Drama Teacher with over 10 years experience. A range of accessible and detailed resources to make Drama and Theatre teaching fun, inspiring and awesome. Any questions please ask!
Drama Teacher with over 10 years experience. A range of accessible and detailed resources to make Drama and Theatre teaching fun, inspiring and awesome. Any questions please ask!
A note from the author:
Included here are a selection of resources for the exploration of Theatre Practitioner Bertolt Brecht. I use his methods in many units with my students, and have created a plethora of resources for them to use. Also included here is a detailed Year 9 SOW which will also be useful for KS4/5 students.
§ To develop an understanding of Brecht’s theories and principles
§ To practically explore some of Brecht’s conventions in improvised work
§ To develop an understanding of how theatre can be used for political purposes
§ To use Brecht’s ideas as a framework for a devised piece looking at modern history topics such as:
The Diary of Anne Frank
Social Media, Modern Technology & 1984 by George Orwell
The 7/7 London Bombings
Included:
Brecht Year 9 SOW
Brecht Techniques
Lesson Workshop
Teacher Packs
Lesson Resources
Please note:
Packs for the Topics are available as a bundle or as separate items
It is probably advisable that you purchase a copy of The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui
Please do comment on my resources so that I can continue to update and expand them. If you need any more information/clarification please comment and I will update my resources ASAP!
A note from the author:
I crafted this 50-lesson SOW after teaching DNA successfully for 7 Years. It includes helpful resources, lessons activities and some example questions and mock papers.
Overview of SOW:
Lessons One & Two – Intro Booklet & Ice-Breakers
Lesson Three – Immersive Session
Lesson Four – Forum Theatre
Lessons Five, Six & Seven – Section One
Lessons Eight, Nine & Ten – Section Two
Lessons Eleven, Twelve & Thirteen – Section Three
Lesson Fourteen – Section Four
Lesson Fifteen – Plot & Structure
Lessons Sixteen & Seventeen – Themes
Lessons Eighteen & Nineteen – Context & Playwright’s Intentions
Lesson Twenty – Genre & Style
Lesson Twenty One – Mood & Atmosphere
Lessons Twenty Two, Twenty Three & Twenty Four – Directing Intro, Character Rehearsal Techniques
Lessons Twenty Five & Twenty Six – Relationship Rehearsal Techniques
Lesson Twenty Seven – Physical Rehearsal Techniques
Lesson Twenty Eight – Vocal Rehearsal Techniques
Lesson Twenty Nine – Directing Questions
Lesson Thirty – Acting Intro & Character Motivations
Lesson Thirty One & Thirty Two – Acting Intro & Vocal Acting Skills
Lessons Thirty Three & Thirty Four – Physical Acting Skills
Lesson Thirty Five – Interaction Acting Skills
Lesson Thirty Six & Thirty Seven – Acting Questions
Lesson Thirty Eight – Design Intro & Locations
Lesson Thirty Nine and Forty – Colour
Lesson Forty One & Forty Two – Costume, Hair & Make Up Design
Lesson Forty Four – Staging Types
Lesson Forty Five – Mood & Atmosphere
Lesson Forty Five & Forty Six –Set Design
Lesson Forty Seven – Lighting Design
Lesson Forty Eight – Sound Design
Lesson Forty Nine & Fifty – Design Questions
Included:
SOW - 50 lessons over 56 Pages (plus some ideas for further lessons)
Lesson Resources (worksheets, handouts, guides, tables etc.)
Mock Exams & Additional DNA Questions
99 Documents in Total
Please note:
You will need to purchase a copy of ‘DNA’ by Dennis Kelly to accompany this SOW as there are no script extracts included due to copywright.
There are also other resources that are useful to complement this SOW such as props, set, costumes and stationery. Only documents are included in this SOW pack.
Please do comment on my resources so that I can continue to update and expand them. If you need any more information/clarification please comment and I will update my resources ASAP!
