Grade Eight: A Model Unit For Teaching Drama in Context

Teacher in Role/Storytelling/Talking Circle -- Whole Group

The class begins with the teacher and students sitting on the floor in a circle.(Note) The teacher reminds the students that they had agreed to do a drama based on Columbus' landing in the Americas. She says that while they may not immediately recognize it as a drama about Columbus' landing, they will be able to draw parallels between the events in the drama and the historical events as the work unfolds. She says if they are ready she will leave the circle and when she returns to her place she will return in role. She reminds them that as the first episode of the drama unfolds, they should be able to identify a role for themselves within the work. She leaves the circle.(Note) The teacher returns to the circle wearing a shawl around her shoulders and carrying a small stick.(Note) She sits, places the stick on the floor in front of her and welcomes the group by saying that once again they are gathered to discuss plans for their Harvest Celebration.(Note) She says that as she grows older, it seems as if the time from one harvest to the next grows shorter and that, as is their tradition, this gathering will begin with the story....

(Note) "Long ago, before the Cold Time, the world was filled with people. There were large magical cities full of light and the sounds of many machines made of metal. A person had only to push buttons and work was done by machines. Machines even flew, like great birds, through the sky. People did not work in the fields. People got their food in boxes of many shapes and sizes from special places in the cities. Life was easy, there was plenty for all. Then came the Cold Time. It was said that a great rock fell from the sky. Dust and clouds filled the air and the sun could not shine for many years. Snow fell even in summer and covered the earth. Crops did not grow. Soon there was no food and everywhere there was death. But all did not die. Our ancestors hid in this valley. They suffered great hardships but they survived the Cold Time. When the Cold Time ended the world was not the same. Now we are the only people and we live in this valley as our ancestors did. The land is good again. We grow crops, herd our animals and raise our families. After each harvest we gather to celebrate the abundance of the earth and to give thanks."

(Note) When the story is finished the teacher in role tells the group that it is now time to pass the talking stick.(Note) She asks them to think back for a moment on the time which has passed since the last harvest and to decide what it is that they have been most grateful for during that time. She offers to begin. She takes the stick and says that since the last harvest she has become a grandmother once more. She says the baby was quite ill but is now healthy and it is for this that she is grateful. She passes the stick to the student on her left who says that he is grateful for the abundant rains that have enabled them to produce healthy crops. The stick continues around the circle. The students who wish to speak do so as they receive the stick. They speak about fine gardens, the birth of triplets, the building of a woodworking shop, a good berry season, the finding of a medicinal herb which seems to hasten the recovery of minor wounds, and the recovery of some useful metals from the ruins at the south end of the valley. Before the stick has reached the hands of the last couple of students in the circle, the gathering is interrupted by the entrance of an excited person who announces that, as they know, she and two others have been away for a few days herding the sheep. She says they have come back sooner and rather more hurriedly than expected because of an extremely unusual occurrence. She says she and the others have discovered a person wandering in an area close to where the sheep were grazing. The person is not one of them. He wears unfamiliar clothing, speaks in a way that is difficult to understand and seems to be quite weak. She says she was sent ahead to prepare them and very soon the others will bring him into their midst. (Note) This announcement is met by a barrage of questions: Are you sure? How can it be that there is a person who is not one of us? Will they be here soon? etc.(Note)

The teacher out of role intervenes, reminding the students that the bell is about to ring. She asks them to please put the desks back in order and to sit. For the next class she asks them to describe their impressions of the society of the valley dwellers in their journals.(Note) She asks for two volunteers and the student who worked in role as the messenger to remain behind for a moment or two.(Note)

Reflection Out of Role -- Whole Group

The students will:

The students enter the room for their next drama class somewhat expectantly, as if, perhaps, to find something or someone out of the ordinary. They ask the teacher whether "the person" will be part of the drama today. The teacher begs their patience and asks them to be seated. She asks them to please cast their minds back to the previous class and to describe what they were thinking as the class came to a close. One student says the opening episode was quite interesting. He says the story told by the old woman provided the drama with a strong setting and the surprise ending to the class made him want to know what would happen next. One of the girls says she was amazed at how the images of the place grew as each of them contributed an idea when they were handed the stick. Another student says there was a lonely feeling to it. She says it is hard to imagine that the only people who would exist anywhere would be the people in one's own community or group. Another says that she was able to believe that and so when the announcement came that a stranger had been found, she felt a sense of foreboding, a sort of fear.(Note) One of the boys says that something about all of this reminds him of a science fiction movie he recently saw abut a group of survivors after a nuclear war.(Note) Another asked what any of this has to do with Columbus? The teacher asks him to patient and suggests everyone keep this question in mind.

