Q1 (a) With suitable
example discuss the role of drama, theatre and play in developing students’
core skills in
language.
Ans. The use of drama/play/theatre has been used over the
course of history from the time of
Aristotle, who
believed that theatre provided people a way to release emotions, right to the
beginning
of the progressive
movement in education, where emphasis was placed upon “doing” rather than
memorizing. Integrating drama helps children in various
ways. Using plays with children 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.
In order to use drama
as a linguistic activity, two features need to be included – freedom and
enjoyment. No special
preparation is needed by the teacher or children for conducting drama in the
classroom. The teacher
only needs to encourage the children to share their experiences naturally. At
the primary level: any
incident, story or cartoon that children see in their environment can be taken
up for acting. For
example, any animal, its movement, its complexion, etc. At upper primary level,
the
teacher should
motivate children so that they form small groups wherein they themselves decide
the
topic, write the
dialogues and act it out. At the same time, children should be encouraged to
act out
traditional games and
folk tales as this will not only enhance their creativity but also connect them
to
their cultural environments.
We can enact or write
the script for any play or drama. What grade would each learner get on the
script written by her
depends upon whether what has to be expressed is emerging in the dialogues
written by him/her. We
need to check if learner is able to explain his/her ideas? Is (s)he able to use
words other than the
words already used in the original text of drama. Are the dialogues simple,
crisp
and interesting? These can be the main points for
assessment for drama.
Example 1
Characters:
(1) Rama, the singer
(2) Madhu, Rama’s wife
(3) Neighbours.
Rama: (sits with his harmonium and practices singing).
Sa, Re, Ga, Ma, Fa, So, La, Te, Do
Ist Neighbour: (to Rama's wife) Madhu, ask your husband to stop singing. It
gives me a headache.
2nd Neighbour: He thinks himself to be a good singer but hes awful.
3rd Neighbour: He hardly sings. He croaks like a frog.
4th Neighbour: He's
indeed disgusting.
(Neighbous go out)
Rama: (Continues singing) Doe, a deer, A female deer
Ray - A Drop of golden sun
Me - A Name I call myself....
1st Neighbour: All our requests have fallen on deaf ears.
2nd Neighbour: We'll
have to teach him a lesson.
3rd Neighbour: He's
as stubborn as a mule.
4th Neighbour: (Throws a shoe at him)
Rama: No one in this village admires my talent.
Madhu: (Comes from the kitchen) Don't worry. You keep on singing.
That person will throw
the second shoe also and we will have a pair of shoes.
Following questions
may be asked to children:
(1) What other title
would you like to give to this play?
(2) Which character do
you admire most in this play? Why?
(3) (a) What is the
name of Rama's
wife?
(b) Does Madhu enjoy
Rama's singing?
(4) The 4th Neighbour
throws a shoe at Rama. Suppose it falls on his face.
What would happen
next? Complete the play in the same form (dialogue from) as given above.
(5) Write a
conversation between you and your friend about playing some game together.
(6) Write a paragraph
on something or someone that disturbs you in your day-to-day life.
Describe how you would
tackle the problem peacefully.
(7) Enact the play in groups.
Example 2nd: CLEVER
BHOLA
Characters: Bhola, the villager
”hola's wife - Diya
”hola's child
Dabbu, the robber
Narrator: One day, Bhola was going to a nearby village. He had to
cross a dense jungle. Suddenly a
voice stopped him.
Dabbu: Stop. Stop I said. If you move I'll shoot you.
Divya: We are poor people. We have nothing with us.
Dabbu: Nonsense! Everyone says so. Give me whatever you have
or I will kill you all.
Bhola: No. No. Leave us all. I'll give you my wallet.
Dabbu: Ha!Ha!Ha! See how I befooled you. There are no bullets
in this gun.... ha ha ha ha!
Bhola: Ha! Ha! Ha. ha ha!
Dabbu: Why the hell are you laughing?
Bhola: I also befooled you. There is no money in that wallet.
Dabbu: What!
Bhola: You thought yourself to be very smart. Ha! Ha! Ha!
These questions may be
asked to children:
(1) What other title
would you like to give to this play?
(2) If you were Bhola
what would you have done in the same situation?
(3) (a) What was Dabbu
carrying with him? Why?
(b) Why did Divya say that they are poor people?
(4) Suppose Dabbu
takes out some bullets after Bhola befools him. Complete the play in the same
form (dialogue form)
as given above.
(5) Write the play in
story form.
(6) Enact the play in groups.
Q1
(b) Develop a comprehensive plan of activities for language learning using “word cards” and
“picture cards”.
Ans.
One purpose of the cards in the context of language
teaching is to help children learn to decode.
