Want to learn and practice differet types of drama? Here's a list of 9 with an explanation of how to do each one. Great for drama class.
Try these middle school drama lessons and ideas.
drama activities and games for elementary students
When I first started teaching, I didn’t quite know how to approach the drama section of our art curriculum. We would do a few skits, occasionally play a version of Bus Stop where one kid had to make another laugh, and call it a day. I wanted to breathe some life into our drama activities and make things fun again. Improv games were a perfect fit!
Improv games are great ice breakers. They are also a fun way to practice basic public speaking skills. Your teens will love playing these games.
4 Ready-to-print Elements of Drama Activities and a poster!*Elements of Drama Poster*Elements of Drama Match with Answer Key*2 Elements of Drama Scavenger Hunt (drama provided) with Answer Key*Elements of Drama Scavenger Hunt (to use with any drama)...
Drama games & activities in your classroom or drama club as warm-ups, ice breakers, or as fun activities to start any class!
It's not often that the subject comes up here on the blog, but I own a private drama studio that operates out of my house. It's awesome and fun. And a little crazy! I thought it would be fun to share one of my favorite resources - free printable tongue twisters! My students are huge fans of playing improvisation (or improv) games during each class, but I like for them to work on diction and character. I've tricked them into learning a lot about how to pronounce words by always starting rehearsal with a tongue twister (or four)! We utilize three reasons for practicing with tongue twisters, and they're alliterated just for fun! 1. Pronunciation. Try making it a game to find the "hidden" letters that often get skipped over when using sloppy enunciation. Example: Diction is done with the tip of the tongue and the teeth. The letters to watch for here are the "p" in tip and the "d" in and. 2. Projection. Theatre games can be used to make kids feel more comfortable with themselves and with each other. Games also (in my classes, anyway) tend to rile kids up and make them louder and louder. This is great when you are trying to train them to use their vocal register to project to the back of an auditorium! 3. Partnership. Being part of a play is a team effort. When you're performing, there is no one there except your fellow cast mates to save the day in a case of forgotten lines or a misplaced prop. The more comfortable the team acts as a group, the more likely they can pull themselves out of an onstage disaster. I ask the kids to practice tongue twisters together - the goal is to say all of those hidden letters at the same time, not just spit them out as quickly as possible. Tongue twisters are helpful for speech and language development in any kids - not just the dramatic one. How do you use them in your classroom? You can download my list of favorite tongue twisters in a free printable here. Make sure you also snag my Character Analysis worksheet!
Teaching drama for the first time? Get this free 12 pages lesson plan from Drama Notebook. Here are the basic goals to cover while teaching your first drama class.
Floor Slaps is a great drama game to focus your class' energy and can hold their attention for a long time.
It's always a good idea to keep a few acting exercises in your back pocket. So here are six powerful acting exercises for teenagers.
These fun drama games and activity ideas are sure to bring hours of fun and laughter to the drama team or department. These games can be used as warm-ups,
Are you looking for some ways to teach drama in your regular classroom? Check out this list of drama games, activities and ideas.
Improv games for teens can warm up their acting and collaboration skills. They can enhance creative thinking and be used as icebreaker tools in new teen groups.
25 drama activities designed to help your students practice projecting and articulating their voices. Elementary-High School. Downloadable PDF.
A study guide for assessment in Theatre Fundamentals! Covers creative drama, improvisation, theatre space, acting, the production process, playwriting, and theatre appreciation.
