DramaThemes

©2025 Grift Education. All rights reserved.

© 2025 Grift Education. All rights reserved.

This work is copyright. Apart from fair dealings for the purposes of study, research, criticism or review, or as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth), no part should be reproduced, transmitted, communicated or recorded, in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner.

PO Box 3160 Mentone East, Victoria 3194, Australia Phone: (03) 8686 9077 Website: www.grifteducation.com Email: orders@grifteducation.com Code: PMB8203 ISBN: 9781923198203 Printed in Australia

©2025 Grift Education. All rights reserved.

Originally published in 2014 by Pembroke Publishers

Contents An Overview 5 About This Resource 6 Acknowledgments 8 Chapter 1: Revealing Identity 9

Chapter 2: Planting Hope

26

Dramatheme — Sustainable Environments 26 Games: Focus on Still Images 27 Drama Exploration: Creating Tableaux 31 A Drama Structure: The Promise by Nicola Davies (Picture Book) 35 Drama and Literacy Extensions: Comprehension Strategies Linked to Drama Conventions 38 Recommended Sources: Ten Picture Books on a Planting Hope Theme 39 Chapter 3: Sparking Imagination

42

Dramatheme — Fantasy Worlds 42 Games: Focus on Creativity 43 Drama Exploration: Creating Art 46 A Drama Structure: The Judge by Harve Zemach (Poem) 51 Drama and Literacy Extensions: Oral and Written Communication 53 Recommended Sources: Ten Titles on a Fantasy Creature Theme 54 Chapter 4: Learning Lessons 56 Dramatheme — Animal Tales 56 Games: Focus on Movement 57 Drama Exploration: Movement Events 59 A Drama Structure: “The Lion and the Mouse” (Fable) 64 Drama and Literacy Extensions: Twelve Fable-Focused Events Recommended Sources: Ten Fables 68 Chapter 5: Confronting Bullying

67

71

Dramatheme — Relationships 71 Games: Focus on Building Inclusion 72 Drama Exploration: Role Playing 73 A Drama Structure: The Shape of a Girl by Joan MacLeod (Script) 79 Drama and Literacy Extensions: Writing in Role 84 Recommended Sources: Focus on Bullying 85

©2025 Grift Education. All rights reserved.

Dramatheme — Connections 9 Games: Focus on Names 10 Drama Exploration: Choral Speaking 13 A Drama Structure: “Hector Protector” (Nursery Rhyme) 18 Drama and Literacy Extensions: Rhyme Connections 23 Recommended Sources: Ten Picture Books Centred on Names 24

Chapter 6: Recognizing Homelessness 88 Dramatheme — Community 88 Games: Focus on Personal Narrative 89 Drama Exploration: Storytelling in Role 90 A Drama Structure: Mr. Stink by David Walliams (Novel) Drama and Literacy Extensions: Media 96 Recommended Sources: Focus on Poverty 97

92

Chapter 7: Moving On 99

Chapter 8: Accepting Others 114 Dramatheme — Belonging 114 Games: Focus on Embracing Diversity 115 Drama Exploration: Questioning 117 A Drama Structure: Wonder by R. J. Palacio (Novel) 120 Drama and Literacy Extensions: Novel Connections 125 Recommended Sources: Ten Novels Centred on Acceptance 126 Chapter 9: Posing Possibilities

128

Dramatheme — Journey to the Future 128 Games: Focus on Improv and Spontaneity 129 Drama Exploration: Mime Events 131 A Drama Structure: Art by Salvador Dali 134 Drama and Literacy Extensions: Creating Illustrations 136 Recommended Sources: Focus on Visual Images 138 Chapter 10: Staging Worlds 140 Dramatheme — Cultural Encounters 140 Games: Focus on Interpretation 141 Drama Exploration: Exploring Short Texts 142 A Drama Structure: Sultans of the Streets by Anusree Roy (Script) 146 Drama and Literacy Extensions: Working with Scripts 149 Recommended Sources: Ten Scripts for a Wider World 151 Recommended Resources 154 Index 155

©2025 Grift Education. All rights reserved.

