DB ASSIGNMENT - PART 1 – 100 WORDS You are blasting back to the past with this Discussion. Go back to one of those memories when you participated in a school play or acted out a story in the classroom. Whatever it was, please share your memories with us here. Tell us how you felt before, during, and after. How did you benefit from participating in drama activities? Describe ways drama can be used in the learning environment. · Is it a significant memory? · Is it good or bad? Why? · How will this influence how you work with creative dramatics? · Did some of your classmates' posts bring back any other memories? DB POST- RESPOND TO WHAT THIS PERSON HAD TO SAY ABOUT THE DB ASSIGNMENT (STUDENT 1) (100 WORDS) I was very shy as a young child and socially immature. I had no fear of speaking or performing but I also had no outlet for it. The elementary school I attended did not put on plays or concerts so even though I wanted to be an actress I never had the chance. When I went to junior high my whole world opened up. I joined chorus and even though I didn't have the best voice I loved preforming. In 7th grade we put on a musical "Cinderella" and I tried out for the lead. I did not get it but my best friend did so I swallowed my disappointment and decided to be the best dirty laundry ever to be on stage. I got to sing a duet and dance. I also got a small role as the girl with Cinderella when she meets prince charming. I felt very special to have 2 roles and the best part was the boy I had a crush on was dirty laundry also. (Prince charming was a total loser!!) The play was a hit and we were invited to perform for our local Rotary club the next week. Off stage I was still very shy and a wall flower but on stage I could be anything I wanted. I did other plays and concerts over the years but the success of this one has always stayed with me. This one play changed me in a lot of ways. It opened up the dramatic world to me and taught me how to react to disappointments. I was able to make the best out of the situation and enjoy the roles I got. I often think about this experience and still 27 years later catch myself singing the songs from the musical. Creative dramatics (Isbell & Raines,2013) uses both mental and physical skills and envolves the whole child. For me it was the outlet I was looking for but for other children it may seem overwhelming. I plan to use my experiences to guide my classroom through the different stages of drama from pantomime, puppet shows and story telling. I will be able to recognize the differences in the children and know that Johnny wants the lead but Alice would rather be a tree. Both roles are important to the success of our performance and Alice can be the best tree ever while Johnny can enhance his vocabulary be learning the lines. Every child can benefit from drama as long as the teacher is supportive and understands how important creative drama can be. References: Isbell, R.T. & Raines, S.C. (2013) Creativity an.

1. DB ASSIGNMENT - PART 1 – 100 WORDS
You are blasting back to the past with this Discussion. Go back
to one of those memories when you participated in a school play
or acted out a story in the classroom. Whatever it was, please
share your memories with us here. Tell us how you felt before,
during, and after. How did you benefit from participating in
drama activities? Describe ways drama can be used in the
learning environment.
·
Is it a significant memory?
·
Is it good or bad? Why?
·
How will this influence how you work with creative dramatics?
·
Did some of your classmates' posts bring back any other
memories?
DB POST- RESPOND TO WHAT THIS PERSON HAD TO SAY
ABOUT THE DB ASSIGNMENT (STUDENT 1) (100 WORDS)
I was very shy as a young child and socially immature. I had no
fear of speaking or performing but I also had no outlet for it.
The elementary school I attended did not put on plays or
concerts so even though I wanted to be an actress I never had
the chance. When I went to junior high my whole world opened
up. I joined chorus and even though I didn't have the best voice
I loved preforming. In 7th grade we put on a musical
"Cinderella" and I tried out for the lead. I did not get it but my
best friend did so I swallowed my disappointment and decided
to be the best dirty laundry ever to be on stage. I got to sing a
duet and dance. I also got a small role as the girl with

