Distance Learning for Drama has been challenging but can still be an innovative way to connect learning with Teachers via interactive media such as Google Classroom, Google Hangouts, and Zoom. Students can rehearse and perform a variety of pieces using online platforms very successfully either individually, or in groups. Read on to find some new and innovative ideas for your students.
Teaching Drama and Games Online
Warm Up Online Games
Pat Head, Rub Tummy
A nice Ice Breaker for any group to get into. Have students pat their stomach and then rub their heads, and then switch the direction to rubbing their heads and patting their stomachs. Try both hands. Some can do it and some can’t.
Another version of this is to draw a bow tie in the air with your finger. On the other hand, draw a large circle in the air. They bring them together and practice together to see how can and can’t do this activity.
Relaxing The Body
Have students standing in front of their cameras. Then have students relax their bodies by swinging their arms, shoulders, legs, upper torso, moving their heads. Let them know the reason why they are doing this. It is going get them physically ready and loosened up for the movement/drama at hand.
Zoom Performance Ideas
Reading A Child’s Story Book
A great way to teach drama students for distance learning is for students to individually practice and rehearse, is by reading aloud a child’s storybook to a child or to their teacher while being recorded.
Fairytale books such as the one listed here from Amazon are the best to use with students, because they help students know when to express themselves appropriately and is easy to understand.
The premise should set out for students to practice taking on different characters from the story and voicing them as they feel or see fit. They should also attempt to bring the story alive by energizing the words and holding up the story as they move through each page.
Many people think it’s easy to read a storybook to children, but until giving it a good go in front of young people who aren’t related to you, will you then realize how hard it is.
A simple rubric could state: correct vocal emphasis, energized reading, clarity of voice, connection through a digital medium.
Student’s could mark themselves first and or send through their work to a fellow student to peer mark using the rubric, before sending through to the teacher.
Simple uploads via Flipgrid, or Google Classroom are good ways to for students to share their work. Keep in mind Flipgrid is easy to use, but is public for the rest of the students to see.
Monologue
Another great way for students to stay connected to performance, is by having students learn a new monologue either classic or contemporary.
A classical monologue is often taken from your classic and well established period playwrights such as Shakespeare, or The White Devil by John Webster, or monologues by Oscar Wilde to name a few examples.
There are plenty of modern-day, more contemporary monologues form which to choose form.
Tips for Beginning online Monologues is to get students to begin their monologue softly, loudly, strangly, heavy, brightly, sadly etc. Record a part of their monlogue and review.
Check out this great monologue text, for High School students. It has really great monologues for girls and boys and are perfect for Zoom or Hangouts. Purchase here for a surprisingly cheap price.
This gets students in an expressive mood and helps with creativity. It’s also a fun way to explore language and characterisation.
Spoken Word Poetry
There are plenty of different ways to express poetry and spoken word is one such way. Spoken word poetry is the ability to express your poetry or someone else’s out loud using expression.
Students can find already written spoken word poetry online or they can write their own own.
An example of basic formula beginning your poetry: Anguish
Anguish feels like:
Anguish looks like:
Anguish tastes like:
Anguish sounds like:
Anguish is like:
Students of all ages really take to this activity and really enjoy writing, expressing, and presenting their poetry out loud. Have them record their work on and upload to a program like Google Classroom.
There is also a rubric which you can make and upload to Google Classroom.
Once students have written their stanzas, they then don’t speak the words; ‘Anguish looks like, but says the rest of the sentence. The poetry is in the actual lines after the beginning parts of each sentence.
Family Tableaux
As the title suggests, students are given a range of scenes to make a photograph tableaux, but they work with their family members instead of fellow class members. You will be surprised at how many family members will be willing to help, especially when they have nothing much else to do.
Tongue Twister
Find a number of already written tongue twisters or have student write finding words which have the same beginning consonant. They can write a stanza poem with their own tongue twister as an extension. Students can perform in a number of online ways described above and below.