Dramatheme — Immigrant Experience 99 Games: Focus on Communication 100 Drama Exploration: Interviewing 101 A Drama Structure: The Arrival by Shaun Tan (Graphic Novel) 104 Drama and Literacy Extensions: Writing in Role 109 Recommended Sources: Focus on the Immigrant Experience 110

An Overview Chapter/ Dramatheme

Drama Exploration

Drama Structure Using a Source

Assessment Profiles

1: Revealing Identity/ Connections

Names

Choral Dramatization

“Hector Protector” (nursery rhyme)

Choral Speaking

2: Planting Hope/ Sustainable Environments

Still Images

Creating Tableaux

The Promise by Nicola Davies (picture book)

Tableaux (selfassessment) Developing Comprehension through Drama

3: Sparking Imagination/ Fantasy Worlds

Creativity

Creating Art

The Judge by Harve Zemach (poem)

Group Participation (self-assessment)

4: Learning Lessons/ Animal Tales

Movement

Movement

“The Lion and the Mouse” (fable)

Movement Storytelling (rubric)

5: Confronting Bullying/ Relationships

Building Inclusion

Role Playing

The Shape of a Girl

by Joan MacLeod (script)

Role-Playing Skills

6: Recognizing Homelessness/ Community

Personal Narrative

Storytelling in Role

Mr. Stink by David Walliams (novel)

Storytelling Skills

7: Moving On/ Immigrant Experience

Communication

Interviewing

The Arrival by Shaun Tan (graphic novel)

Writing in Role (self-assessment) Writing in Role (rubric)

8: Accepting Others/ Belonging

Embracing Diversity

Questioning

Wonder by R. J. Palacio (novel)

Drama Participation (rubric)

9: Posing Possibilities/ Journey to the Future

Improv and Spontaneity

Mime

The Disintegration of the Persistence of Memory by Salvador Dali (painting)

Drama Profile (self-assessment)

10: Staging Worlds/ Cultural Encounters

Interpretation

Short Texts

Sultans of the Street

by Anusree Roy (script)

Interpretation Drama Reflections (self-assessment)

Grift Education • 9781923198203 • PMB8203

©2025 Grift Education. All rights reserved.

Games Focus

 5

About This Resource

• Connections • Sustainable Environments • Fantasy Worlds • Animal Tales • Relationships

• Community • Immigrant Experience • Belonging • Journey to the Future • Cultural Encounters

Lucky me to have the opportunity to both choose and revise strategies outlined in previous editions and to create new material to include in a fourth edition.

Revising this book is somewhat like refurbishing a house, a great project that invites one to change furniture around, add new decor, and paint the walls for a clean, fresh look. Writing this book has led me to critically examine, update, and renovate Dramathemes (1988), The Completely Revised Dramathemes (1995), and The New Dramathemes (2002). I have kept some favorite items, cut some activities, shifted some strategies, and provided additions to help make ­Dramathemes, 4th Edition, both contemporary and well founded on past strengths.

The pages that follow describe some of my own experiences working in classrooms in the Peel Board of Education as well as with the hundreds of children I met in past decades in my role as drama consultant and instructor to beginning and experienced teachers. It is my contention that these “dramathemes” can be used at all grade levels. Each group of students is unique, and it is the students who create the action. You are invited to select and modify ideas within the units

6



Grift Education • 9781923198203 • PMB8203

©2025 Grift Education. All rights reserved.

Drama promotes literacy growth, and literacy growth promotes drama exploration.

Dramathemes was written to give teachers a travelling companion as they embark on drama journeys in their classrooms. Since the first edition was published in 1988, many teachers across the continent have expressed appreciation for the practical ideas and structures that this guide has offered them. Teachers have ranged from those just beginning to explore drama and literacy links with their students to those, far more familiar with the structures provided, who have readily shaped their own work around them. They have used Dramathemes to help introduce their students to the world of “Let’s pretend.” I thank you all.

This fourth edition has been thoroughly revised to provide a freshly considered set of games, activities, and resources on 10 key themes. I have endeavored to weave together favorites from the first three editions; I have also revised the descriptions and framework in light of current curriculum initiatives. The foundation of this resource remains the same, however. I still hold the belief that literature can be the focus of and springboard for drama explorations and that themes provide a “hook” for the teacher in making connections to story and to students’ classmates.

At the heart of this resource, drama promotes literacy growth, and literacy growth promotes drama exploration. In this book, I have included a variety of literacy genres, such as nursery rhyme, picture book, poetry, fable, novel, and script, not only as a means of suggesting ideas for activities, but also to engage the imagination and to enrich the creativity and thoughts of our students.