A note from the author:
In this resources pack are images and information to aid students with devising a Brechtian piece of drama in conjunction with my Brecht SOW. I use this SOW and these resources with my Year 9 classes, but would work equally well with KS4 and KS5 classes and high ability Year 7/8 classes.
Included:
Information & Details about the 7/7 London Bombings
A selection of Images
Brechtian Techniques Sheet
Assessment Task Sheet
Please do comment on my resources so that I can continue to update and expand them. If you need any more information/clarification please comment and I will update my resources ASAP!
A note from the author:
Included here are a selection of resources for the exploration of Theatre Practitioner Constantin Stanislavski. I use his methods in many units with my students, and have created a plethora of resources for them to use.
Included:
Role on the Wall Worksheet - Stanislavski Given Circumstances
Role on the Wall Comparison Sheet
Hot Seating Assessment
Year 8 Example Lesson
Assessment of KS3 Unit on Stanislavskian Techniques
Constantin Stanislavski Techniques Document - Detailed analysis of techniques
Units, Objectives & Super Objectives - My own created Diagram plus information on these elements.
Information on the theatre styles: Realism and Naturalism
Quotes from ‘An Actor Prepares’
A good script to use for exploration is Love & Information by Caryl Churchill or any of the Naturalism playwrights (Ibsen, Checkhov, Strindberg, O’Casey, Shaw etc.)
Please do comment on my resources so that I can continue to update and expand them. If you need any more information/clarification please comment and I will update my resources ASAP!
A note from the author:
I use this scheme of work with my Year 7 class, as not only does it offer exciting and creative opportunities, but it also allows for complex exploration into issues around migration and strong emotions. The students seem to want to get fully involved in all aspects and I have developed this scheme over four years of teaching it. It involves a rich variety of activities, and supports the development of empathetic and sympathetic social qualities in my students.
1/10/20 - This resource has been updated with key extracts of the script for you to use.
Objective Overview of The Arrival
§ Students to create a devised performance on The Arrival, based on the stimuli provided (theme of migration, text extracts, pictures) and explorative rehearsal techniques.
§ Students to develop skills in unison movement, puppetry, non-verbal communication, still images, thought tracking and transitions.
§ Students to gain an introductory knowledge of Stanislavski Techniques.
Overview of The Arrival
‘The Arrival is a migrant story told as a series of wordless images that might seem to come from a long forgotten time. A man leaves his wife and child in an impoverished town, seeking better prospects in an unknown country on the other side of a vast ocean. He eventually finds himself in a bewildering city of foreign customs, peculiar animals, curious floating objects and indecipherable languages. With nothing more than a suitcase and a handful of currency, the immigrant must find a place to live, food to eat and some kind of gainful employment. He is helped along the way by sympathetic strangers, each carrying their own unspoken history: stories of struggle and survival in a world of incomprehensible violence, upheaval and hope.’
Included:
In-depth Scheme of Work
Lesson Resources (Images, Worksheets on Migration Reasons, Dove Origami Puppet Sheet)
Assessment Instructions & Abridged Assessment Instructions
Script Extracts
Please note:
You may want to purchase ‘The Arrival’ by Shaun Tan - picture book to accompany this SOW, however I have included all necessary image resources.
You may also want to get a copy of ‘The Arrival’, a play by Kristine Landon-Smith & Sita Brahmachari, based on the picture book, to accompany the assessments for this unit. However you can complete the assessment with the ‘abridged’ format without having a copy of the script.
Please do comment on my resources so that I can continue to update and expand them. If you need any more information/clarification please comment and I will update my resources ASAP!
A note from the author:
A department template for conducting a risk assessment.
Category:
Director of Drama Toolkit (also available as part of this bundle)
Includes:
Drama Department Risk Assessment Template
Please note:
Purchasing this template allows you to amend and reproduce the risk assessment in anyway that you wish.
Please do comment on my resources so that I can continue to update and expand them. If you need any more information/clarification please comment and I will update my resources ASAP!
