Drama for Writing

Bunyan, Paul, Carter, Anna, Wolmarans, Leigh, Denton, Julia, NATE Classroom

Close up: A girl and two boys in a Year 4 class stand facing each other, motionless for a moment. The girl and one of the boys, arms out, face the other boy standing on his own. Other children gradually move in and stand close to the pair and speak the words we would associate with a parent relieved to be reunited with their child, or stand close to the boy and speak the words of the hitherto 'lost child'.

Wider frame: The other children in the class sit in a circle around the 'parents' and 'child' they have sculpted earlier and consider whether to move into the picture and contribute lines of dialogue to the image.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Wider frame: A teacher sits on the floor just outside the circle of children sometimes indicating the next child to contribute, sometimes leaving time for children to contribute of their own volition.

Wide angle: Other teachers sit on chairs outside the circle leaning forward to observe the scene being built or to hear the oral script being created.

Birds eye view: Other groups of teachers in other classrooms nearby watch and listen attentively or discuss with the members of the class they are with and the class teacher what and how they are learning through the activity they are engaged in.

Zoom in to another part of the building: tea and cakes enough for fifty people are being prepared in the school hall and the school's headteacher is checking the PowerPoint on the huge screen occupying one wall of the room.

The slide on the huge screen reads:

The School Context:

36 languages

75% EAL

53% SEN

Highest social Deprivation area

Staff not Drama trained

The headteacher checks the next slide:

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Why Drama for Writing?

* Low comprehension skills.

* Lack of context when writing.

* Low writing levels.

* …

Questia, a part of Gale, Cengage Learning. www.questia.com
Publication information: Article title: Drama for Writing. Contributors: Bunyan, Paul - Author, Carter, Anna - Author, Wolmarans, Leigh - Author, Denton, Julia - Author. Magazine title: NATE Classroom. Issue: 14 Publication date: Summer 2011. Page number: 39+. © 2008 National Association for the Teaching of English. COPYRIGHT 2011 Gale Group.

This material is protected by copyright and, with the exception of fair use, may not be further copied, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means.