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Read about The Bear Educational Theatre

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Extensive kit of activities

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Join Frog and his farmyard friends as they dance around the pool. Flip and flop, splish and splash, stomp and stamp! This little story has lots of noises for children to have fun with. It's guaranteed to make them all laugh!

This BritLit Primary kit has been designed for use with Down by the Cool of the Pool, written by Tony Mitton and published by Orchard Books. It was chosen not only for its fun language and rhyming text, but also for the actions it encourages children to do. The kit integrates a range of activities for young children beginning to learn English.
Introduction Story activities - materials related to the story Games Cross-curricular activities About this BritLit Kit
The kit is based on a series of poems for children by Tony Mitton were the result of a fruitful engagement with trainers Claudia Ferrada Moi and Susan Hillyard at an intensive summer course at NILE (Norwich Institute of Language and Education), Norwich, in 2006. During the course a group of hardworking Portuguese teachers of English had an opportunity to work with Tony Mitton, who also kindly allowed us to record him reading the poems. As a result of stimulating interactions while in the UK, the group went back home to Portugal with two projects to complete - Down by the Cool of the Pool and A Handful of Poems - and six months later the work was almost complete. Almost? This is because the ideas never seem to stop coming and as soon as one idea was realised another seemed to come along. In the true spirit of BritLit, nothing is ever complete, but is a continuous 'work in progress'.

The hard working teachers invited by the Portuguese teachers' association, APPI, to go to NILE were: Ivone Parreira Pinto, Fernanda Cássio Pêra, Mafalda Ferrari, Paula Aires, Cristiana Cabral, Sofia Botelho Ribeiro, Veríssimo Toste, Teresa Verdade Ferreira, Fernanda Roque, Rosa Santos, Graça Baleizão, Irene Galrito, Florêncio Moniz, Adelina Santos and Paula Döbele, who were gallantly led by Isabel Brites. The course was funded through Comenius grants awarded through the EU Socrates fund.

This kit is part of a short series of kits for primary school learners of English. It was produced to respond to the initiative of governments, including the Portuguese government, to lower the age at which English is taught in state schools. Text written by Tony Mitton, illustrations by Paul Millard.

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Join Frog and his farmyard friends as they dance around the pool. Flip and flop, splish and splash, stomp and stamp! This little story has lots of noises for children to have fun with. It's guaranteed to make them all laugh!

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Focusing on your breathing can help calm down the Beast! Your class will follow along with Mojo and take away a useful tool to help them calm down powerful emotions that might flare up. Afterwards, there are discussion questions asking students to reflect on how mindful breathing might help them in the future.

(Video not working? Try this.)

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Mindful breathing with Mojo - Big Ideas - Classdojo

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Focusing on your breathing can help calm down the Beast! Your class will follow along with Mojo and take away a useful tool to help them calm down powerful emotions that might flare up. Afterwards, there are discussion questions asking students to reflect on how mindful breathing might help them in the future.

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World of fun

Preparing for Pre A1 Starters, A1 Movers or A2 Flyers?
You've come to the right place!

Here you'll find a wealth of fresh ideas, tips and materials to make exam preparation FUN for all.

Drama Activities

Take a look at our featured drama activity video.

Check out our series of drama activities videos.

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World of fun Preparing for Pre A1 Starters, A1 Movers or A2 Flyers? You've come to the right place! Here you'll find a wealth of fresh ideas, tips and materials to make exam preparation FUN for all. Drama Activities Take a look at our featured drama activity video.

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Your favourite songs and rhymes along with your favourite activity

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Basic drama vocab worksheet

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Introduction
One way of reaching these children is through drama. By giving roles to your pupils they can 'hide' behind the character and lose some of their inhibitions. Before actually performing though there are several processes you can go through with the children to create a theatrical environment.

Here are a few suggestions on using a range of drama related activities and creating supporting tools like masks and theatres that will help you play with the language with your pupils and have lots of fun at the same time.
Aims

To put the learners at ease

To focus their attention on the lesson

To personalise the language that they use when acting out a scene

To introduce craft-making instructions

Warm up activities
The importance of warm up activities should never be overlooked. It's difficult for anyone regardless of their age to arrive and suddenly launch into drama, especially if it's in a foreign language. Try some of these activities to relax the children and to help them to focus. You will notice that they are mostly non-verbal activities to provide a non-threatening environment for the younger children. For slightly older children you can add English words where appropriate.

For very young learners you can simply smile and ask them to copy you. Then show them a sad face and again ask them to copy you. Pretend to laugh, cry, sing, hide your face and each time ask them to copy you. This is a quick and effective way to focus the children on the lesson, get them calm and introduce them to pretending to be different people.

For slightly older children take any sort of object like a ball, book, paper clip or pen and pretend it's something else. So pretend to brush your hair with the book and then pass it on and ask the next person to pretend it's something else and so on. If the class know the word in English they can guess what the object is meant to be.

Put the class into three groups and stand them in lines or in pairs if it's more practical for your classroom. If they're in groups then you can play a team Chinese Whispers except that instead of whispering they draw a letter or number onto the back of the person standing in front of them who in turn tries to draw the same number or letter on the back of the person in front of them and so on. If they're in pairs then they draw a letter or number onto their partner's back who has to guess what it was and tell their partner. Then they swap. The idea of this sort of activity is that the children are using their bodies as well as their minds.

Making puppets and theatres
Once your class has their own box theatre you can use it with them all the time to act out new language at the end of the lesson or to introduce new language at the start.

Take a shoe box and remove the lid. The lid can be used underneath to stabilize the theatre if need be. Cut out the bottom side of the box leaving a few centimetres around the edges. Then cut out both ends of the box (the shorter ends) again leaving a few centimetres around the edge. These ends will act as the wings from which the characters will make their entrances.

The children can decorate the box theatre themselves with card, paper, pens, glitter, etc. Due to the size of the box it's easier if each child decorates a separate piece of card to then be stuck onto the box.

Out of the back of the box going away from the audience you should stick two long sticks or straws coming out horizontally.

For the scene changes in groups they can design back drops that can be attached to a long stick which in turn can be placed onto the protruding sticks coming out of the back of the box theatre.

For the stick puppets use anything thin and long which is child friendly so no sharp points. Straws are good but you might need to stick a couple together. They can draw, cut out and stick onto the sticks their own puppets. Otherwise you can find what you're looking for on clipart: http://classroomclipart.com/

Other puppets you can make include using toilet rolls, socks, paper.

Making masks and costumes
You don't need to make elaborate costumes for children to feel like a different character. A symbolic paper crown can make someone a king, or a magic wand made out of card can transform someone into a witch. Concentrate on keeping it simple as the objective is to eventually perform a scene, practise some English, learn English instructions, arouse interest in drama and English alike, but not to spend three weeks making a spectacular Elizabethan costume.

Paper plates are great for making masks. For the really young learners you may need to help them with cutting out circles for eyes. For the rest of the face they can decorate with pens or sticking on card. Pre-prepare lengths of string or elastic with knots at one end. Tie a knot on the other end once the child has finished the mask. Then staple both ends of the string to the paper plate. An alternative is sticking a piece of thick card (15x3 cm) onto the plate for the child to hold so the mask looks like a large lollipop.

Writing scripts
Two key points to think about: keep the stories short and simple and allow the children the possibility to use their imagination. These activities can be adapted for younger learners by keeping the story reproduction an oral activity with the use of picture flashcards to prompt ideas and words they have at their disposal.

If you have limited resources then you can use a traditional story that you know well. Tell it to the class in your own words first. You should practise saying it out-loud before the lesson and can write down a basic script so that each time you tell it stays the same.

Split your class into small groups and allocate a scene to each group. They can then re-tell the scene from what they remember. Any changes they make will only make the story richer!

An alternative is that each group re-tells the whole story making two changes. They then practise saying their script and then tell it to the class who has to find the two changes that have been made.

Give them a pre-prepared script. In their groups they have to change the end of the story.

Homework and follow-up suggestions
The homework you give will depend on the type of story, play, scene or poem you are acting out with the children. General ideas include drawing a picture of your favourite character or scene for younger learners. For older children they could write letters from one character to another about what happens in the story or write a continuation of the story.

Further reading
For further reading, Drama with children 2 has several suggestions that will help you integrate drama into your classroom. Many of the activities are non-verbal but can be adapted at a later stage.
https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/drama-children-2

Internet links
This site has instructions on how to make puppets and masks:
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/crafts/puppets/
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/crafts/Mask.shtml

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Introduction One way of reaching these children is through drama. By giving roles to your pupils they can 'hide' behind the character and lose some of their inhibitions. Before actually performing though there are several processes you can go through with the children to create a theatrical environment.

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Rhythm

Musical Theatre, just like all theatre, tells a story to the audience! The tale can be sad, happy, funny, scary, or make the people watching feel any other emotion you can imagine. Since singing is such a large element of Musical Theatre, the music, itself, is a very important part of telling the story. In particular, the rhythm of a song can help us understand the emotions of the actors. RHYTHM is the specific pattern of sounds and silences in both the words and notes of a piece of music. No two songs have the same rhythm, and specific patterns of sound can tell us that the singer is happy, angry, or even afraid!

