To successfully teach drama to middle school students, one must balance fun games with more serious scene study and improvisation. It is important to have a final project for students to work towards over the term. Lessons should be structured to regularly work on the final project while also covering various drama topics like movement, voice, and improv. The start of each class should include warm-up exercises in movement and vocals. Students should be exposed to different concepts but not allowed class to become solely long improv sessions without learning objectives. Figuring out what engages each group of students is key to effective classes.

1. HOW TO TEACH
DRAMA TO MIDDLE
SCHOOL STUDENT

2. To teach drama to middle school students
successfully, you need to find the balance
between the games and playtime that is
used with younger students, and the serious
scene study and improvisation studies that
are undertaken with high school students. If
you can find the balance between the fun
and the serious approach to drama with
middle school students, you have a much
greater chance that your students will both
absorb and enjoy the class. They need to
have fun, but they will also enjoy a certain
amount of challenge.

3. PICK A FINAL PROJECT TO WORK
TOWARDS
You can pick a script that will work well for
the students in your class, or dedicate a
portion of the class to creating an ensemble
show that is written collectively. The
important thing is to have a final result in
mind for the term or session, however long it
may be. This gives the students something
to focus on and work towards.

4. STRUCTURE YOUR DAYS OR
LESSONS
You should always come back regularly, and
at least once per class or session, to the
work on the final project. However, students
at this age certainly do not have the
endurance to only work on one thing
throughout a term. Instead, intersperse work
on the project with lessons on a variety of
important drama topics. Let the students
know the schedule. This helps structure the
work time for them and can help keep them
focused.

5. USE THE START OF CLASS FOR
FUNDAMENTAL AND WARM UP WORK
Basic movement and vocal exercise can
help make the students become more
familiar with the tools that they have at their
disposal. Mirror exercises or slow motion
work are good physical exercises. Tongue
twisters and singing can provide an
introduction to proper vocal technique.

6. EXPOSE THE STUDENTS
Expose the students to many different
concepts and ideas during the lessons that
come in between work on the project and the
warm-up sessions.
Clowning, improvisation, character
work, physicality and movement, voice
work, mime, dialect study and more can all be
worked on, even with middle school children.
Improve is often especially fun for them, but
don't give into the urge to let class become
one long improve game session with no
learning objectives in mind, except once in a
while as a reward session.

7. TIPS
Every group of middle school children is
different, and the better you are at
listening to them, the better your classes
will be. Figure out what type of work is
engaging to them, and try and focus on
it. If they feel like they are in charge of
creating something, they will become
engaged and passionate about the
process. If they feel like they are being
told what to do and how to do
something, they will quickly become
bored.