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  • 1.  Ideas for English Language Learners

    Posted 08-25-2017 11:01

    Hi everyone!

    I would love your thoughts! My school has a large population of International students from China, and this fall, I will be teaching an Introduction to Theatre course for 12 of these students who are seeking, in particular, growth and practice in speaking English. I am super excited about the class and was wondering if any of you have lessons/ texts/ activities/ projects you have found to be especially successful with English Language Learners...? (I should note that the students will be a mix of 9th-12th graders.)  So far, I'm planning to use Diane Tillerman's Spare Scenes toward the beginning of the year, as the language is manageable but allows for lots of creativity. What else comes to mind? As I said, I would love your thoughts and am open to any and all ideas!

    Thank you so much, and I hope you're all enjoying a wonderful summer!

    Sincerely,

    Tasha



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    Tasha Partee
    Upper School Theatre Teacher
    Lawrence Woodmere Academy
    New York NY
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  • 2.  RE: Ideas for English Language Learners

    Posted 08-26-2017 08:49
    I'm interested in responses to this question. I've had several students who are ELL, but speak English quite well.  Recently, however, I had a student added to my class who moved here from Mexico and speaks no English. I've been using Google Translate and a bi-lingual student in that class to try to communicate, but I'm wondering if there are some better resources out there.

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    Chelsea Petty
    Columbus MS
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    Original Message


  • 3.  RE: Ideas for English Language Learners

    Posted 08-27-2017 07:37
    There was an article in Teaching Theater several years ago that I have put into my curriculum for students  on the dyslexia  spectrum in elementary grades but I have also used it in my beginning drama class in  middle school theater.   The college professor who taught it used it with his college classes.  It is as easy as taking Dr Seuss, Green Eggs and Ham and reading it as a script. Every age group loves it and it's a great jumping off point.  You can divide into duo's or have groups use it as their base and , as he suggests, create their own stories from it, staying true to the story line but changing the characters to gangsters, cowboys, rapp artists.... endless ideas.  Who's intimidated by Dr Seuss?  We always start with the picture book and jump off from there.  The simple words take away all fear and all ages love Green Eggs and Ham.  Horton Hears A Who is another although I've had trouble with the 'Sam' books because they are a single narrator.

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    Valerie Scott
    Drama Teacher/Director
    Perimeter School
    Johns Creek, Ga
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    Original Message


  • 4.  RE: Ideas for English Language Learners

    Posted 08-26-2017 11:13
    Hello Tasha:
    How exciting for you.  I just returned from teaching a two week drama course at a high school in Nansha, China and run a drama class specifically for our newcomer to intermediate language learners at the middle school I teach at here in the states.
    Basically, I have found that any drama activity/game etc. is quite adaptable for students newer to English, but I look at each activity from a language lens:  What language can be taught here?  What language do student's need to know in order to dive into this activity? Is there a way to modify it and provide the appropriate supports to make it accessible to students newer to the language? and questions along that line allow me to adapt activities I do with my mainstream drama classes.
     Having said that I find that doing image work (Augosto Boal inspired) meets with the greatest success, especially in the beginning stages of a class.  
    A basic example is have a group of 4 on "stage"....call out a location (a park, a restaurant, etc.).  Student's immediately make a pose of what someone might be doing there.  Then we move to them making poses in relationship and finally a full on Tableau that represents a moment of conflict. Then after everyone has had a chance to get those three things (choosing different locations for each group) there students can work in groups on their own to further develop one of the tableaux or create a new one.  They can add things like inner monologues, thought bubbles, dialogues and actual scenes including the moment before.  
    I have lots more but three books in particular have helped me with actual activities for that, as they have already done the work with adapting Boal's ideas for the classroom:  

    Theatre for Community, Conflict and Dialogue: Michael Rohd
    Teachers Act Up: Melisa Cahnmann-Taylor
    also, while not specific for "image work" I found in all the stuff in Kelin's book extremely valuable.  It is specific to younger learners but easily adaptable for and highly enjoyed by older students like yours.
    In Their own Words: Drama and Young English Language Learners: Daniel A. Kelin, II 

    other resources I have used referred to over the years are:

    Drama Techniques: Alan Maley and Alan Duff

    Games for Language Learning-Andrew Wright

    Stories: Narrative activities in the Language Classroom-Ruth Wajnryb

    Teachers Act Up: Melisa Cahnmann-Taylor

    Teaching Literacy through Drama-Baldwin

    Stage by Stage: a handbook for using drama in the second language classroom--     Ann F. Burke & Julie C. O'Sullivan

    I have also found that Rasa boxes, masks, viewpoints,  and other physically based drama training techniques, works extremely well with this population of students.  We did a fantastic Rasa box activity in China that was very well received by the students there.  

    I hope this helps.  I think it is fantastic what you are doing.  I am a strong advocate for using drama techniques to teach language at all levels.






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    Richard Silberg
    Drama/ESL Specialist
    Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School
    Berkeley, California
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    Original Message


  • 5.  RE: Ideas for English Language Learners

    Posted 08-28-2017 09:42
    Hello Tasha, 
    I am a certified ESL teacher, in addition to a Theatre teacher. I actually wrote a two-part blog on this subject. My Theatre program primarily services students acquiring English and I've had several students become proficient within two years of entering the country. Theatre is the ideal medium for students to develop productive and receptive language skills as well as learn the nuances of a language that are often difficult, if not impossible, to explain. I would be happy to assist you with questions or ideas. Feel free to connect with or contact me for any help you need.

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    Hugh Fletcher
    Performing Arts Coordinator
    IS 229 Dr. Roland Patterson Middle School
    Roosevelt NY
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    Original Message


  • 6.  RE: Ideas for English Language Learners

    Posted 08-31-2017 17:47
    There are some excellent ideas on this thread--thanks all for sharing!

    Here are two more things to try:

    I find that choral reading can be an effective early-semester project because the kids get to work in a large group, breaking up a poem or speech to create different effects with their voices (different numbers of speakers, different genders, repetition, echoing, sound effects, etc.) 

    Another thing to try--particularly since you have all/mostly Chinese students, is to look up a brief synopsis of Xi You Ji or Journey to the West. In China (and also in other parts of East Asia) it's an incredibly familiar novel with a set of main characters that are iconic. (One Chinese student told me "For us it's like Harry Potter plus Wizard of Oz plus actual religious stuff that is meaningful.") It's an episodic quest but you could choose one or two stories to have them dramatize or draft scripts of. (The White Bone Demon is a particularly good interlude). It will totally depend on your kids, but for some English Language Learners, the crutch of a familiar story and familiar characters makes it a little easier to deal with the unfamiliar element (English.)  It will also show them that you have some familiarity with a cultural phenomenon in China (there are TV adaptations, movies, toys, video games, etc.) that few westerners have heard of.

    Have a terrific year! your students are lucky to have you!

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    Meg O'Connor
    theatre artist on the loose
    oconnormainstage.com
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    Original Message


  • 7.  RE: Ideas for English Language Learners

    Posted 09-19-2017 10:34
    You all are AMAZING!!!!!! Thank you so, so much for all of your thoughts, ideas, and for all of your encouragement. I am so excited to incorporate each and every one of these suggestions! I honestly don't know what I'd do without you guys and this group. Many, many thanks again, and I hope you are all off to a wonderful start with your kids! 

    Tasha :)

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    Tasha Partee
    Upper School Theatre Teacher
    Lawrence Woodmere Academy
    New York NY
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    Original Message


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