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Role Plays, Drama, Pantomimes, and Charades

By Diane Balling, Instructional s t r a t e g i e s - S r i c (xs>\:^ io Jn-tpvi^f'jJ h/v -fD W ^(^ocit*^

Why? l4 V i ( i J p 5 t D ICV?Ot^ uj^oi^/f ,pO»^ (:7^(y!rljlr^iS lAytv^ jjk//' t ^ - v ^ ^ ' r i O j ^ i 0-ftrf*j.uJ,

• W e can use t h e b o d y t o s t o r e i n f o r f r i a t i o n as w e l l as t h e b r a i n - M u s c l e m e m o r y
• Some kids j u s t need t o m o v e - E n g a g i n g
• E m o t i o n a l c o n n e c t i o n s can be m a d e t o r e a l l i f e , ,
• Test scores s h o w it w o r k s (so it m u s t be t r u e © ) Ex. Civil w a r
• Motivates participation
• G e t t i n g t h e b o d y and e m o t i o n s i n v o l v e d p r o v i d e s f o r d e e p e r l e a r n i n g ^ -

Used for just about anything b u t h e r e are s o m e t h i n g s it w o r k s g r e a t w i t h :

Historical Events & Figures, S e q u e n t i a l O r d e r , U n d e r s t a n d i n g social s i t u a t i o n s f o r e m p a t h y , etc.

IDEAS: ,
Charades
Charades w i t h w/ords
Reader's Theatre
Body shapes (spelling, geometry) , .
Students role play the teacher (Good for math) •« ,. •
Role Play Book Characters ,,• >- .
TV News Broadcast • -
' TV Interview . . - _ „ , -
Job Interview • •,
Dance & Rap •. ,
Acting out parts of the whole (planets, countries, molecules)
Hand Actions for memorization
Learning for real life, act out real life scenes (money, social interactions, language learning)
Create a t w o minute scene demonstrating vocabulary words ^-^^ .; - . . ; ;

* M a k e sure y o u have s t u d e n t s explain w h a t t h e y l e a r n e d •

* Foster discussion a f t e r t h e process
* W a t c h f o r p r o p e r level o f rules and g u i d e l i n e s . You can o v e r kill a n d t a k e a w a y c r e a t i v i t y . You
can also n o t give e n o u g h r e s t r i c t i o n a n d have ?s o n student's faces or s t u d e n t s r u n n i n g w i l d !
* M a k e sure s t u d e n t s have b e e n i n t r o d u c e d t o s u b j e c t b e i n g t a u g h t w h e n n e e d e d . S o m e
activities w i l l r e q u i r e p r i o r k n o w l e d g e o f t h e s u b j e c t .

Great Resource for all levels just to get some ideas; http://www.childdrama.com/lessonS.html
Sources:
Buchanan, M. Creot/Ve Dramo Lesson P/ons. Retrieved Juanuary 23, 2011, from
http://www.childdrama.com/lessons.html
Shaw, D.G., & Nygard, B. (1997). Moving through the Solar System: using movement activities to learn about the
solar system. Science Activities, 34(fa\\, 23-31
Tate, M.L (2010). lVor/cs/ieet5 Don't Grow Dendntes. Thousand Oaks: Corwin.
Example of Role Play for understanding our solar system and the 9 planets
PROCEDURE
1. Make a huge outline of the Sun on the butcher paper. Divide the outline into three categories: K:
the things the students already knov^ about our solar system; W: the things the students would like to
know about our solar system; and L: the things the students will have learned about our solar system
when the study is completed.
2. Have the students brainstorm about the things they know about our solar system. Record them in
the K column.
3. Have the students brainstorm about the things they want to learn about our solar system. Record
them in the W column.
4. Identify the following key terms for the students and demonstrate the movements associated w i t h
each. There-after, whenever one of these terms is mentioned in a review, have the students perform
the associated movements.
* Solar system: Stand up, hold up nine fingers, and sweep your arms in a big circle while facing the
outline of the sun, and then sit down.
* Sun: Stand up, j u m p up and down three times, pretending the floor is the Sun's hot surface, and
then sit down.
* Planet; Stand up, sweep your arms in a big circle counterclockwise while turning around in a
complete circle, and then sit down.
* Satellite: Stand up, walk around your desk, and then sit down.
PROCEDURE
1. Write the names of the research topics on individual slips of paper.
2. Keep students in their Activity 2 research teams or divide them into the same number of other
teams. Whatever you decide, have each team draw one slip of paper w i t h a research topic w r i t t e n on it.
3. Have students move their desks into a large circle around the perimeter of the classroom and set a /'^S
ball (preferably yellow) on a stool or chair in the center, to represent the Sun.
4. Explain the game rules: The object for each team is to act out the topic on its card in order to get
the rest of the class to guess it successfully. All members of each team have to participate actively and
contribute to the charade. They may look over the equipment provided and select the items they need
to demonstrate their topic. Give the teams a set amount of time (about 5 min.) to decide how they will
portray their topics.
Remind students that the charades format offers a number of options. They can be the object; they
can be someone or something reacting to being on or in the object (e.g., they can pretend to be
someone shivering at the severely cold temperatures on Pluto); or they can be the effects of the object
(e.g., they can pretend to be the cold winds and frigid air).
5. Select a team to go first.
6. Allow the student teams that are watching the charade to make t w o silent guesses and write t h e m
on the index cards.
7. At the end of each charade, have the other teams reveal their guesses. You may want to take the
opportunity to provide some guided review at this point.
8. Have the charade-giving team members form a circle around the Sun while the rest of the class
forms a line and circles around them, giving them each a high five. After they have completed one
revolution, have all the students sit back down and ask the next team to perform its charade.
9. Continue until all teams have had a chance to do their charades.