Drama 7
Exploration and Imagination

It is expected that students will:

• select a means of communication to express ideas and emotions in dramatic work
• demonstrate leadership and responsibility within the group
• establish criteria to critique a dramatic work
• demonstrate respect for the perspectives of self and others

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

• Have students create three sets of cards listing nonsense words of one syllable (e.g., mish), two syllables (e.g., ickick), and three syllables (e.g., zallyzo). Divide the class into groups of three and give each group a card from each stack. Have groups then create scenes using only the syllables from their cards. Ask students to select voice and movement that best express their ideas.
• Choose a school or community issue or a news story to explore through drama. Have students (working in groups, pairs, or individually) select ways of communicating their points of view on the issue or story (e.g., students as reporters use a particular slant to cover an event; a group of students use tableaux to show the effect of a natural diaster on the community).
• Provide a concentration activity that works on focus. Divide the class into groups of four and assign each student a number from 1 to 4. Ask each group to try to count to 5 in unison. Have each student use a predetermined nonsense word in place of her or his assigned number when the rest of the group says the number (e.g., when the group says "3," the student who is assigned this number might say "buzz"). When groups have counted to five successfully, they begin counting again, trying to repeat the count correctly three times in a row. In a class discussion, students then analyse why groups were successful or unsuccessful in reaching the goal and what each participant could have done to ensure the success of the others.
• Before beginning their dramatic work, ask students to brainstorm assessment criteria based on drama and group skills. As a class, students select the criteria to be used to assess their work. They then develop criteria charts or posters for the classroom.

Suggested Assessment Strategies

• When students develop activities in which they select ways of communicating ideas and emotions (e.g., using nonsense words, selecting the form for telling a news story) look for evidence that they are increasingly able to:
  • work with a variety of forms, techniques, and strategies
  • approach tasks with confidence
  • use voice and movement to convey ideas and emotions
  • make decisions based on purpose and audience
  • explain the decisions they make
• After a group drama activity, ask each group to discuss, summarize, and present its responses to one or two of the following prompts orally, dramatically, visually, or in writing:
  • How did you organize roles and responsibilities in your group? How did that work?
  • How did you arrange the leadership of your group? Which students took major leadership roles?
  • What process did you use to make decisions (e.g., consensus, leader decided, voting)? How did that work?
  • List two or three major responsibilities that each group member took.
  • Overall, how effectively did your group work together?
• Ask questions such as the following to help students reflect and comment on their roles and responsibilities:
  • When you work in groups, do you sometimes volunteer to take on a leadership role? Why is that role comfortable (uncomfortable) for you?
  • Are you sometimes the reluctant leader when no one else in the group is willing to organize the work? What do you do to involve others in the group?
  • What is the most important thing you've noticed about effective leadership in drama? About supporting a leader?

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