Dear BCAEd Students:

This final output will engage you in creating creative drama activities for
classroom use. Your task is to develop one set of activities that will make use of
creative drama techniques.

You can identify one creative drama technique from the list that we have
explored – imagination, play, movement and rhythm, improvisation, pantomime,
puppetry and mask making, dramatic structure, building plays from stories, speech and
speech-related activities, and storytelling.

In this sample set of activities, the creative drama technique used is movement
and rhythm. There are five related activities that are focused in the development of
specific skills such as exploring movement and rhythm in the context of using the body
in expressing emotions and feelings, creating movements spontaneously, interpreting
movements and using them in creating storylines, and giving feedback as reflection of
their learning experience.
The framework of the activities were based on the 5Es of constructivism. It is an
instructional model which aims to engage learners, motivate them to explore, and guide
them toward skill development. The 5E model allows the learners to understand a
concept in a span of time through a series of well-planned and well-design phases –
Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, and Evaluate.
Engage In the first phase of the learning cycle, the teacher works to gain an understanding of the
learners’ prior knowledge and identify any knowledge gaps. It is also important to foster an
interest in the upcoming concepts so learners will be ready to learn.  
Explore During the exploration phase, learner actively explore the new concept through concrete
learning experiences.
Explain This is a teacher-led phase that helps learners synthesize new knowledge and ask questions
if they need further clarification.
Elaborat This focuses on giving learners space to apply what have learned. This helps them to
e develop a deeper understanding. 
Evaluate During this phase, teachers can observe the learners and see whether they have a complete
grasp of the core concepts. 

Take time in planning your activities. Design your activities with your intended
learners in mind. Start working on the task at hand. As much as possible, avoid
procrastination so you can finish the task on time.

May you enjoy creating engaging and meaningful experiences!

Yours truly,
Mary Leigh Ann C.
Perez

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 Creative Drama Activities for Classroom Use
Module on Movement and Rhythm

Name: ____________________________ Date: ________________

Course/Year/Section:_________________ Schedule:_____________

At the end of the activities, the learners will be capable of:

1. Exploring movement and rhythm in the context of
using the body in expressing emotions and
feelings.
2. Creating movements spontaneously.
3. Interpreting movements and using them in creating
storylines.
4. Giving feedback as reflection of their learning
experience.

References:
 McCaslin, N. 2006. Creative drama in the classroom, 8th ed. Addison Wesley
Longman, Inc.
 Wooland, B. 2010. Teaching primary drama. Pearson
 Creative Drama Handbookhttps://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED105464.pdf

Movement and rhythms are essential in creative drama because both can
be used to communicate. McCaslin (2000) said that “feelings can be
expressed in movement and stories told through mime and body
language” (p. 52). Movement comes naturally with rhythm.

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A. Gearing Up: “Getting Started”
Procedure:
1. Designate a specific area of the room that is to be used as playing area. Explain
to the learners that the term “playing area” will refer to a specific space in the
room which will be used as activity area. Mark the playing area if necessary.

2. Instruct the learners to find their own space, avoiding the identified playing area.
Tell the players that the term “own space” refers to an individual space wherein
they will not crowd each other.

3. Ask the learners to find their own space, instruct them to stand there and face the
wall.

4. Ask the learners to close their eyes and think of a character that they would like
to portray. Tell them to be specific about the character by identifying the age,
gender, posture, and manner of walking and moving around. Give the learners
two minutes to have a mental description of the character they wanted to portray
then, ask them to turn around in ‘character’.

5. Inform the learners that they are going to play the game, “Ang Lulubog na
Barko.” Tell them that the game will be presented in storytelling and they are the
characters of the story. The objective of the game is to be able to play the game
in character and show specific emotions and appropriate movements that will be
mentioned in the story. Anyone who is caught losing ‘character’ will be out of the
game.

Suggested Story:
Isang maaliwalas na araw ngayon at masayang nagtipon-tipon ang mga
pasahero ng barkong, Prinsesang Mandaragat. Iba’t-ibang damdamin ang
mababakas sa mukha ng mga pasahero habang sila ay isa-isang sumasakay sa
barko. (Isa-isang pasakayin ang mga pasahero. Maaaring magpatugtog ng
musikang tutugma sa eksenang ito.)
Marahan na uusad ang barko papalayo sa piyer hanggang sa malaya na
itong makapaglayag sa karagatan. Sa simula ay maamo ang hampas ng hangin
sa layag ng barko at makikita ang kapayapaan sa mukha ng mga pasahero.
Subalit, sa isang iglap ay naging mabangis ang hagunot ng hangin at kasabay
nito ang malakas na buhos ng ulan, matatalim na mga kidlat at nakabibinging
mga kulog. (Maaaring maglapat ng tutugmang sound effects sa bahaging ito).
Nagsimula nang lumaban ang barko sa naglalakihang mga alon hanggang sa
maging kakila-kilabot na ang paglalakbay ng barko.
Takot na nagpangkat-pangkat sa anim ang mga pasahero subalit, masikip
ang lugar na kanilang pinag-umpukan kaya litong-lito silang nagpangkat-pangkat
muli sa tatlo. Lalong lumakas ang hangin at lalong natakot ang mga pasahero.

