Grade 9 - Context (Social and Cultural Context)

PRESCRIBED LEARNING OUTCOMES

It is expected that students will:

• reflect the cultural variety of their communities in their dramatic work
• identify and explain the influence of the media on their own work in drama
• demonstrate an understanding that theatre is created in response to the needs of the community

To view the prescribed learning outcomes for Context (Social and Cultural Context) in other grades click on an icon below.

SUGGESTED INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES

• Create and perform a story based on diverse ancestral experiences. Generate material for individual or group improvisations on topics of personal relevance (e.g., divorce, gender issues, social and ethnic groupings).
• Set up two groups. Group A will create the threat (e.g., disease, gas, earthquake, windstorm, tidal wave). Group B will create a defence without knowing what Group A has selected. The exercise will become a dramatic presentation using choreography and sound.
• Select a specific culture (e.g., Cantonese) and, with the help of members of that cultural group, design a sensory environment around that culture (e.g., sound effects, objects for touching and viewing). Allow other students to experience the cultural environment (students can be blindfolded). For an interactive experience, bring in speakers from the community as representatives of differing cultures.
• Create and present a dramatic work suited to an event of community relevance (e.g., Canada Day, Remembrance Day).
• Brainstorm local concerns (e.g., land issues, logging, strikes) and collect media references to these concerns. Create a role play solving, probing, or illuminating the problem. Suggested roles: mayor, irate taxpayer, business person, wealthy person, street person.
• Play Genre Switch (see Appendix G).

SUGGESTED ASSESSMENT STRATEGIES

• Have students prepare a research project to examine drama in various cultures (e.g., aboriginal, Asian) with a focus on:
  • the role of drama in each culture (e.g., transmitting and affirming or commenting on traditional values)
  • the political, historical, geographical, and social influences on dramatic arts
  • significant figures, dramatic forms, and costumes
  Review studentsą work and look for:
  • understanding of the elements of drama as they are portrayed in different cultures
  • clear identification of the social influence on staging, costumes, and roles
  • awareness of the purpose and importance of drama in different cultures

RECOMMENDED LEARNING RESOURCES

• Acting Natural
• Christmas On Stage
• The Complete Book of Speech Communication
• Contours: Plays From Across Canada
• Creating with Shakespeare
• Creative Drama in Groupwork
• Drama 14 - 16: A Book of Projects and Resources
• Drama Guidelines
• Now Playing
• Someday: A Play
• The Stage and the School (5/e)
• Storymaking and Drama: An Approach to Teaching Language and Literature
• The Tale of Four Dervishes
• The Theatre and You: A Beginning
• Wings to Fly

• The Making of Tommy Tricker...Himself
• Perspectives on Illusion

Table of Contents

Province of British Columbia
Ministry of Education
Standards Department © 1996 Copyright

Maintained by: Fine Arts Coordinator - Drama

Revised: March 13, 1996

Ministry of Education Home Page