Empowering Students With Short Plays For The Classroom

By Joanna Walsh


One common desire among educators around the world is the desire for students to have fun while learning. This is why teachers are always interested in creative ways to make the learning environment more learner friendly. Short plays for the classroom allow educators to do just that. With these literary works, teachers can change lives positively by making the learning process an engaging and exciting one.

The plays serve as a means of keeping the students active during the class session. For most teachers the ideal method is to organize the class into groups and have them work on their own presentations of the drama. This keeps students engaged but also gets them excited because they will get to show their talent. For most five minute presentations, students will need fifteen to twenty minutes of planning time. During execution the students are still actively engaged as they switch between the roles of performers and audience.

Sometimes a drama piece can inspire a production that exceeds that classroom space. These are often converted into school plays that are performed for the entire school and sometimes outsiders as well. When students get to show off their talents through school plays that may be viewed by the entire school population, or, in some cases, invited outsiders as well, their self esteems are boosted.

Participation in these plays is one way of preparing the youth for the roles they will have to play in society as adults. The fact that they have to work with others during the planning and presentation stages helps them to practice interpersonal communication. This type of communication is key to developing positive social and business relationships. Leadership skills are developed as well since students who are natural leaders can take on the role of directors or producers.

These short dramatic pieces are also great teaching points. Lessons in ideal behavioral patterns are facilitated by dramatic extracts. These include principles surrounding themes such as love, loyalty and determination. In order to achieve this teachers can select drama scripts with story lines that reveal these principles. They can highlight the positive traits in characters who display the right traits and emphasize the rewards or the triumph experienced by these characters.

Some of the more practical curriculum centered goals are met through the use of these teaching tools as well. Language and art skills can be taught through the use of these pieces. In addition to the use of language, students learn to apply science concepts especially when it comes to creating sound effects of lighting.

For most teachers, finding the right play to use is easy. This is because there are many teacher centered websites that offer short dramatic works that are designed for classroom use. Crafting an original play for a specific class is not unusual however and many teachers do exactly that. Sometimes the class can create its own play as a part of a special project.

Short drama pieces are helpful teaching tools. They help teachers to achieve multiple objectives simultaneously. Through their strategic use, teachers are able to shape the world's future by fulfilling the requirements of the hidden and overt curriculum.




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