Republic of the Philippines

CENTRAL BICOL STATE UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE

Impig, Sipocot, Camarines Sur 4408
Website: www.cbsua.edu.ph

MODULE prepared by:

Donna Claire B. Cañeza
Instructor
 Week 7-8
Exploring Literature through Drama

I. INTRODUCTION
Drama is a performing art, an outlet for self-expression, and a way of learning. Drama is
an effective learning tool because it involves the student intellectually, physically, socially, and
emotionally. Activities in improvisation, pantomime, play-making, and scene re-enactment serve
to develop the creative potential in the participants and help to develop critical thinking skills.

What is ? Drama is the act of using the imagination to become someone or

something other than yourself. It can take one any place to any period of time. It is only limited by
the imagination, the participants’ fear of risking, or the leader or teacher’s set limitations. Richard
Courtney, a professional in the area of drama in education defines drama as, “The human process
whereby imaginative thought becomes action, drama is based on internal empathy and
identification, and leads to external 6 impersonation”

II. EXPLORE

WEEK 7-8
LESSON DISCUSSION
Exploring Literature through Drama

Drama was used to teach, and as a form of entertainment. The ideas of using drama as a
medium for teaching are not new ideas. However, the western world has yet to widely accept the
use of drama as a teaching medium for the elementary curriculum. Much of the research on drama
in education today can be accredited to scholars in England, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada.
Some arts advocates have succeeded in bringing drama and theatre arts into the schools as an
entirely separate program. Even this is still lacking in numerous 8 schools. Although drama in
education is not a new idea, recent brain and educational research is causing it to grow in
popularity. Educators who use drama to teach their students are finding it to be a very successful
method and therefore, are spreading the word.
Dramatic Arts education is an important means of stimulating creativity in problem
solving. It can challenge students' perceptions about their world and about themselves. Dramatic
exploration can provide students with an outlet for emotions, thoughts, and dreams that they might
not otherwise have means to express.

A student can explore a new role, try out and experiment with various personal choices and
solutions to very real problems-problems from their own life, or problems faced by characters in
literature or historical figures. This can happen in a safe atmosphere, where actions and
consequences can be examined, discussed, and in a very real sense experienced without the dangers
and pitfalls that such experimentation would obviously lead to in the "real" world. This is perhaps
the most important reason for Dramatic Arts in schools."
 The benefits of using creative play as a teaching methodology coincide with the established
goals of education. These include:
 developing the imagination and creativity
 fostering critical thinking and problem-solving skills
 exploring and evaluating idea
 discovering positive ways of dealing with conflict
 expressing feelings and interpreting the feelings of others
 enhancing communication skills
 improving literacy skills

Participation in drama activities provides the teacher with another way to assess the student.
Through dramatic play, students reveal how they organize ideas, solve problems, work in a group,
deal with conflict, and use their imagination. Observing how students dramatize an event offers
valuable insight into how they perceive, interpret, understand, and analyze the material at the core
of the lesson.

Drama has many practical classroom applications for teaching curricular

material. Important concepts, ideas, events, and people can be dramatized through improvisation,
pantomime, and playwriting to stimulate interest, convey knowledge, gain comprehension, and
improve retention.
Drama can be the vehicle for the following applications:

 Role play situations to model/observe new skills or behaviors.

 Develop scenarios to introduce new concepts.
 Dramatize a meeting between characters or historical figures.
 Re-enact a real event.
 Dramatize a scene that might have happened in a story.
 Improvise a scene that expresses the topic or theme.
 Act out scenarios as a way to approach writing dialogue.
 Create literary sketches.
 Stimulate ideas for composing essays, poetry, or fiction.
 Portray famous people.