In the Arden's production of A Year With Frog and Toad in 2016/17, singing was huge storytelling element, and each song had its own unique rhythm. During the "He'll Never Know" number, both Frog and Toad are hoping to surprise each other by raking their friend's front yard. This song is a great example of rhythm because the actors used rakes to mimic and add to the rhythm of the music, so you can hear it very clearly. Let's watch!

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Let's Sing - Storytelling through Song - Arden Theatre Company

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Musical Theatre, just like all theatre, tells a story to the audience! The tale can be sad, happy, funny, scary, or make the people watching feel any other emotion you can imagine. Since singing is such a large element of Musical Theatre, the music, itself, is a very important part of telling the story.

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by V. Susan Bennett-Armistead

Play is many things to many people. For most of us, it is a self-selected, self-directed activity that children carry out for pleasure. In fact, many leaders in our field, such as David Elkind, Vivian Paley, and Lilian Katz have referred to play as "children's work" because it provides rich opportunities to learn concepts such as cause and effect ("If you hit a tower of blocks, it will fall down.") and time relationships ("I will play dress-up with you after lunch, at choice time."). It also helps children gain understandings of how the world works ("Some things float and some things sink."), how to get along with others ("If you take Billy's truck, he will scream at you."), how to entertain one's self ("Fingerpaint feels awesome between your toes!"), and how to solve problems ("Fingerpaint is really hard to get off your toes.").

But don't let that definition let you forget an essential point: play should be fun. The Association for Child Development defines play in its position statement as a "dynamic, active and constructive behavior" that is "essential for all children." Fun matters. It's what gets children engaged, curious, and coming back for more.

In this article, I focus on a specific kind of play: dramatic play or, as it's sometimes called, pretend play, imitative play, and symbolic play, which usually involves:

reenacting everyday activities or situations that children observe, such as diapering a baby

engaging in intensely imaginative activities based on knowledge children gain from books, movies, and other sources, such as exploring the tropical jungle

retelling and/or reenacting stories they hear, such as The Three Little Pigs

singing and acting out songs they hear, such as "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" and "The Itsy Bitsy Spider"

Dramatic play can help you meet your curricular goals and build your children's developing literacy skills. It allows children to experiment with purposes for literacy they've seen at home, to recognize that different tasks require different texts, to produce a wide variety of texts, and to act out stories they have heard. Here, I discuss each of these benefits.
Dramatic play allows children to experiment with purposes for literacy they've seen at home.
By including functional print, such as newspapers, personal letters, menus, shelf signs, coupons, and labeled food containers, in children's play and giving them paper and pens for writing, we create an environment that allows them to interact with print as adults do. We give them a chance to see, first hand, the many ways we use text in everyday life. This is very different from what happens during group time, when we tend to read books. Researchers Susan Neuman and Kathleen Roskos found that classrooms rich in functional print inspired more literacy-focused dramatic play, which resulted in children with greater literacy competencies.
Dramatic play allows children to recognize that different tasks require different texts.
By regularly and systematically incorporating literacy props into dramatic play, you help children realize that different tasks require different texts. For example, the firefighters might need a map of the city to locate emergencies, but the veterinarian needs an appointment book and pamphlets about pet care to hand out to her patients' owners. The restaurant has menus and order pads, but the flower shop has seed packets and price lists. This exposure to a wide range of texts helps children differentiate text features-even very young children. For example, children tend to format a shopping list differently from the way they format a map.
Dramatic play allows children to produce a wide variety of texts.
Many of us are drawn to storybooks because that's what we were raised on. However, there are so many more options for young children today. By exposing children to a wide variety of functional texts, we encourage them to create a wide variety of functional text, too. Children might make traffic signs to post in the block area, a list for use at the grocery store, a receipt for a customer at the pizza shop, or a letter to a friend to mail at the post office. When children see multiple purposes for text, they are more likely to find a purpose that matters to them. In short, by exposing children to many texts and giving them the opportunity to create their own, they are more likely to include text in their lives, not just in their play.
Dramatic play builds comprehension by allowing children to act out familiar stories.
Acting out and/or retelling a story helps children make that story their own-and truly comprehend it. They gain an understanding of the characters, the structure, and the themes. For example, after reading Paul Galdone's version of the Three Billy Goats Gruff, try encouraging children to act out the story. By taking on different roles, they will gain an understanding that characters have different personalities and motivations. They will learn that the story unfolds in a certain way: the littlest billy goat goes over the bridge first, then the midsized goat, then the biggest goat, and so on. In the process, young children gain a sophisticated understanding of narrative structure.
Concluding Thought
If all of this sounds too advanced for preschoolers, remember that what I'm advocating is play. Play that is enriched by literacy. Play that is enriched by community. Play that is enriched by the artifacts you offer. Children are naturally interested in the world around them. Unlike things they can learn by playing independently (such as block buildings tip over when they are heavier on the top than on the bottom), literacy concepts, skills, and understandings must be taught. They have to be learned from someone else. Children cannot learn the names of the letters if no one ever tells them. They won't learn sound-symbol relationships if they haven't been shown letters and the sounds that go with them. They can't learn how books work if they've never been read to. All of these are important precursors to conventional reading. In the early years, we have the luxury of playfully teaching these concepts. We support emerging skills and understandings in fun, engaging ways by allowing children to play with books, write their own stories, make their own maps and signs, and, in general, showing them the value of engaging with and creating text. When it's time for conventional reading and writing, they'll be prepared for having been in your program!

This article is excerpted from Literacy-Building Play in Preschool: Lit Kits, Prop Boxes, and Other Easy-to-Make Tools to Boost Emergent Reading and Writing Skills Through Dramatic Play

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What Is Dramatic Play and How Does It Support Literacy Development in Preschool? | Scholastic

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by V. Susan Bennett-Armistead Play is many things to many people. For most of us, it is a self-selected, self-directed activity that children carry out for pleasure.

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Here are some suggestions and guidance on how to get the best from your students.
Using plays with language learners can:

improve their reading and speaking skills.

encourage creativity.

help them experiment with language - tone of voice, body language and their own lines if they are involved in writing the play.

bring them out of themselves - some students like performing or find the script gives them confidence.

involve the whole class - non-speaking parts can be given to learners who do not wish to speak or are less confident. Technical parts of a production can give others a role: sound effects, making scenery, being in charge of lights, props or prompting their classmates from the wings.

Plays suitable for language learners:

Short narratives based on very brief scenes of two or three lines maximum.

Plays with more than one narrator and plenty of humour through action.

Plays that can be broken up with songs.

Mini-plays with one or two scenes based on stories familiar to the class.

Making your own plays
Work from a photo, a cartoon or a video clip, or devise mini-plays based on recognisable characters from films the students like. For example:

Take a ten-minute sequence of a film.

Tell students the background story.

Show the clip with the sound off.

Focus on a couple of exchanges and ask students to imagine what the characters might be saying.

Assign roles to pairs and act out. Then allow students to make up their own brief dialogues based on the roles.

Bring together their suggestions and work on a class script.

Types of film that are good for this include Toy Story, Harry Potter, The Borrowers, Matilda or Charlie and the Chocolate Factory but it mainly depends on student tastes.
Helping students learn their lines in plays

Break the script into chunks of learning, scene by scene or each section of a story.

Record rehearsals so students can hear themselves and, if you can, video a rehearsal to look at together.

Make your own recording of it with English-speaking friends to use in preparing the play. It's great if students can have a copy of this for learning at home.

Mark the stressed words in the script and check with a recording if you have it. Look at intonation as you deal with each chunk.

Start learning without a script. If it tells a story work on getting the class familiar with the story. Support the storytelling with visuals if possible (see the posters available with Reader's Theatre scripts).

Give students tasks to reorder the narrative and move on to reordering dialogue or giving half a scene and asking them to match the missing parts or tell you what might be missing.

Use Reader's Theatre
These are very exciting short plays with four to eight characters but many involve performance parts for everyone in the class. Students work from a script which they read at the front of the class. The script is a story told in parts by many narrators. The stories that are freely available are suitable for primary up to adult learners. The power of the performance is in the timed reading and contrasting voices. Many performances last no more than ten minutes and can in some cases be thought provoking, very funny or very sad. Some advantages are:

There's no need for anything but the simplest props, as all characters wear just a hat or another item of clothing to represent their character.

The narrative tells a story which is easier for language learners to follow and work on.

Everyone in the class can be involved if different readings are attempted.

Minimal teacher participation is required.

No learning your lines as the performers read aloud from scripts.

Links
Aaron Shepherd's Reader's Theater has lots of free resources, scripts with visuals and written versions of the narratives. The scripts are excellent for language learners:
http://www.aaronshep.com/rt/
Further reading on TeachingEnglish:
https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/using-drama-texts-classroom https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/drama-children-1

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Here are some suggestions and guidance on how to get the best from your students. Using plays with language learners can: improve their reading and speaking skills. encourage creativity. help them experiment with language - tone of voice, body language and their own lines if they are involved in writing the play.

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Teaching English vocabulary to young learners via drama

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Interest in the teaching of English to young learners has been steadily growing in recent years. Thus, a great many different techniques are employed to be successful. One of the most effective techniques is drama. Children, perhaps more than any other category of learners, delight in drama.