The 10 chapters are based on popular thematic explorations in literature for young people:

Your beliefs, experiences, training, and level of confidence as a teacher will determine the starting points, paths, and ends that you and your students will encounter on your journey.

to support your curriculum needs, your language program, and the interests and needs of your students.

To help you choose appropriate strategies, the chapters in Dramathemes, 4th Edition, have been consistently structured in this way: Introduction

• a quotation from a respected and expert drama educator, offering a theory, statement, or inspiring comment • a fragment from a Stephen Sondheim musical as a tribute to both the theatre world and a master wordsmith • an overview of the chapter’s theme • identification of the chapter’s featured source: that of the drama structure • a listing of learning opportunities Games and Activities

Drama Exploration

• verbal and non-verbal activities to stimulate imagination and communication, promote physical and social growth, and develop role-playing and improvisation skills • Planning Guides, which each provide a framework for investigating key drama conventions (These can also be found under A Drama Structure.)

A Drama Structure

• an exploration of a specific source for creative work • a scheme outlining a variety of conventions to structure drama over time Drama and Literacy Extensions

• opportunities for integration, centred on literacy development • extensions of the theme through writing, reading, art, and drama activities Recommended Sources

• an updated list of literature on the theme, including picture books, novels, poetry anthologies, non-fiction, and scripts Assessment Strategy Tools

• observation guides, with a focus of language, social, or drama learning • self-assessment profiles to help students reflect on their learning As Dorothy Heathcote reminds us, “true drama for discovery is not about ends; it is about journeys and not knowing how the journeys may end.”

In this new edition, you will find a variety of sources for storytelling, improvisation, interpretation, and movement; descriptions of key drama conventions; guides for planning drama; voices of experts; and line masters of source texts, assessment profiles, and rubrics for evaluation.

No book can serve as a definitive statement on practicing drama. Recognizing that, I have included an updated list of titles in Recommended Resources (page 154), which will provide you with support, as they have given support to me. These resources will help you find answers to your questions about teaching. That said, the answers to your questions won’t be found only on the pages of books. The discovery and the learning for both you and your students will happen as you live through imagined experiences in your classroom.

May “the fourth” be with you!

Grift Education • 9781923198203 • PMB8203

 7

©2025 Grift Education. All rights reserved.

• minds-on activities that establish a focus for the theme • games and exercises organized by skill focus in order to build opportunities for collaboration

Acknowledgments

Credits From The Arrival by Shaun Tan. Scholastic Inc./Arthur A. Levine Books. Copyright © 2006 by Shaun Tan. Reprinted by permission.

The Disintegration of the Persistence of Memory (1952–54) Oil on canvas, 10 X 13 inches. Copyright © Salvador Dali. Fundacion Gala-Salvador Dali (Artist Rights Society), 2014. Collection of the Salvador Dali Museum, Inc., St. Petersburg, FL, 2014.

Excerpt from The Iron Man by Ted Hughes. Faber and Faber.

Excerpt from Mr. Stink by David Walliams. HarperCollins, London, UK. Excerpt from The Shape of a Girl by Joan MacLeod. Talon Books, Vancouver, BC. Copyright © 2002. Reprinted by permission.

“Silly Song”: From The Silly Book. Copyright © 1961, 2004 by Stuart B. Hample.

Reprinted by permission of the publisher, Candlewick Press, Somerville, MA. Sultans of the Street by Anusree Roy was originally commissioned and produced

by Young People’s Theatre (2014). Permission to reprint extracts has been given by the author.

Wonder by R. J. Palacio: Permission to include excerpt and reproduction of cover: Penguin Random House, New York, NY. Reprinted by permission.

8



Grift Education • 9781923198203 • PMB8203

©2025 Grift Education. All rights reserved.

