DOCUMENT RESUME CS 510 160 ED 434 379 Annarella, Lorie A. AUTHOR Using Creative Drama in the Writing Process. TITLE 1999-00-00 PUB DATE NOTE 10p. Opinion Papers (120) PUB TYPE MF01/PC01 Plus Postage. EDRS PRICE Classroom Techniques; *Creative Activities; *Drama; DESCRIPTORS Elementary Education; *Imagination; Listening Skills; Visualization; Writing Exercises; Writing Instruction *Guided Imagery IDENTIFIERS ABSTRACT Creative drama can be used productively in the classroom by allowing students to dream and to put these ideas down on paper. Guided imagery is a way of accomplishing this. Guided imagery is when the creative drama teacher guides students on a journey through the imagination. It can be used as a prereading and prewriting exercise. Listening and speaking skills can also be developed with the use of guided imagery. Use of the guided imagery procedure involves breathing exercises, description of the journey or imaginary object, and discussion of the experience afterward. Visualizing and imaging are used almost simultaneously as the use of guided imagery is implemented in the teaching of writing. (Contains 10 references.) (EF) ******************************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. ******************************************************************************** Using Creative Drama in the Writing Process. by Lorie A. Annarella 1999 U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office of Educational Research and Improvement PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE AND EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION DISSEMINATE THIS MATERIAL HAS CENTER (ERIC) ff/This document has been reproduced as BEEN GRANTED BY received from the person or organization originating it. L Arvla re lick. Minor changes have been made to C:) improve reproduction quality. (:) 2 Points of view or opinions stated in this C, TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES document do not necessarily represent INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) to official OERI position or policy. 1 LE BEST COPY ARLA C/p Li) Using Creative Drama in the Writing Process by Dr. Lorie A. Annarella Using creative drama in the classroom can be a useful tool in developing creativity and imagination. The excitement of building new lines of understanding and self expression lends itself to the use of drama in the classroom and the teaching of the writing Since the writing process encompasses prewriting process. (brainstorming), writing, editing, rewriting and publishing, creative drama techniques can help in the enforcement of the I have found that teaching writing writing process concepts. using the writing process makes a substantial difference in the quality of students' writing. But even with putting the writing process in place and practicing writing workshop techniques is sometimes still not enough to keep our students actively engaged in writing. Student Problems in Writing One of the most difficult parts in the teaching of the writing process is for students to be able to discover or find a Even brainstorming and semantic mapping topic to write about. techniques sometimes prove redundant after a while. I have had students say that they lead boring lives, that nothing happens to them and that there is nothing that they are interested in writing It can become equally difficult to get students to feel about. secure enough to put their ideas into words and to edit and restructure what they have written. In order to keep student interest at a high level of motivation, teachers can learn ways of 1 3 validating the use of students' imagination and creativity. If we can show students' their ability at discovering that they have an imagination and get them to talk about their imaginings, we can Once students become quite possibly get them to write about them. engaged with their imagination, they can learn how to focus on their imaginative thoughts and develop these thoughts into creative results. Writing, Communication and Drama We first must remember that language arts consists of listening, speaking, reading and writing (Tomkins, 1998). None of When teaching writing, it is these elements stand alone. important to remember that it is a form of communication, as is listening, reading and speaking. "Writing is also a fundamentally creative process (Fearn,Leif & Farnan,Nancy 1998)" that can be taught through the use of drama. Drama can be a vehicle to get these four forms of communication to interact with each other in a creative and holistic When drama is practiced as a way. classroom methodology, students become holistically involved in using their imagination and creativity as part of the learning process. Drama Objectives There are many curricular objectives in using creative drama. Drama helps to develop creativity and inventiveness and curiosity. It teaches students to question and develop self-perception and visualization. "Many objectives of modern education and creative drama are 2 Among the shared objectives are: unquestionably shared. Creativity and aesthetic development 1. the ability to think critically 2. social growth and the ability to work cooperatively with 3. others improved communication skills 4. the development of moral and spiritual values 5. knowledge of self. (McCaslin, 1980,p.6)" 6. Drama can help in the teaching of these skills through student focused experiential dramatic techniques in the classroom. One dramatic approach that can be used to teach these concepts is guided imagery. What Is Guided Imagery? Guided imagery is when the creative drama teacher guides or "side coaches" students on a journey through the imagination to visualize specific items or to visualize in their "mind's eye as The student is permitted to create a the journey progresses. story as the instructor only gives suggestions that are to be focused on throughout the lesson. The creative drama teacher forms the framework for the guided imagery or (fantasy) story trip, but the students are asked to supply all of the experiences, images and details of It is a student focused approach to trip. learning. It is highly creative and elicits spontaneity, not only on the part of the students, but for the instructor as well. Uses of Guided Imagery Guided imagery can also be used as a prereading experience. 