As a child, I used to love putting on dramatic performances, whether it was in front of the school in the Christmas plays, or simply in front of my family in the comfort of my own home. I loved going to the drama club at my Church every week and secretly dreamt of one day being an actress (who knows, there’s still time).

The great thing about drama is that it is so versatile! It can be easily applied and shaped into any subject. It is a way of reinforcing what the pupils have been learning. Speaking from experience, I know that drama can bring a topic to life and can make learning fun and interactive. There are many different ways to integrate drama into a lesson; it can be used as a summary of a lesson, as a way to develop the class’ peer assessment skills or as a relaxing activity at the end of the day. I have researched three conventions with suggestions of how they can be applied in the classroom;

Conscience Alley

This method could be used when looking at a range of subjects. For example, the influences and reasons for alcohol / drug abuse, what different religions would have to say about a particular issue/topic or even simply in reading when a character has to make a decision. The class forms two lines facing each other. One person walks between the middle of lines as each member of the line gives their advice regarding the situation. This could be done so that each line is giving opposing advice. When the person reaches the end of the tunnel they have to make their decision.

Soundscape

This convention could be used to set the scene of a story being studied in an english lesson. It could also be used to imitate the atmosphere surrounding an important historical event in a history lesson or to recreate the buzz of a city or the peace of the country in a geography lesson. One person acts as a conductor whilst the rest of the class are the ‘orchestra’. Using their voices and bodies, the class tries to create a ‘soundscape’ of a particular theme or mood, for example the seaside, a city, a jungle.

Thought Tracking

This convention would go hand-in-hand in literacy when reading a story or even in a social studies lesson when discussing how a historical figure felt at a significant point. It starts off with a freeze frame then each character in the freeze frame explains how they feel and the situation that they are in.