A note from the author:
In this Bundle you get all three stimulus packs (Anne Frank, Social Media and The London Bombings) to use as stimulus for the Brecht SOW, plus a fun and informative poster.
Included:
3 x Stimulus Packs for Devised Performances using Epic Theatre Conventions
1 x Detailed Brecht SOW
1 x Bertolt Brecht Poster
Please note:
Burying these resources means that you can adapt and reproduce them for your work in schools.
For more details please see the descriptions on each resource item.
You save 39% by purchasing this bundle as opposed to buying separately!
Please do comment on my resources so that I can continue to update and expand them. If you need any more information/clarification please comment and I will update my resources ASAP!
A note from the author:
Included here are a selection of Contentless Scenes for use in lessons. Contentless Scenes (sometimes known as ‘Open’ or ‘Ambiguous’ scenes) are scenes that have very little detail on character or narrative plot leaving it open for the actors or directors to use their creativity and imagination to add detail to the scene with endless possibilities.
I use these to explore:
Character Creation
Character Motivation
Character Relationships
Character Interactions
Narrative Structures
Subtext
Themes & Issues
Naturalistic Acting / Stanislavski
They are so useful and I use them with each year for different reasons. I have written 35 scenes here that are all different and useful for a variety of reasons. I tend to photocopy them on different coloured pages and split them between different years so that as we use the scenes for different reasons as the students move up through the school they always have fresh stimuli.
Included:
20 Duologue Contentless Scenes (ranging from half a page to a full page)
10 Quick-fire Contentless Scenes (suitable for 2 or three actors each) Four are very short (2/3 lines), 6 are longer (4/6 lines)
5 Contentless Scenes for Three Actors (full pages)
It works out as less than 29p per scene!
Please do comment on my resources so that I can continue to update and expand them. If you need any more information/clarification please comment and I will update my resources ASAP!
A note from the author:
I use this scheme of work with my Year 8 class, as not only does it offer a historical perspective on theatre, but it also allows for complex exploration into characters, ensemble work and strong emotions. The students seem to want to get fully involved in all aspects and I have developed this scheme over four years of teaching it. It involves a rich variety of activities, and supports the development of ensemble unison (both vocal and physical) and promotes positive working relationships in my students.
Objective Overview of Greek Theatre
§ Students to explore Greek Theatre elements such as chorus, characters comedy & tragedy, masks, depictions of gods, exaggerated acting.
§ Students to develop skills in unison movement, choral voice, non-verbal communication, tragic/comic characters, mask work, script exploration, and gestures.
§ Students to gain an introductory knowledge of Greek Theatre playwrights, Theatre practitioners (Complicitie, Jacques Lecoq), mythological characters, classical history and performance conditions.
§ Students to explore The Trojan Women in depth, as well as examples from The Frogs and The Clouds.
Overview of The Trojan Women
The Trojan Women follows Queen Hecuba, her daughter Cassandra, her daughter-in-law Andromache and her grandson Astyanax, as they learn of their fates to the conquering Greek army. Talthybius, a herald of the Greeks, shows great compassion for the Trojans but must deliver terrible news (the death of Astyanax, the burning of Troy, the separation of Cassandra and Andromache from Hecuba). Menelaus considers slaughtering his ex-wife Helen (of Helen of Troy fame, the face that launched 1000 ships) however he is won over by her charm and decides to delay her killing. Is Helen responsible for the whole Trojan War? The gods Poseidon and Athene start the play discussing how to kill the Greek Army after they offended Athene at her temple. This leads to the messages and themes of the futile nature of war, fate, free will and feminism. The play occurs at the same time as Euripides’ other play Hecuba.
Included:
In-depth Scheme of Work
Lesson Resources (Images, Worksheets, Handouts)
Scripts (a few chorus example scripts, self-written gesture scripts)
Assessment Instructions
Please note:
You may want to purchase ‘The Trojan Women’ by Euripides, and The Frogs and The Clouds by Aristophanes - however I have included two extracts from the plays plus some example chorus sections. The Trojan Women is the main resource for this SOW.