To: • The teachers of tomorrow whom I guide (and who guide me) in the Initial Teacher Education program at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto (OISE/UT) • The enthusiastic teachers I meet each summer and winter in the Additional Qualification courses at OISE/UT • The special team of course instructors who enrich the Additional Qualification courses and give me the best of personal and professional support: Julia Balaisis, Bob Barton, Wendie Gibbons, Debbie Nyman, and Sheena Robertson • John Harvey and Leonard McHardy, for the theatre books and the friendship • John McLeod, in memory • Eleanor Gower, dear friend • Lynn Slotkin, the über goddess of theatregoers and my oldest friend • David Booth, mentor

1 / Revealing Identity I too require passion in the classroom. I need the intense preoccupation of a group of children and teachers inventing new worlds as they learn to know each other’s dreams. To invent is to come alive. Even more than the unexamined classroom, I resist the uninvented classroom.

— Vivian Gussin Paley, The Girl with the Brown Crayon (1997, p. 50)

And suddenly that name, will never be the same to me.

©2025 Grift Education. All rights reserved.

— Stephen Sondheim, from West Side Story

Dramatheme — Connections Theme Overview

Everyone has a name, and our names offer a glimpse into our identities and our stories. Through names, we can connect with those around us — as well as fic­ tional characters — to unpack the stories we all carry in our life knapsacks. Our names therefore seem a good place to start our drama journey. In this drama­ theme, students explore names as markers of identity and begin to see how they connect with who they are. Similarly, in the pretend world of drama, participants dig past characters’ names to answer the question “Who are you?” In this chap­ ter, students can delve into motive, character, and human relationships by turn­ ing to the elliptical rhymes of childhood. The unusual situations in which rhyme characters find themselves invite students into a world where their imaginations — and story minds — can take charge. They can invent new worlds.

Featured Source: The nursery rhyme “Hector Protector” Learning Opportunities

• To participate in games that can be used for getting acquainted and that develop a sense of belonging to a group • To learn the names of others, the stories behind the names, and ways to present those names in dramatic contexts • To practice the skills of interpretation and experiment with different ways to read rhymes chorally • To familiarize students with the rhythms, rhymes, patterns, and themes of a variety of nursery rhymes • To contribute ideas to a choral presentation and to support the contributions of others • To unravel meanings of a short text by raising questions, hypothesizing, role-playing, and improvising • To explore the stories within the stories of playground and nursery rhymes

Grift Education • 9781923198203 • PMB8203

 9

This chapter presents the first dramatheme to explore because the featured games invite students to introduce themselves to one another, and the drama strategies outlined are suitable for beginning drama work on interpretation and improvisation.

This game works particularly well when participants do not know one another.

Games: Focus on Names Name Game Echo Students stand in a circle. One person begins the game by saying his or her name and performing an action or gesture, such as clapping hands above the head, wiggling, or bending over. The group echoes the name and the movement. The game continues until every person has become the leader who calls out his or her name.

EXTENSIONS

Greeting One Another 1. On a signal, students walk around the room introducing themselves to one another, shaking hands.

2. On another signal, students resume walking around the room and greet one another, touching toes. The game continues with partners connecting with different parts of the body (e.g., elbows, ears, knees).

3. Students create greetings that might be used by aliens on a strange planet.

They walk around and introduce themselves, using their new greetings.

EXTENSION

• Students form a circle which represents a council meeting of alien creatures.

One student demonstrates a greeting, and the group echoes the movement presented. The activity continues around the circle until every person has demonstrated a greeting. An alternative is to have only a new sound greeting presented.

Five Claps, One Friend, Three Details

Sample of the Game Group claps five beats.

Max: My name is Max, and I say hi.

Group claps five beats.

Max: This is Ayla, and she is my friend.

Group (chanting): One. Max: Her favorite color is green.

Group (chanting): Two. Max: She likes to read graphic novels.

Group (chanting): Three.

Max: Her favorite food is sushi.

10



This activity provides students with the chance to interview others, to share the information learned from the interview, and to present scripted lines according to a pattern.

Students sit in a circle. They are given three to five minutes to informally interview the person on their right and be interviewed by the person on their left.

To begin, ensure that each participant knows his or her partner’s name. For the interview, students can find out such things as favorite color, favorite food, favorite television show, favorite book, and one or two more details.

The following script is then used to have each student introduce the person on the right.

Line #1: My name is _____, and I say hi.

Line #2: This is _______, and she is my friend.

Line #3: [tells any three things learned about partner from the interview]

Grift Education • 9781923198203 • PMB8203

©2025 Grift Education. All rights reserved.

• The names are called out in a dramatic way (e.g., a shout, a cheer, or a whisper), and a new gesture is provided to accompany the name. Encourage students not to repeat any actions that have already been presented.