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Importance of Drama in Pre-school Education

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In this study, the main aim was to draw attention to the importance of the pre-school drama and drama-based education. In today’s educational system t…

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Storytelling and Drama Activities: #1 WAKE UP

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How to teach Kids  | from a Prague kindergarten, part 1 | English for Children

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Pete the Cat I love my white shoes

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AM class Pete the cat  I love my white shoes

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Makaton - BAA BAA BLACK SHEEP - Singing Hands

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Red means stop video. Also has some clear explanations on benefits and some advice too

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We're going on a bear hunt with percussion

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Going on a Bear Hunt  PreK music instrument lesson

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Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons |  Fan's animated book |

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Contents

1. Introduction

2. The importance of using songs and rhymes in teaching Englis
2.1. Familiar way for language acquisition
2.2. The holistic approach
2.3. Motivation by songs and rhymes
2.4. Provision of meaningful vocabulary
2.5. Support for phonetic development
2.6. The cultural aspect

3. How to teach songs and rhymes
3.1. Guidelines for teaching rhymes and chants
3.2. Guidelines for teaching song

4. Types of songs and rhymes
4.1. Types of songs
4.2. Types of rhymes
4.3. Chants

5. Exploiting songs and rhymes
5.1. Song or rhyme pictures
5.2. Find the word
5.3. Mixed-up lines or words
5.4. Song and rhyme contest

6. Problems

7. Conclusion

References

Appendix

1. Examples for types of songs

2. Examples for types of rhymes

1. Introduction

Poetry and music are elements of each human society. They show many aspects of its culture - the relationship to the past and the ancestors, the faith, the fun and the anxieties of its people, the hopes and the view of the future. Music and poetry have immanent powers, for example they give people energy who had none before or they can change people's mood. They occur in all phases of one's life from birth to death. So they play an important role in the process of learning and using the mother tongue. Music and poetry are also an essential part of foreign language learning for young learners (see Phillips 1993: 100).

In this paper we describe the importance of using songs and rhymes in teaching English as a foreign language in the primary school. Beside these theoretical points we give practical advices how to teach songs and rhymes. After a classification we describe some possibilities to exploit songs and rhymes in lessons and say something about possible problems with using these language forms.

There are a lot of song and rhyme collections in public libraries or in our personal ones. Therefore we do not work out another collection but list only a few that we tried out in our lessons and which are appended to this paper.

2. The importance of using songs and rhymes in teaching English

There are many reasons for using songs and rhymes in teaching English as a foreign language in primary schools. Naturally, "children really enjoy learning and singing songs" (Phillips 1993: 100) and have fun doing rhythmic activities while reciting rhymes. But there are deeper psychological, cultural and linguistic aspects.

2.1. A familiar way of language acquisition

Children grow up with songs and rhymes and develop their first language by them. Apart from being the most important spoken language, songs and rhymes are the first experienced parts of communication in the children's mother tongue. They listen and react to nursery rhymes and finger games spoken and often acted by their parents. They go to sleep with lullabies sung by their closest care-givers or try to imitate little songs by babbling. So songs and rhymes give them an intimate feeling, a special connection with their human environment and influence the acquisition of their first language in an important way.

Analogous to the development of the mother tongue, the following points also support foreign language acquisition :

- music, rhythm and rhymes produce a positive live feeling
- they motivate to learn and to be active
- children do not understand all words but do not feel inhibited
- rhythm supports vocabulary and structure learning

2.2. The holistic approach

Songs and rhymes are both means and content of foreign language acquisition. There is no gap between the language used in lessons and that used in real-life situations. Each understanding and each reacting are progresses in language learning.

Songs and rhymes stimulate the hemispherical interaction. Busy with songs and rhymes the left hemisphere (vocabulary, structure of the language) and the right hemisphere (rhythm, feelings, mimic, gesture, senso-motoric etc.) work together and make learning more effective. So it is small wonder how quick students are at learning songs and rhymes.

The holistic approach also means that rhymes and songs are connected with other learning and living areas like sport, literature, music and art.

2.3. Motivation by songs and rhymes

Pupils' motivation to learn "largely depends on the teaching methods and the teacher's personality" (seminar script from 24/04/01: 2). If the teacher skillfully uses songs and rhymes the pupils usually are highly motivated. Songs and rhymes are relaxing, they vary the lesson's progress, they provide fun and action "and encourage harmony within oneself and within a group" (Murphey 1992: 8). So the pupils are learning with fun and more effectively than without these forms. Even shy or slow learning children are given encouragment by singing or speaking in choir and so they feel able to speak in a foreign language.

2.4. Provision of meaningful vocabulary

Songs and rhymes present a lot of linguistic material in a natural linguistic context. So they support the monolingual and contextual approach in teaching a foreign language. Words in songs and rhymes are meaningful to the learner, which influences the acquisition in a positive way. "In general they use simple conversational language with a lot of repetition" (Murphey 1992: 7). Therefore songs and rhymes stick in the learner's mind and the words and expressions used are memorized more easily. Besides, songs and rhymes provide many possibilities for constant repetition and revising as important mechanisms of the language acquisition.

2.5. Support for phonetic development

"Poems, rhymes, chants and songs could be used to give a feeling for the rhythm of the spoken language. Many well-known rhymes make use of the iambic pentameter, the natural rhythm of the English language" (Straeter-Lietz 1999: 9). Practising intonation through reciting rhymes and poems is mostly funny and very effective. To vary the sometimes boring pronunciation teaching it is a proven remedy using rhymes and rhythmic chants, e.g. with minimal pairs.

2.6. The cultural aspect

Songs and Poems are important elements of each culture. Learning this authentic material pupils get to know parts of a foreign culture. It satisfies children's natural curiosity about everything new. Being familiar with songs and rhymes in a foreign language pupils feel closer to the foreign culture and its language. If the pupils hear the same melodies or similar rhymes they are astonished at the parallels between their own culture and the foreign one. So the foreign cultures aren't alarming and frightening but interesting and worth being discovered. It's an important contribution to the development of tolerance and open-mindedness.

3. How to teach songs and rhymes

The following guidelines are not meant to be dogmas. According to the specific situations they could be varied by the teacher.

3.1. Guidelines for teaching rhymes and chants

For presentation rhymes or chants should be played from a CD or spoken by the teacher and the actions should be demonstrated. Then the teacher should check if the students understood the content. It is not necessary to translate word by word but the students should know what the rhyme or chant means. This step can be supported by visual aids. Now the students learn the text step by step. In the literature are to be found two tried and tested methods: the snowball principle and the echo principle.

The snowball principle means that the teacher says a sequence becoming longer and longer. After each saying the students repeat that sequence in chorus. For example (from Here we go round the mulberry bush)

Abbildung in dieser Leseprobe nicht enthalten

The echo principle (see Schmid-Schönbein 2001: 120, 121) means that the students as a group imagine they are an echo in a mountain wood, a valley etc. The teacher shouts a sequence and the students repeat the teachers sequence. It is expedient to build up a longer structure from its end. For example (from The wheels of the bus)

Abbildung in dieser Leseprobe nicht enthalten

Both methods can also be supported by visual aids. If there are any actions they should be done by the students while learning the text because it is easier to learn them together. Longer texts can be learned verse by verse in the following lessons. Now the children say the whole rhyme in chorus, in groups or alone and do the actions.

3.2. Guidelines for teaching songs

The order and the way of teaching songs is similar to teaching rhymes and chants. At first the song should be sung by the teacher or played from a CD once or twice while the students only listen. They begin to understand and to absorb the tune and the rhythm. During the next playing or singing the students can clap the rhythm or hum the tune. Before learning the text step by step (see 3.1.) the teacher should check the understanding and explain the words the children did not understand. Then the students sing the song several times, at first supported by the teacher's voice, later without the teacher's support.

4. Types of songs and rhymes

There are a lot of different types of song and rhyme with special characteristics. But not all are useful for primary school students. The teacher has to check the suitability according to the size of the text, the vocabulary, the structure and his didactic intention. The following types of songs and rhymes are each linked with an example of which the texts are to be found in the appendix.

4.1. Types of songs

Finger play songs

The content of these songs can be illustrated by the children's finger movement. They support the acquisition of gesture meaning and the use of nonverbal expressions. They also develop the children's senso-motoric abilities. Example: Hickory dickory dock

Counting songs

These songs support the learning of numbers and are often connected with using fingers. Most of them train the numbers from one to ten.

Example: Ten little Indians

Spelling songs

They are useful to train the sounds of the English alphabet. The separate letters mostly sound different from their pronunciation in words. Therefore the pupils need help for learning the individual letter sound.

Example: Farmer Brown has got a dog

Action songs

The biggest group of songs aims at associating words with movements of their body. They also "internalize the sounds and rhythms of English, ... develop a sense of rhythm [and] ... give the children a chance 'to let off steam'." (Phillips 1993: 101) Example: If you ' re happy

Songs for special occasions

These songs are suitable for deepening the special vocabulary and for celebrating these occasions in the school. They emphasize the cultural aspect of songs. Example: Black and gold (for Halloween)

Spirituals

Spirituals are religious songs. They are connected with the Christian culture and

often very traditional. Singing simple spirituals the children enjoy the sound and the special rhythm of gospels. Example: Kumbaya, my Lord

Drop-a-word songs

These songs train the children's concentration. They are often combined with actions instead of the dropped words. Drop-a-word songs "encourage internalisation of language" (Murphey 1992: 130).

Example: My hat it has three corners

Role-play songs

This type of song "contextualize vocabulary and make the transfer from singing to meaningful referents." (Murphey 1992: 129) They use the children's love for stories and role playing.