3 LE BEST COPY AV 1 5 It can help elicit It can help set the mood and time of a story. empathy and understanding for the characters involved in the story, which can lead to better student analysis of character and Students can learn to understand elements of plot development. story through guided imagery. And they can learn to create their These stories can be told orally in the classroom own stories. Theme, mood, setting, including time and and can be written down. place, and point of view, can be better understood through this As an aid in the student focused exercise in visualization. writing process, students can be taught to visualize through this process, as they are creating images in the "mind's eye." Topics Students are for writing can be created from using this approach. tapping into their own creativity in finding a topic instead of Guided imagery using lists to generate a topic to write about. can also be used as a prewriting or brainstorming experience, The use of guided which is the beginning of the writing process. imagery in the classroom can help students discover their hidden potential for finding a topic for writing and also for developing Just as students are connected to the outside world a story. through reading and writing; guided imagery helps them to connect to the inside world of character, plot, theme and imagination. Listening and Speaking Through Drama Listening and speaking skills can also be developed with the use of guided imagery. The students must focus, and listen to the creative drama teacher for exact directions. Students are 4 6 encouraged to share and to listen to the experiences of others in It is the class as the exercise is debriefed or talked about. important that the students discuss the guided imagery in detail Only then are they before they begin to write about it. encouraged to write about the visualization. Procedures For Using Guided Imagery Breathing exercise-Have students relax and breathe from the 1. When inhaling the breath should fill the stomach and diaphragm. When exhaling the breath releases and the stomach and the back. Sometimes it helps to have students place back are constricted. their hands on their stomach in order to feel the breath as it enters and exits the body. Set the stage/mood--Using a calming voice, tell the students 2. what they are to do. If you are going to have them work with an imaginary object ask them to visualize the object and describe the object using the five senses. The same is true if you are having Never ask them to them participate on a guided imagery trip. pretend. Words used by the creative drama teacher using guided imagery technique should always encourage students to focus on the Word visualization not on the pretense of the visualization. suggestions should always be clear and deliberate. As the exercise progresses the creative drama teacher must use 3. words suggesting the use of the five senses. The students should be asked how they feel as they are moving through the imaginative They need to be asked what they see, smell, taste, touch drama. and hear all in relationship to what they are experiencing on the 5 guided imagery trip. Debriefing--Discussion of the exercise should take place after 4. all creative drama exercises. Students need to be asked the following in a non threatening way: What did How do you feel? What did you hear? What did you smell? you see? What did you There is no right or wrong Every answer has merit. taste? answer-the debriefing is non judgmental. This type of debriefing is done in order to encourage the student to take risks and to build self esteem. After the students are asked to discuss and share their visualization they will be asked to form a graphic organizer of their own, by listing the five senses and their feelings and writing down any items from the visualization that relate to the senses. From the graphic organizer they will be asked to write about their experience into a rough draft, then edited and rewritten for publication. The writing process will be in set in place. Finished papers will be shared by the class. The Importance of Guided Imagery Visualizing and imaging are used almost simultaneously as the use of guided imagery is implemented in the teaching of writing. Using guided imagery (Polsky, p.8) is a very effective way to have each student get in touch with something we all possess, and yet too often negate, our imagination. While engaging in the fantasy, students can learn to accept the visualization that their "mind's eye" has developed for them. They can create their own visualization and story situation within the boundaries that the creative drama teacher describes. When students are feeling 6 a confident that they can anticipate what is going to happen next in a story through their mind pictures (Cecil, Nancy & Lauritzen, Phyllis 1994); it is in these types of situations that the student can be not only creative, but can also be in tune with emotions If students are shown how to tap into their and intuition. imagination, and are permitted to discuss their imaginative thoughts in a non threatening way in class with the teacher as guide, this can become the source of developing communication and the spawning of new ideas which lead to not only to the oral skills but written skills as well. development of Just Imagine "Imagination creates things that can be or can happen whereas fantasy invents things that are not in existence, which never When fantasy created the Flying have been or will be. Carpet, who could have thought that one day we would be Both winging our way through space?" (Stanislayski, p. 52) fantasy and imagination are indispensable in the creative act. Since writing is a creative act, and imagination is one of the greatest sources of creativity, why not use it productively in the classroom by allowing students to dream and fantasize and putting Guided imagery is a way of these ideas down on paper. accomplishing this. Bibliography Cottrell, June (1987). Creative Drama in the Classroom. Chicago, IL: National Textbook. Fearn,Leif & Farnan,Nancy (1998). Writing Effectively Helping 7 9 Needham Heights, Children Master the Conventions of Writing. Alllyn&Bacon. MA: Cecil, Nancy Lee & Lauritzen, Phyllis (1994).Literacy and the Arts for the Integrated Classroom Alternative Ways of Knowing. Longman: White Plains, NY. Drama Courtney, Richard (1980). The Dramatic Curriculum. NY: Book Specialists. McCaslin, Nellie (1980). Creative Drama in the Classroom. NY: Longman. Teaching Content Reading and Ruddell, Martha Rapp (1993). Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon. Writing. Polsky, Milton E. Englewood Cliffs, Let's Improvise. (1980). Prentice-Hall. NJ: Stanislayski, Constantin. An Actor Prepares. Methuen, (1948). NY: Theatre Arts Books. Tompkins, Gail E. (1998). Language Arts Content and Teaching Strategies. NJ: Simon & Schuster. Englewood Torrance, Paul E. (1962). Guiding Creative Talent. Prentice-Hall. Cliffs, NJ: 8 10