• Each group member repeats the action from the previous extension, but does not call out any name. The mimed gesture may help group members remember participants’ names.

Those standing in the circle clap out beats to introduce lines #1 and #2. The group also chants out the numbers 1, 2, and then 3 to introduce each of the three personal details.

Name Call, Toss Ball

EXTENSIONS

• Challenge the students to complete the activity within a certain time.

• Students pass the ball in the same pattern without calling names.

• The pattern of passing the ball is reversed. The ball is passed from the last person to the first person.

• Two balls are passed, one using the original pattern and one using the reverse pattern.

• Students find a new spot in the circle. The game is repeated.

• Additional balls (five? six?) are added one at a time. The game is repeated.

• There is no pattern. Balls are tossed. Students randomly call names of players in the group.

What’s in a Name?

In this game, students work in a variety of group situations as they seek others whose first names share a characteristic with their first names. As students circulate, tell them to find others whose names • start with the same initial as theirs • share at least two of the letters in their names • have the same number of vowels that their names contain • have the same number of letters that their names contain • have the same number of syllables that their names contain EXTENSION

• Have students work with their last names.

Name Crossword This game can be played by giving the students small sticky notes, one for each letter of their first name. For example, a student named Chris would receive five sticky notes and write each of the letters in his name on a note (C H R I S). Students may want to work with the long form of their name (e.g., Christopher).

Students first look at their names to identify words that they can see without scrambling any letters (e.g., the words or and ah in the name Deborah). They can

Grift Education • 9781923198203 • PMB8203

 11

©2025 Grift Education. All rights reserved.

Students stand in a circle. To begin, a ball is given to one player, who calls his or her name and then tosses the ball to someone else in the circle. The ball continues to be passed, ensuring that all become familiar with the names in the group.

The activity is repeated. This time, students start with their hands folded in front of them; after tossing the ball to someone else in the circle, they place their hands behind their backs. In this way, each person passes (and receives) the ball once.

The activity is repeated again, following the sequence of passing the ball. Draw the students’ attention to the pattern that has been established by asking: “Who threw the ball to you? Who did you throw the ball to?”

then mix up the letters to make as many words as possible (e.g., the words bed, dear, are, and had from Deborah). When students have exhausted all possibilities, they team up with a partner. Combining letters from both names, they make as many words as possible.

EXTENSIONS

• Students work in groups of four to make words using only the letters from their first names.

• Students use their first and last names to play the game.

Thinking about Our Names

— Belarie Zatzman

Provide the following questions to students to prompt discussion or to use as a questionnaire when interviewing one another.

• Do any words rhyme with your name? If they do, what are they?

• Without changing the order of any letters, what words can you find in your first name? in your last name?

• How many words can you make from the letters of your first name?

• Who were you named after?

• Do you have a middle name? What is it?

• Do you know your name in another language? What is it?

• Do you have a nickname? What is it?

• What is the name of a pet you know? How did the pet get its name?

• Do you like your name? Why or why not?

• Do you know what your name means? What’s the translation?

• What name would you choose for yourself?

• If the vowels in your name were given one point and the consonants two points, what would the score for your name be?

As a follow-up, students sit in a circle. Each student, in turn, shares a story about his or her name. As they share, students can discuss how they got their names, whether they like their names, and what happened to them (or a family member) because of their names.

EXTENSION

• Students write first-person accounts of their names, which can then serve as the foundation of a monologue activity. Invite students to volunteer to share their name stories in a group circle. By sharing a first-person account, they are experiencing the drama technique of monologue.

Find Someone Who . . .

Students are given copies of the line master “Autograph Worksheet,” page 14.

They are told to select any 10 of the items related to a person’s past experiences by placing an X beside each choice. During an autograph-seeking session, students will interview classmates with the goal of finding one person to fit each of the 10 categories that have been marked off. Once a student has identified someone who fits that category, the student will request that person’s autograph. Students obtain a different autograph for each of their 10 items — the goal is to have 10 different signatures.

12



Grift Education • 9781923198203 • PMB8203

©2025 Grift Education. All rights reserved.

“Our names serve as artifacts of who we are, where we come from, our ancestry and our family stories. The connection between identity and how we represent ourselves can begin to be explored through our names, which serve as markers of our identity.”