Please do comment on my resources so that I can continue to update and expand them. If you need any more information/clarification please comment and I will update my resources ASAP!
A note from the author:
I love improvisation and have compiled this SOW to be adaptable and useful for all Drama teachers as an accessible way into the world of improv. I have noted down different techniquesand games that you can play with your students, as well as assessment ideas and two fun whole class impov ideas. Your students will definitely love playing around with these in your lessons.
SOW Overview:
A detailed 10 page, five lesson (90 minute lessons - therefore has enough material for 8 hours of lesson time if you have shorter lessons!) SOW for students to experiment and play around creatively with Improvisation components.
Lesson Structure (90 Minute Lessons!)
Lesson One: Introduction to Improvisation
Lesson Two: Improvisational Stimuli
Lessons Three: Narrative, Abstract and Atmosphere Creation
Lesson Four: The Cavemen & Cavewomen - Whole Class Improvisations
Lesson Five: Assessment Lesson - Could be split over a number of extra lessons to tie together everything they have learnt from the SOW.
Resources Included:
1 x 10 Page Improvisation SOW
Assessment lesson Resources - Letter, Security Passes, Character Signs
Assessment Feedback Form
Please do comment on my resources so that I can continue to update and expand them. If you need any more information/clarification please comment and I will update my resources ASAP!
A note from the author:
In this resources pack are images and information to aid students with devising a Brechtian piece of drama in conjunction with my Brecht SOW. I use this SOW and these resources with my Year 9 classes, but would work equally well with KS4 and KS5 classes and high ability Year 7/8 classes.
Included:
Extracts from 1984 by George Orwell
Social Media / Modern Technology Facts & Information
A selection of Images
Brechtian Techniques Sheet
Assessment Task Sheet
Please note:
Whilst I have included extracts from 1984 by George Orwell, it is advisable that a copy of the book is purchased to give students more freedom over the chosen extracts.
Please do comment on my resources so that I can continue to update and expand them. If you need any more information/clarification please comment and I will update my resources ASAP!
A note from the author:
This is one of my favourite plays. I studied it at KS5 and love exploring the complex themes and characters with my students. I have adapted and honed this SOW over the past two years, and it not only includes a detailed SOW, but also lots of handmade worksheets and other useful resources. The only other thing you will need are copies of the text itself! Enjoy…
SOW Overview
A scheme of work spread over 24 lessons focusing on an in-depth study of A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen. These resources not only cover analysis of the text, but also a practical exploration of how students can bring the text to life as an actor, director and designer.
There are also Stanislavskian techniques used throughout the exploration to grasp the style of naturalism, and other practitioner’s methods are explored as well such as Cecily Berry, Jacques Lecoq.
This scheme of work is primarily for A Level students but could work well with high ability GCSE students.
Please do comment on my resources so that I can continue to update and expand them. If you need any more information/clarification please comment and I will update my resources ASAP!
A note from the author:
In this resources pack are images and information to aid students with devising a Verbatim & Documentary Theatre piece of drama in conjunction with my Verbatim & Documentary SOW. I use this SOW and these resources with my Year 9 classes, but would work equally well with KS4 and KS5 classes and high ability Year 7/8 classes.
Included:
A range of information on the Homelessness (focus on Brighton - but easily adaptable to any city!)
Homelessness Facts & Figures
Homelessness Comments and Opinions (some highly offensive)
A selection of Images
Assessment Task Sheet
Video link to use as a starter to the topic
Please note:
Whilst I have included a range of stimulus, it is also advisable to include at least one article/piece of information from the month and year of use.
Please do comment on my resources so that I can continue to update and expand them. If you need any more information/clarification please comment and I will update my resources ASAP!
A note from the author:
This is scheme of work is mainly for KS3 students, but would also suit KS4, to experiment with devising techniques, and how to craft their own drama. There is a group devising booklet that accompanies the assessment, and all students should keep a reflective journal/log of the devising process.
