Curriculum & Lesson Planning

If you’re starting out in your drama teacher journey, you will learn very quickly that lesson planning is the bane of your existence. It is never-ending. You may need to show your lessons to an...

Here are some great improv games to work on collaboration skills. Word at a Time StoryStudents sit in a circle. Give them a title for a story. “The Best Birthday Ever.” The story is told one word...

In an age of seemingly endless assessments of our students’ ability to critically read and analyze literature, there is a dire need for them to experience a variety of texts in a variety of formats...

The mirror game is a great stand-by in the theatre class. Students are grouped in pairs and face each other. One acts as the leader, moving their arms, legs, head, face, in a slow steady pattern so...

Your first reaction to using Close Reading in the Drama Classroom might be – Ugh! There’s no way my students will sit still for that. This is the only time they get up and get moving. Fair enough....

One of the keys to Classroom Management is getting students to work well together. Group work is tricky if students don’t know one another. Why should I share something with this guy who doesn’t...

Collaboration has been highlighted as a 21st century skill and an important skill for students to learn. Certainly, students need to know how to work and create with others. The drama class is an...

Use a picture as a jumping off point for writing. Sometimes all students need is a little push to get the writing ball rolling. Use pictures for that push. You can have students create source...

“Go, counsellor: Thou and my bosom henceforth shall be twain.” Juliet, Act III, scene v There are more relationships in Romeo and Juliet than just the one between Romeo and Juliet. We have...

Commedia dell’arte is an improvised comedic theatre form that flourished in Italy in the 1500s. The exact origins of commedia are fuzzy and hard to pin down; there is not much documented previous...

or, “Dipping the Toe Before Diving in the Deep End” Do you use close reading in the drama classroom?Close Reading is an analysis tool. Students read a text multiple times for in-depth...

Students often get hung up on the notion that in the theatre, sets, costumes, and props all have to meet the standard of the movies. The world of the play has to be three-dimensional and real. A...

Here’s one of my favourite acting exercises.You start with a list of descriptive characters. Here are some examples: • A firefighter looking for occupants. • A jealous significant other. • A spy on...

It happens all the time in young or beginning actors. You’re sitting in the audience and out of the corner of your eye you catch it – an actor starts to shift back and forth on their feet. Their...

Breath Control and Projection are critical skills for an actor, but they’re just as critical for drama teachers. The trick is to speak loudly and project without yelling. We often tell our students...

I was one of those math and science kids. But I also loved drama. I started university as a computer science student but left with a degree in theatre. I enjoyed studying calculus, chemistry,...

I am thrilled to be able to introduce this blog post from renowned theatre educator Gai Jones. Gai Jones is a retired theatre educator and the author of Raising the Curtain: Activities for the...

“Every child is an artist, the problem is staying an artist when you grow up” – Pablo Picasso Creativity is a misused, maligned, misunderstood word. Especially in the drama classroom. Many students...