TEACHING WITH DRAMATIZED EXPERIENCES
Something
dramatic is something that is stirring or affecting or moving. A dramatic entrance is something that catches
or holds our attention and has an
emotional impact. If our teaching is dramatic, our students get attracted,
interested and affected. If they are affected and move by what we taught, we
will most likely have an impact on them. So, why can’t we be dramatic all the
time?
Dramatized
experiences can range from the formal plays, pageant lo less formal tableau,
pantomime, puppets and role playing.
Plays depict
life, character or culture or a combination of all three. They offer excellent
opportunities to portray vividly important ideas about life. Pageants are
usually community dramas that are based on local history, presented by local
actors. An example is a historical pageant that traces the growth of a
school. Play and pantomime require much time for preparation and so cannot be
part of everyday classroom program.
Pantomime and
tableaux, when compared to a play and a pageant are less demanding in terms of
labor, time and preparation. These are purely visual experiences. A pantomime
is the “art of conveying a story through bodily movements only “(Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary). Its effect on the
audience depends on the movements of the actor. A tableau )a French word which
means picture) is a picture – like scene composed of a people against a
background. A tableau is often used to celebrate Independence Day, Christmas,
and United Day.
Dale (1996)
claims the puppets, unlike the regular stage play, can present ideas with
extreme simplicity – without elaborate scenery or costume - yet effectively.
As an
instructional device, the puppet show can involve the entire group of students
– as speakers of parts, manipulators of
the figures, and makers of the puppet.
Types of Puppet
SHADOW
PUPPETS-flat black silhouette made from lightweight cardboard and shown behind
a screen.
ROD PUPPETS
-flat cut out figures 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.
LOVE-and-FINGER PUPPET-make use of old gloves to which small costumed
figures are attached
MARIONETTES-flexible, jointed puppets operated by strings or wires
attached to a cross bar and maneuvered from directly above the stage.
Hand Puppet Rod Puppet
Finger Puppet Shadow Puppet
What principles
must be observed in choosing a puppet play for teaching? Dale, (1996) quoting
from the puppeteers of America offers many suggestions, among which are the
following:
Do not use puppets
for plays that can be done just as well or better by other dramatic
means.
Puppet plays
must be based on action rather than on words.
Keep the
plays short.
Do not omit
the possibilities of music and dancing as part of the upper show.
Adapt the
puppet show to the age, background, and tastes of the students.
Another from of dramatized experienced is a role – playing.
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.
How is Role
– playing done? It can be done by describing a situation which would create
different viewpoints on an issue and then asking the students to play the roles
of the individuals involved.
How did you,
as actors, feel? Would you act/think that way in real life?
As
observers, would you agree with agree with what the actors said or did?
Any lessons
learned?
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