In the first class, we looked at the use of Tableaus (still and silent representations). Knowing how I felt about drama, I found this to be a valuable technique for the first class. It allowed us to “dip our feet” into drama a little bit and get used to using our bodies to send a message. I felt more comfortable starting off with this activity as opposed to using my voice and body movement to create a scene. While observing a drama class during my block, I found that some students, especially those that are quiet in class, had a hard time with drama. They seemed as though they did not know what to do with their body or their facial expressions. Tableau would be a great first strategy to teach, not only because of the comfort level for students, but also because in this strategy, students can be taught to use various elements when choosing how to position their bodies.
We learned to consider the following:
We learned to consider the following:
These elements of Tableau are a great starting point to introduce to children how they can use their bodies to send a message, and other drama elements and techniques can build off of these nicely!
Combine with Tableau:
Captioning Making - this can be used to help students in taking on the perspective of the characters in the tableau, as their task is to write a caption in a speech or thought bubble to show what the character would be thinking or saying in the tableau.
Combine with Tableau:
Captioning Making - this can be used to help students in taking on the perspective of the characters in the tableau, as their task is to write a caption in a speech or thought bubble to show what the character would be thinking or saying in the tableau.
Accommodating: This activity would work really well in a classroom with children who have disabilities of various kinds. For examples, for children with Selective Mutism, they could participate comfortably in this activity, because no one would be asked to speak. For someone with a physical disability, they could create any position they are capable of and want to create, as there is no requirement for body movement during the scene. This is a great one for all skill levels!