Activity Booklet

Kate Jang, Sunal Patel, Meena Ketheswaranathan

Mcgill University

EDEA 342: Drama Education

February 17th, 2022

Activity 1: Line up (5-10 mins)
Target level/age group: Can be played at any grade level. The criteria for line up can be adapted regarding
difficulty levels to suit different grades.
Subject/topic: Drama, but can be used in any subject area
Purpose: To encourage the use of body language; to break the ice in a group of students when they don’t know
each other very well; to calm students down and get them in a line before of after an exciting event (e.g. recess)
Location & Materials needed: Open space, no materials needed.
Number of Children: Any group size; more than 3 people
Description:
- Students stand in a line.
- Teacher chooses a criteria to which students will line up in order. Examples of criteria include shoe size
or the first letter of their middle name.
- Students will attempt to line up in order regarding the chosen criteria without talking. They are allowed
to use gestures, but the classroom should be silent.
- When they stop moving, teacher can check if the line up is correct
Justification for selection and purpose for drama/theater education:
We select this activity because it is a fun game to play that focuses on body language expression, which plays
an essential role in drama. In addition, it can also be implemented in other subject areas. Because they would
play the game in silence, this game can calm students down for the following activity. In addition, this game is
useful when the teacher needs students in a line. For ESL students, this activity does not require as much
English skills.
Adaptations: this activity’s difficulty level can be adapted according to student needs, as the criterias can range
from physically observable features to abstract concepts. The teacher can explain the activity rules while
modeling on the board for both visual and auditory learners. If there are students who do not wish to participate,
the teacher can assign the student to observe the activity. After the activity, this student would comment on
what he or she sees and what works or does not work to make a correct line up.
Look ahead: When students feel stuck, the teacher can provide clues such as “make hand gestures” or “use
your body to make a letter.” To avoid marginalizing students, the teacher should avoid choosing criterias such
as hair length or the number of books they have read.
Followup/extension: this activity is short and is usually used as an icebreaker or a closure activity in a bigger
class. In a drama class, this game can be followed up by a main activity on expressing oneself with body
language. In other subjects, it can also be a fun but quiet game either leading up to the main activity or to finish
up a class.
Resource/Reference: https://www.write-out-loud.com/improv-games.html
Activity 2: Two headed monster (5-10 mins)
Target level/age group: Can be played at any grade level.
Subject/topic: Drama and Gym, but can be used in other subject areas as well.
Purpose: To explore different types of music; to practice motor/dance skills; to warm up before the main
activity; to get students familiar with each other and break the ice with a silly dance
Location & Materials needed: Open space, no materials needed.
Number of Children: More than 8 people
Description:
- Students pair up randomly (preferably with someone they are not familiar with)
- Each pair stands back to back and hook their elbows together
- Play some rhythmic music and ask the pairs to dance to the music pretending they are a two headed
monster
- Change up the music (this is an opportunity to explore different types of music) after a while and ask
each pair to lock up with another pair and dance as a four headed monster
- Change up the music again and ask each groups to lock up with another group and dance as an eight
headed monster
- Repeat this process until the whole class lock together and dance as one gigantic monster
Materials/special space: Open space, a device to play music
Justification for selection and purpose for drama/theater education:
We select this activity because it is a fun and silly game to get students moving with music, and music and
related movement is an essential component in drama. In Gym, this activity can help students to warm up before
moving on to a main activity focused on a motor skill. In other subject areas, this game can encourage a large
group of students to cooperate with each other.
Adaptations: this activity is suitable for any grade level and can be adapted according to diverse student needs.
If some students find it difficult to keep up with fast-paced music or are bothered by noise, the teacher can play
soft and slow music to meet student needs.
Look ahead: Because this is a physical activity that involves moving and dancing, safety issues are a concern
for teachers. To ensure students’ safety, the teacher will reiterate the safety rules before the activity, such as “if
one person falls, we stop the whole activity immediately until we are sure that person is alright.” If one student
is left alone during the initial pair up, the teacher can join in to make sure all students are included.
Followup/extension: this activity is usually used as an icebreaker or a closure activity in a bigger class. In
drama class, this is usually a warm up before a main activity focused on music or movement. In gym class, this
activity can be used to warm students up before a main physical activity. It can also just be a versatile
icebreaker in any subject areas as a fun way to get students familiar with each other before continuing with the
main activity.
Resource/Reference: https://www.bbbpress.com/2017/08/drama-game-dancing-back-back/
Activity 3: Meet my friend (20 mins)
Target level/age group: Can be played at any grade level
Subject/topic: Drama and ELA, but can be used in other subject areas as well.
Purpose: To get to know the different students in the class
Location & Materials needed: Open space, no materials needed.
Number of Children: Whole class (at least 12 people)
Description:
- Divide the number of kids in the class by 2. (e.g. 30) Create a standing circle. Begin to your left, have
each kid consecutively count off up to 15. When you reach 15, the next kid in the circle will start at 1
and continue around the circle counting up to 15 again.
- Have each number find his/her pair (The 1s, the 2s, the 3s, the 4s, etc.). You should have 15 pairs.
- Have each pair select an A and a B partner.
- Instruct the kids that you are going to set a timer and for one minute A is going to tell B as many things
about himself as possible. (School, grade, favorite subject, favorite food, favorite music, etc.)
- Start the timer and let them go.
- Now, for one minute B is going to tell A as many things about herself as possible.
- Star timer and let them go.
- Gather everyone back into a circle.
- Go around the circle; each student must say 3 things about their partner beginning with this phrase
“Meet my friend…”.
- For example: Meet my friend Jenny, she is in 4th grade, she loves to play Minecraft, and she has really
cool shoes. PRO TIP: Consider, after letting one minute run up, to tell the kids you’re adding an
additional 30 seconds and GO! Sometimes this will force the kids to communicate more information that
goes beyond just the obvious.

