The importance of drama in primary school has been elevated in recent years, with many teachers continuing to make it high priority in their teaching. They recognise that it can enrich children's understanding of the world and motivate and encourage them in other curriculum work. This lively and readable book offers a blend of theory and practice based on the author's own considerable experience as a drama teacher. He provides numerous examples taken from work with children in schools, which will help teachers to prepare for drama sessions in the classroom. The book examines the role of drama as a subject in its own right as well as its role in delivering other aspects of the curriculum within primary education. It assumes no prior knowledge of teaching drama and will therefore be useful to trainee teachers and in-service teachers wanting to make use of drama in their daily teaching.

'Learning Through Drama' contains drama strategies and lesson plans for use with primary school children across the curriculum. The book provides guidance to teachers who have never taught drama before but are considering using it in a subject area such as science or history and offers new approaches to those familiar with common drama techniques (such as hot-seating and teacher in role). The book includes 36 drama strategies and over 250 cross-curricular activities, including practical ideas for inspiring speaking, listening and writing. 'This book is a beautifully laid-out, easy to use resource, full of imaginative and practical ideas to help learning become much more memorable and inspirational.' - Hilary Lewis (Drama Consultant). 'Even the well-practiced and creative drama teacher will find something in this book that serves as a refresher, reminder or quite simply a new idea... a must-have publication for those serious about the teaching of drama in primary school settings.' - Teaching Drama magazine.

The importance of drama in primary school has been elevated in recent years, with many teachers continuing to make it high priority in their teaching. They recognise that it can enrich children's understanding of the world and motivate and encourage them in other curriculum work. This lively and readable book offers a blend of theory and practice based on the author's own considerable experience as a drama teacher. He provides numerous examples taken from work with children in schools, which will help teachers to prepare for drama sessions in the classroom. The book examines the role of drama as a subject in its own right as well as its role in delivering other aspects of the curriculum within primary education. It assumes no prior knowledge of teaching drama and will therefore be useful to trainee teachers and in-service teachers wanting to make use of drama in their daily teaching.

Assuming no prior knowledge or experience of drama teaching, Brian Woolland’sTeaching Primary Drama offers a comprehensive introduction to the teaching of drama in the primary school, and focuses on current initiatives in primary education including the primary literacy strategy. The text is an invaluable resource for any teacher wishing to adopt a creative approach to teaching in their classroom. It offers guidance on different drama methods, and each practical idea translates to all areas of the curriculum. “[Teaching Primary Drama] is written in simple terms, uncluttered by references, is refreshingly straightforward and succinct and does not fall into the trap of making a complex subject sound complex; a trait of some texts which can push non-specialists away.”Amanda Kipling, London Drama Magazine, Summer 2010 issue.

Why teach drama? How can a newcomer teach drama successfully? How do we recognize quality in drama? Starting Drama Teaching is a comprehensive guide to the teaching of drama in schools. Exploring the aims and purposes of drama, it provides an insight into the theoretical perspectives that underpin practice alongside activities, example lesson plans and approaches to planning. Written in an accessible style, the book addresses such practical issues as setting up role play, how to inject depth into group drama, working with text, teaching playwriting, as well as common problems that arise in the drama classroom and how to avoid them. This fourth edition has been updated to reflect the latest educational thinking and developments in policy and includes: a new chapter on researching drama; an extra section on digital technology and drama; guidance on different approaches to drama; advice on how teachers can achieve and recognize quality work in drama; a discussion of drama concepts including applied theatre, ensemble and rehearsal approaches. Acting on the growing interest in drama both as a separate subject and as a teaching methodology, this book is full of sensible, practical advice for teachers using drama at all levels and in all kinds of different school contexts. Written by an internationally recognized leading name in drama education, this book is valuable reading for trainee teachers who are new to drama and teachers who wish to update and broaden their range.

First Published in 2000. This book reasserts the place of the arts - dance, drama, music and the visual arts - in the primary school curriculum at Reception and Key Stages 1 and 2. It acknowledges the time constraints in a crowded curriculum and stresses a common developmental approach to the different forms of creative and aesthetic expression. The arts are presented as the vital '4th R', integrated modes of learning alongside Reading, Writing and Arithmetic, where children can absorb and express ideas, feelings and attitudes. Supported by illustrations, examples of work, a glossary of terms, appendices of addresses for resource materials and further reading, the work will stimulate and give confidence as a course textbook for student teachers and as a professional handbook for practitioners, including arts coordinators, advisory teachers and artists working in educational settings. Clear guidance is given on the development of a personal, autonomous teaching style and on evaluating and monitoring children's progression in skill acquisition, creative production and critical response.

This book includes strategies for integrating drama in the classroom through the use of creating characters, giving meaning to activities through answering the questions: who, what, when, where, and why about any person and situation under discussion (5 W's), using storyboards, incorporating music, writing radio scripts, and using literature and movies as prompts for improvised enactments. Students will learn how to create characters and apply those creations to different content-area activities, situations, and subject matter. This useful resource describes more than thirty-five scenarios of teachers and students in early elementary grades through graduate school working together to craft drama events that draw out participants’ creative energies, interpretations of curricular topics, and investigations of social, political, and personal concerns. In all of these lesson plans, students collectively explore topics, concepts, themes, or tensions that surface as they navigate their way through the conditions and experiences that unfold in a scene, skit, improvisation, or in interrelated episodes. Drama techniques include role play, scripting, dialogue, audience participation, improvisation, and the strategic use of interaction, space, movement, and gesture.