There are many opinions on what creative drama is and should be, and my definition here should is just one. In essence, creative drama is dramatic activities which have the experience of the participants as the goal. Creative drama can include dramatic play, story enactment, imagination journeys, theatre games, music, and dance. "Let's pretend" is the norm in creative drama class, not just a child's game. Because the emphasis in creative drama is process rather than product, teachers have the freedom to take as much time as needed with their classes. The teacher can become a participant and let the children lead the activities rather than being guided through them. Creative drama can help students learn about emotions, problem solving, and relating to other people. Through their experiences with drama, students develop their imaginations and their confidence.
-Creativedrama.com
Many schools have taken on drama as part of the O level syllabus, and I feel that a number of them at that age might not have been exposed to theatre, hence by using this participative approach, students are introduced to the stage and whatever form it takes. You can't learn about drama, you have to actually be a part of it in order to better understand what it was like. Hence, this site is really useful as it provides a number of ways in which creative drama, or any adapted form of drama can be enacted within the classroom.
2) Videos
http://www.pbs.org/peoplelikeus --> this website is really useful for schools which are tackling Amercian literature as it provides a teacher's guide where pre-activities can be conducted before a video, which is the main catalyst for discussion and a deeper study into the many different issues that affect America. There is a step by step guide to a post-video discussion to follow up.
3) Poetry Performances
Like Part 1, I believe that reading poetry alone in itself is not effective in enabling a deeper understanding of the themes, techniques etc. Hence, by using poetry performance techniques, it can help students to self-actualize their improvement in reading poetry. There is also an online resource for educators with poetry resources and a glossary of poetic terms.
-http://www.poetryalive.com/
Happy browsing!
I think creative drama is an effective way to engage students' interest in the literary texts as it allows them to experience the emotional lives of the characters by acting the scenes out. As a result, they would be more aware of the main issues and problems revolving around the play, and be fascinated enough to think of ways to solve those problems. I also agree that students should be given the chance to participate in poetry performance, which would allow them to appreciate poetry better as it would allow the students to establish a personal connection with the poem so that they could go beyond just applying their analytical skills to dissecting a poem.
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