Having taught drama for two years in a public school in Colorado to students from kindergarten to 8th grade, I have been fortunate enough to teach in a state that has.... (drumroll please...) great state standards for Drama and Theatre Arts! Now, I can't compare them to any other state's standards (or lack thereof) but I have used these standards as my bible to construct my planning. I have experience as a Teach for America teacher, and they have a very strong emphasis on backwards planning, beginning with the standards as the framework for your curriculum, working back to what the actual learning objective of the day is.
Last fall I had the opportunity to work with other drama teachers in Colorado on these sample curricula. We really dug into the standards, and worked together to differentiate what is taught at each grade level and also to give drama teachers a good base for building their curricula to include all of the standards in a thoughtful way. I think the most important pieces are seeing what concepts are being taught, what academic and technical vocabulary is being taught, what are you asking them to DO and KNOW, and final what are the good inquiry questions to help frame a unit.
I thought we did such an exceptional job on these samples that I am currently using them even now to help me plan for my upcoming high school classes I am teaching next year. I like to look at the inquiry questions and work on how I can provide students with lessons, projects and activities to help them come to their own answers.
Heres the jackpot website from CDE, it is very easy to navigate, enjoy and happy planning!
No comments:
Post a Comment