Drama Play

Bringing Books to Life Through Drama in the Early Years

Kay Hiatt

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2013
• eBook ISBN: 9781136788970
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Early Childhood Education

Looking for effective ways to implement the curriculum creatively. Helping you to plan and deliver drama as a key tool for improving literacy, this book is packed with "read it and run with it" activities. These show how to use stories in combination with basic drama techniques to raise standards in reading, writing, speaking and listening. Illustrated in colour, it: exploits children's love of good stories and role-play in order to make learning fun; provides clear and easy-to-use activities that will enhance understanding of basic drama techniques for teachers and children; includes a checklist to help senior managers assess the whole-school impact of these activities; and offers templates for easy planning. Fun and accessible, this book is essential for teachers and support staff in foundation settings and key stage one classrooms. It shows you how to incorporate key texts into your teaching in a creative and enjoyable way.

Chapter 1

Using this book

The aim of this book is to help teachers use a range of simple drama techniques with confidence and enjoyment. These are outlined in Chapter 2. A series of ready-planned lesson ideas are then offered based on 12 high-quality books for four- to seven-year-olds. All these books are currently in print and easily available from bookshops; several of them are likely to have been purchased already by schools and some are available in Big Book format.

Drama techniques used in the lessons are signalled by the use of different symbols, so that teachers have a quick reference guide for what they will be doing. Every lesson clearly describes what other resources will be needed.

After using the ideas outlined in Drama Play, teachers should be confident in applying them to any good-quality book. In addition, the drama techniques are extremely useful to use across the curriculum with particularly strong links to history, geography, religious education, PSHE, science and art.

To support a whole-school approach to drama, there are two monitoring sheets provided in Appendix 1. These are to be used by teachers, co-ordinators and head teachers. In addition, a list of 15 tried and tested books is provided as Appendix 2.

The 12 titles used in Drama Play are listed below, followed by a brief summary of the story

4-5-year-olds

Bob’s Birthday by Emma Fogden, published by BBC (ISBN: 0 563 47653 2)

Bob is disappointed when everyone seems to have forgotten his birthday. However, everything turns out well as Wendy has arranged a surprise birthday party for Bob and his friends.

Tabby Cat’s Secret by Kathy Henderson, published by Frances Lincoln (ISBN: 0 7112 1882 X)

While the house is being decorated, Tabby Cat leaves and finds a surprising place to have her kittens.

Next! by Christopher Inns, published by Frances Lincoln (ISBN: 0 7112 1696 7)

Set in a toy hospital, Doctor Hopper and Nurse Rex Barker help the sick toys get better.

Snail Trail by Ruth Brown, published by Anderson Press (ISBN: 0 86264 949 8)

Slimy Snail sets out on his trail through the garden and finally goes to sleep.

5-6-year-olds

The Gift of the Sun by Dianne Stewart, published by Frances Lincoln (ISBN: 0 7112 1021 7)

Thulani is lazy and sells off all his animals – in spite of this, he and his wife become rich!

*Anancy and Mr Dry-Bone by Fiona French, published by Frances Lincoln (ISBN: 0 7112 0787 9)

Two suitors, one rich, the other poor, attempt to win the hand of Miss Louise. Rich Mr Dry-bone fails whereas poor but clever Anancy succeeds.

Home Before Dark by Ian Beck, published by Hippo (ISBN: 0 590 19918 8)

Teddy is dropped by Lily in the park on a cold and windy evening. After several adventures he manages to get home.

The Leopard’s Drum by Jessica Souhami, published by Frances Lincoln (ISBN: 0 7112 0907 3)

Osebo the leopard has a magnificent drum and Nyame the Sky God wants it. Several animals try to get it for him but only one is clever enough to succeed – Achi-cheri, the tortoise.

6-7-year-olds

*CamiIIe and the Sunflowers by Laurence Anholt, published by Frances Lincoln (ISBN: 0 7112 1050 0)

This book offers a glimpse of Van Gogh’s life through the eyes of a young boy, Gamille. It also helps to develop an awareness of the importance of friendship which can combat, but not always overcome, local prejudice towards a stranger in town.

*Rama and the Demon King by Jessica Souhami, published by Frances Lincoln (0 7112 1158 2)

This is the story of the brave and good prince Rama and his battle against Ravana, the evil ten-headed king of all demons.

*Little Inchkin by Fiona French, published by Frances Lincoln (ISBN: 0 7112 0917 0)

This is a charming story of a Japanese ‘Tom Thumb’, whose determination to prove himself results in a glittering prize -normal stature and the hand of a beautiful princess.

*The Fire Children by Eric Maddern, published by Frances Lincoln (ISBN: 0 7112 0885 9)

Two spirit people land on Earth and make their home in a cave. They make some clay children to keep them company but Nyame, the Sky-God, keeps making unexpected visits – with some surprising results.

An outline of useful drama techniques

Freeze-frame

Children select a key moment from a story and create a still picture to illustrate what is happening. When the teacher calls freeze, pupils remain still, holding the action for a moment in time.

Using the list of key events provided for each book the class can create a series of pictures to represent the whole story from beginning to end – this is an excellent way to prepare children for writing complete stories.

Improvisation

Children improvise the conversation in the freeze-frame with no prior planning, in role as characters from the story.

Thought tracking

The private thoughts or reactions of a character are spoken publicly. Characters in a freeze-frame can be tapped on the shoulder by a teacher or a child – this signals that the child in role must sp...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Halftitle
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction Drama play: bringing books to life through drama
• Chapter 1 Using this book
• Chapter 2 Key drama techniques exemplified through ‘Red Riding Hood’
• Chapter 3 Foundation Stage Reception class (4–5-year-olds): Bob’s Birthday; Tabby Cat’s Secret; ‘Next!’; Snail Trail
• Chapter 4 Year 1 (5–6-year-olds): The Gift of the Sun: Anancy and Mr Dry-Bone; Home Before Dark; The Leopard’s Drum
• Chapter 5 Year 2 (6–7-year-olds): Camille and the Sunflowers; Rama and the Demon King; Little Inchkin; The Fire Children
• Appendix 1: Monitoring the impact of the use of drama linked to books and across the curriculum: Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1
• Appendix 2: Another 15 useful books for drama