Drama Circles: Cooperative Learning FUN!

Guest blog post by Jen Runde

Have you ever done Drama Circles with your students?  For this activity, students are assembled in a circle facing each other. Each student is given a card or two containing directions to perform or lines to speak.  It is similar to the “I have … who has?” game because students need to listen to their classmates to know when it is their turn to act out the instructions on their card. The picture below is of my class performing a Drama Circle at the end of the year. When the weather is nice, I like to take our drama circles outside. So much fun!

Drama Circles Set the Tone
Using drama circles during the first days of school can really help set the tone for the rest of the school year. This kind of cooperative learning activity has students breaking down the beginning of the year barriers and actively practicing all the skills they will need to have a successful school year:

• They need to listen to each other to keep the activity going
• They must wait their turn, and give their attention to one student
• They need to cooperate with their classmates and build on the previous action
• They will learn to be open to new experiences
• They will share a fun activity that has them learning to be comfortable acting and performing in front of their other classmates.

An integral part of creating a classroom environment where the students treat each other as family is sharing memories and fun times. And for the students, knowing their teacher is willing to get in and share in the fun is priceless.  I’ve had a teacher comment to me after using one of my drama circles, “My class has new memories to share of their teacher faint and wrestle a crocodile. This is a special activity that lead to huge grins!”  A class that sees their teacher is willing to “wrestle a crocodile” for them will know that teacher will do anything for them.

Drama Circles Freebie!
If you want to give drama circles a try in your classroom, I have created a special freebie for you.  A Fairy Tale Drama Circle contains 32 activity cards that will get your students laughing, sharing, building confidence, and making memories. You can download it for free from my TeachersPayTeachers store. Cut out and laminate the individual cards.  I store the cards in baggie when not in use.  I hope you enjoy!

Jennifer
Runde is a teacher with twelve years of experience in the upper elementary
grades.  She currently has a grade 5/6 class in Ontario, Canada.  She
enjoys creating fun and interactive lessons that keep her students engaged in
the learning process.  Follow her blog, Runde’s Room, to see what she has going
on in her classroom, and find some fun ideas for math, literacy, and technology
that you can implement in your own class.