Drama 6
Context

It is expected that students will:

• compare themes and traditions from a range of cultural and historical contexts through drama
• identify various careers related to the dramatic arts
• apply audience skills appropriate to a variety of presentations

To view the prescribed learning outcomes for Context in other grades click on an icon below.

• Following a field trip to a historical site, have the class brainstorm a list of people that may have lived and worked there (e.g., storekeeper, farmers) and a list of situations and problems they may have encountered. Ask students working in groups to choose characters from the first list. Introduce a situation from the second list to each group and have each group, in role, work through solving a problem related to the situation. Maintaining the same situations and roles, students then create new dramas that reflect other historical periods and cultures. Ask questions such as:
  • How did your role change in the different cultures or time periods?
  • How did the situations and problems change in the different time periods?
  • How did the traditions change in the different cultures and time periods?
• After attending a number of presentations, have students record the following information for each presentation on a classroom chart:
  • type of presentation
  • average age of audience
  • size of audience
  • audience response
  Using the data on the chart, ask students to analyse the relationships between the four factors. Invite them to predict audience response for a particular presentation, based on their analysis
• Invite guest speakers involved in a presentation taking place in the community to speak to the class before or after students attend the event. Before the guests arrive, have students in groups use a variety of research sources (e.g., library, the Internet) to gather information related to each guest speaker's occupation. As a class, prepare interview questions for the speakers regarding various aspects of their jobs.

Suggested Assessment Strategies

• When students create dramas that reflect different historical periods and cultures, note the extent to which they:
  • convey and describe similarities in roles and situations across time periods and cultures
  • convey and describe factors that changed according to time period and culture
  • show insight into the reasons for and nature of the changes
  • describe similarities and differences in traditions in various settings
• To check on students' abilities to compare themes from a range of contexts, brainstorm a list of common dramatic themes. Organize the class into groups and assign each group one theme to research and present in a comparison chart. Presentations should include excerpts from at least three different works (e.g., dramas, stories) representing three different cultures or time periods. Look for evidence that the groups are able to:
  • present thorough, accurate information
  • note details and subtleties in the ways themes are treated in different time periods and cultures
  • show respect for cultural diversity
  • choose excerpts that focus on key features of the themes
  • demonstrate appropriate audience skills when viewing one another's presentations After each presentation, have students write, create web charts, or sketch in their journals to reflect on what they have learned about the themes and cultures presented.
• After students have researched several occupations and interviewed guest speakers, look for evidence that they can:
  • identify a variety of roles and jobs related to the dramatic arts
  • connect the skills and attitudes they are developing with those required for different jobs
  • use their knowledge and interests to develop effective questions for their research and interviews
  • use a variety of resources to locate information

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