Lesson 9 - Teaching with Dramatized Experiences

“All dramatizations are essentially a process of communication, in which both participant and spectators are engaged. A creative interaction takes place, a sharing of ideas.”

The third level in the cone is Dramatic Experience.

Dramatic is something that is stirring or affecting or moving.

Dramatic entrance is something that catches and holds our attention and has an emotional impact.

   "If our teaching is dramatic, our students get attracted, interested and affected. If they affected and moved by what we taught, we will most likely leave an impact on them."

Kinds of dramatized experiences:

1.       Formal plays - depict life, character or culture or a combination of all three. It offers excellent opportunities to portray vividly important ideas about life.

2.       Pageants - usually community dramas that are based on local history, presented by local actors.

3.       Pantomime - is the “art of conveying a story through bodily movements only.”(Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary). Its affect on the audience depends on the movements of the actors.

4.       Tableau -  it is a French words means picture. It is a picture-like scene composed of people against the background. Often used to celebrate Independence Day, Christmas, and United Nations Day.

5.       Puppet - present ideas with extreme simplicity—without elaborate scenery or costume.

Types of Puppets:

Shadow puppets – flat back silhouette made from light-weight cardboard and shown behind a screen.

     Rod puppets – flat cut out fingers tacked to a stick, with one or more movable parts, and operated from below the stage level by wire rods or slender sticks.

                                      
      Hand Puppets- the puppet’s head is operated by the forefinger of the puppeteer; the little finger and thumb being used to animate the puppet hands.

           Glove-and-finger puppets – make use of old gloves to which small costumed figure are attached.

              Marionettes – flexible, jointed puppets operated by strings or wires attached to a cross bar and maneuvered from directly above the stage.

6.       Role playing- is an unrehearsed, unprepared and spontaneous dramatization of a ‘let’s pretend’ situation where assigned participants are absorbed by their own roles in the situation described by the teachers.

Points to remember:

•   Play and pantomime require much time for preparation and so cannot be part of everyday classroom program.

• Pantomime and tableau, when compared to a play and a pageant, is less demanding in terms of labor, time, and preparation. These are purely visual experiences.

•  Role playing is highly effective for lessons in the affective domain.

• Dramatic experiences cater student’s multiple intelligences and it cannot be implemented by individuals alone.

•   Plays, pageants, pantomimes, tableaus, puppets and role playing are obviously most fit for kinesthetically intelligent.

•  When pantomimes, tableaus and puppets re accompanied by music, musical instruments is at work.