Example: There was a princess long ago

Topic songs

Many songs support the acquisition of vocabulary according to a special topic like "The days of the week", "The weather" or "The family". If they do not fit in with other categories they are called "topic songs".

Example: Look outside (for the topic "The weather")

4.2. Types of rhymes

Rhymes are taught "to practise the sounds, rhythms and stress patterns of English and in some cases to practise a structure" (Phillips 1993: 108). The didactic background of some types of rhymes is similar to the types of songs described. Above therefore we list the types of rhymes without detailed descriptions unless there is not a corresponding type of songs.

Finger play rhymes

Example: Incy Wincy Spider

Counting rhymes

Example: One two - I see you

Choosing rhymes (counting-out rhymes)

Sometimes a little trick is necessary to choose one from among the children without causing a squabble. Choosing rhymes are very useful for that. They connect random selection with rhythmic speaking and train the vocabulary.

Example: Apples, peaches

Action rhymes

Example: Jumping Jack

Jump rope rhymes

The children like rope skipping. This rhythmic activity is often connected with these simple poems. Jump rope rhymes support the acquisition of numbers or simple sentence structures.

Example: Bread and butter

Rhymes for special occasions Example: Hey-ho for Halloween

Clapping rhymes

The reciting of these very rhythmic rhymes is supported by hand clapping. Each clapping rhyme has its own pattern how to clap hands with a partner standing opposite. These rhymes support the development of a feeling for rhythm for the language and, moreover, they train the right pronunciation of vocabulary. Example: A sailor went to sea, sea, sea

Ball bouncing rhymes

They train the feeling for rhythm and the concentration both on reciting and ball bouncing.

Example: Number one, touch your tongue

Topic rhymes

Example: Take a snowball (about the topic "Winter")

4.3. Chants

"A chant is a like a song without music or a poem with a very marked rhythm." (Phillips 1993: 100) All types of short rhythmic texts or even word groups are suitable to transfer into a chant. The speaking can be supported by finger snapping, feet stamping or the use of rhythmic instruments. Words or texts spoken as chants are more memorable and motivating than normal speaking. For instance, minimal pairs can be spoken as chants to train the differences between the pronunciation of word pairs. Short dialogues in the form of a chant support the memorization of common expressions and structures.

5. Exploiting songs and rhymes

Songs and rhymes can be exploited by other activities after learning and often use. The aim is to enjoy the increase of knowledge but also to practise listening skills and the vocabulary. The following ideas are taken from Phillips (1993: 112,113).

5.1. Song or rhyme pictures

The teacher shows the children pictures that illustrate the content of a song or a rhyme - some with gaps or mistakes. After listening, singing or reciting the children should find the mistakes or complete the pictures.

If a song or a rhyme tells a story, the illustrating pictures could be cut out and mixed. The children listen to the song or rhyme and put the pictures in the right order. It can be done at the blackboard or on a handout.

5.2. Find the word

Before playing or singing a song or reciting a rhyme the teacher asks the children to listen for a certain word. Then they write down the number of times this word occurs.

To train the listening skills another possibility is to sing or recite wrong words in the texts. The children compare with their own knowledge and write down the number of mistakes.

5.3. Mixed-up lines or words

To promote reading skills and knowledge about sentence structure the teacher can copy the text from textbooks or other sources, cut it out and mix the order of words or lines. The children listen and put the lines or words in the correct order again.

5.4. Song or rhyme contest

The English teacher organises a contest where the children recite their favourite rhymes or sing their favourite songs. They can perform it alone or in groups. A jury choose the best performer but all children involved should get an appreciation to keep up their motivation. It is also possible to celebrate a "Day of the English language" where the children can show their knowledge in songs, rhymes and plays. There are no limits for the teacher's ideas.

6. Problems

Beside the many advantages there are also problems in using songs and rhymes for English teaching. Not all teachers are able to read notes and to work out new songs. Therefore songs should be an important element in further vocational teacher training. Besides, the department of education should provide enough money for CDs and appropriate equipment for English lessons. A good help for quite unmusical teachers is to transfer new texts into well-known melodies.

Some authentic rhymes or songs contain old expressions or dialectal or distorted linguistic material. Therefore teachers should check their collected material for useful and suitable content.

7. Conclusion

Songs and rhymes have an important function in teaching English as a foreign language in primary schools. Beside games and visual aids they support by virtue of their typical characteristics the language acquisition for younger learners. Songs and rhymes combine important didactic claims like the holistic, the monolingual and the contextual approach with fun, activity and motivation. Almost incidentally the children become familiar with parts of the foreign culture and see them as enrichment for their own life.

According to the guidelines for teaching songs and rhymes and depending on the concrete situation the teacher can vary the way of teaching these forms. It should not be forgotten to back up the basic vocabulary before introducing a song or rhyme or making sure that the content is understandable. The teacher should provide different possibilities for the students to comprehend the text.

The English teacher can choose from among a lot of types of songs and rhymes with special characteristics and different actions. Each teacher should collect useful songs and rhymes on which he can fall back. If he or she knows the possibilities to exploit these orms the teacher should be able to use songs and rhymes successfully in English lessons.

We know from our experience that children love English songs and rhymes. All teachers should see this big advantage and use songs and rhymes as an permanent part of their English lessons not only in primary school.

We as teachers also enjoy singing, dancing and reciting with our children in class because it gives us the chance to influence the children's development in a positive way and to intensify relationship to our children.

References

Gompf, G. & Fromm, R. (1991): Here we go Teil 1, Lehrerhandbuch. Leipzig, Stuttgart, München: Ernst Klett Verlag.

Lehmann, H. (1998): „We sing and play I & II" in Grundschulunterricht 1/1998 & 4/1998. Berlin: Cornelsen Verlag.

Murphey, T. (1992): Music and Song. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Phillips, S. (1993): Young Learners. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Piepho, H.-E. (1998): "Was soll im Fremdsprachenunterricht erfolgreich vermittelt werden?" in Fremdsprachenfr ü hbeginn 1/1998: 5 -10.Berlin.

Schmid-Schönbein, G. (2001). Didaktik: Grundschulenglisch. Berlin: Cornelsen Verlag.

Straeter-Lietz, C. (1999). „First experiences" in Fremdsprachenfr ü hbeginn 5/1999: 8 - 12. München.

Bumblebee 3 & 4, Lehrerhandbuch. Hannover: Schroedel Verlag.

Fun & Action 1, Arbeitsheft. Leipzig, Stuttgart, Düsseldorf: Ernst Klett Grundschulverlag.

Kooky 1 & 2, Lehrerhandbuch. Berlin: Cornelsen Verlag.

Appendix

1. Examples for types of songs

Finger play songs: Hickory dickory dock Hickory, dickory, dock, The mouse ran up the clock. The clock struck one (in the next verses two, three ...), The mouse ran down, Hickory, dickory, dock.

While singing the song the fingers of the right hand play the mouse on the left arm. When the clock struck, the children clap the number of strikes and count.

Counting songs: Ten little Indians

One little, two, little, three little Indians. For little, five little, six little Indians. Seven little, eight little, nine little Indians, Ten little Indian boys (in the second verse - girls).

While singing the song the children show the numbers with their fingers.

Spelling songs: Farmer Brown has got a dog

Farmer Brown has got a dog and Rover is his name, sir. Farmer Brown has got a dog and Rover is his name. R-O-V-E-R, R-O-V-E-R, R-O-V-E-R, and Rover is his name.

Instead of "dog" and "Rover" in the next verses stand: cat - Pussy - P-U-S-S-Y

Abbildung in dieser Leseprobe nicht enthalten

Action songs: If you ' re happy

1. If you're happy and you know it, clap your hands. If you're happy and you know it, clap your hands. If you're happy and you know it and you really want to show it, If you're happy and you know it, clap your hands.
2. If you're happy and you know it, stamp your feet...
3. If you're happy and you know it, sing a song, tra-la- la...
4. If you're happy and you know it, shout "HOORAY"...
5. If you're happy and you know it, do it all: clap your hands, stamp your feet, sing a song, shout

Songs for special occasions: Black and gold

1. Black and gold, black and gold. It's Halloween tonight. Black and gold, black and gold. It's Halloween tonight. Brooms and cats and pitch-black hats and a pitch-black night.

Brooms and cats and pitch-black hats and a pitch-black night.

Spirituals: Kumbaya, my Lord

Kumbaya, my Lord, kumbaya. Kumbaya, my Lord, kumbaya. Kumbaya, my Lord, kumbaya, oh, Lord, kumbaya.

Drop-a-word songs: My hat it has three corners

Abbildung in dieser Leseprobe nicht enthalten

Role-play songs: There was a princess long ago

1. There was a Princess long ago, long ago, long ago There was a Princess long ago, long long ago.
2. And she lived in a big high tower, a big high tower, a big high tower, And she lived in a big high tower, long long ago.
3. A wicked fairy waved her wand, waved her wand, waved her wand, A wicked fairy waved her wand, long long ago.
4. The Princess slept for a hundred years, a hundred years, a h. y., The Princess slept for a hundred years, long long ago.
5. A great big forest grew around, grew around, grew around, A great big forest grew around, long long ago.
6. A handsome Prince came riding by, riding by, riding by, A handsome Prince came riding by, long long ago.
7. He chopped the trees down one by one, one by one, one by one, He chopped the trees down one by one, long long ago.
8. He woke the Princess with a kiss, with a kiss, with a kiss, He woke the Princess with a kiss, long long ago.
9. So everybody's happy now, happy now, happy now, So everybody's happy now long long ago

Topic songs: Look outside Look outside, look outside, it's sunny out today.

