Task 2 Devising activity and deciding drama technique

Select a significant part of the adapted script. Decide ONE drama technique and
ONE drama activity that you think is appropriate to be used with the extract.
Explain how you would use the drama technique and the drama activity in the
language classroom.
In order to utilize the adapted script of Three Little Pigs in a language
classroom, I would use drama technique of still pictures while conducting a role
play activity. The rationale for me to choose this role play activity is that it is an
excellent way for pupils to experience others thought and also engage them in
speaking task which is beneficial to language learning. On the other hand, the
drama technique, still pictures, gives pupils a chance to express their feelings
and thoughts on a scenario or character. This is also a good way of practicing
students instantaneous speech.
Rather than choosing a selected part of the adapted script for the whole
class, I would rather divide pupils into five groups and have them to take a
different section of the adapted script for role play. This is because the characters
are not many in the story and some students might not have any role to play or
hold no duty during the implementation of the activity. Besides that, acting out the
whole script would give children a better idea on the logical flow of the story
starting from the scene of farm house to a mountain, followed by a straw house,
a wood house and a brick house.
In order to carry out this role play activity, I would first explain this activity
to the students and provide them with adapted script. The number of pupils in a
group, allocated time, date and time of role play activity as well as the audiences
are informed to the students beforehand. As a teacher, I should facilitate
discussion among students to choose a leader among each group. I would also
have them to set up a committee in which all students hold a responsibility. There
would be posts such as director, script writer, props manager and actors.

After teachers explanation, the preparation of the activity now shifted to

students as they need to carry out their duty. The leader has to make sure that all
things run smoothly while teacher needs to keep his eyes on the students
progress. Teacher can offer help to students such as to prepare materials of
straw, wood and brick for students to use during the activity.
When it comes to the part of the role play activity, students take a role of
the character in the script. They act out how a character feels and say their lines
out (Nickerson, 2007). At several points, still pictures can be incorporated into
this activity. According to Drama Resource, this is a drama technique where
characters create images by staying still or more commonly known as freeze
(2015). The role play activity stops temporarily and teacher initiates discussion
about the characters feeling or the appropriateness of an act with the students.
The pupils can voice out their opinion on the scenario or characters too.
However, the use of still pictures should not be too frequent because this
adapted play script is not too long so many pauses would interrupt flow of the
story.
An example of using still images technique is that when the straw house
falls, characters on the stage stay still. The teacher can then ask students on
what had happened and why this situation could happen. Teacher can also
provoke students feeling on the piggy and ask them what are thoughts of the
piggy would be. Therefore, it can encourage students to empathize with the
position and feelings of others.
After the role play activity, a discussion should be carried out to examine
the strengths and flaws of the activity. Any suggestion on how to improve the
performance should be jotted down too. After that, teacher can further facilitate
students discussion on an extended version of the story. Teacher can let
students to think about what actions would be taken by the first and second pigs,
whether they would build their own house or live together with the third pig. Such
discussion is thought-provoking and sharpens students critical thinking and
creativity. The extended version of the story would be discussed in the class and

as homework, students need to write down their own version of extended story in
the exercise book.