Objective Overview of Love & Hate
§ Students to create a devised performance on any aspect of the theme of Love & Hate, based on the stimuli provided (themes, text, poems, pictures etc.) and explorative devising techniques.
§ Students to develop skills in devising, physical theatre, group work, theatre creation, theatre structure, scriptwriting, transitions and communicating meaning for an audience.
§ Students to gain an introductory knowledge of physical theatre techniques.
A note from the author:
I use this scheme of work my Drama class at a Special School and proved very popular and great for allowing the students to advance in their P levels. The students loved the characters, creativity and the sense of adventure. Will obviously need to be adapted for individual needs of the students.
Please do comment on my resources so that I can continue to update and expand them. If you need any more information/clarification please comment and I will update my resources ASAP!
A note from the author:
Included in this resources pack are images and information to aid students with scripting a piece of drama in conjunction with my Different Voices SOW. I use this SOW and these resources with my Year 9 classes, but would work equally well with KS4 and KS5 classes and high ability Year 7/8 classes.
Included:
Information Pack on Cyber Bullying to help groups script and devise their assessment piece for Drama.
Please note:
This can be combined with my ‘Different Voices’ SOW and is available in a bundle.
Please do comment on my resources so that I can continue to update and expand them. If you need any more information/clarification please comment and I will update my resources ASAP!
A note from the author:
I use this Guidebook as constructive tool for revision in the preparation for mocks and the summer exam.
Overview of Guide
DNA Exam Guidebook:
Intro
Key Areas (Acting, Design & Directing)
Original Performance Conditions of DNA
General Advice
Acting Style Question Guide
Directing Style Question Guide(Rehearsal Techniques, Directing Actors)
Design Style Question Guide (Lighting, Sound, Costume, Props & Set, Styles, Staging Types)
Example Questions
Included:
A 22 page DNA Exam Guidebook
Please do comment on my resources so that I can continue to update and expand them. If you need any more information/clarification please comment and I will update my resources ASAP!
A note from the author:
I use this booklet as a revision guidebook for my students studying DNA by Dennis Kelly, but it can also help to structure lessons.
The Resource covers the following over 34 pages of theatre-specific content:
A. Styles
B. Staging
C. Colour
D. Set
E. Props
F. Costume
G. Hair & Make Up
H. Lighting FX
I. Sound FX
J. Special FX
K. DNA: Location Design (Set, Props, Lighting & Sound Ideas)
L. DNA: Character Design (Costume, Hair & Make up Ideas)
M. Terminology Glossary
Included:
An in-depth 34 page GCSE Design Guidebook
Please note:
You will need a copy of ‘DNA’ by Dennis Kelly to accompany this resource.
Please do comment on my resources so that I can continue to update and expand them. If you need any more information/clarification please comment and I will update my resources ASAP!
A note from the author:
I use this Theatre Design guidebook to support the Written exam in Drama & Theatre for both GCSE and A Level pupils.
Overview of Guide
A. Styles
B. Staging
C. Colour
D. Set
E. Props
F. Costume
G. Hair & Make Up
H. Lighting FX
I. Sound FX
J. Special FX
K. Terminology Glossary
Included:
A 24 page Theatre Design Guidebook
Please do comment on my resources so that I can continue to update and expand them. If you need any more information/clarification please comment and I will update my resources ASAP!
A note from the author:
A useful Template Production Audition Pack for the directors of co-curricular shows or exam texts. This template guides directors on what they should include when preparing for auditions.
Category:
Director of Drama Toolkit (also available as part of this bundle)
School Production Toolkit (also available as part of this bundle)
Included:
Production Audition Pack Template
Cast Audition Form
Crew Backstage Role Form
Please note:
Purchasing this template allows you to amend and reproduce the pack and forms in anyway that you wish.
Please do comment on my resources so that I can continue to update and expand them. If you need any more information/clarification please comment and I will update my resources ASAP!