Zoom Two Hander Script Work
As the heading suggests, another way for teaching drama in distance learning is to find relevant two hander scripts written especially for teenagers, and have them rehearse in their own time. They will need to rehearse using their own Zoom set up. They will also need to find their own props if using them, a suitable background for both actors, where the students themselves should have creative control of their work here. They must film this piece as a performance and showcase to the rest of the class as a designated time.
Create a suitable rubric using Google Drive and have them also upload their video there. This can make it more streamlined to mark.
Improvised Piece
The teacher can set up distance drama learning where students are designated five cards with the plot, characters, settings problem, and an ending. These should be handed (or emailed, told) out at random. Each student needs to develop an improvised piece within a certain amount of time. This can be rehearsed or performed as the person gets their cards and Zoom in their performance.
Most students prefer to have time to work on their ideas before performing. They could be given a certain amount of time to rehearse, and given a particular time to perform. Most students will find this a challenging, but fun task to do.
Create a Sock Puppet Performance
Using a range of items from the home, students sew buttons, make a mouth piece and wool for hair to make a sock puppet. These puppets can improvise a scene or they can take on an actual script which has already been written for actual actors to perform. Two sock puppets would work best for a two-hander. But the student will need to take on two characters at one time.
Here is a great book with scenes for one puppet shows. The book basically has a number of scripts for one person to act using their puppet. This makes it nice and easy as a teacher to share these scripts and have students make their puppets and perform according to the set script. Enjoy reading it here at Amazon.
Here is a video to help you find out how to make a sock puppet.
Ana DIY sock puppets
Zoom Detective
Using Zoom, all students have to follow a leader’s movements on screen. But one student has to turn their back to the screen because they become the detective. The teacher will choose a leader while one student’s back is turned to the camera at home. The leader will then make a movement and the rest of the group makes the same movement. The detective needs to turn around and has three guesses to choose the leader of the group.
If she or he guesses correctly, they get to be a detective for another go. If they don’t guess correctly the movement leader takes on the role of the detective and so on.
Commercial Actor
Using the transcript of a commercial have students take on the presenting role. They can create a short script for themselves and present by trying to promote an item in their home or promote their house, area, park for local tourism, or what people can do during the different levels of lockdown.
Students will likely need to research how to put a commercial script together. They can storyboard their ideas and then shoot using a cell phone. Editing can be down with downloaded apps. Or if they can shoot a scene using a one-shot example. In this case, simple is better.
They can promote:
-masks
-clothing
-things to do during lockdown
-a favorite cup
-their favorite item at home etc.
Hotseating
Students research and create a character’s backstory. They need to sit in front of the camera and be asked a number of questions from the audience about their character, what their background is, and motivations for the scene and or play. The audience can ask questions related to their relationship with other characters in the scene. While these questions are being asked, the student should sustain their character throughout.
Check out this blogpost which goes into Hotseating for the Classroom. I wrote this as a specific example of how to use hotseating for any age.
The following book was surprisingly cheap and easy to obtain from Amazon. I have this great improvisation book on my shelf which I have used for many years with my acting students. It is called Improvisation for the theater.
Improvisation for the Theater: A Handbook of Teaching and Directing Techniques (Drama and Performance Studies)
Sound Scape
Using Zoom, distance learning for drama has students choose a rhythm or sound using objects in their house or their voices. One student at a time begins the sound in a beat which is easy to keep. One by one each student adds their sound to the soundscape with the beat or in syncopation. Once all students have had a turn with the activity you can ask each to leave the soundscape in the same way they entered. For stance, the first one to start the soundscape will be the last to leave.
Ask the students what worked well and what they need to work on.
Teaching Drama through distance learning can still be done effectively online. Simply adapt your interactive programmes to suit your students using ‘different’ spaces and places.’ The online world is your oyster. I hope you enjoyed reading this blog post. Please check out our other articles to help with your theater needs.
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