DB ASSIGNMENT – PART 1 – 100 WORDS

You are blasting back to the past with this Discussion. Go back to one of those memories when you participated in a school play or acted out a story in the classroom. Whatever it was, please share your memories with us here. Tell us how you felt before, during, and after. How did you benefit from participating in drama activities? Describe ways drama can be used in the learning environment.

·       Is it a significant memory?

·       Is it good or bad? Why?

·       How will this influence how you work with creative dramatics?

·       Did some of your classmates’ posts bring back any other memories?

 

DB POST- RESPOND TO WHAT THIS PERSON HAD TO SAY ABOUT THE DB ASSIGNMENT (STUDENT 1) (100 WORDS)

I was very shy as a young child and socially immature. I had no fear of speaking or performing but I also had no outlet for it. The elementary school I attended did not put on plays or concerts so even though I wanted to be an actress I never had the chance. When I went to junior high my whole world opened up. I joined chorus and even though I didn’t have the best voice I loved preforming. In 7th grade we put on a musical “Cinderella” and I tried out for the lead. I did not get it but my best friend did so I swallowed my disappointment and decided to be the best dirty laundry ever to be on stage. I got to sing a duet and dance. I also got a small role as the girl with Cinderella when she meets prince charming. I felt very special to have 2 roles and the best part was the boy I had a crush on was dirty laundry also. (Prince charming was a total loser!!) The play was a hit and we were invited to perform for our local Rotary club the next week. Off stage I was still very shy and a wall flower but on stage I could be anything I wanted. I did other plays and concerts over the years but the success of this one has always stayed with me. This one play changed me in a lot of ways. It opened up the dramatic world to me and taught me how to react to disappointments. I was able to make the best out of the situation and enjoy the roles I got. I often think about this experience and still 27 years later catch myself singing the songs from the musical.

Creative dramatics (Isbell & Raines,2013) uses both mental and physical skills and envolves the whole child. For me it was the outlet I was looking for but for other children it may seem overwhelming. I plan to use my experiences to guide my classroom through the different stages of drama from pantomime, puppet shows and story telling. I will be able to recognize the differences in the children and know that Johnny wants the lead but Alice would rather be a tree. Both roles are important to the success of our performance and Alice can be the best tree ever while Johnny can enhance his vocabulary be learning the lines. Every child can benefit from drama as long as the teacher is supportive and understands how important creative drama can be.

References:
Isbell, R.T. & Raines, S.C. (2013) Creativity and the arts for young children (3rd ed.) Belmon, CA: Wadsworth Cengag Learning.
P.S. Angela (Cinderella) and I are still good friends even though she moved across country, she actually married prince charming after high school but he is still a loser in my opinion!!!

 

DB POST- RESPOND TO WHAT THIS PERSON HAD TO SAY ABOUT THE DB ASSIGNMENT (STUDENT 2) (100 WORDS)

 

My third grade year was my most favorite school year ever! During that year my teacher, Mr. Lucker, put forth a lot of effort to make class fun. He was a musician that played guitar, and he incorporated that into many lessons. When we weren’t singing and chanting our lessons, we were busy learning mnemonic devices. During that year, the school put on a school wide assembly about Successful. The guest speaker for the assembly was Tony Robbins, the motivational speaker. The whole school gathered in the cafeteria to listen, watch, and participate in the assembly. Each grade put together their own representation of success.  My grade chose to go the cheerleading route. We made colorful banners as a back drop for our cheer. About 10 of us actually preformed the cheer on stage, after many choreographed practices. The cheer went something like, “S-U-C-C-E-S-S, that’s the way you spell success! Try your hardest, do your best, that’s the way to be a success”. Before going on stage, I felt good about what we were going to do. We had had some great practices, and everyone knew what to do. During our performance, I felt exhilarated. My adrenaline was rushing, and I was hitting all my marks. After the performance, I felt like a success. After the assembly, I felt motivated. From participating in drama activities, I benefited by learning team work, dependability, and how to spell success. Drama in the learning environment can be used to expand the imagination, and “develop physical, literacy, language, social, and emotional skills” (Isbell 249). According to Isbell and Raines, “creative drama activities require children to recall personal, sensory-rich experiences and select dramatic actions to express these images. As children grow older, drama becomes the extension of their imaginary play. The connections between imagination and action, begun as a young child, become more flexible and fluent with experience.” (Isbell 249) This is a significant memory because 20 plus years I am still chanting, “That’s the way you spell success”. Every time I have to spell the word, the chant starts in my head. It’s because of what I learned during this time that I have never misspelled the word success. I view this as a good memory, because when I think back to it, I smile. The influence on my work with creative dramatics has been to provide memories for the children. They should be excited about their work, and remember it always. Yolanda Reference: Isbell, Rebecca, Shirley Raines. Creativity and the Arts with Young Children, 3rd Edition. Cengage Learning, 2012-02-24. VitalBook file.

 

 

PART 2 – 200 WORDS

The seventh Seminar focuses on the developmental skills associated with creative drama. You should make every effort to complete the assigned readings for the unit before the Seminar so you will be prepared to discuss your topics.

1.      How do you think creative drama matches the developmental level and learning styles of young children?

 

2.      What do you think are some of the most important similarities and differences of socio-dramatic play and creative dramatics?

 

3.      Share an example of how you can integrate socio-dramatic play and creative dramatics into an early childhood program.