As part of our drama inputs we had to conduct a micro teaching activity, which involved working in groups to create a drama lesson from a book we had chosen. For this week however I only participated in other groups drama lessons.
The first group based their drama lesson on the story of “The Gruffalo”. Their first task used the drama technique of role on the wall as one group member read a few pages of the book, whilst another gave each group a picture of the mouse and the gruffalo. We were then asked to write what we thought of the characters by writing words outside of each character and then write what the character thought of themselves by writing words inside each character. As a group we felt this task should have been done later in the story for the character of the gruffalo as this character was not introduced until later in the story. Another drama technique they incorporated into their lesson was thought tunnel. Two members of the group pretended to be the character of the mouse and the Gruffalo and asked two groups to create a thought tunnel for each of them. We then had to say what we thought of that character as they walked through the thought tunnel. Finally they third technique they used was flash forward. After we finished the book the group asked us to create a flash forward of what would happen next. Our group used a mime to show that the animals of the forrest no longer spoke to the mouse after his cunning behaviour and so the mouse was left lonely.
After the group had conducted their lesson they were asked to reflect on their lesson plan, to which the concluded that the participation was higher than they had expected. However they also agreed that timing was an issue as this was supposed to be a 20 minute lesson but it did not end until 35 minutes past. We were then asked, as teachers of drama, to use this to understand that things will not always go as planned but to ensure this does not put us off from creating these tasks. However I feel this lesson should be remembered in all expressive arts programmes. It is important to understand that great pieces of art take time and effort and so children should never feel rushed to produce something the care for or feel proud of. For example creative dances take a lot of preparation and practice before they can be performed in front of an audience. Also art sometimes requires a lot of time if a lot of detail is required, whilst other tasks such as composing a piece of music requires a great deal of editing that absorbs a lot of time and effort.
Our second input ties in with our micro teaching activity as we were being taught how to play string instruments from Greenmill Primary pupils. There is evidence to suggest that there is a huge attainment gap within Scottish schools. Research shows that children from areas of low deprivation are almost twice as likely to assess as performing well, or very well, compared to those living in areas of high deprivation (jrf.org.uk, 2014). Therefore this project was created through the Scottish Attainment Challenge to prove that attainment can be raised through creativity. Pupils become involved in this project when they reach p4 and continue playing their instrument to p7. By engaging with this workshop I was able to speak to a child who had been involved in this project for two years. I chose to join a pupil who played they violin and was inspired by his confidence and eagerness to teach me about his instrument. He was able to demonstrate how he held his bow and as I attempted it, he would correct me in a constructive and encouraging manner. The pupil also played each note for me to allow me to listen to the differentiated sounds of each string. The pupil also described and demonstrated games that they play within the classroom to help with their fluency when playing their instruments. I feel the micro teaching activity was a great idea for both us as students and the primary school children as it allows the pupils to share their knowledge and therefore consolidate it. Also by doing this the pupils are becoming more confident individuals as well as gaining skills such as discipline, team work, note reading skills and oral awareness (Greenmill Primary School Strings Project, 2016).
I feel both workshops today could be linked when using them within a classroom setting. For example, the music of the string orchestra could be incorporated into a drama that pupils were creating in the style of a backing track. This would allow all of the children to incorporate their talents and combine them to make one performance. The string orchestra would work well as backing track for the drama as the music could be used to create atmosphere and mood within the performance. This could also create an opportunity to allow the children to compose their own music to go along with the drama. Thus the children will be more enthusiastic as they are creating something themselves. Finally I feel art could also be integrated into this expressive arts programme as the children could use colour and shape to express the tone of the music being played by the orchestra.
References
Greenmill Primary School String Project. (2016). Available at: https://vimeo.com/176221212 [Accessed 16 Nov. 2017].
Jrf.org.uk. (2017). CLOSING THE ATTAINMENT GAP IN SCOTTISH EDUCATION. [online] Available at: https://www.jrf.org.uk/sites/default/files/jrf/migrated/files/education-attainment-scotland-full.pdf [Accessed 28 Nov. 2017].