Drama is a teaching tool that allows students to participate, demonstrate, and observe in a
"controlled," or non-threatening, environment. In other words, it provides another "non-
traditional" opportunity for students to learn and to demonstrate learning. At the same time, drama
helps students get in touch with their creativity and spontaneity as well as to develop confidence
in the expression of their ideas. Finally, it teaches self-discipline, acceptance of and positive
response to criticism, and cooperation with others.
 Drama-based pedagogy (DBP) uses active and dramatic approaches to engage students
in academic, affective and aesthetic learning through dialogic meaning-making in all areas of the
curriculum (Dawson & Lee, 2016).
DBP is a collection of teaching tools (including activating dialogue, theatre games as
metaphor, image work, and role work) designed to be used in conjunction with classroom
curriculum. The beauty of these techniques is that they easily engage students and immediately
help create an environment for focused inquiry and cross-curricular learning opportunities. In
addition, these techniques support a variety of learning styles and will keep your students actively
involved in the learning process. The use of drama as a teaching tool across the curriculum first
gained popularity in the United States in the 1920s as “creative dramatics.” Over the years, teachers
in countries around the world have continued to experiment with and further develop these
invaluable teaching tools.
The American Alliance for Theatre and Education (AATE) defines drama-based learning
strategies (which includes creative drama and drama-in-education) as “an improvisational, non-
exhibitional, process-centered form of drama in which participants are guided by a leader to
imagine, enact, and reflect upon human experiences.” Other terms for drama-based pedagogy
include: creative drama, informal drama, creative play acting, improvisational drama, educational
drama, role drama, and process drama.

Drama-based pedagogy can be integrated into numerous curricular areas. It can be used to
introduce a new concept or theme, check for knowledge, or extend your student’s learning. It can
be used to explore a character’s motivations, infer a story’s outcome, or illuminate facts and
concepts. The instructional techniques emphasize the broader goals of problem-solving and
creative thinking through the creation of a kinesthetic, interactive experience. Using Drama-based
pedagogy you can:
 re-create Galileo, Newton, or Einstein’s presentations of new scientific ideas
 examine tensions in literature such as Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry; Bridge to
Terabithia; Journey To Jo’berg; etc.
 explore events leading up to major historical moments such as the Boston Tea Party,
the battle over the Alamo, or the Civil War, etc.
 solve math story problems literally—as the characters in the story!
 enact struggles over policies such as slavery or apartheid, as well as governmental
representation, the right to vote, etc.
 debate controversies over taking care of rain forests, endangered species, habitat,
drinking water, etc.
 learn language and practice techniques to resolve conflicts, improve self-esteem,
combat racial or gender stereotypes, manage anger, etc.
The curriculum is FULL of dramatic moments and tensions. Drama can help you extract
those tensions from the pages of your textbooks and worksheets and “enact” them with your
students. Ideally this will lead to a classroom of engaged learners who have new and different
perspectives on the topic at hand.
Understanding the philosophy behind the work is important as a facilitator of DBP.
Through constructivist practices we aim to invite students to actively enter the teaching and
learning process. The resulting “creative chaos” can, at times, be disconcerting for some teachers,
but the learning that results will be worth it!
Drama mirrors the ways in which children learn through their early experiences of dramatic
play. As a more structured kind of improvisational role-playing, Drama-based pedagogy generates
and cultivates many cognitive skills. Of these skills, the following are important for ensuring a
student’s success in school:
 language and communication abilities
 problem-solving / critical thinking skills
 decision making capabilities
 creativity and imagination
 collaboration skills
Drama-based pedagogy, when used with structured moments of oral or written reflection,
provides an excellent link between various classroom curricula and the specific knowledge and
skills required for success with the STAR tests.

III. DISCUSSION BOARD

It is good that you have finished reading this materials. Now, let’s have and activity. Carefully
read/discuss/explain the following statement below.

1. "The future of our nation depends on our ability to create-and to be creative. During the
coming decades our most important national resources will be human resources. If our
nation is to continue to meet the challenges of the future, today's schools need to develop
creative leaders."(15 points)

2. ‘A teacher affects eternity: he can never tell where his influence stops.’ –Henry Adams
(15 points)

IV. POST-COMPETENCY CHECKLIST

Post-Test (Formative Assessment)

Think of an activities/techniques/strategies that uses Drama as a teaching tools. Use the table
below in doing this activity. You can create your own or research about it.
Activity Name Topic Instructions Possible Outcome
1.

2.

3.