Materials/special space: Open space

Justification for selection and purpose for drama/theater education: We chose this activity because it’s an
engaging and fun ice breaker for kids to do on their first day. It allows kids that are shyer to participate by
having to speak to only one person, instead of going up to many different people. We also find it to be a great
way for kids to start thinking about strategies to remember information.
Adaptations: Students could write down information, draw it on a paper, have more time for the activity, etc.
Teachers can also take into consideration kids for whom English is a second language by giving them a
translator.
Look ahead: Seeing as some kids may be shyer than others, the teacher can prepare a list of prompt questions
that students can use to start getting to know their peers. If time is running out, students can share their findings
in their smaller groups instead of gathering the whole class back together (this is less desirable).
Followup/extension: Possible extensions for this activity are games about commonalities between students in a
larger group. The next game might ask students to get into groups or to get up if they relate to the prompt (e.g.
“move around if you have a pet”).
Resource/Reference: Drama Game: Meet My Friend... (bbbpress.com)
Activity 4: Yes, No, Banana, Please (20 mins)
Target level/age group: Can be played at any grade level
Subject/topic: Drama, ELA, but can be used in other subject areas as well.
Purpose: To explore emotional expression, through scene creation
Location & Materials needed: Open space, no material needed but can use toy or real banana if available
Number of Children: whole class (activity will be done in pairs).
Description:
- Students will be paired off with a partner.
- Each pair will be given an emotion ( happy, sad, excited, scared, angry, funny)
- Students will then be given 5 minutes to create a short scene 30 seconds to 1 minute using only 4 words
( Yes, No, Banana, Please). They will depict the emotion that was given to them.
- Each pair will then present their scene to the whole class and the class will guess which emotion they
were acting out.
Materials/special space: Open Space
Justification for selection and purpose for drama/theater education: We selected this activity because it was
a fun way to practice the expression of emotions, while only using 4 words. The activity encourages students to
get creative, use body language, facial expressions and different tones of voices to have their emotions come
through in the scenes they have created.
Adaptations: This activity can be played at any grade level and can be adapted to have more challenges for the
older grades. It can be adapted by making the end scene production be longer, using a set of 4 different words,
making groups of 3 to 4 rather than doing the activity only in pairs.
Look ahead: For students who are shy and are feeling stuck, the teacher will have a list of prompts prepared
that students can pick from to help them start their scene.
Followup/extension: This activity would be used as an ice breaker activity in drama class as an introduction to
expression. A follow up activity could be an activity on miming, where you are not using any words and must
depict various emotions.
Resource/Reference: https://www.bbbpress.com/2015/04/drama-game-yes-no-please-banana/
Activity 5: Who’s Telling the Truth? (20 mins)
Target level/age group: Can be played at any grade level.
Subject/topic: Drama, but can be used in other subject areas as well.
Purpose: For students to tell believable stories and use creativity
Location & Materials needed: Open space, no material needed
Number of Children: Whole class, split up in groups of 3-4 students
Description:
- Students will be divided into groups of 3 to 4 students
- Each group will be given a prompt / topic for their stories (some examples: A time you were really
scared, the best birthday party you ever had)
- In their groups, students will each share their personal story.
- Once everyone has shared their story, the will select one story of one student
- All the students from the group will learn the story that is selected and add their own creative twist to it.
- Groups will go up, and each member of the group will present the same story with the personal touches.
- The rest of the class will try and guess who the story really belongs.
Materials/special space: Open space
Justification for selection and purpose for drama/theater education: We selected this activity because of the
story telling aspect to it. After hearing their group members' stories and selecting one story to work with, the
rest of the students are able to put their own creative, personal twist on the story and make it their own. This
activity allows for individual creativity and some improv too because it is done fairly quickly with little prep
time.
Adaptations: This activity can be adapted to any grade. For younger grades, it can be adapted to asking a
simple question such as “ What is your favorite animal and why?” Students in their groups will listen to
everyone's answers and then select one that they will all use for the activity. Older grades can be provided with
a more elaborate prompt such as “ What was the most memorable trip you took and why?”.
Look ahead: Teacher will have a list of story starter prompts for the groups to be able to select the one they all
feel most comfortable with. Groups can also be made and selected based on the story prompts students want to
use.
Followup/extension: Follow up activities can be other story telling activities. Giving students a topic and
having them create an original piece. This could be done through improv, an individual monologue or a group
performance.
Resource/Reference: https://www.bbbpress.com/2014/07/drama-game-whos-telling-truth/