It's sunny outside, it's sunny outside, it's sunny out today.

According to the real weather can be sung instead of "sunny": cloudy windy rainy foggy snowy

2. Examples for types of rhymes

Finger play rhymes: Incy Wincy Spider

Incy Wincy Spider climbed up a water spout. Down came the rain and washed the spider out. Out came the sunshine and dried up all the rain. And Incy Wincy Spider climbed up the spout again.

While saying the rhyme the fingers play the spider, an arm is the water spout. The fingers show the rain. The sun is shown by a big arm wave.

Counting rhymes: One two - I see you

Abbildung in dieser Leseprobe nicht enthalten

Choosing rhymes: Apples, peaches

Apples, peaches, pears and plums, Tell me when your birthday comes!

While saying a game leader point at a child at each syllable. The last child tells its month of birth, e.g. "March"

The next children say the month beginning from January.

January, February, March.

The last child is the chosen one.

Action rhymes: Jumping Jack

Jumping Jack, jumping Jack, Clap your hands - clap, clap, clap.

While saying this rhyme the children jump like a jumping Jack.

Jump rope rhymes: Bread and butter

Bread and butter, sugar and spice, How many boys/girls think I'm nice?

Now the jumping child or others count the jumps.

Rhymes for special occasions: Hey-ho for Halloween

Hey-ho for Halloween. All the witches to be seen. Some black and some green. Hey-ho for Halloween.

This rhyme can be spoken like a witch, a ghost, a cat etc.

Clapping rhymes: A sailor went to sea, sea, sea

A sailor went to sea, sea, sea, To see what he could see, see, see, But all that he could see, see, see, Was the bottom of the deep blue sea, sea, sea.

The children stand in pairs facing each other and clap in time to the rhythm of the words.

Ball bouncing rhymes: Number one, touch your tongue

Number one, touch your tongue. Number two, touch your shoe. Number three, touch your knee. Number four, touch the floor. Number five, learn to jive. Number six, pick up sticks. Number seven, go to heaven. Number eight, over the gate Number nine, touch your spine. Number ten - do it again.

While saying this rhyme the child bounce its ball and tries to do the described action.

Topic rhymes: Take a snowball

Take a snowball, put it on the ground, push it, roll it, make it big and round.

Look, your snowman is big and tall but has no eyes, no nose at all.

Two stones will do and a carrot, too. Now, Mister Snowman, how are you?

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GRIN - Songs and Rhymes in Teaching English at Primary Schools

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1. Introduction 2. The importance of using songs and rhymes in teaching Englis 2.1. Familiar way for language acquisition 2.2. The holistic approach 2.3. Motivation by songs and rhymes 2.4. Provision of meaningful vocabulary 2.5. Support for phonetic development 2.6. The cultural aspect 3. How to teach songs and rhymes 3.1.

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Cock-a-moo-moo by Juliet Dallas-conte read by Lauren at story time

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a research center of the University of California, Irvine

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Fun Drama Games and Activities

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, team building games, or just activities to have fun.

What are drama games anyway

Before you, as most likely a teacher reading these lines and thinking that you have no idea how to make your students play drama games, you're a match teacher! Let us tell you that you don't need to be a drama teacher to get your kids to move and enjoy.

Anyone can play these games and make the most of them. While usually played in a theatre, you can certainly use these games to evolve kids and get their unique skills shine.

If you wonder why games are important for kids, here are just a few of the benefits that drama games, yes drama, can help your students:

Builds confidence

Let's them a chance to show off their voice

Coordination

Concentration

Focus

Team work

Thinking on their feet and many more.

It's obvious, having creative games in the classroom is essential to get your students engage and learn.

General drama games and theatre games for kids

1. RIBBON OF SOUND

Sit in a circle. One person starts a sound. The next person picks it up and it travels around the circle so it becomes a ribbon of sound.

Each person should pick it up and pass it on as quickly as possible. Transform it into another sound-with the person next to the one who started the first sound.

2. COOPERATIVE STAND-UP

Choose partners. Sit back to back on the floor, legs straight out in front. Interlock arms. Try to stand up together as a unit by pushing against each others' backs.

3. LED BY THE NOSE: DRAMA GAME

Children imagine that strings are attached to various parts of their bodies.
They move about the room led by that part. Example: right thumb, nose, knees. Eyelashes etc.

4. STRIKE A POSE

1. Form a circle. Each person chooses one other person in the circle to secretly watch.
2. Everyone closes their eyes and strikes a pose.
3. On "GO" - everyone opens their eyes and begins to copy the person they chose to watch. (In posture, pose, stance, etc.)
Watch as the whole team morphs into the same pose!

5. BEAN BAG 'VOICE PROJECTION'

This exercise demonstrate to children how important it is to project their voices.

Place three bean bags in front of a row of children. One about 10 feet away from them - the second about 20 feet away, the third about 35-40 feet away (this can obviously be changed to suit the physical environment of the class).

1. Ask each child to look directly at the first bean bag, say their name and the name of their favorite animal.

2. Instruct them to say the exact same things to the second bean bag.

3. Would they speak with the same volume? Of course not - the "person" is further away.

4. When asked to address the third bean bag, they obviously should be projecting their voices as loud as they can.

5. After the entire group has addressed the bean bags, let them know they were really acting in a play just then - reaching the first three rows, the middle rows, and the back rows of the theater

6. HOLD A FASHION SHOW! THREE DIFFERENT IDEAS...
Good for Day Camp, in stages for an event ...and those full days of programming
Props: spotlights; a backdrop; if possible, a raised platform/ stage or catwalk; music and sound system...

#1 IDEA
First session: Putting on a fashion show can be fun for all players, especially if everyone gets to choose the role they will play.

In the planning stages, have participants decide on a theme for the show (such as fall fashions or holiday outfits); plan music and which roles children will play.

Both male and female models would be nice; you'll also need designers, emcees, a journalist or two, and photographer.

Help the players plan the set up; where youth will enter and exit-as well as where the audience will sit.

Make a list of special clothing to wear during the show and any other props you may need. If you have the "#3-WACKY" version below-you'll also have to make the outfits ...

Second session: Give members time to set up the show and get organized. Get the audience seated a let the show begin!

IDEA #2: Rehearse a show in which EVERYTHING GOES WRONG! (On purpose) It's fun but not easy to do. Example: The emcee trips over the microphone cord, or models wear things that don't fit-and don't go together. Think of all the silliness you can!

IDEA #3: One activity that I facilitated while managing a summer camp was to have a "WACKY HAIR-DO AND FASHION SHOW". The staff and kids "in fantasy fashion" back-combed, jelled and styled each others hair while others designed, drew, cut-out and taped outfits using ROLL-PAPER.

They also used paints/ markers, tape and accessories! Of course, there was also the fantasy make-up. It was great fun!!! (Barb Shelby)

7. READ AN EASY STORY THAT CAN BE DRAMATIZED.

Choose children to participate and have them recreate the story. They can make up the lines or you can reread or tell it as they act it out.
A variation is to divide the students into small groups.

Have each group pick a story and provide time for them to read it, choose parts and practice acting it out. Then have each group perform their story for the rest of the class and/or for children in younger grades.

8. CHANGING BODY GAME
You may not at first see this as a drama game-but it is! (Pretending you are something/someone else using art!)

Take a picture of each child and glue it to a piece of paper.

Have children to go through magazines, newspapers, etc...Have them cut out pictures of animals, people, and characters.

They then cut off the heads of all of these pictures; they can place them over their picture to see what they would look like in someone else's body!

Example: Cut the head off of Bozo the clown and place the rest of the body under the head of your picture - and you can see what it looks like!

9. 'SENSORY' DRAMA PLAY ACTIVITIES

RELAXATION-STIMULATION
Ask children to relax and explore their five senses by PRETENDING to:

* A sour lemon
* Their favorite candy
* Spinach

HEAR...
* A gentle wind
* Underwater sounds
* A whistle

* A car coming far away and towards you
* A giant
* An ant
* A big black spider

10. MYSTERY BAG
Blindfold children and have them use their senses to identify objects.

TOUCH: feather, balloon, shell, sandpaper, fur, money.

SMELL: coffee, perfume, onion.

TASTE: raisins, cornflakes, coconut, crackers, marshmallows, chocolate

11. IMAGING TASTE (Older Youth)

This activity is about making other people's mouths water.

Have each player in turn describe something to eat; encourage members to use as much detail a possible and wildly exaggerate the smells, tastes and textures of the food.

Next, have the group talk about the actual eating of the food. Example:Talk about how ice-cream melts on your tongue or how peanut butter sticks to the roof of your mouth before swallowing it.

Variation: Describe a single aspect of food, for example, the juice of a peach at its peak of ripeness.

12. I CAN'T STAND_____! (Older Youth)

Have each player in turn describe a food that they cannot stand to eat. Encourage as much detail as possible so that the other group members are disgusted by the food, too.

13. BOTTLE OF WHAT (Young children)

Before the meeting, gather several empty plastic bottles with caps. Fill each bottle with a different material-such as dried peas, pebbles, marbles, sand, and birdseed.

