Drama - Warmups

We brainstormed drama warm-ups briefly in class today and I was embarrassed to realize that the only activity I could think of was Space Jump! So I've decided that I need to know more about drama warm-ups, specifically the type of warm-ups that would be used at the beginning of a lesson. I've brainstormed with friends, read through Beyond the Script and trawled the internet for ideas. My favourite warm-ups are compiled below.

1. Name Games
   These activities are focused around getting the students comfortable around each other and can help with collaborative work. They involve some improvising.
   Students will sit in a circle, introduce themselves and associate themselves with a movement, an adjective, a noun, a rhythm etc. depending on the rules of the game. So if the rule of the game is to do a movement associated with the first letter of your name, I might say "My name is Ariella" and then I would make an A shape with my hands.
   
   
2. A cold wind blows
   This game helps mix up a group of students, allows students to move freely in the group and helps students learn a little about each other.
   Students sit on chairs in a circle, and the teacher stands in the center of the circle and announces "A cold wind blows everyone who.... [insert a statement describing some students here eg. has a younger brother]". All the students with a younger brother need to stand up and move to another seat (and the person standing up will also try to sit down). Whoever remains standing gets to be the 'cold wind' for the next turn.
   
   
3. What are you doing?
   This activity gets students moving, mining and improvising.
   Students stand in a circle, and one student (or the teacher) starts miming an activity (eg. reading a book). The next student in the circle asks "what are you doing?". The original student gives an answer that is completely unrelated to what they're doing (eg. I'm jogging!) and the next student must take up this activity. The process repeats until all the students in the circle have had a turn to ask and answer the question.
   
   
4. Mirrors
   This activity gets students moving, miming and improvising.
   Students are put in pairs, and one performs an action while the other mirrors it. The leading student may mine whatever activity they want, or they may be told what type of activity to use (eg. cooking).
   Mirroring talk
   This activity gets students to practice storytelling.
   Students are put in pairs, and one tells a story slowly, while the other student attempts to speak along with them. I particularly like this activity as it gets students comfortable with storytelling without making them feel like they're being put on the spot and have to come up with a brilliant story (since the focus of this activity is on the mirroring).
   
   
5. The Martha game
   This activity gets the students moving and improvising.
   The class stands in front of a designated 'stage'. The teacher (or a student) runs onto the stage, stands in a certain pose, and announces the object that they are posing as (eg. I'm a table). One at a time, the rest of the class runs onto the stage and joins the scene (eg. I'm a chair. I'm a cupboard. I'm a person having breakfast).
   
   
6. In a hat
   This activity gets students improvising and may help develop playbuilding.
   Pieces of paper with the names of objects (eg. apple, table, chair, light-bulb) are placed in a hat. Students are put in small groups and each take a slip of paper from the hat. When students have received their slip of paper, they need to tell the rest of the group why they really really like their particular object. This activity can be used with different emotions (maybe the object makes the student feel sad, or angry, or frightened instead).
   
   

Music - Instruments

In the seminar this week we looked at some of the percussion instruments we might see in a school. Some of these were instruments I'd never seen before, and some of them were instruments that I had no idea how to play. So I thought it would be helpful for me, as a teacher, to do a bit of research and compile a list of percussion instruments. In the seminar we were challenged to pick an instrument and use it to make two different sounds, so for this list I will aim to list at least two ways of playing the instrument.

Agogo bell

The two bells each make a different sound (at a different pitch). They can be struck with a beater, muffled with the hand, or squeezed together to make a clicking sound.

Bongo Drums

The two bongo drums have different pitches are are traditionally played by striking with the hand or the fingers. The drum skin can be muffled with the hand, to create a different sound, and the drums can also be struck with beaters and drum-sticks.

Frame Drum
There are different types of frame drums all over the world. They are traditionally played by striking with the fingers or palms. The placement of the strike (near the centre of the drum? against the frame?) affects the sound. They can also be played by running a brush, or fingertips, over the drum-skin, which makes a completely different sound. Resting a hand against the skin can muffle the sound by dampening the resonance.

Gong
Could be played by striking with a mallet (or two mallets), or by running a striker along the metal to make a softer sound.