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 Isang malakas na alon ang humampas sa barko at tulirong-tuliro na nagpangkat-
pangkat ang mga pasahero sa pito. Hindi mailarawan ng mga salita ang mga
damdaming mababanaag sa mukha ng mga pasahero habang patuloy ang
matatalim na mga kidlat at nakabibinging mga kulog. Isang napakalaking alon
ang sumanbulat mula sa karagatan at niyanig nito ang barko. Takot na takot ang
mga pasahero habang hirap na hirap silang kumilos upang magpangkat-pangkat
sa lima. Subalit hindi humupa ang nangangalit na panahon, hinang-hinang
nagsiluhod ang lahat nang mga pasahero at taimtim na yumuko upang
manalangin.

6. End the story when everybody is kneeling and ask them to hold or freeze their
last movement.

B. Setting the Mood: “Taking a Dip!”

Procedure:
1. Give the learners a background about Rudolph Laban’s Eight Basic Efforts.
Tell them that the Laban technique was created by the Hungarian Rudolph
Laban, who was interested in studying the language of movement. Laban stated
that human movement can be summarized by a combination of the following
categories:
Space/Focus  This can be flexible and unrestricted through to direct or Direct or Indirect
bound.
Time  This included rhythm and pace of the movement, the rate Quick or Sustained
of the movement and the regularity of the movement.
Weight  This is whether movement was with or against gravity. It Heavy or Light
could be light or heavy
Flow  Flow describes movement that is unimpeded or continuous Bound or Free
such as floating your hair in water, some forms of
handwriting, robes or running water aided by gravity. 

Light Efforts Space/Focus Time Weight Flow

Float Indirect Sustained Light Free
Dab Direct Quick Light Bound
Glide Direct Sustained Light Free
Flick Indirect Quick Light Free
Heavy Efforts Space/Focus Time Weight Flow
Punch Direct Quick Heavy Bound
Press Direct Sustained Heavy Bound
Slash Indirect Quick Heavy Free
Wring Indirect Sustained Heavy Bound

2. Instruct the learners to occupy their own space within the room. Tell them that
they will be doing a mind-body connection activity. The objective of the activity is
to identify how the eight basic efforts are used in expressing emotions and
feelings.

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 Emotion Movement Effort
Fear
Euphoria
Panic
Excitement
Uneasiness
Embarrassmen
t
Sentimentality
Adoration
Delight
Fury

3. Discuss the movements and efforts made by the participants.

C. Testing the Gear: “I Can Do This!”

Procedure:
1. Tell the learners that they will be doing a movement game called “First Response
Game.”

2. Explain to the learners that the game will require them to create a movement
interpretation of words. Their task is to create a spontaneous movement that
they will freeze.

Suggested words:

fear hunger freedom

tiredness anger happiness

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 Get a partner and create a movement interpretation of the
following words:

best friends rivalry gossipers

disagreement compassion unity

3. Tell the learners that movements are helpful in promoting imagination that is
useful in engaging the learners to explore, form a positive image and build self-
identities. Creating movements also promotes the process of exercising the brain
as it works out the complexity of combining both the dexterity and the emotive
language of the movements.
D. Taking the Plunge: “Challenge Accepted”
Procedure:
1. Inform the learners that they will doing a storyline game. Tell them that they will
be divided into small groups with three members.

2. Inform the learners that their task is to create three consecutive spontaneous
movements. Each movement will be “frozen” for five seconds before the next
movement will be rendered.

3. Remind the learners that their movements need to show tension, effort and
coordination that is related to the emotion or feeling that they would like to
express.

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 4. Tell the learners that each team will take turn in presenting their “just three
movements.” The rest of the non-presenting teams will create a storyline based
on the presented three movements.

E. Learning Anew: “A Bit Wiser”

Procedure:
1. Tell the learners that reflection is part of a learning process and as such this part
will encourage them to write what they have learned and realized from the
activities that they have explored and experimented.

2. Inform the players that their tasks are the following:

(a) Write about your thoughts during and after the lesson;
(b) Share what you have felt while doing the activities; and
(c) Identify something that you have realized about youself.

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