Put the caps back on and cover the bottles with construction paper so the materials inside are hidden. Ask group members to listen to the sound each bottle makes and guess what is inside it.

Drama Games Activities
* Practice diction saying Tongue Twisters
* A simple phrase - Said 3 or 4 different ways. Example: "Open the door." Or "Hello" and a name.

* Carry on a "conversation" with another person using only that person's name. See the range of meaning you can communicate through voice inflection, facial expression and gestures.
* Mirroring.
* Trust Walk/Blindfold Walk.

* In a pair or group- shake hands quickly, slowly, gently, angrily, sadly, tenderly.
* Build a drama Theme around a book.
* Make your hands take on different characteristics: nervous, greedy, flabby, magic, fierce, gentle, strong, frightened, etc.

* Masks: Make or purchase; wear in a skit, scene or play.

* Puppets/Puppet show: Make or purchase puppets; write, produce, practice, perform.

* Perform a one act scene from: Section of chapter book, a well known story book, poems such as those by Shel Silverstein and Bruce Lansky; other club members become audience for rehearsals.

* Pantomime Games (Individual, pairs or a group)

* Pantomime/ Acting out a song - such as the Song Sisters' Alligator song.

* Group Improv: Give a simple idea to act out...Setting up a camp in the woods.

* Form two lines facing each other. The first two people in each line begin a conversation. At any point, the person next to a speaker- can tap him/her on the shoulder.

speaker then goes to the end of the line and the conversation continues between the new speakers at exactly the point it was interrupted.

* Choose a person to leave the room. The rest of the group stands in a circle. Choose a leader who begins and changes all movements. Everyone else should be aware of the leader but not look directly at him.

Change movements when the leader does. Once everyone has the idea, call back the person who left the room. Ask him to stand in the middle and try to figure out who the leader is.

* Sit in a circle. Choose a music conductor. Everyone create a sound and rhythm using hands, feet, voice, etc. in time to the conductor's leading.

* Without the participant's knowledge, stage a sudden "happening". Then have everyone describe exactly what happened in writing, giving as many details as possible. Compare the descriptions. Are they the same? Why not?

* PLAY ARTISTS AND BLOBS

Have children work in 2 or 3 person teams. Ask each team to pick an 'A' and a 'B'. 'A's' are the artists...and 'B's' are the blobs. The artist (s) forms his/her partner into some kind of statue.

The blob relaxes as much as possible until the statue is formed, then tries to hold that pose. (TIP: PLAY MUSIC while artists are forming blobs.) When art works are complete have artists walk about and admire each other's creations!

* The Pretzel: Form a long chain holding hands. Designate a leader who goes in, around and under, taking everyone with him until a human knot is formed. Then, the leader retraces his steps and unties the knot.

* Object Creation: One person begins a mechanical movement. Another person attaches himself to it adding movement. Continue to add youth to the machine, using sounds and moving through space.

* One person goes to the front and begins a non-verbal activity. Others enter once they figure out what the first person is doing. Form a scene without words and let it play out.

* Use your bodies to build a house. Some people become the furniture, telephones, and tables. Others live in the house. Then huff and puff and blow the house down.

* Two partners share one pillow. Experiment with different ways of giving and taking the pillow. Make it something very valuable and precious. Make it something vile and distasteful. Make it very heavy. Make it light. Make it prickly. Pretend that it's a ticking bomb, an injured cat, a hot plate.

* Pair up. Look carefully at each other. One person closes his eyes while the other changes something, such as untying a shoelace. His partner opens his eyes and tries to identify the change. Reverse.

* Pretend to fight in slow motion. Imagine that you are under water or in space. Imagine that you are wearing heavy armor. Use an imaginary long sword.

After we learned about the drama games for kids in the list above, let's see a few good warm up activities to get things going.

Warm Ups Activities

We do warm ups before taking stage or just practicing because it helps us with verbal concentration and articulation muscles. Also, it's really fun to do tongue twisters, here's a few fun warm up ideas:

1. Unique New York

2. Three tree throws

3. Red leather, yellow leather

4. Say this shortly, say this sweetly, say this sharply, say this softly. ( Try and say this 16 times very quickly )

5. Rubber baby buggy bumpers

Here are the rules: Stand as a group, and try and repeat each of these tongue twisters 5 times without making a mistake.

After you're done, see who wishes to take the floor and do the same in front of everyone else.

Improv activities

Improv activities help drama students improve their random thinking and reaction time and thinking on their feet.

It's a great skill to master as a drama actor and if your kid loves actings, here are a few great games to improve in improv:
Drama Menu Links

1. If you are in a group, divide to groups of 3 kids each, and stand on one side of the room/stage. The teacher or leader will throw in a story. Kids need to improv on the stop a storyline that gets from bad to worse. Every time a group comes up with an idea, they can move one step forward. The winner group is the one who gets to the other side of the room or stage. ( The story must make sense )

2. The obstacle game - In this game you tell the kids an item, for example " a door " and they need to throw ideas that are possible obstacles to the item. It has to make sense. Example, a dog, a chair, a spilled water stain on the floor etc.

2.) 3.) If you're interested check out our Costumes or Make Up Ideas. Improv Games and Exercises Pantomine, Tips and Games
A good resource for Drama games: 101 Drama games for children: Fun and Learning with Acting and Make-believe. By Paul Rooyackers and illustrated by Cecilia Bowman. A Hunter House Smart Fun Book. Purchase at Amazon.com

1.) The Different Types of Drama

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37 Fun Drama Games and Activities | Drama Games | Kid Activities

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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,

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Author Luke Fellows "Drama is highly regarded as an effective and valuable teaching strategy because of its unique ability to engage reflective, constructivist and active learning in the classroom as well as enhancing oral skills development" (Di Pietro, 1987; Via, 1976; Heathcote cited in Wagner, 1976; Mezirow, 1990; Schon, 1991; Donato and McCormick, 1994; Lukinsky, 1990; Miccoli, 2003; Ashton Hay, 2005).

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Higher Theatre vocab

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Advanced theatrical terms

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Whether you're a drama teacher, director, or running a course, acting games are a fantastic tool. They help students get comfortable, warmed up and focused. Acting games also develop important skills required for acting and performing. Below is a number of my favourite drama games. For each game or exercise I have given a difficulty rating, a recommended age range and a set of learning outcomes to tell what kind of skills the game will help improve. I have split the acting games into six sections to make it easier for you to find the appropriate games for your group/situation.

For Getting to Know a New Group

Moving Name

So this, in my opinion, is the best game to start with when working with a new group. I've seen it work with university students as well as with six year olds.

1. Get your group into a circle.

2. Say your name with a matching gesture and vocalisation. Samuel for instance could be signalled with two punches and spoken in a high pitched voice.

3. Once you have performed your name, the whole group mimics you. They must try to copy the way you said your name as well as the physical movement.

4. Continue this around the circle till each person has said their name.

Tip: the more whacky you set the standard, the better result you'll get from the students.
Tip: encourage the students not to think too much, but to jump straight in - looking stupid is mandatory.

Name and Go

I typically use this game after playing Moving Name. Hopefully the students have learnt a few names and it is a good way to solidify names for you and the other students.

1. Get your group into a circle.

2. You must make eye contact with someone in the circle, say their name and move to take there place.

3. The person whose name you called must pick another person in the circle, say there name, and take there place in the circle.

4. Continue this until each student has had a turn.

Tip: encourage students to relax and focus. If they get flustered and panic it disrupts the flow of the game.

Zombie Tag

This is a popular warm-up game, even for students who know each other's names and have worked together before! For new groups, Zombie Tag is a great way of incentivising the learning of names: if you want to survive, you better know who everybody is!

1. Have students walk randomly around the space. To begin, name a student who will be the first zombie. They have to pick one student in the space to walk towards, and try to tap them on the shoulder.

2. To escape, the chosen student must yell out another student's name in the room. That new student becomes the zombie and picks another victim, and the game continues on from there.

3. If a student is tapped by the zombie, they become the next one. After another name is said, they wait on the sidelines.

Tip: With smaller classes, you might want to restrict the playing space. One way to do this is have students who get out become "The Wall": they stand at the edge of the space and can tap people out who get too close!

Focus Games

Me to You

This is a really simple exercise for a large group which encourages connection and focus. It requires students to be hyperaware and really focus.

Tip: encourage your students to be clear and direct. Also make sure that all the students get a turn.

Word Association with Clicks

This game is played by professional theatre companies, and can also work really well with late primary and high school kids.

1. Get your group into a circle.

2. Firstly, teach your students the rhythm which they will make with their bodies: thigh slap, clap, then click (right hand), click (left hand)

3. Get the group comfortable with this rhythm.

4. When clicking with the right hand the student whose turn it is must say the persons before them's word and then a new word that associates with that word when clicking with the left hand.

5. The next person in the circle (work in a clockwise motion) must do the same. They must repeat the last persons word with the right click and then think of a new word when they click with the left hand.

6. The thigh slap and clap gives the game a steady rhythm and stops students panicking.

7. Continue this until you have done a few successful laps around the circle.

Tip: Stress the importance of keeping the rhythm steady. Groups tend to naturally speed up quite quickly. Students often find this game particularly funny, so try to keep them focused.

Tip: If the rhythm is too confusing, try a simple game of word association around the circle instead.

Bang!

