Responding Through Drama

Question

Explain how responding is done through Drama?

Answer 1

When students respond through drama, they are able to step into the world of the characters, sometimes even pretending to be one of them. This allows the reader to connect more closely to the characters, often evoking a sense of empathy that is difficult to achieve in other ways. Drama response can take the form of reader’s theater, role-play, scripting a piece of text, or acting out the entire story.

Cue sheets are a method of guiding students through the steps in translating a book into a play. Cue sheets were used to transform Judy Blume’s book Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing into a play.

Reader’s theater is a popular form of response and is appropriate for all grade levels. Students can make their own scripts or use other sources such as resource books or the Internet. The main differences between reader’s theater and traditional plays are that the “actors” in reader’s theater use no props and the action is conveyed exclusively by expressive voices.

Reader’s theater is a popular form of response and is appropriate for all grade levels. Students can make their own scripts or use other sources such as resource books or the Internet. The main differences between reader’s theater and traditional plays are that the “actors” in reader’s theater use no props and the action is conveyed exclusively by expressive voices.