Drama games for the WL classroom

Presented at ACTFL 2011

Best of Iowa 2008, CSCTFL All Star 2011: Drama games for the WL classroom
Presenter: Paulino Brener,  Minneapolis, MN
The presenter brings fifteen years of experience doing and teaching theatre to the WL classroom. Many drama games will be demonstrated and applied to WL teaching. Also, learn a few tricks of the trade to improve role play and small dramatizations. After all: “All the WL classrooms are a stage, and all WL teachers and students merely players.”
Theme: Activities and Strategies
Languages: EnglishExamples: English, Spanish, French and others
Audience: MS/JHS, HS, College/University

Drama_games_for_the_wL_classroom_HANDOUT

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Games:

Improvisation

1) Dialog with numbers, colors, etc.: Students are given minimal information (who they are, where they are and what they are doing). They act out a short situation but only using the vocabulary assigned (one that they are very familiar with such as numbers or colors). So the conversation instead of going “Hola, ¿Cómo estás?” would go “Cuatro, ¿Ocho tres?”.

Just for the cuteness factor, see how it works with these two early language learners :-)

Role Play

Similar to improvisation but you assign a specific character and situation. Learners improvise based on that.

Frozen Image

1) Image building: Students are given a place and they put themselves in a picture.

2) Asking questions to the image:  Ask each person in the picture questions like “who are you?”, “what are you doing here?”, etc.

Voice

1) Simultaneous dictation

2) Voice levels.

Main bibliography:

Dr. L. Athiemoolam. 2004. Drama-in-education and its effectiveness in English/Second/Foreign Language classes.

Larry M. Lynch. Add Drama to an EFL Class.

Larry M. Lynch. How To Dramatize Your Foreign Language Teaching and Learning.

Kerry Boorman. TESOL Articles: Using Drama to Teach English as a Foreign Language.