Core

Practice Date/Time/Year Details

Level
Facilitating co- 14th September Students are leaning to create a devised scene
operative group Period 4 based on an image, using relevant drama
work Year 9 Drama conventions. After roll call (in a circle), I number off
the students 1-8 and get them to form into groups
of the same number. They need guidance on how to
form their groups (facing one another, and separate
from the other groups) so this takes longer than
planned. There are 3-4 people per group.
Each group is given an image, paper and pens.
Without talking to the rest of their group, each
student is to write a short story inspired by the
image.
After 2 mins, students share this story with their
group.
I then give out the story that accompanies the
image and set up the next task.
They are to devise a short scene inspired from the
image. The scene must involve one line or phrase
from Shaun Tans story, and one line or idea from
one person in the groups story. It must involve
three freeze frames and a soundscape or chorus.
Groups get 15 minutes to practice and I go around
each group to give feedback and keep groups on-
task.
After theyve practiced, each group gets up to
perform. Myself and the audience (rest of the class)
give feedback on how effective their performance
was, commenting specifically on their conventions.

Reflection: Year 9 are still learning how to work co-
operatively so it is imperative that I remind them
the skills needed for group work (task skills and
interpersonal skills).
My mentor notes in her feedback Aim to have the
groups separate from one another and all group
members facing one another, as I didnt realise
that the students needed a lot of guidance on how
to form groups. I will take this into consideration
next time in my instructions.
 18th September This class students are learning to create a devised
Period 4 scene using believable characters and a verbal
Year 9 provocation Im here for two months and two
weeks.
I begin class with a roll call in a circle, students are
answering the question Whats something that
always makes you happy. This establishes a
positive environment for learning.
I then get students to walk around the room
neutrally without talking. We play three rounds of
Shapes where I say something like Get into
groups of 3 and make an elephant! and students
get 5 seconds to do this. This gets students into new
groups each time. My mentor notes in her feedback
They enjoy the game where they have to get into
groups and be an object or an animal. They quickly
learn that it doesnt matter who they work with-so
this is a good way to get them into groups.

I introduce the main role-play task mentioned
earlier and give clear instructions. The students are
given 15 minutes to create the scene.
My mentor notes you tackle a group who are not
really working by going over to the group, kneeling
beside them and having a chat. This is good
management of the class.

When the students perform, I ask the audience
questions to provide feedback to the group around
focus, character and setting.

What I need to work on: Being clear on the learning
intentions so the groups are aware of a common
goal rather than a competitive learning
environment.

 19th September Students are learning to understand the key plot points
Period 4 and characters of Shakespeares Macbeth.
Year 10 Drama I start the class with roll call, and the question If you
were a witch or wizard, what pet would you have?.

After this I gather the students to sit in front of the white
board and ask the students What do you know about
Macbeth and Shakespeare, I write up all their ideas into
a large brainstorm. I make sure a large majority of the
students are participating in this discussion by asking
individuals.
I then play a video that explains the story of Macbeth. I
instruct the students that while they are watching this,
they need to pay attention as it will help with the next
task.
The next task, they get into pairs and write down the key
plot points they remember from the video or their own
knowledge.
Around the circle, each pair shares the plot points they
have written down with the rest of the class. I get
everyone listening to circle any ones they have the same.
My ULT notes Good co-construction of knowledge. Q:
Are we all in agreement that it starts with the 3 witches?
Does anyone have anything different? Does this happen
before or after? I liked how you built on their answers
yet also helped to re-order them. This means you
acknowledged someones answer but also revised it by
drawing on class expertise. This is a high level skill.
Very impressive!
I then play the walk around the room game to get
students into small groups of 3. I give each group a
scene/plot point and a line of dialogue from that scene
from Macbeth. They need to include a freeze frame, the
dialogue, and soundscape to create mood and setting.
They get 10-15 minutes to practice.
When each group performs, I ask the audience questions
Where was this scene in the play? How was the mood
established, and what was it? What was the most
effective thing about this scene?

 21st September Students are learning how to physically show
Year 10 characters from Macbeth. They are also going to
Period 3 have a good understanding of at least three
characters from the play.

I start class with a roll call in a circle with the
question If someone wrote a play about your life,
what would it be called?

Warm up game: Walking with motivation.
I give provocations of how they need to walk e.g.
Youve received good news but have to keep it
hidden, Youre the most powerful person in the
room, Youre feeling guilty because you ran over
your neighbours cat, You havent slept in weeks.
These are all feeding into the characters of
Macbeth.

We then sit down and watch some video clips of
Macbeth, Banquo, Lady Macbeth and the Three
Witches. After each clip, I get the students to work
in pairs to write down three things about each
character. Then I get pairs who are confident to
share their ideas with the class and I write up their
ideas on the board.
As a class we discuss each character in-depth so the
students who dont have the prior knowledge are
clued up on the characters.

I then get students to come pick a characters name
out of a kete (woven flax bag), to form a group with
people of the same character. One student quietly
tells me that she isnt on the best of terms with one
of her group members, so I let her switch to a
different character.

Once the groups are formed, I get them to come up
with a gesture and a freeze frame as a group that
shows the character. I give them 10 minutes.
Each group then performs and I ask the class What
does the gesture and freeze frame tell you about
the character?

Reflection: I couldve definitely extended a lot of
the higher ability students in this class who have a
good knowledge of the characters. I didnt utilise
their knowledge as much as I shouldve.
 My mentor gave me verbal feedback, saying that I
did too much of the work for the students at the
start of class, when its actually up to them to bring
the knowledge. However my facilitation of the
group work was good, and I handled the situation
well when a girl wanted to swap groups.

References:

Thomson, C., & Brown, D. (2000). Co-operative Learning: What it has to offer New Zealand
Teachers. Learning in Partnership (3), 38-41.