Reflecting on My Drama Lesson

     As part of our drama education we are asked to design and implement a lesson that weaves both drama and other curriculum expectations. With Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences in mind we tried to create a lesson that required the learners to use many skills from different areas to complete the task. While I was teaching the lesson I noticed once again just how effective drama can be at illustrating other curriculum areas and different drama strategies that can be used in order to do so. To show this I will break down the lesson and show how it taught me how drama enriches the learning of other subjects.

     To begin the lesson my group created a minds on activity where students were put into pairs and act as a famous character from ancient mythology. Students not only had to think about what their partner was doing, but also how they could move their bodies to portray the character they had. In order to accomplish this they would need to draw on their knowledge of that person and the traits he or she possesses. For instance, we asked the students to act like Hercules so they flexed their muscles and acted tough. Here a teacher could have a great discussion with the students about who Hercules was and his influence on the culture of his society.

     The main portion of our lesson consisted of the participants interpreting parts of a myth from different societies like Greek, Roman, or Norse, and then perform it for their classmates. In order to do so the groups created storyboards to illustrate the series of tableaux they would present to tell the story. Here a teacher could emphasize the visual arts portion of this activity and teach students about the use of colour or line to express a message. In addition, this activity involves reading comprehension strategies as students read the myth and try to figure out what it means. Often myths contain some sort of moral creating a chance for the teacher to talk about how writers provide hidden messages for their readers to interpret. Finally, this part of the lesson opens up the door for the teacher to talk about how the myths illustrate the ancient society is was written for. For instance, you could discuss how Norse mythology emphasizes the use of violence and pillaging to achieve wealth. Through this lesson students can make history come to life as they envision what these famous people were like and what it would be like to live in their societies.

     As we wrapped up the lesson with the student performances we got a lot of positive feedback from our peers about how the lesson incorporated so many curriculum expectations. From this lesson I learned a significant amount about how drama is a way for students to demonstrate their knowledge of other subject areas and apply a variety of skills crucial to their overall academic success.