Zoomie Chapter 2 Analysis

Chapter 8 has some wonderful quotes regarding the dramatic arts. Select a favorite and briefly tell why it is meaningful to you.

“You don’t get to be a great teacher by playing it safe.” by Zoomie

This is meaningful to me because I am a shy person and often times I am afraid to take risks and have missed out on great opportunities to learn and grow because of it. Through challenging yourself and taking risks as a teacher I think you will discover more meaningful and engaging ways to help your students understand what you want them to know. If you play it safe by constantly using worksheets and no activities then you lose the opportunity to form a closer bond with students, help them express their knowledge in other ways that benefit them and

By having students act out what they read they are able to gain a deeper understanding, or comprehension, of what they read. The section also discussed how letting students know that in order to participate in drama they will need to do the readings. It’s also important to give students points of concentration to help them to dig deeper when reading the text. The vocabulary and writing skills increase when drama is integrated.

Drama can help develop speaking, listening, and nonverbal communication. Drama helps children who are shy to become more brave because as it says in the section, it engages a mind-set that liberates risk taking. It also helps students who struggle with speech or listening through repeated practice of speaking in-role. Finally, it helps with nonverbal communication because it helps students to read and understand body language.

Drama also helps students to develop empathy. Through drama, they learn to have tolerance and respect for others. It helps students understand why others act the way they do through playing their roles and having to view things from a different point of

First and second graders showed better story comprehension than a control when they participated in drama to recreate a story previously read aloud.

2. About 12% of students involved in theatre thought making a racist remark would be acceptable, whereas 40% of “no drama” students thought so. The advantage for students involved in theatre is statistically significant.

3. Behavior and oral expression improved among students with learning disabilities when they were involved in drama. They acquired social skills such as courtesy, self-control, focus on classroom work, and ability to follow directions. These benefits were sustained after the project ended.

These findings will help me to be a more effective teacher because now I know that incorporating drama into the classroom will help my students to be able to express themselves in a more appropriate way. These findings also show that drama will be able to help me to my students how to be respectful, develop empathy for others, and be able to understand what they read more efficiently. All these are important skills that will help students succeed in life as they grow up that can be taught through