerlings by Jean Stangl has great ideas for making and using finger puppets props and stages in your Pre and Elementary classes.

Masks for Oral Language Activities by Joy Evans and Jo Ellen Moore contains cut out masks of people, imaginary creatures and animals. There are 31 masks in all.

Puppets & Masks The Curriculum Library has a variety of puppets and masks you can use for story telling and puppet shows in your class.