included here are some activities you can conduct to effectively teach drama, its importance and how to do it.

1. Making it work in the classroom

2. Tableaux/Still
ImageWhy do it?
This is a technique frequently used in drama.
It is the perfect way to begin drama work as it is
an easy and non threatening exercise for groups
with little or no previous drama experience.
Still-image work requires and helps to
develop team-working skills.

3. It is a very controlled form of expression
which creates pictures that can be interpreted by
the class – a picture is worth a thousand words!
It is also a very good way to represent
potentially difficult concepts – such as fights, and
abstract ideas like freedom or sadness etc.

5. Thought
TrackingWhy do it?
Thought-tracking allows the audience to hear
the inner thoughts of a character. This can be
used with a scene that is ‘frozen’ for a moment or
can be used to track the thoughts of characters
within a still-image

6. Thought-tracking encourages pupils to
reflect on the action of the drama and
consider the point of view of the character
they are playing.
By allowing the group to hear the thoughts
of all characters in the scene/still image,
thought tracking encourages an awareness
of the views of others and the potential
consequences of events/actions.

7. How to do it?
A group should be frozen mid-scene
(preferably at a pivotal moment in the story) or
in a still-image.
Explain that you are going to enter the
picture and tap members of the group on the
shoulder.
Make it clear that when you do this, you want
the person to speak aloud the thoughts of
his/her character at that moment.

8. Emphasize that you want them to speak the
thoughts as that character,
e.g.“I can’t believe he would do this to me”
When all the characters have been “thought-
tracked”, the scene can continue, or another still-
image explored.

9. Ways you could use it
The groups can be divided into pairs, where
one person plays a character and the other plays
his/her shadow.
During a scene, characters can be
accompanied by their shadows, which speak the
inner thoughts of the character.

10. This use of the technique is effective to deepen
understanding of the potential conflict between
outward appearance and inner thoughts.

13. Hot Seating
Why do it?
Hot seating allows the class (working as
themselves) to question or interview people in
role. This can help the group learn more about a
character’s point of view.

14. How to do it?
One person sits in a chair facing the rest of
the class.
The class can ask questions of the character
in the hot seat.
These will probably be questions to flesh out
the group’s knowledge of that character.

15. It is important that the person being ‘Hot
Seated’ stays in character for the duration of the
Hot Seating session.
The person being questioned should answer
in accordance with what s/he already knows
about the character.
What if a questioner requires more
information?

16. Ways to do it
The teacher can be in role as a character from
the drama to which the group would like to ask
questions.
Alternatively, the class sits in a circle and the
teacher in role sits inside the circle, facing the
hot seat on which there is an item of
clothing/prop.

17. The group asks questions as the character
symbolized by the hot seat and the teacher in
role must answer the “character” in the hot seat.

19. Conscience Alley
Why do it?
this can be a means of exploring a character’s
mind at a moment of crisis and of investigating
the complexity of the decision they are facing.

20. How to do it?
The class create two lines facing each other.
One child in role as a particular character walks
down the ‘alley’ between the lines.
Children voice the character’s thoughts, both
for and against a particular decision or action
that the character is facing, acting as his/her
conscience before making a decision about the
course of action to take.

22. Think-Pair -
ShareWhy do it?
The think, pair, share strategy increases the
kinds of personal communications that are
necessary for students to internally process,
organize, and retain ideas (Pimm 1987).
In sharing their ideas, students take
ownership of their learning and negotiate
meanings rather than rely solely on the teacher's
authority (Cobb et al. 1991).

23. Students have the opportunity to learn higher-
level thinking skills from their peers, gain the
extra time or prompting they may need, and gain
confidence when reporting ideas to the whole
class.

24. How to do it
Think: Students think independently about
the question that has been posed, forming ideas
of their own.
Pair: Students are grouped in pairs to
discuss their thoughts. This step allows students
to articulate their ideas and to consider those of
others.

25. Share: Student pairs share their ideas with a
larger group, such as the whole class. Often,
students are more comfortable presenting ideas
to a group with the support of a partner. In
addition, students' ideas have become more
refined through this three-step process.

26. Ways to do it
In the "share" step of the strategy, students
can share their ideas in several ways. One way is
to have all students stand, and after each student
responds, he or she sits down, as does any
student with a similar response. This continues
until everyone is seated.

27. Another way is to move quickly through the
class, having students respond quickly, one after
the other, or to have a class vote.
Responses can be recorded on an overhead
projector or on a graphic organizer for future
discussions.
Another variation is to stop after the "pair" step,
and have students write their ideas. Collect
students' responses and assess any problems in
understanding.

28. Hope you learned a lot!