STAGES: Creative Ideas for Teaching Drama

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STAGES: CREATIVE IDEAS FOR TEACHING DRAMA

Teaching drama is the most rewarding of teaching experiences, Not only are students developing a set of skills for the stage, they are increasing their self confidence and ability to work cooperatively, express themselves publicly, explore their own creativity and above all, to have fun.

After years of teaching dram in the public school system, I had a wealth of exercises which I had collected or developed in my classroom. I began teaching university education students who were about to embark on careers as drama teachers. As I passed around handouts of exercises and gave students yet another page of notes to write out, a student suggested that I should just put in all in a book. This book is an effort to file all those exercises into one package that is easy to carry and easy to use. The exercises are categorized to allow their use as tools to build a lesson.

This book is packed with drama exercises that work. All have been tested on the harshest of critics, high school students. There is a minimum of theorizing about an exercise or pontificating on its value. There are many other books that do that very well. Nor am I here to sell anyone on the value of drama in the classroom or as a tool in the rehearsal process. This book is for educators who already believe that. The purpose of this book is to simply provide ideas to use in a teaching environment. They are laid out in as clear, concise a manner as possible, categorized according to their purpose.

It is my hope that this book will be useful to a variety of people in teaching situations:

Student Teachers collecting resource material for future use.
Substitute teachers thrown into classroom situations, drama or otherwise.
Teachers from other subject areas who want to add creative touches to their lessons.
Teachers who don’t have a drama background that are asked to teach an introductory drama course.
Professional actors and directors wanting to teach beginning acting workshops.
Any leader of children or adults wanting to add a drama component to a course or workshop.
Drama teachers looking for new exercises ideas.

The exercises in this book can be used in isolation to simply fill a spare moment of class time, or they can be used to create a drama workshop or an entire first level drama course. They are suitable for a wide range of ages and abilities and can be adapted for young children, beginning teenagers as well as experienced actors.

“Stages is a excellent book for any teacher, whether or not they are a drama teacher. The actvities laid out in the book are easy to implement with any topic being covering in class, allowing the teacher to get their students up and moving out of their desks to make learning fun. I’ve even used the book as the foundation to start up an after-school drama club.”

Eric
Grade 5/6 Teacher

CUES: Theatrical Training & Projects From Classroom to Stage

CUES: THEATRE TRAINING & PROJECTS FROM CLASSROOM TO STAGE

A book for every teacher, actor and theatre group, CUES is packed with training exercises for new actors, directing and producing tips and lots of devised theatre projects, suitable for the classroom or stage performances. Learn how to conduct exercises that will result in engaging group-created theatre pieces. Receive tips on writing effective monologues and scenes. Everything you need to make your theatre program come alive is right here.

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Alexia Wants to Fly

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Picture Book

ALEXIA WANTS TO FLY

Alexia Wants to Fly is the story of a little girl who always has wanted to fly. When she finds out that hollowing out her bones and strapping on wings isn’t an option, she has to find another way. Her dream finally comes true when she becomes a pilot and gets to soar through her place in the sky.

Story by Talia Pura
Illustrations by Wai Tien
Designed by Melanie Matheson

23.95 Hardcover Lily Star Press
includes shipping to Canada and continental USA

About the illustrator

Wai Tien graduated from the University of Manitoba School of Art with a major in Printmaking. He was nominated for a Manitoba Book Award for his work on the graphic novel “Thanadelthur”. He currently resides in Winnipeg with his wife, Marissa.

Alexia Wants to Fly was the recipient of a Manitoba Book Award, in 2016, and shortlisted for picture book of the year for the New Mexico/Arizona Book Awards, 2017.