Improving pupils' writing through drama

What did the school do?

Activities

Year 2 children explored the story The Rainbow Fish by re-enacting it as a whole class and in groups. At first they used story cards as cues for the beginning, middle and end. At the end of the second week they performed their stories to the rest of the school. Over the next two weeks they used 'hot seating' to explore the characters from the story and developed drama skills such as using facial expressions and creating different characters. They used music to help them move in different ways.

In the following three weeks the children used 'freeze framing' and developed scenes from stories. They learned how to project their voices and how to use a narrator. They performed their scenes to each other and to another class.

In the second half of the term, the children continued to develop their drama skills and to explore different aspects of The Rainbow Fish, such as how characters might feel and why they did certain things. Teachers used pictures, music and finger puppets to stimulate the children's imaginations. They also used 'forum theatre', where one group acted a play to another group, who could stop them at any point to give guidance. Each pupil in the class then rewrote the story.

Year 1 children followed a similar plan to year 2, using a wide range of stories such as Billy Goats Gruff and Handa's Surprise. Teachers focused on developing each child's ability to relate to the characters.

The children in reception year developed similar drama skills but started by focusing on themselves -- what they were like as a baby, how they felt when they were three. They then looked at mums, dads and older people. All of these explorations were supported by large visual images, such as scanned photos projected on the wall. Teachers developed 'carpet drama' activities, where children would bring fairytales to life on the class carpet. This inspired them to create their own theatre company, 'The Barefoot Company'. All of the children took on roles as actors, directors and film crew. They invented their own stories, filmed them and discussed them as a class, saying what they thought was good and what could have been improved.

During this project one child set up her own theatre space, complete with furniture and performance area. The teacher developed this into an area where the children could interact free from adult supervision to produce their own plays through rehearsal and group negotiation.

Teaching strategies

Teaching strategies used for this project included:

• role modelling;
• informal discussion;
• risk taking;
• non-restrictive/flexible planning.

The teachers regularly used open-ended questioning, focusing on questions of 'how' and 'why', rather than 'what'. This enabled the children to explore their feelings and emotions.

The teachers also encouraged the children to assess each other. They built trust by ensuring that children always began with positive statements and only said what could be improved.

The teachers stimulated the children's interest and developed their ideas and skills in a variety of ways. For example, they used music to develop children's awareness of mood and movement, and visual images to create a sense of scale and to provide a starting point for work on dramatic scenes.

They helped the children to become more independent throughout the work by giving them the skills they needed to be able to work successfully on their own. The project was planned over a term, but there were many shorter-term goals that led to the final outcome. Providing opportunities for 'public' performances to different audiences gave impetus to the work and provided positive feedback for the children.

The children were constantly challenged to try new ideas and to take risks -- to 'just see what happens'. This included getting them to explore the same story in many different ways and helping them to recognise that the first solution is rarely the best one.

These strategies all supported children's development, giving them autonomy and encouraging them to take ownership of their work.

The development of the reception year theatre company was particularly interesting. It helped the children to recognise how plays need a whole team to make them happen and gave them different opportunities to show their own strengths. It also provided a direct link to real theatre, helping the children to begin to understand theatre as an artform.

Use of time and resources

This project took place in a ten-week block during the autumn term. Additional drama sessions were built into the existing timetable. The time was used in weekly sessions and each class spent about two hours per week on the project. There was also a weekly team review session where staff shared experiences and kept the project focused.

Activities took place in classrooms and in the hall.

The project involved a staff working party and learning support assistants. The staff working party was important initially, as the school had very few resources and limited subject knowledge in drama. Working as a team helped staff to overcome these obstacles.