2. Cinderella when she meets prince charming. I felt very special
to have 2 roles and the best part was the boy I had a crush on
was dirty laundry also. (Prince charming was a total loser!!)
The play was a hit and we were invited to perform for our local
Rotary club the next week. Off stage I was still very shy and a
wall flower but on stage I could be anything I wanted. I did
other plays and concerts over the years but the success of this
one has always stayed with me. This one play changed me in a
lot of ways. It opened up the dramatic world to me and taught
me how to react to disappointments. I was able to make the best
out of the situation and enjoy the roles I got. I often think about
this experience and still 27 years later catch myself singing the
songs from the musical.
Creative dramatics (Isbell & Raines,2013) uses both mental and
physical skills and envolves the whole child. For me it was the
outlet I was looking for but for other children it may seem
overwhelming. I plan to use my experiences to guide my
classroom through the different stages of drama from
pantomime, puppet shows and story telling. I will be able to
recognize the differences in the children and know that Johnny
wants the lead but Alice would rather be a tree. Both roles are
important to the success of our performance and Alice can be
the best tree ever while Johnny can enhance his vocabulary be
learning the lines. Every child can benefit from drama as long
as the teacher is supportive and understands how important
creative drama can be.
References:
Isbell, R.T. & Raines, S.C. (2013) Creativity and the arts for
young children (3rd ed.) Belmon, CA: Wadsworth Cengag
Learning.
P.S. Angela (Cinderella) and I are still good friends even
though she moved across country, she actually married prince
charming after high school but he is still a loser in my
opinion!!!

3. DB POST- RESPOND TO WHAT THIS PERSON HAD TO SAY
ABOUT THE DB ASSIGNMENT (STUDENT 2) (100 WORDS)
My third grade year was my most favorite school year ever!
During that year my teacher, Mr. Lucker, put forth a lot of
effort to make class fun. He was a musician that played guitar,
and he incorporated that into many lessons. When we weren’t
singing and chanting our lessons, we were busy learning
mnemonic devices. During that year, the school put on a school
wide assembly about Successful. The guest speaker for the
assembly was Tony Robbins, the motivational speaker. The
whole school gathered in the cafeteria to listen, watch, and
participate in the assembly. Each grade put together their own
representation of success. My grade chose to go the
cheerleading route. We made colorful banners as a back drop
for our cheer. About 10 of us actually preformed the cheer on
stage, after many choreographed practices. The cheer went
something like, “S-U-C-C-E-S-S, that’s the way you spell
success! Try your hardest, do your best, that’s the way to be a
success”.
Before going on stage, I felt good about what we were going to
do. We had had some great practices, and everyone knew what
to do. During our performance, I felt exhilarated. My adrenaline
was rushing, and I was hitting all my marks. After the
performance, I felt like a success. After the assembly, I felt
motivated. From participating in drama activities, I benefited by
learning team work, dependability, and how to spell success.
Drama in the learning environment can be used to expand the
imagination, and “develop physical, literacy, language, social,
and emotional skills” (Isbell 249).
According to Isbell and Raines, “creative drama activities
require children to recall personal, sensory-rich experiences and
select dramatic actions to express these images. As children
grow older, drama becomes the extension of their imaginary
play. The connections between imagination and action, begun as

4. a young child, become more flexible and fluent with
experience.” (Isbell 249)
This is a significant memory because 20 plus years I am still
chanting, “That’s the way you spell success”. Every time I have
to spell the word, the chant starts in my head. It’s because of
what I learned during this time that I have never misspelled the
word success. I view this as a good memory, because when I
think back to it, I smile. The influence on my work with
creative dramatics has been to provide memories for the
children. They should be excited about their work, and
remember it always.
Yolanda
Reference:
Isbell, Rebecca, Shirley Raines.
Creativity and the Arts with Young Children, 3rd Edition
. Cengage Learning, 2012-02-24. VitalBook file.
PART 2 – 200 WORDS
The seventh Seminar focuses on the developmental skills
associated with creative drama. You should make every effort to
complete the assigned readings for the unit before the Seminar
so you will be prepared to discuss your topics.
1.
How do you think creative drama matches the developmental
level and learning styles of young children?
2.
What do you think are some of the most important similarities
and differences of socio-dramatic play and creative dramatics?
3.

5. Share an example of how you can integrate socio-dramatic play
and creative dramatics into an early childhood program.