Facebook Pixel Skip to main content
Drama Teacher Academy Theatrefolk - The Drama Teacher Resource Company
Sign in Sign up Search
PD Course

The Top Ten Playwriting Exercises

Created by Lindsay Price

11 modules 3 hours, 1 minutes 6 Credit Hours playwriting

The Top Ten Playwriting Exercises Course not only gives you ten great exercises to ease your students into the playwriting waters, it's also going to give you the confidence to teach playwriting to your students.

Each exercise comes with instruction, why the exercise is important, how to assess the exercise and something specific for you to try.

Many of the modules include assignments and rubrics so you will be fully prepared to comprehend, apply and teach every these exercises.

  1. 0
    Module 0
    Introduction
    11:17 FREE PREVIEW
    Outline of the exercises and how they will be taught and used.
  2. 1
    Module 1
    Automatic Writing
    15:00 FREE PREVIEW
    Analysis of automatic writing, or free writing, used as a warm up to get students writing by focusing on writing and not specifically content.
  3. 2
    Module 2
    Observation
    23:56
    Observation is wonderful tool for finding play ideas because when you start looking at the world as a writer, when you become attentive and aware, everything becomes a play idea.
  4. 3
    Module 3
    Point of View
    12:20
    This is an exercise to help students grow a concrete method for finding play ideas instead of just waiting for something to come along. It also addresses the rather unhelpful but often quoted suggestion: “Write what you know.”
  5. 4
    Module 4
    Prompts
    21:31
    Prompts give students a tool to do something different with their writing and in this module, you’ll look at three types of prompts: the picture prompt, the headline prompt, and the dialogue prompt.
  6. 5
    Module 5
    Character and Conflict
    29:10
    What is Character and Conflict? And how do Character and Conflict connect? You’ll learn two exercises to assess and an exercise to complete for yourself.
  7. 6
    Module 6
    Monologue
    15:34
    What is a monologue? What makes a good monologue? And why is important to practice the monologue?
  8. 7
    Module 7
    Dialogue
    18:05
    Exploring and practicing dialogue by using the foundation scene.
  9. 8
    Module 8
    Analyzing the Monologue
    8:40
    In order for students to get a full grasp on how they should use the elements of a monologue for their own writing, they should be able to identify those elements in an existing work.
  10. 9
    Module 9
    Analyzing the Scene
    9:44
    What is the criteria for analyzing a scene and what do you do when something doesn’t fit the criteria?
  11. 10
    Module 10
    Questions
    16:03
    Why questions are your most useful rewrite tool and what kinds of questions to ask.

Standards Addressed

Synthesize and relate knowledge and personal experiences to make art - Grade 7

Synthesize and relate knowledge and personal experiences to make art - Grade 8

Synthesize and relate knowledge and personal experiences to make art - Grade HS Proficient

Synthesize and relate knowledge and personal experiences to make art - Grade HS Accomplished

Refine new work through play, drama processes and theatre experiences using critical analysis and experimentation - Grade 6

Refine new work through play, drama processes and theatre experiences using critical analysis and experimentation - Grade 8

Get instant access to this and everything else in the Drama Teacher Academy

Join the DTA TodayAlready a member? Log in here.