Planning A Storytelling Drama Lesson
By David Farmer
Ideas for planning a lesson using drama and storytelling, based on activities from this website and David Farmer’s Drama Teaching Books.
Children love listening to and telling stories. Drama games and strategies provide the perfect way to bring them to life. Explore the games and methods below to ignite your lesson planning!
Read about the ideas in detail (follow the links) to structure your session.
Building Blocks (Warm-up / Focus)
Ten Second Objects: Quick thinking / physical cooperation.
Imaginarium: Build a world of ideas.
Physical Storytelling
Freeze Frames: Identify the beginning, middle and end of a story.
Action Clip: Like a movie trailer, focusing on high-energy moments.
3D Living Pictures: Adds depth and detail to a picture.
Freeze Frames (Prediction): A great literacy tool to ask, “What happens next?”
Open and Close: A magical way to perform freeze-frames
Adding Language
Thought Tracking: Tapping into the internal monologue of a character in a freeze frame.
Hot Seating: The classic technique for interviewing a character.
Teacher in Role: This is a high-impact strategy where the teacher enters the fiction to challenge the students’ thinking.
Magic Microphone: A fun variation that can even be used on inanimate objects (e.g., “Interviewing the sword that killed Macbeth”).
Storytelling Movement and Sound
Storytelling Whoosh: An inclusive way to get a whole class to act out a story rapidly.
Soundscape: Adding the auditory layer to a picture or story to build tension.
Exploring Characters
Conscience Alley: For delving into a character’s difficult decisions.
Role on the Wall: A collaborative approach to analysing what a character feels and what others think of them.
