Over 2,500 subscribers strong!
INNOVATIVE
TEACHING
presented by
Walter McKenzie - Creative Classroom Consulting
Innovative staff development:
Technology Applications, Multiple Intelligences,
Curriculum Integration and Creative Education.
Let's see what we can do for your staff!
------------------------------------------------------------------------

May 13, 2000

Happy Mother's Day weekend to all of the Mom's in our audience. Enjoy a
well-deserved special day!

Creative drama is a powerful tool in the hands of a Master Teacher. It
makes learning come alive through plays, improvisations, re-enactments
and role playing. Who will ever forget the scene in the movie "Teachers"
where the high school Social Studies class is haunched up on desks
acting out Washington's crossing of the Delaware? At first an amusing
scene, it quickly strikes the viewer how ground breaking such an
experience is for each of the student participants. Creative drama
carries this potential for all areas of the curriculum.

Followers of Dorothy Heathcote have been practicing this method for
years: immerse students in an event so completely that they are inspired
to spontaneously experience it amongst themselves. It is a triumph of
the human spirit, from the very young through young adults - everyone
responds to creative drama in a personal, meaningful way as they come in
touch with their own unique creative genius. Here are links which offer
support and materials for the many facets of creative dramatization.
Enjoy!

AARON SHAPARD'S READER'S THEATER PAGE - http://www.aaronshep.com/rt/
Aside from the shameless sale's pitch for Aaron's book, this page
actually offers lots of very practical tips on how to write, stage and
perform Reader's Theater in the classroom. Worth your consideration if
you are comfortable with more structure in your dramatic classroom
exercises.

ACTING UP ACROSS THE CURRICULUM -
http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/ALAN/spring97/s97-42-Kaplan.html
The Assembly on Literature for Adolescents of the National Council of
Teachers of English published this 1997 article by Jeffrey Kaplan on
using creative dramatics to explore young adult literature.

ARTHUR'S DRAMATIC PLAY ACTIVITIES -
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/arthur/teachers/activities/dramatic.html
Marc Brown offers this short list of activities teachers can use with
their students to promote creative expression and movement in
conjunction with the Arthur series of books; includes Flea, Fly,
Flamingo, Pencil Power and The Beat Goes On.

BRAIN CANDY - http://www.corsinet.com/braincandy/index.html
Wonderful plays on words and colorful stories presented hear to inspire
the linguistic genius in all of us - great ways to nurture each child's
poetic voice.

CHILDREN'S CREATIVE THEATER GUIDE - http://tqjunior.advanced.org/5291/
This ThinkQuest entry takes you inside the theater through links, games,
skits and virtual tours to provide for a truly authentic online
experience - a real winner for elementary and middle school!

CREATIVE DRAMA AND THEATER - http://www.creativedrama.com/
Offers a rationale, framework and activities for teachers and others
interested in sparking creative genius in their students.

CREATIVE DRAMATICS - http://www.kmrscripts.com/cdguide.html
Interesting page with lots of guidelines, suggestions, and (finally)
activities which can promote creative dramatics in your classroom. Lots
of food for thought, whether or not you agree with each and every tenet
being offered.

DOROTHY HEATHCOTE ARCHIVE - http://esd.mmu.ac.uk/drama/archive.html
This database "contains over 2000 items - documentary, audio and video -
pertaining to the work of Dorothy Heathcote and her many students. Each
item is catalogued as an individual record in a computerised keyword
index which is fully searchable through this website."

DRAMA TEACHER'S RESOURCE ROOM - http://www3.sk.sympatico.ca/erachi/
Lesson plans, ideas, resources, links, texts and seminars all provided
to enrich your drama classroom; there's a brand new discussion list
that's offered free of charge for all teachers devoted to incorporating
drama into the curriculum.

DRAMATIC EXCHANGE - http://www.dramex.org/htmlplays.html
OK so you're not ready to act out nuclear fusion in your classroom just
yet as a spontaneous teachable moment, but you're receptive to using
existing plays; this web resource is dedicated to the public
distribution of dramatic works by playwrights both amateur and
professional.

FUZZY'S GAMES LIST - http://www.fuzzyco.com/super/improv/games.html
This storehouse has all kinds of improvisational games - very bare bones
and to the point for the busy teacher in need of a quick dramatic fix.

HANDBOOK FOR STORYTELLERS -
http://falcon.jmu.edu/~ramseyil/storyhandbook.htm
Links to all kinds of tips for becoming a storyteller; loosely
structured to account for individual styles. If you're interested in
becoming a more lively teller of traditional tales, this site has the
support you've been looking for.

IMPROVISATIONAL THEATER STRUCTURES -
http://www.staircase.org/structures/
A wonderful collection of all kinds of warm-up activities, exercises and
games designed to develop talent in comedic drama; the possibilities
here for helping your class loosen up and experience the actor within
are innumerable - an excellent way to slowly help your students prepare
for other forms of drama.

LIVING PLAY BOOK - http://www.accessone.com/~up/playbook/
This site claims to be "the most complete, most up-to-date collection of
improv games on the planet", indexed alphabetically by categories and by
game types so it's easy for teachers to find just the right kind of
activities for their class.

