Blog #3 Theatre Performance Opportunities

I have participated in plays and musicals my whole life. These experiences have provided me with opportunities to feel comfortable with being in front of other people. I have learned the importance of projecting my voice so that everyone in the classroom can hear and understand me. 

Photo of me as The Bullfrog in Honk

Photo of me as Moldy Molly in a western themed children's play

Photo of me as a mouse in Cinderella

I have learned the importance of oral communication in  a classroom setting. I also would like to provide dramatic arts opportunities for my students. One example provided by Tompkins (2013) is reader's theatre. This literacy strategy involves the class selecting a script and discussing it like any other story. Then students participate in rehearsing and staging the production. I think theatre is an important medium to tell a story because it provides children with opportunities to tell a story in a creative way. They embody characters and actively tell a story. This provides a deeper understanding for students. 

Photo of me as a Bird Girl in Seussical 

Photo of me as a mouse in A Year with Frog and Toad. 

Throughout my acting experiences I also had the opportunity to participate in Theatre for Young Audiences. This is a type of theatre that is written and performed for children. After performances we would go out into the foyer of the theatre while were were still in costume. We would act as our characters and meet the children who watched the show. In this experience I learned how much children enjoy live theatre and being able to meet characters from the show. As a future educator I would like to provide my students with the experience to attend live theatre. I also learned how memorized students are when you are wearing a costume and acting as someone else. I was amazed with how much they believed in my character. I would also like to provide a similar experience to students in the classroom. I would like to apply my acting experience into my future classroom by participating in teacher in role. Teacher in role is a drama strategy where a teacher takes on a role and the students ask the teacher questions (Drama Resource, 2017). The teacher can dress up and responds to students questions as if they are a specific character. I would use this strategy in order to understand children's comprehension of a story. I think this would be a good strategy to use because it is a fun and engaging way for students to gain a deeper understanding of a story.  

References 

Tompkins, G. E. (2013). 50 literacy strategies: Step by step (4^th ed.)  Toronto, ON: Pearson.

Drama Resource. (2017). Teacher in Role. Retrieved from http://dramaresource.com/teacher-in-role/