The Dramatic Elements

One of the major goals of the drama program is for the students to leave fifth grade with a strong understanding of the dramatic elements of plot, setting, character, dialogue, conflict, design and theme. I begin laying the foundation for this understanding in Kindergarten and First Grade when the students are introduced to the concepts of plot, setting and character through a variety of story drama activities.

We start with the Dr. Seuss classic, The Sneetches and Other Stories, because the stories are very popular with the students and really lend themselves well to learning about plot, setting and characters. The students not only have the opportunity to talk about these concepts, they also get to act out the stories focusing on one of the dramatic elements.

In Second and Third Grade the students expand upon their knowledge of plot, setting and character by learning about the 5 W's, who, what, when, where and why, and how each W is related to a dramatic element. In Second Grade, the students use this knowledge to turn well known stories into scripts which they then perform. In Third Grade we spend at least one class on each of the 5 W's and the students are able to see the connections much more clearly. They create short, original scenes with emphasis on either character, setting, plot, theme or time period. Students in third grade also do a set design project.

All of this foundation allows the fourth and fifth grade students to delve in to the more complicated elements of dialogue, conflict and theme. We spend a great deal of time doing improvisational acting in the upper grades and it is clear that their understanding of the dramatic elements is very helpful when doing improv. The students are also able to analyze scripts using their knowledge of the dramatic elements to create incredible and meaningful performances.