NEW IMPROV PAGE - http://www.lowrent.net/improv/
Brought to you by the same Fuzzy listed above, here you'll find listings
of groups, performers, festivals, workshops, classes, games and links to
further resources; excellent for the serious drama teacher.

PUBLIC SPEAKING WORKBOOK -
http://www.la.psu.edu/speech/100a/workbook/wrkbk.htm
Penn State University's online guide to preparing a speech, debate
position or other oral presentation; takes you step-by-step with lots of
support - Middle School and High School Level.

SHAKESPEARE'S GLOBE - http://www.rdg.ac.uk./globe/
Unlike the many other excellent sites devoted to the bard, this page
looks intimately at theater through the history of the globe - the
virtual reality views using Quick Time technology are especially
impressive. Nice tie-ins to history and drama!

STAGE HAND PUPPETS -
http://www3.ns.sympatico.ca/onstage/puppets/activity/index.html
An activity page offering ideas for creating and playing with puppets,
including tips on ventriloquism and a gallery where you can create
puppets online. Ideal for elementary.

STORY TELLING - http://www.bonus.com/bonus/list/n_storytel.html
Bonus.com does it again with both traditional and modern stories done in
an interactive format; dozens of activities to choose from, great for
elementary students!

STORYTELLING, DRAMA, CREATIVE DRAMATICS, PUPPETRY AND READER'S THEATER -
http://falcon.jmu.edu/~ramseyil/drama.htm
Exactly what the name suggests - the most definitive set of links to
great sites on creative ways to teach drama and Language Arts I have yet
to find.

VIRTUAL PRESENTATION ASSISTANT -
http://www.ukans.edu/cwis/units/coms2/vpa/vpa.htm
An online tutorial for improving your public speaking skills; target
your specific needs as a speaker - nicely formatted and perfect for
older students.

WHO KILLED WILLIAM ROBINSON? - http://web.uvic.ca/history-robinson/
This is an online mystery thriller perfect for dramatic adaptation in
the secondary-level classroom - excellently presented here!

Next week's topic: "Summer Sites for Kids"
Please send in URL's of high quality sites which may be
of interest to our readers to walter@...!
Also, I'm always looking for new topic ideas and input!
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Find More Great Resources at the Innovative Teaching Website:
http://surfaquarium.com/it.htm
This newsletter may be forwarded or copied as long as the
header and signature information remain intact. Show a
colleague about what you have found in Innovative Teaching! =D
-©1999-2001 Walter
McKenzie
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Archive surfaquarium.com/news.htm
Subscribe innovative-teaching-subscribe@eGroups.com
Unsubscribe innovative-teaching-unsubscribe@eGroups.com
List owner walter@...
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Over 2,500 subscribers strong!
INNOVATIVE
TEACHING
presented by
Walter McKenzie - Creative Classroom Consulting
Innovative staff development:
Technology Applications, Multiple Intelligences,
Curriculum Integration and Creative Education.
Let's see what we can do for your staff!

---

May 13, 2000

Happy Mother's Day weekend to all of the Mom's in our audience. Enjoy a well-deserved special weekend!

Creative drama is a powerful tool in the hands of a Master Teacher. It makes learning come alive through plays, improvisations, re-enactments and role playing. Who will ever forget the scene in the movie "Teachers" where the high school Social Studies class is haunched up on desks acting out Washington's crossing of the Delaware? At first an amusing scene, it quickly strikes the viewer how ground breaking such an experience is for each of the student participants.

Followers of Dorothy Heathcote have been practicing this method for years: immerse students in an event so completely that they are inspired to spontaneously experience it amongst themselves. It is a triumph of the human spirit, from the very young through young adults - everyone responds to creative drama in a personal, meaningful way. Here are links which offer support and materials for the many facets of creative dramatization. Enjoy!

AARON SHAPARD'S READER'S THEATER PAGE - http://www.aaronshep.com/rt/
Aside from the shameless sale's pitch for Aaron's book, this page actually offers lots of very practical tips on how to write, stage and perform Reader's Theater in the classroom. Worth your consideration if you are comfortable with more structure in your dramatic classroom exercises.

ACTING UP ACROSS THE CURRICULUM - http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/ALAN/spring97/s97-42-Kaplan.html
The Assembly on Literature for Adolescents of the National Council of Teachers of English published this 1997 article by Jeffrey Kaplan on using creative dramatics to explore young adult literature.

ARTHUR'S DRAMATIC PLAY ACTIVITIES - http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/arthur/teachers/activities/dramatic.html
Marc Brown offers this short list of activities teachers can use with their students to promote creative expression and movement in conjunction with the Arthur series of books; includes Flea, Fly, Flamingo, Pencil Power and The Beat Goes On.

BRAIN CANDY - http://www.corsinet.com/braincandy/index.html
Wonderful plays on words and colorful stories presented hear to inspire the linguistic genius in all of us - great ways to nurture each child's poetic voice.

CHILDREN'S CREATIVE THEATER GUIDE - http://tqjunior.advanced.org/5291/
This ThinkQuest entry takes you inside the theater through links, games, skits and virtual tours to provide for a truly authentic online experience - a real winner for elementary and middle school!