My school has been very fortunate to offer a drama residency to students. The PAC and district joined together to fund this. We invited Ted Sloan, a local celebrity, in to help us out. Ted was a local radio personality for 10 years. Ted has an acting degree from the University of Alberta and he's currently going to Capilano University to complete a diploma in backstage studies. We took the school and split everyone up into one of three weeks. Everyone gets 45 minutes a day with Ted for a week. My class was in the first week. This residency was excellent for students in so many ways. It was great to push some of my more serious kids out of their comfort zone. For my outgoing students, they were provided an outlet for their personality I unfortunately can't provide often enough. I also strongly believe in the importance of male role models in kids lives - there just isn't enough male teachers and kids can easily go their whole elementary career without having a male teacher. When he first arrived, there were some simple expectations put in place: 1) Respect (for yourself, each other, him) 2) Not my prop (essentially, if it's not yours, don't touch it) 3) Ask "is it safe?" (if it isn't, don't do it) He also shared with them a strategy he calls "Focus In, Focus Out". Often in drama you can get overwhelmed or over excited. He said that if he noticed this in the students he would say "Focus In, Focus Out". When they heard this they were to take a deep breath in and out to refocus themselves. I was so grateful for these expectations as they set the tone for the entire week. Ted started every day with a check-in. This was set up very similar to what I do daily, Circle Talk. (From Tribes Learning Communities). He passed a ball around for the talking person, gave the right to pass, and reminded students of the respect piece which meant they couldn't take information they learned at the check-in to use against people out on the playground. What he did differently, which I loved, was that he set some limitations on the words they could use. They were not allowed to use "good", "okay", or "awesome" unless they justified it. He also challenged them not to explain their feeling with a word someone else has used (if I say I'm fantastic, then you need to pick a new word.) By the end, my kids were starting to come up with some great vocab! Ted also threw in fancy words (ecstatic, loathe, detest, elated) which helped build the vocab for them. In this video, he is teaching them level one of a concentration game. (Sorry the quality is not awesome - they came off my iPhone and then I think compressed some more when uploaded.) Students have to switch places with someone else in the circle without speaking to them or touching them to indicate the place switch. They also need to do so fairly quickly. Once this is mastered, they play a game of Zap simultaneously in level 2. The levels get harder after that with a ball being passed around and other crazy antics. Here he is going over the parts of a play: 1) Status Quo 2) Problem 3) Solution 4) Did it work? with a fun made up story the kids improv-ed. He uses "Focus In, Focus Out" at the end of this clip. Finally, a clip from the "8 Count Shake Out" which I will totally be using as a brain break. I was a bit slow with my camera, so I start at 4. The shake out halves each time - 8, 4, 2, 1. I started filming at 4. Thank you Ted for coming to our classroom! It was a fantastic experience for the students and myself! Readers, what is your favourite drama activity? Share with me in the comments! Pin this post.
A set of 17 activity cards with instructions for drama games.
These drama lesson plans take only 20 minutes per week, and contain improv activities for elementary students appropriate to each grade level.
We Are Thespians!
We Are Thespians!
drama activities and games for elementary students
This is the intro handout to my VOICE unit in high school drama class, and it also works for middle school students as well. This printable handout goes through the different vocal elements and what each one is. Without this, they don't really learn how to play and experiment with their voice and really push it to the limit. There's 3 pages total: ✤"Elements of Voice" intro handout ✤"Hello how are you?" workshop (to get them used to playing with their voice) ✤"Voice emphasis" handout for a workshop It's also really helpful to use as part of English class when I'm teaching oral presentation skills. These are the elements that form the basis of every rubric for their Voice assignments. Hope it helps! Similar resources in my shop: ➼ VOICE UNIT BUNDLE ➼ VOICE - The Language of Voice (good for senior grades) ➼ VOICE - Vocal Emphasis workshop ➼ VOICE Project - rubric (generic) ➼ VOICE Project - "Sell This Product!" ➼ VOICE Project - "Radio Advertisements" ➼ VOICE Project - "RANT" presentation ➼ Voice Project - Puppetry ➼ VOICE Project - Telephone Conversations (students #1 favourite) ➼ VOICE READER'S THEATRE - Intro handout for unit ➼ VOICE READER'S THEATRE - Sound Effects workshop ➼ VOICE Viewing Guide - "The Simpsons" Voice Actors ➼ COMPLETE DRAMA COURSE BUNDLE ◈◈◈◈◈◈◈◈◈◈◈◈◈◈◈◈◈◈◈◈◈◈◈◈◈◈◈◈◈◈◈◈◈◈◈◈◈◈◈◈◈◈◈◈ ➯ Click HERE to follow my shop and see updates and new products. ➯ Please don't forget to leave feedback on my products! You will receive TPT credits that can be used on future purchases.
