David Farmer's list of resources for drama includes mobile apps as well as software, reviews, strategies, lessons, etc. Recommended by EVO Drama members.
Mechanics and drama help students understand science and how life works. For young and very young learners, this lesson demonstrates how to engage learners physically in the subjects they are studying.
"See the Arts Impact program in action as teachers participate in the summer institute and teach the arts in their classrooms. Hear comments from participating teachers and artist mentors."
This is a very nice teacher training video if you are using drama and/or art in the classroom. Great ideas.
Some alternative ways to get students to focus on you, not the distractions out the window: ask them to make a prediction (take a poll); use a pause and chunk technique with breaks to process; give hints and teasers to pre-focus attention; get them to buy in to the content with a hook or personal investment; do a physical activity (Simon Says or moving around puzzle pieces) to strengthen connections. Burns also suggests high interest materials that compel attention and using fast writing/free writing to get focus, using art work, drama, etc. Good ideas for the teacher.
"They learn literary devices; that means they learn metaphors, they learn similes - all these are part of poetry writing, part of writing in novels. So when pupils identify these, they can also identify these in comprehension passages and they are able to do comprehension better and understand what is written better and in composition. They learn how to write a story using the plot, the setting, and all these are enhanced through film appreciation, through drama."
"They learn literary devices; that means they learn metaphors, they learn similes - all these are part of poetry writing, part of writing in novels. So when pupils identify these, they can also identify these in comprehension passages and they are able to do comprehension better and understand what is written better and in composition. They learn how to write a story using the plot, the setting, and all these are enhanced through film appreciation, through drama."
"Whether you are searching for a one-act or full-length appropriate for your High School, a musical your Middle School students will adore, the perfect Christmas Play for the holiday season, the next big hit in your Community, Professional or Youth Theater, or a collection of monologues or plays by your favorite playwrights, we've got it! You can also search a variety of instruction and technique books perfect for the classroom, or your own personal library. "
Reading plays aloud might be an interesting way to get your students into pronunciation. Some plays may also be recorded so students can listen and compare. The menu selects by age/grade level and type.
Watch TV shows on your computer. You may wish to use excerpts from episodes in your class as conversation starters or models for social interactions to be play-acted.
How blogs can make the link
Blogs offer connection - between pupils and between schools, and sometimes with surprising results. Chris Alden looks at how some schools work with the medium, and wonders why more don't
When children from Sandaig primary school, Glasgow, each wrote a poem for National Poetry Day last autumn, they could scarcely have imagined that their work would become the basis of a drama project at a school in the American south.
But after class teacher John Johnston published all 150 poems on the Glasgow school's blog - an easy-to-use online journal for children and staff - the feedback they received was immediate and global.
blogging - "Blogs offer connection - between pupils and between schools, and sometimes with surprising results. Chris Alden looks at how some schools work with the medium, and wonders why more don't ."
Some ideas and resources. Literature is a good way to engage ELLs, even if at first the language seems hard. His language is so much a part of the English-speaking world's culture that Shakespeare has to be included. And it's required, usually in high school. Learning short passages and performing them is a great activity and will help with pronunciation, too.
Welcome to the Web's first edition of the Complete Works of William Shakespeare. This site has offered Shakespeare's plays and poetry to the Internet community since 1993.
"This suite of tools has been designed to support online teaching and learning. They are available to authorised users for use in educational institution and classrooms. Edith Cowan University does not guarantee or provide any warranty for the tools.
"Teachers wishing to use the tools simply need to register with their name and email. The tools can then be accessed with these details. ... The site is managed and maintained by Ron Oliver who can be contacted with queries if the need arises. The site is a development site and has new tools in development and fixes being made to existing tools."
Looks to be a very interesting set of online tools with modest interfaces. Suggestions for uses with students are pedagogically sound.