We
can give them picture cards to match with word cards. We can also ask them to
take a word card
and
find a word card which is similar to this one. They can put together word cards
and make a story.
Similarly,
pictures and picture cards can be used for conversations, discussions,
extending
imagination,
opportunities for creating descriptions and thinking of stories. These
exercises can be
initially
oral and then can also be written. The cards can be used for any class through
activities at
different
levels with different objectives. For example, think about the use of word
cards for class-1
and
then for class – 3.
It
is clear that one material can be used for many purposes and their use is
informed by the objectives
and
understanding of learning and teaching. If we consider all this then we can see
that TLM is only
useful
when the person using it understands what the children have to learn, the steps
for it and
activities
that can be used for it. Obviously, children have to be able to engage with
these activities.
Once
this happens then it is not difficult to find materials for it around us.
Preparation
of Picture Cards: Find or draw a set of
10-20 picture of people, places, animals and
objects.
Make copies of the picture set on card stock so we have one set for each
student in class. In
large
letters, print the name of each picture on a separate card.
Step
1: Distribute picture card sets to students.
Step
2: Hold up each name card one at a time. Read the name
aloud. Hold up the matching picture
card.
Cue students to repeat the name and hold up their matching picture cards.
Repeat this activity
two
or three times, if appropriate, for practice.
Step
3: Randomly select a name card from the set. Hold it up
and say the name aloud. Cue students
to
say the name and hold up the matching picture card.
Step
4: Repeat the activity without showing the name card. Say
the name of each picture and cue
students
to repeat the name and hold up the appropriate picture card.
Step
5: This time around hold up a word card but do not say the
word aloud. Students say the word
and
hold up the matching picture card.
Step
6: For the final go-round do not display the word cards.
Simply pronounce a word and ask
students
to hold up the correct picture card.
"Picture
and Word" cards can be used at home, in therapy, and throughout a
classroom in multiple
activities
and learning centers. They are beautiful large picture cards that we can
customise to meet
children
needs. Following are few ideas:
(1)
Word Wall: These large cards are
great for display on a word wall. Word walls may
focus
on vocabulary and/or sight words.
(2)
Class Stories: Display preselected
picture and word cards for students to incorporate
in
a class story. For example place girl, boy, some animals, and food. As the
class write a story
together
on large chart paper, children may be called to offer "what happens
next" in the story. The
cards
may offer visual support for ideas the story such as "There was a girl who
met a turtle. The
turtle
asked the girl, 'do you have any apples?'...."
(3)
Story Characters: Offer the picture and
word cards prior to a story in teaching about
characters.
"Today we are going to read a story about a girl and three bears".
Or, after a story is read
aloud,
display picture cards which include the story characters. Ask the students to
identify who the
main
characters in the story are.
(4)
Labeling the classroom: Use Picture and Word
cards to label items around the
classroom.
We can use our own photos of classroom materials by uploading pictures on
"Our Lesson
Pix"
page if needed. Labeling creates a print-rich environment that links objects
with pictures and
with
words, and giving meaning to print.
(5)
Scavenger Hunt: Create groups of
pictures that correspond with a unit of study or
targeted
phonemes. Hide the pictures around a designated area and have the students hunt
for the
picture
cards. When they find the picture, they can share what they found with the
group.
(6)
Language Master: If we have a Language
Master machine, we may print and attach
the
picture and word cards to blank Language Master cards.
A
Language Master Machine is a recorder /player that has cards which slide
through the machine.
These
cards have a strip that has a prerecorded and/or allows the teacher /therapist
to record their
voice.
When the card is put through the machine, the audio is played. Many Special
Education
teachers
and Speech Pathologist use a Language Master to reinforce learning concepts.
(7)
Vocabulary Development: Create Picture and
Word Cards to teach a vocabulary
word(s)
of the week. There are Level 1 words which are more concrete and Level 2 words
which are
more
abstract or have multiple meanings. Some early childhood classrooms select one
or two words
for
a week to practice, find, and use. To differentiate instruction, the teacher
may select one level 1
and
one level 2 word per week to focus on. For example, when talking about feelings
at the beginning
of
the year, a level 1 word may be "mad" and a level 2 word may be
"bursting" (burst a balloon,
bursting
through a door, bursting with anger, bursting with excitement).
(8)
Word Hunt: Give each student a
Picture and Word Card. Have them hunt through
specific
books for the matching word.
(9)
What's Missing?: Place 4-5 Picture and
Word cards out for the students to see.
Collect
them and pull one card out. (Make sure the children don't see it!) Place the
remaining cards
out
on display and have students guess which Picture and Word card is missing.
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