A warm-up classic! This game is popular with all ages, but you may wish to choose a word other than "bang" if you're uncomfortable with your students pretending to shoot guns. However, most children know it's only a game.

1. Have your students stand in a circle. In the centre, you act as the sheriff.

2. Point to a student and say "bang"! When you do, the student you point at has to duck, and the students on either side of them have to fire at each other. The slowest to react sits down for the rest of the round.

3. Continue until only two students remain standing. They go into the centre of the room, back to back, and walk away from each other.

4. Have one student pick a "magic word" and another tell a story containing the magic word. When the two final students standing hear the word, they can turn and shoot.

5. Your winner is the new sheriff.

Tip: Enforce a rule saying whoever is sheriff has final say. Students will learn to police fairness themselves and treat each other with respect and honesty.

Tip: It's worth mentioning to your students that "Bang!" is a game of concentration far more than one of being quick. More students will get themselves out not listening or reacting than they will actually being slow.

Improvisation Games

"Thank You"

This games works as a great warm up for more extensive improvisations.

1. Have students stand in a circle.

2. Invite a student into the circle and have them create a frozen image with their body.

3. Invite a second student in, and have them create a complimentary pose that builds on the first student's story: if the first posed with a karate chop, the second might freeze as if they're scared/defensive.

4. The first student breaks their pose, says "Thank you." and exits the circle.

5. Another student enters and builds off the second student's pose, continuing the exercise.

6. For older or more advanced classes: when a student comes into the circle, have them say the first line of a scene. This can be extended into a short improv scene if they feel comfortable.

Tip: This can be a great exercise for talking about improv basics with younger students: talk about status (not walking into the space with more power than the first student). If you add the 'first line' step, tell students to consider people/places/things so the audience knows what's going on. Discourage generic lines such as "What's going on!"

Tip: Ask students what they might be able to do interpret a pose in an unexpected way: could a karate chop be a handshake?

Freeze Circle

This is a great improvisation game. It is similar to the well known "Space Jump" but a little easier to explain.

1. Get your group into a circle.

2. A student enters the circle and begins a solo improvisation. Get the group to help come up with a scenario.

3. Then say freeze at an appropriate moment.

4. Some else from the group gets into the circle and starts a new improvisation, inspired by the other persons frozen pose.

5. Let the improvsiation run for around 30 seconds then say freeze when the students are in an interesting position.

6. A new person from the group then goes into the circle and tags out the one who has been in the longest.

7. They then take up the exact position of the frozen person and start a new scene, inspired by the combined frozen image.

8. Keep going until everyone has had a go or the group starts to become disinterested.

Tip: encourage your students to be creative and not just to aim at cheap/easy comedy. There is no reason why improvisation can't be serious or even moving. A no guns/violence/death rule is often helpful.

Space Jump

This is arguably the most famous of all improvisation games, and is played slightly different all over the world. Here is my version:

1. Four students go up on stage.

2. Number the students 1-4

3. The student who is number 1 comes onto the stage. The audience thinks of a scenario for student 1. For example he/she may be in a zoo.

4. Student number 1 then begins an improvisation about the given scenario. When you feel it has gone on enough, usually about 20 seconds you call Space Jump!

5. Student 1 then freezes and student 2 comes on stage. They use the pose student 1 is frozen in to inspire a new scene.

6. The two actors then continue on until again you feel it has been long enough and again call Space Jump!

7. This same process happens for students 3 and 4.

8. Once the final scene, which should have all 4 students in, has been going for enough time you again call Space Jump! Student 4 then leaves the scene and the scene reverts to what the 3 students were doing before.

9. This reversal continues until there is only student 1 alone on stage improvising in their first scenario.

Tip: Try to encourage a diverse range of scenarios. You often see the same stuff over and over.

Tip: This can work with larger groups of up to 12 students. You may need to keep track of scenarios to help them along.

Why Are You Late?

This game requires a bit of set-up and explanation for a class, but is a fun improv game that is both entertaining to participate in and watch for larger groups.

1. Pick four characters from the group: Big Boss, 2 x Coworkers and the Driver.

2. Set the scene: The Coworkers and the Driver are late for work. The Big Boss (seated onstage) is waiting for them to show up.

3. The 2 x Coworkers come onstage while the Driver parks the car (off). Big Boss asks "Why are you late?" The Coworkers come up with three reasons that they were delayed: the more ridiculous the better!

4. Finally, the driver comes in: Big Boss asks the same question and the two coworkers have to mime out their reason behind Big Boss' back. If the Driver gets the reasons correct, they keep their jobs. If not, everybody is fired and a new round begins.

Tip: Make sure you encourage your watching students to be friendly and warm audience members. Encourage laughter, cheering and applause at the appropriate times.

Advanced Improv Games

Once you have played a few basic games you might want to up the difficulty level and explore some longer form improvisational games. These are best played with 15 years and up high schooler groups, beginner adult groups or experienced actors looking to work their craft in a different way.

Four lines and a story

This game is all about creating a scene using minimal dialogue. Write these four phases on a whiteboard or an easily accessible surface that the performers can see.

Pick two people to get up onstage, they must create a scene and tell a story using only these phases as dialog. Get suggestions from the audience about their characters relationship, environment and what happened last time they saw each other. Encourage them to really focus on telling the story with their vocal and physical choices within the limits of the specified dialog above.

People, Places, Secrets

Once the group has got a hold of the above exercise the next step is to raise the stakes while offering the performers a degree of freedom - they are no longer required to stick to the 4x lines. For this next exercise, get two actors up on stage and ask the audience for the following:

Where is this scene taking place?

What is the relationship between these two performers?

What happened last time they saw each other?

Once you have all of that, take one of the performers off stage and give them a secret. Encourage them to reveal their secret at an appropriate time in the scene. I did this with a group of actors a little while ago with fantastic results. The scene was in a teachers office, the relationship was a teacher and their student and last time they met the students parents had complained that their daughters grades were bad. I took the actress aside and gave her a secret that she was pregnant and the baby was the teachers. The scene that played out took about 15 minutes and it was completely enthralling.

Tip: Please ensure that the secrets and scenes you assign to your group are appropriate for their age range and maturity level.

Free-form Impro

Once you have played out both of the above scenarios, the group will be well acquainted with the setup, now we can let them roam free in the storytelling wilderness and see what they come up with. Put two people onstage, give them one minute to chat, they need to set up a relationship, an environment and a recent history. Send one of them out of the room and tell them to come up with a relevant secret. Tell the other actor onstage to come up with a secret as well, and watch the scene unfold with a double reveal to everyone's surprise!

Physical Exercises

DVD Game

I have seen this game work really well with all ages. With large groups, getting students to go away and create something and then come back and perform is really effective. This game encourages creativity and physical expression.

Tip: give both the group performing and those guessing positive feedback if they are successful.

Four Corners

This is a really easy physical game for all ages. I often use it to start a lesson as it's simple to explain and gets the students moving.

1. Name or number the four corners of the room. If you have a themed lesson you can name each corner something that suits the theme.

2. Choose a student to stand in the middle of the room. You then make the student close their eyes whilst you count down from 10. They can either spin on the spot and stop when you reach zero, or they can stay still and then pick a corner on zero. The latter is my preferred choice as it is more about listening to the students moving around the room, rather than merely luck.

3. The students who are in the corner that the student in the middle picks are then out.

4. The game continues until there is a winner.

5. The winner then becomes the one in the centre.

Tip: Think of some really fun name of the corner. Kids, and adults for that matter, love being involved in decisions!

Changing Character

This is often a great way to get a class going. It is not really an acting game, but just playing with characters.

1. Get the students to walk around the space.

2. If you have a class theme choose some character appropriate to that theme and get the students to walk in that manner. For example walk like a King, Queen, Clown.

3. You can also do this exercise with animals. Getting the students to gradually become different animals.

4. You can then get the students to interact as their characters or animals, however sometimes this can result in bedlam.

5. Play until students start to get disinterested. It is just a simple way to get students in the mood for acting.

Tip: This game has no right and wrong. It is just a simple way to warm up the class.
Tip: Act with the students. Show that you can't be too stupid.

Opposites Game

This is a really good game to start with when working with a big group. Basically this game is for warming up and getting you thinking.

1. Get the students to walk neutrally around the space.

2. Ask them all to jump when you yell "Jump!" When they are comfortable with this, add "Crouch!" Finally, add two sounds: a "Shush!" has them all shush, and a "Hello!" elicits a loud "Hi there!"

3. Alternate between the commands to warm them up and get them used to performing the actions.

4. Call a stop. Tell students that jump is crouch, crouch is jump, shush is "Hi there!" and "Hello!" is shush.

5. Now freely change between all the options, trying to catch them out.

6. Carry on until the game begins to tire

Tip: You can try adding extra actions to the game to increase the difficulty. Just make sure they are paired so you can maintain the swap.

Heroes And Villains

A fun variation of the many 'walk around the space games': this one brings a subtle edge that is sure to challenge any age group/proficiency level.

1. Have students walk around the space: tell them to avoid friends, patterns and circles.

2. When they are comfortable, have them select one person in the room: they should not indicate to this person that they have chosen them in any way.

3. When they've picked this person, tell them this is their "villain". Without drawing attention to it, they need to do all they can to keep this person far away from them.

4. Next, have them pick a second person: this person is their "hero". This person should make them feel calm and happy. Again, this person should not know they've been chosen.