Note that gongs are tuned percussion, and so if students had more than one gong, or if different students had differently-pitched gongs, they could play a melody.

Guiro
The guiro can be struck with a beater, or the beater can be scraped across the side of the instrument. The way it is held (with the handle, with a thumb in the hole, tightly, loosely) can effect the sound.

Hand Bells
Hold the handle and swing the bell to make it ring. The handle could be held loosely or tightly,which would affect the sound created. The other hand could be used to hold the bell, or the clapper, which would stifle the sound and make a different noise.

Note that bells are tuned percussion, and so if students had more than one bell, or if different students had differently-pitched bells, they could play a melody.




Idiophones such as Glockenspiels, Marimbas, Metalophones, Vibraphones and Xylophones
These are struck with mallets to create a sound. Different mallets would create different sounds and the instruments could also be 'muted' by holding them, or by muffling them with material.

More than one mallet can be used at a time (even more than one mallet per hand) to make chords.

Note: while researching this I found out about Lithophones, which are made out of rocks! Students may want to create their own Idiophone using natural materials, recycled materials, bottles filled with water etc. While Glass Harps are not idiophones, they are similar instruments that older students may want to try creating themselves.

Jingle bells

Jingle bells are played by holding the handle and shaking the instrument, either quickly or slowly. The bells can be held to muffle the sound. The bells can also be struck directly, with the hand or with a beater.

Rattles

The sound the rattle produces depends on how it is held (one hand, two hands, only holding the handle or holding all of the rattle) and how it is shaken (fast, slow, turned etc.). Students may construct their own rattles out of recycled materials and can experiment with the sounds produced by different materials. Maracas are a popular type of Latin-American rattle.

Tabla

Tablas are tuned Indian drums that come in pairs. They are played with the fingers and the palms of the hand, to create a variety of sounds with different pitches, timbres and resonances. Striking different parts of the drum also creates different sounds. I've never seen these in real life but I'd love to try them one day!

Tambourine
Tambourines can be played by holding the frame and shaking the instrument, or by striking the frame with the hand. Many tambourines have drum heads can be played like a frame drum.

Triangle

The triangle can make a different noise depending on the beater -a metal beater produces a ringing sound, a wooden beaters produces a duller sound and knitting needs can produce very quiet tones. The way the triangle is held - loosely or tightly - can impact on the resonance of the sound.

Wooden striking instruments - Claves and Wood Blocks
Claves are played by being struck together. The way they are held (tightly, loosely) can effect the sound.
Wood blocks are played by striking the block with a beater. The material of the beater, and the way the block and beater are held, can effect the sound.

Zils (Finger Cymabls)
The finger cymbals are struck together. Depending on how tightly they're held, and whether they are allowed to resonate or are kept together after striking, different sorts of clanging and ringing sounds can be produced.

Dance - Questioning

Based on the activity during the lecture, I want to design questions to ask students to assess their understanding of the elements of dance. This should help me practice analysing dances (and may help when I'm choreographing dances with students).


How do the two main cat's dances differ? Why do you think they were choreographed this way?
How do the dancers move to reflect cat movements? What parts of their body do they use? Do they move quickly or slowly?
How do the dynamics of the dancing change to reflect the dynamics of the song? How does the use of space reflect the song?


Who is leading the dancing? How can you tell? What sort of visual impact is created by this relationship?
How do the dynamics of the movement change when the song changes? What adjectives could you use to describe the movement?
What do the dancers do when the temp of the music changes?
With so many changes in this piece, how is a sense of continuity created?


How do the dancers use the space on the stage?
What parts of their body do they most often use?
Do you prefer the parts of the dance when only a few dancers are dancing, or when all of them are? Why?
What happened during the transition, when the lighting colour changed. Did you find this transition smooth? Why or why not?


What sort of shapes do the dancers make with their bodies?
What words could you use to describe the way the dancers moved?
How were the two main dancers moving? Were they dancing together or in contrast to each other? What do you think is the relationship between them?


How did the male dancers move? How did the female dancers move? In what ways were they similar and different?
In what ways did the dancers use the space around them?
Name three movements that you feel particularly reflect the changes in the music.