Preschoolers & High Schoolers Dabble in Drama

The following is reposted from the Preschool Class blog written by Meghan Sterling:

We’ve been dabbling in drama as another artistic option for expressing emotions. Using our bodies, faces, and a bit of voice we’ve been working on finding means of showing our feelings. Yesterday afternoon, the high school Diploma Programme Theater Arts students visited our classroom, spending time talking about and acting out different emotions. Our preschoolers acted a bit shy at first with these big kids but warmed up during an improv dramatic performance of The Three Bears. As the high schoolers demonstrated their artistic talents, the preschoolers identified which emotions were being exhibited. Before the high school students departed, the entire group came together to show their skills. As I named different feelings, kids both big and small called upon their acting talents to express these feelings. The shyness had definitely dissipated! The DP students agreed to return next week to help us act out another story.

We had a second, wonderful opportunity to watch dramatic expression in this morning’s presentation of Shakespeare’s “Much Ado About Nothing” by Rivestone’s 2nd grade. Before the presentation, I asked the preschoolers to watch carefully for different emotions we might see. The 2nd grade certainly delivered, using their body language and voices to convey anger, silliness, surprise, love, sadness, and happiness. Later, over snack, the preschoolers discussed what they’d seen and how they knew which emotion was being expressed. These observations demonstrate the preschoolers’ growing ability to begin to “read” the dramatic language which will serve them well in their social interactions too.