CREATIVE DRAMA AND THEATER - http://www.creativedrama.com/
Offers a rationale, framework and activities for teachers and others interested in sparking creative genius in their students.

CREATIVE DRAMATICS - http://www.kmrscripts.com/cdguide.html
Interesting page with lots of guidelines, suggestions, and (finally) activities which can promote creative dramatics in your classroom. Lots of food for thought, whether or not you agree with each and every tenet being offered.

DOROTHY HEATHCOTE ARCHIVE - http://esd.mmu.ac.uk/drama/archive.html
This database "contains over 2000 items - documentary, audio and video - pertaining to the work of Dorothy Heathcote and her many students. Each item is catalogued as an individual record in a computerised keyword index which is fully searchable through this website."

DRAMA TEACHER'S RESOURCE ROOM - http://www3.sk.sympatico.ca/erachi/
Lesson plans, ideas, resources, links, texts and seminars all provided to enrich your drama classroom; there's a brand new discussion list that's offered free of charge for all teachers devoted to incorporating drama into the curriculum.

DRAMATIC EXCHANGE - http://www.dramex.org/htmlplays.html
OK so you're not ready to act out nuclear fusion in your classroom just yet as a spontaneous teachable moment, but you're receptive to using existing plays; this web resource is dedicated to the public distribution of dramatic works by playwrights both amateur and professional.

FUZZY'S GAMES LIST - http://www.fuzzyco.com/super/improv/games.html
This storehouse has all kinds of improvisational games - very bare bones and to the point for the busy teacher in need of a quick dramatic fix.

HANDBOOK FOR STORYTELLERS - http://falcon.jmu.edu/~ramseyil/storyhandbook.htm
Links to all kinds of tips for becoming a storyteller; loosely structured to account for individual styles. If you're interested in becoming a more lively teller of traditional tales, this site has the support you've been looking for.

IMPROVISATIONAL THEATER STRUCTURES - http://www.staircase.org/structures/
A wonderful collection of all kinds of warm-up activities, exercises and games designed to develop talent in comedic drama; the possibilities here for helping your class loosen up and experience the actor within are innumerable - an excellent way to slowly help your students prepare for other forms of drama.

LIVING PLAY BOOK - http://www.accessone.com/~up/playbook/
This site claims to be "the most complete, most up-to-date collection of improv games on the planet", indexed alphabetically by categories and by game types so it's easy for teachers to find just the right kind of activities for their class.

NEW IMPROV PAGE - http://www.lowrent.net/improv/
Brought to you by the same Fuzzy listed above, here you'll find listings of groups, performers, festivals, workshops, classes, games and links to further resources; excellent for the serious drama teacher.

PUBLIC SPEAKING WORKBOOK - http://www.la.psu.edu/speech/100a/workbook/wrkbk.htm
Penn State University's online guide to preparing a speech, debate position or other oral presentation; takes you step-by-step with lots of support - Middle School and High School Level.

SHAKESPEARE'S GLOBE - http://www.rdg.ac.uk./globe/
Unlike the many other excellent sites devoted to the bard, this page looks intimately at theater through the history of the globe - the virtual reality views using Quick Time technology are especially impressive. Nice tie-ins to history and drama!

STAGE HAND PUPPETS - http://www3.ns.sympatico.ca/onstage/puppets/activity/index.html
An activity page offering  ideas for creating and playing with puppets, including tips on ventriloquism and a gallery where you can create puppets online. Ideal for elementary.

STORY TELLING - http://www.bonus.com/bonus/list/n_storytel.html
Bonus.com does it again with both traditional and modern stories done in an interactive format; dozens of activities to choose from, great for elementary students!

STORYTELLING, DRAMA, CREATIVE DRAMATICS, PUPPETRY AND READER'S THEATER - http://falcon.jmu.edu/~ramseyil/drama.htm
Exactly what the name suggests - the most definitive set of links to great sites on creative ways to teach drama and Language Arts I have yet to find.

VIRTUAL PRESENTATION ASSISTANT - http://www.ukans.edu/cwis/units/coms2/vpa/vpa.htm
An online tutorial for improving your public speaking skills; target your specific needs as a speaker - nicely formatted and perfect for older students.

WHO KILLED WILLIAM ROBINSON? - http://web.uvic.ca/history-robinson/
This is an online mystery thriller perfect for dramatic adaptation in the secondary-level classroom - excellently presented here!

Next week's topic: "Summer Sites for Kids"
Please send in URL's of high quality sites which may be
of interest to our readers to walter@...!
Also, I'm always looking for new topic ideas and input!
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------
Find More Great Resources at the Innovative Teaching Website:
http://surfaquarium.com/it.htm
This newsletter may be forwarded or copied as long as the
header and signature information remain intact. Show a
colleague about what you have found in Innovative Teaching!  =D
                                                  -©1999-2001 Walter McKenzie
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Archive     surfaquarium.com/news.htm
 Subscribe     innovative-teaching-subscribe@eGroups.com
 Unsubscribe    innovative-teaching-unsubscribe@eGroups.com
 List owner     walter@...
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