5. Finally, task students with keeping their hero between them and the villain. Challenge them to keep up the charade as long as they can (the class will eventually tangle hopelessly).

Tip: For younger groups, this is a great game for teaching about emotions and empathy: how do they feel about the hero and the villain? Why might they want to keep them away?

Guess the Word

I recently played this group with a group of 6-16 year olds and it worked really well. It gets students using their bodies and increases observation skills.

1. Split the group in half. If you have an uneven number you may have to take part.

2. Once everyone has lined up get them to pick a partner.

3. Gather one half in and give them a word. It is best to use emotions for example, passion, love, anxiety.

4. The goal is for the students to express that word to their partners simply using their bodies for expression.

5. Try to keep the two groups in two lines opposite each other so people aren't running into each other.

6. The listening group then has to guess the word.

7. Go through each person in the listening group and see if they have got it right.

8. Change groups and repeat using a new word. Go till the group starts to tire, 2 goes each is about right.

Super Fun Games

Stuck in the Mud

This is a quite a well known game that isn't necessarily related to acting; however, it is a lot of fun and gets students moving and in a good mood.

Build the Robot

This is a really easy game that can be fun for all ages. It encourages team work and creativity.

1. One person from the group must stand on stage and make a repetitive gesture. You can also have students add a sound to their movement.

2. Another student jumps up and does a different repetitive gesture.

3. Continue this until all the students have added to the "robot"

4. The students must maintain their original gesture and the goal is to create an interesting and diverse looking robot.

Tip: I wouldn't recommend doing more than two robots as it can take time and can be tiring for the group.

Tip: As an extension, have a student 'control' the robot by conducting the action with their hands: bringing their hands up or down controls speed, bringing them apart or closer together makes the sounds louder.

Expert Double Figures

A fun little performance game.

1. Choose four students to take part.

2. Two students must then sit on stage in two chairs. It should be set up like an interview.

3. They must then put their hands behind their backs. The other two students must hide behind the chairs and slip their hands through the seated student's so that it gives the impression they are the seated students arms.

4. You then name an interviewer and interviewee. The interviewee must be an 'expert' in a particular field. Let the students help you pick scenarios.

5. Let the interview begin and continue until it starts to lag.

Tip: Encourage the students who are doing the hands to not be too over the top.

Epic Scissors-Paper-Rock

This game is really only for fun, but it can be great to break up a class.

Simple Goodies

Telephone

Everyone knows this game, but it is fantastic and really useful, especially with younger children. It encourages good diction and listening skills.

1. Get your group into a circle, either seated or standing.

2. Start by whispering a short sentence into the ear of the person next to you.

3. Let the sentence travel around the circle in this same manner and see if it comes back to you the same as it started.

4. The goal is to get it back intact, but it can provide some great fun when it goes horribly wrong.

1-2-3

A really silly and easy game that can help relax students.

1. Get your group into a circle.

2. Walk around the circle and number off the students 1,2 or 3

3. Then simply come up with fun things for the students to act. For example: 1's are wild animals etc.

4. Continue until each number has had a few goes.

Greetings Your Majesty

A really simple game to burn some time at the end of a class.

1. Get the students to sit in a line.

2. Place a chair facing away from the students.

3. One student is chosen to sit in the chair. He/She must then shut their eyes.

4. Students are then picked from the line to sneak up behind the student in the chair, and in a weird or different voice, they say: Greetings Your Majesty.

5. This student then returns to their seat in the line.

6. The student in the chair must guess which student it was.

7. If the student in the chair gets it right they stay in the chair, and this will continue until they get five right in a row.

8. If they get in wrong, however, the student who tricked them becomes the one in the chair.

9. This continues until the game tires.

Moo

A fun, quirky game. Be prepared for things to get weird...

1. Have students sit in a circle.

2. Two students face each other on all fours in the centre of the space, imitating cows.

3. The goal is to make the other person laugh, by simply saying "Moo."

4. Whoever breaks leaves the circle, the winner remains until they break.

Tip: "Moo" is fun, but also a great game for concentration and vocal projection. Encourage students to try different readings of the word. It can actually be a great way to introduce actions in pursuit of an objective.

The Monster Calls All Those Who...

This game works really well at the start of a lesson, and is very easy to explain and everyone gets a go.

1. Make a circle out of chairs, with one chair in the middle

2. The person in the middle says: "the monster calls all those people who have... (think of something that will apply to most of the children, for example blue eyes, bare feet, boys and so forth)".

3. The people who that call applies to have to get up and move seats. The person who is last to take a new seat is now in the middle.

4. Continue this until everyone has had a go. Each time they must think of a new thing to call out.

5. You can change monster to anything that fits with your class.

Tip: Try to encourage kids that being the last one to find a seat is not good, otherwise they may try and lose on purpose, which isn't good for the flow of the game.

Tip: This game is great for introducing more abstract thinking into the class as well: once students are comfortable with the rules, start to set themes for questions that aren't based on appearance/things in the room. Emotions, interests, experiences, etc.

The Bears are Coming

This is a silly game that can work really well with a younger group.

1. Begin by telling a story to the children about an age without technology where people had to chop wood etc.

2. All the children then have to find some physical action, based on an old fashioned job like wood chopping, hunting, or washing clothes and begin doing this action somewhere in the room.

3. The teacher then leaves the room momentarily and returns as the bear.

4. Once the bear arrives, the students must freeze where they are, and as the bear you must try to make the students laugh.

5. If a student laughs they join you as a bear and you work together until you have made everyone laugh.

Tip: The bears cannot touch the frozen children!

Some Practical Tips

1. Try to keep the atmosphere fun and creative. Encourage bold choices and at all cost avoid creating an intimidating or fearful environment. Though a number of games have winners and rely on competition, try not to make it all about winning and losing as students can be easily disheartened.

2. Give the more difficult students greater responsibility. Often those students who get easily bored or try to disturb the group thrive when given responsibility or focus.

3. For getting the group into a circle, count down from five and tell the students they must form a circle in that time.

4. If a game flops, find a natural ending and move straight onto something else.

5. Keep the students involved. For instance if you are working on a improvisation game like Freeze Circle stop every now and again and ask the students what they like, what is working etc. Reflection and discussion are really important for learning.

6. For more inquisitive (or demanding!) classes, it can help to talk about what skills each warm-up help them learn or hone. Be ready to talk about what the benefits of an activity bring to those participating.

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Acting Games | Drama Exercises and Games for Kids and Adults

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Great acting games and drama exercises for kids and adults. With easy to follow instructions this is a great resource for acting teachers and directors.

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Year 1 - Talk 4 Writing - The Gingerbread Man

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classroom observation

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Suitable for lower primary

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Great multi-level classroom strategy – Teaching English Games

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How do you keep your best students from getting bored without leaving the others behind in a multi-level classroom? Keep all levels motivated.

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© COPYRIGHT 2005-2021. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

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Useful checklist

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Teaching Literacy Through Drama - Drama Resource

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Drama is a close ally in the development of literacy, especially speaking and listening.

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In this game, animal traits are used as a basis for developing bold and funny characters.

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Animal Characters

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The Musicians of Bremen is a short play (nine pages plus directing tips, around 15 minutes) suitable for performance by children and young people - ideal for Schools and Drama Clubs. Based on a famous story by the Brothers Grimm, it tells about four farmyard animals who have been kicked out of their homes because they are too old to work. They meet up in the forest, decide to form a musical band and travel to the town of Bremen.

Meanwhile, a group of dodgy criminals are planning a robbery in a house in the forest. The animals try to perform to them, but scare them off, keeping the house for themselves. There is plenty of action plus songs and lots of jokes. Also included is a short Glossary, explaining common terms used in performance.
Recommended cast size: 9
Try before you buy: Download an excerpt of the play
Click the button to download the full 14-page Musicians of Bremen script (PDF) for just £4.97 with PayPal.

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The Musicians of Bremen Script - Drama Resource

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The Musicians of Bremen is a short play (nine pages plus directing tips, around 15 minutes) suitable for performance by children and young people - ideal for Schools and Drama Clubs. Based on a famous story by the Brothers Grimm, it tells about four farmyard animals who have been kicked out of their homes because they are too old to work.

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High Quality ESL Lesson Plans - Free Samples - $26 Membership
Be a better teacher! Hundreds of PDF lesson plans. Grammar, reading, vocabulary, speaking. All with comprehensive Teacher Notes included. Zero preparation time required. Listening lesson plans with mp3 files also available. Plus flashcards. Benefit from fifteen years of ESL experience. Use coupon code "ESLPR" on registration for discount!
Live Worksheets
Worksheets that listen. Worksheets that speak. Worksheets that motivate students. Worksheets that save paper, ink and time.

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High Quality ESL Lesson Plans - Free Samples - $26 Membership Be a better teacher! Hundreds of PDF lesson plans. Grammar, reading, vocabulary, speaking. All with comprehensive Teacher Notes included. Zero preparation time required. Listening lesson plans with mp3 files also available. Plus flashcards. Benefit from fifteen years of ESL experience.

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At my Pre-Primary lessons I use a lot videos from "Super Simple Songs"

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At my Pre-Primary lessons I use a lot videos from "Super Simple Songs"

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Follow Me | Kids Songs | Super Simple Songs

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Macmillan Story Corner: The fish that wanted that wanted to be beautiful

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Sometimes they have free events and resources