Drama

English

Secondary

Behaviour management techniques for active, practical lessons

A drama teacher shares his behaviour management techniques for promoting good behaviour in a lesson which encourages students to move about and express emotion. Simon Druker, a drama teacher at Bonus Pastor Catholic College in south east London, explains his approach to behaviour management in a drama class. Simon operates a clear lesson structure, culminating each time in a performance. He talks about the importance of choosing the right material and building relationships with students over time. While the students tackle the difficult and sensitive subject of child soldiers in Uganda, Simon keeps a keen eye on behaviour.

Behaviour Management in a Drama Class

Bayley helps a KS3 drama teacher improve rehearsal structure

Behaviour management expert John Bayley advises a head of drama who's rehearsing a scene from Jason and the Argonauts with Year 7. Despite her experience, she sometimes finds it hard to keep students on task. In this pedagogy resource, John notes that finding the right balance between play and formal instruction requires careful thought. Both he and Emma Fraser of Moulton School in Northampton are surprised at how little guidance is offered in the National Curriculum. John encourages Emma to give her rehearsals more structure, using a set of guidelines describing how activities should be performed. They both feel this can be done without spoiling the excitement and informality of her Key Stage 3 rehearsals. A day later, during Year 8 rehearsals of Murder in the Red Barn, Emma puts these new ideas into practice.

Dramatic Improvements

Role-playing enables students to uncover black history

KS3 students role-play characters from Mildren D Taylor's book Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry, merging black history with English. Segregation is examined in 1930s America by role-playing characters from Mildred D Taylor's Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry, charting the life of a young girl, Cassie, growing up in Mississippi. Examining the language and social context of the book, students pick a character and track them through the story, gathering evidence about them for their behaviour. By role-playing, they invent scenarios for their characters and imagine how they would resolve the conflicts and moral dilemmas facing black and white characters living through segregation. The lesson is designed for Key Stage 3 classes, but can also be used with Key Stage 2 pupils.

English and Black History - Role-playing 'Roll of Thunder'

Two secondary English teachers step into each other's shoes

In this episode of Classroom Swap, two secondary English and drama teachers exchange classrooms for the day. Ilma Hammond teaches at Heston Community College in west London and is used to exploring drama and movement in a restricted classroom space. At nearby Greenford High School, Georgina Stephens also has to think laterally when organising her teaching area. By swapping classrooms for the day, both teachers are given the opportunity to look at their organisational style and consider what new techniques they could employ. Ilma takes advice on the organisation of desks and Georgina is inspired to involve pupils more in classroom displays. Our expert, architect Gillian Horn, provides helpful tips along the way.

English and Drama

Focusing Year 9 pupils' attention on language and character        

Language is always the hardest aspect of teaching Shakespeare to young people, but this programme aims to overcome such difficulties by focusing on key teaching ideas and techniques that will engage pupils with Shakespeare. Macbeth in the Classroom features Sabrina Broadbent, an English teacher at Hornsey School for Girls in Haringey, as she teaches two lessons on the set scenes for Macbeth to her Year 9 class. In the previous two weeks, she has been reading through the play alongside viewing the Polanski film version of the play. In these two lessons, we see Sabrina engage the class with closer work on language and character in Act 1 Scene 3, one of the set scenes for Year 9 SATs examination in May 2004. Sabrina uses many strategies to make the lesson exciting for pupils, including: Pair work on single lines from the scene Drama work as a way in to thinking about staging Choral reading Analysis of Shakespeare's use of language using an OHP The range of activities on the language of Shakespeare featured here are designed to encourage English teachers to try out more active approaches to reading a text and widen their repertoire of approaches.

KS3 English - Macbeth in the Classroom 1

A group of NQTs discuss an English teacher's classroom techniques  

Macbeth in The Classroom 2 looks at ways of approaching Shakespeare at KS3 from a NQT's perspective. The programme also has some fascinating insights into how an experienced teacher is able to take risks in classroom management and practice. In this programme, NQTs from the Institute of Education meet lecturer in education John Yandell. Together they watch Macbeth in the Classroom 1 and see Sabrina Broadbent working on Act 3 Scene 1 of Macbeth with a Year 9 group at Hornsey School for Girls, London. New teachers are often advised to improve their practice by observing more experienced colleagues. The group: <ul> <li> Talk about the techniques Sabrina uses to get the children involved in understanding and performing difficult Shakespearean language </li> <li> Reflect on the value of those techniques </li> <li> Ask how easy it might be to duplicate them in their own classes </li> </ul>

KS3 English - Macbeth in the Classroom 2

Year 9 pupils explore the themes of Much Ado with role play

Students from Brays Grove Community School join forces with MOPA theatre company to perform a 15-minute version of Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing. Volunteers from Year 9 take on the roles of Don John and Dogberry, whilst exploring themes of evil, comedy and love in the process. Actor Steve Brownlie speaks of the love interest provided by Claudio, Hero, Benedick and Beatrice. While only a few words from the actual text are used, students are encouraged to express their reaction to events in their own language.

KS3 English - Much Ado at Brays Grove

Using drama to engage KS3 English pupils with Shakespeare

English teachers across west Berkshire are using drama strategies to improve results for the Key Stage 3 Shakespeare paper. West Berkshire English consultant Frances Gregory believes teachers should teach Shakespeare with plays, not just books, to encourage pupils to write more confidently. Frances believes Much Ado About Nothing is perfect for drama strategies, with scenes involving conflict between Benedict and Beatrice to which students can relate. Pip Shaw, head of drama, advises English AST and Shakespeare Schools Festival director Carol Horner to allow pupils to discover the characters for themselves.

KS3 English - Much Ado in the Classroom

Pupils at Denbigh High School perform and analyse Richard III

Pupils from Denbigh High School in Luton re-enact extracts from Richard III, analysing both the personalities and motivations of the characters. The pupils discuss why performing the play is preferable to studying it in the classroom and explain why they feel passionate about the play. They believe the play is appealing to pupils of their age because it contains both action and romance.

KS3 English - Richard III at Denbigh High

Using role play to deal with the sinister themes of Richard III

A group of English teachers discover how to teach Richard III as a performance text in a workshop with the Royal Shakespeare Company Learning department. The specially commissioned workshop encourages an emotional connection with the sinister world of the play, using the themes of mistrust and abuse of power. RSC practitioner Rachel Gartside takes the teachers through a collective role play, giving them an anchor into one of the key scenes. The teachers then take turns to read short segments in order to deal with the nervousness of reading in public.

Professional Development for Quality Teaching

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