DRAMA: Week 4 (story writing)

“Hello My flighty friends, I've been eating leaves for months and I think I’m ready to move and become like you. I've had to cover myself in silk wrapping and hang from a branch... is this true? What’s happened to all of you?"

This poem was created in class, in a group of three. The idea was to create a story or short script, which focused on the elements of drama while linking to another KLA. In this scenario, the students in this: stage one year one class were focusing on a science unit, focusing on the biology topic of 'lifecycles'. Students are collaborating ideas together to create a dialogue which builds on both drama and biology subject matter.

As the teacher, I would have everyone in the class focusing on lifecycles. You could even be very specific, having the students all focus on the life cycle of a caterpillar. Teachers should bring in resources for the students to use as props, examples may include a caterpillar head band, with little wobbly bobbles at the top, and these can be bought from most reject or 2dollar shops. Head bands can even be made in a visual arts lesson, to further focus on this topic. Students can use leaves or even a cape or shall (for the silk wrapping). For this age group, it would be a good idea to have the students write their story and plan their props in one lesson and perform in the next. Another important point is making certain that the children all gave had prior lessons on both life cycles and the life cycle of a caterpillar. Reading books about lifecycles or caterpillars is a great starting point to introducing the topic. The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle, is a perfect story for students to read to introduce this topic.