Here are just a few things that I have seen lately that use drama or movement to help kids understand tricky concepts. Students like to be up and moving and working with their peers. Plus, drama can give them a concrete visual that may not be apparent to them on paper.
Pat (and probably others but I ran into his class—literally as they were in the hall) had his students pick a pivotal scene from the novel to act out. When students do this they have to do a number of things: figure out the difference between dialogue and narrative; figure out the personalities of the characters; figure out which scenes are pivotal. They also practice their lines so they end up doing a lot of repeated reading which we know is good for fluency. Drama in language arts doesn’t have to be a full length play. Think about how students can turn what they are already reading into drama. Think about using some plays as reader’s theatre. Think about assigning students different characters to play and having them have a quick conversation about an event in the story. Think about having a student be the main character in the read aloud who sits beside you; every once in a while stop and ask the “character” how she or he is feeling.
Ling took over the foyer and had her students being soldiers and superwomen in a growing pattern. Kids were predicting and noticing how the pattern grew. You could give kids a pattern like AABCC and ask them to act it out. What about acting out x + 3? Student who can transfer skills from one modality to another have a deeper understanding. Asking students to act out a math problem before they start will increase their understanding of the problem. Often students begin to solve a math problem before they really understand what is being asked. Students may often be stumped by simple algorithms (5 – 0; 33/33; 27 x 1) but when you ask them to tell a story about that algorithm in cookies, then it all makes sense–or sometimes you have to translate the algorithm into a cookie story and then they get it.
Cam and Marina (and maybe others) have been working on telling the “narrative “of history. History is often a vague and confusing subject of Acts and Treaties and Wars. Students don’t really understand that all that happened because of real human events. A simple dramatization of the event increases understanding immensely. You don’t need props or a script, just place some students, give them a role and have them act out the story you tell. Get audience participation by asking what the different groups might be thinking or feeling. Cam has had success by breaking the narrative in to “chapters” so that each set of events is a chapter in the historical narrative. Students can refer back to an event by looking at the synopsis of that chapter-who was involved and what happened. I heard through the grapevine that Ken was doing the narrative of particle theory but I didn’t get a chance to see it. Apparently the solids slow dance like grade 6s and the gas molecules run around like grade 3s playing soccer.
There is actual research that suggests that students learn best through narrative due to our human cultural interest in story. When you have a confusing or difficult concept then tell a story.
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