[ISLMA-Share] Dramas and Plays

Email list for the Illinois School Library Media Association islma at list.railslibraries.info
Mon Sep 19 09:21:23 CDT 2016


You might also want to start with some reader's theater scripts, Aaron
Shepherd has some fee ones. While I wouldn't do that for the entire
curriculum, it might be a way to start.
http://www.aaronshep.com/rt/RTE.html

I also once taught a short drama class to 5th and 6th, and we did some
activities like  - I brought in a box of hats, and then had students
basically improv characters based on the hats - which let them be
creative,and let us as a class discuss why they made the choices they did
before we even moved into scripted works.

I also had some luck with Plays magazine, which is monthly, and has a
variety of scripts for each month.  Here is the link for more information:
http://www.playsmagazine.com/

Good luck!
Jill


On Mon, Sep 19, 2016 at 9:11 AM, Email list for the Illinois School Library
Media Association <islma at list.railslibraries.info> wrote:

> My first question would be--what's the purpose of the class? Is it just an
> introduction to what plays are?  Are you going to look at structure?  Are
> they going to act them out? Are you going to look at how playwrights
> develop themes through staging and dialog? Do the plays have to be plays
> written for adults, or would plays written for kids be better?  Are you
> looking for great drama or kid drama?  Do musicals count? The themes and
> actions of most plays written for adults would seem to make it difficult
> for 6th graders to get them.
>
>  *A Doll's House *is pretty serious, with questions of marriage and
> fidelity and a woman's place in a male dominated society.  It's also pretty
> dry.  I know there's a movie with Jane Fonda from the 70s that I saw.  Not
> very exciting, especially for 6th graders.
>
> Another question, why the simplified Shakespeare?  How is it simplified?
> The language?  The plot? If you simplify Shakespeare, is it still
> Shakespeare or is it more of a Cliffs' Notes version of Shakespeare?
> *AMND* is a pretty risque play--sex, fidelity, marital manipulation,
> parental harshness.  If you skip over that, is it still the same play? And
> they say the word ass a lot.  Of course, the kids would probably like
> that.  If you want to do Shakespeare, I would think that one of the history
> plays, more the Henrys than the Richards, might be more appropriate for 6th
> graders.  There's the great Kenneth Branagh movie of *Henry V* that might
> accompany a reading.
>
> I know there is a play of *Alice in Wonderland* that might be workable.
> And there are many plays and adaptations written specifically for young
> audiences that might be of use--*Charlotte's Web*, T*he Comic Book Artist*,
> among them.
>
>
>
> On Mon, Sep 19, 2016 at 8:18 AM, Email list for the Illinois School
> Library Media Association <islma at list.railslibraries.info> wrote:
>
>> Hello all!
>> I'm in need of suggestions for dramas/plays that are appropriate to read
>> with 6th grade students and where I can find cheap copies. I already have a
>> simplified version of *A Midsummer Night's Dream* published by Nextext,
>> and am also thinking about using *A Doll's House* and *Arsenic and Old
>> Lace*. This is our school's first time teaching dramas to 6th grade and
>> I need enough material to cover a full semester. Please help!
>>
>> Andrea N. Switzer
>> District Librarian
>> Donovan CUSD #3
>> 271-415-8266
>>
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