Drama and Art Strategies in the Foreign Language Classroom
"All the world's a stage and all the men and women merely players."
William Shakespeare
Background
With a background in theatre and dance, drama strategies play a huge role in my classroom (no pun intended). I believe drama games liven up a classroom in ways that is challenging and fun for the students who normally spend hours a day in their seats, listening to information that they do not retain.
Learning kinesthetically is essential for students who learn best by moving and getting their blood flowing to their brain. Ways I incorporate this varies from unit to unit, and the strategies are pulled from my own imagination as from collegues and published works. Some strategies include:
A lot of children learn kinesthetically and visually, which is why I try to incorporate more art into my classroom. By creating work themselves, the students take ownership of their notes and projects and really dive into their learning. The see it, feel it, act it, make it. With the use of interactive notebooks, students are making art every day and learning better in the process.
Learning kinesthetically is essential for students who learn best by moving and getting their blood flowing to their brain. Ways I incorporate this varies from unit to unit, and the strategies are pulled from my own imagination as from collegues and published works. Some strategies include:
- Human clocks for learning time-telling
- Role play and skits for reading comprehension
- Creation of skits for speaking and writing practice
- Acting out vocabulary words to remember them better
A lot of children learn kinesthetically and visually, which is why I try to incorporate more art into my classroom. By creating work themselves, the students take ownership of their notes and projects and really dive into their learning. The see it, feel it, act it, make it. With the use of interactive notebooks, students are making art every day and learning better in the process.
Dad's Garage Improv in the Classroom
This year at Wheeler, I am implementing Improv Fridays in my French 1 classroom in collaboration with Dad's Garage Theatre Education department. Through a ten session program, the students will learn how to communicate on their feet, how to be flexible, and how to open up to the world around them.