It's always a good idea to keep a few acting exercises in your back pocket. So here are six powerful acting exercises for teenagers.
Looking for a tableaux drama activities? Tableau, or tableaux, is a drama term that refers to a scene that is held, or frozen still without any of the actors moving.
We Are Thespians!
This set of 59 CHARACTER MOVEMENT CARDS comes with suggested activities for character development work. The cards include Laban Efforts + other movement which can be added to characters. DRAMA TRUNK DRAMA CARDS ARE A DRAMA TEACHER'S BEST FRIEND! Just print, laminate (optional) and cut out a set of versatile drama cards that you can use over and over again. I cannot count how many times and ways I have used drama cards – absolutely my most handy drama resource. NEVER BE STUCK FOR A DRAMA ACTIVITY AGAIN! Use DRAMA TRUNK drama cards for tons of creative, fun, imaginative, any day activities, including: • Drama games (including last minute drama activities) • Warm ups • Team building and cooperation activities • Improvisation / quick thinking • Audition / rehearsal activities • Language activities • Guided learning • Listening skills • Storytelling • Role Play • Substitute Activities / Cover Lessons Combine the use of multiple cards for even more activities, challenges and ideas (you will have a HUGE amount of drama activities ready to go when needed). NOTE: Within each Drama Card set from Drama Trunk you will find prompts suitable for various levels (beginner to advanced) and age groups and I suggest having a quick flick through before the class and taking out more advanced or beginner prompts (depending on the class and year level). Most are suitable for all of the grade levels listed but some sets are very large now (as I have used them so much and had to keep expanding them so there is a wide mix particularly in larger sets!) ******** DRAMA CARD BUNDLE ******** The following 17 DRAMA TRUNK drama card sets are available individually or as a CLASSIC BUNDLED PACK: CHARACTERS QUIRKY CHARACTERS DRAMATIC DEATHS OPENING LINES MIMES LOCATIONS GENRES LIVING PICTURES SILLY SUPERHEROES TITLES MOODS (EMOTIONS) CHARACTER SWITCHES CHARACTER MOVEMENTS CHARACTER MANNERISMS VOCAL STYLES TIMES CHARACTERISTICS ******** EVEN MORE DRAMA CARDS ******** OR CHECK OUT ANOTHER DRAMA CARD BUNDLE WHICH INCLUDES THE FOLLOWING SETS (also available individually or as part of the MEGA DRAMA CARD BUNDLE): WORLD DESTINATIONS GREAT ESCAPES OLYMPIC EVENTS FORBIDDEN WORD SCENES SCENE SCENARIOS HOBBIES CHARACTER TACTICS THEATRE STYLES RANDOM LINES ODD INVENTIONS HELP SCENES AILMENTS PROP SCENES HISTORICAL EVENTS FAMOUS CHARACTERS CLICHES PROVERBS SHAKESPEARE QUOTES + MORE DRAMA CARDS AVAILABLE AT DRAMA TRUNK! Stay tuned to my page DRAMA TRUNK for more fantastic drama resources – from drama activities and classes for little people; primary school level drama; secondary curriculum and more... TERMS OF USE Please note that this product is for personal classroom or home school use by a single purchaser only. You may not distribute, copy or modify this product other than for your own personal, non-commercial classroom use. © Drama Trunk. All rights reserved. Happy teaching!
Teaching drama to kindergarten students can be challenging, especially if you don't have drama experience. These kindergarten drama activities are easy and fun.
We Are Thespians!