She says that what they have to say about the work so far is intriguing and she asks them to please move the desks aside now and to sit where they were in the circle in the previous class. She says they will recall that as the last class drew to a close, the gathering of those who had assembled to plan harvest celebrations was interrupted. She says to resume the drama they will "rewind the tape" a bit and begin with the entrance of the messenger. She asks whether there are any questions or comments. Satisfied that there are none, she dons her shawl and joins the circle in her place.(Note) The two volunteers who had participated in the drama toward the end of the previous class leave the room and join the "messenger", who is again waiting in the hall. Guest in Role/Teacher and Students in Role/Hot Seat -- Whole Group

The students will:

The teacher offers the stick to the last person who spoke and, on cue, the messenger arrives and makes her announcement. As the questions erupt from the group, the two volunteers in role as the companions described by the messenger enter, supporting a man between them.(Note) The man who seems weak and a little uneasy wears clothing unlike any the valley dwellers have ever known (a colourful costume reminiscent of those seen in contemporary science fiction movies). Around his waist he wears a wide belt from which hangs a slender metal cylinder. On one end of the cylinder is a clear smooth disc. The messenger moves into the centre of the circle and spreads a loosely woven blanket on the floor. She takes her place in the circle. Her companions guide "the person" to the blanket, help him to become comfortably settled by cushioning his head with a couple of rolled-up sweaters and return to their places in the circle.(Note)

The teacher in role as the old woman slowly speaks a few words of greeting and then asks the stranger who he is and where he has come from. His answer is slow and deliberate but audible and clear. He says he is called Lance Surveyor and that he resides in "The Great Dome". He speaks a language very similar to that of the valley dwellers, but he speaks it with more formality (a formality reminiscent perhaps of the Middle Ages). He uses some words which have no meaning for the group assembled. The first of these unintelligible words is "dome".(Note)

As this episode of the drama develops the valley dwellers question the lone dome dweller and occasionally he asks questions of them. Throughout the interview, the teacher in role as the old woman functions informally as the chairperson to ensure that all questions and answers are honoured and clearly understood. The student who worked as the messenger records what is spoken. (Note) When questions are exhausted, the teacher in role suggests that the two valley dwellers who had helped the man now take him to a more comfortable place to rest. She tells Lance Surveyor that they will try to find him something he can eat and that before he leaves to return to his dome there may be more they wish to know from him. They bid him goodbye and he and the two exit.

As they leave the old woman turns to the group and says she believes it is important that they try to understand what it is they have heard. She asks the students in role what they have learned. Together, the valley dwellers and the old woman encapsulate what they have heard and understood from the stranger. From having this man in their midst they have learned that there are other people in the world who may not be living very far away. They know these people do not live in their valley and from what they have learned from Lance Surveyor, they know these others live in a place that is not very like their valley. Lance Surveyor spoke of "The Great Dome". He said that to live there means that one does not live under the sky. He said he was not certain that people could live under the sky; he thought they needed a dome to protect them from the sun and the wind, the rain and the snow. He said he believed his weakness was caused by his being too long away from "The Great Dome", that the "unfiltered" air in the valley was like a poison to his body. He said he was in need of food and asked whether the valley people could spare a "food bar". He spoke of men and women called "mandarins" who own everything and make decisions for others. He spoke of "police" who ensure that these decisions are followed by everyone. He was surprised to learn that the valley dwellers do not know about such things; that their land and other things that they have as they go about their work and lives belong to all of them; that valley dwellers make decisions together and need no one to ensure that they live by those decisions. They were surprised when he warmed his hands with the warm light which came from the tool which hung around his waist. They had not imagined such tools. They learned that "The Great Dome" is "over crowded" and that he and others have been sent out on large machines in search of land on which to build another. If he had not become separated from his people and stumbled weakly into the valley, the valley people would not know that they shared the world with others. When no further ideas are expressed, the teacher in role asks: "What is it that we must do now? What will we do with Lance Surveyor?"

The bell rings as the teacher in role approaches the end of her statement. Quickly she asks the students to consider those two questions before the next class. What should the valley dwellers do about Lance Surveyor and how should they respond to their new knowledge about "The Great Dome" and its inhabitants. As the students are going out the door, one of them asks whether they will get to talk to the person who worked in role as Lance again. The teacher says yes.

Reflection Out of Role -- Whole Group

The students will:

When the students arrive for their next drama class, both the teacher and the person who worked as Lance Surveyor are waiting for them. The teacher introduces "Lance" as her friend. She tells the students that, in real life, he is a farmer from a neighbouring town. She says both of them are involved in the same community theatre group which is centred in a town about sixty-five kilometres away. She says he has agreed to sit in on this class to learn what they are thinking about the progress of their drama and also to share with them his thinking about the unique experience which he had enjoyed with them in the previous class.

The teacher says that, ideally, they would have had the opportunity to discuss the experience when it was freshest but as usual the work went longer than expected and they were cut off by the bell. She asks them to think back to the last period and their personal response to Lance and to the interview that ensued. The students generally agree that to have a real life stranger in the drama not only added to the tension in the work but for some reason it really seemed to make them believe more in their own roles and generally made them more committed to the drama. Maybe, one of them suggests, that was because they had some one new to act for! One of the students says he thinks he has spent more time thinking about what happened in that particular episode of the drama than he has about any other single part of any drama he has ever done. He goes on to say that he thinks the valley dwellers are in real trouble. The way he sees it the dome dwellers are a serious threat whichever way you look at it. If the dome dwellers realize the valley dwellers are there, they are probably doomed. Clearly, he says, the dome dwellers are more technologically advanced and if the "flashlight" is any indication, they probably have enough laser weapons to obliterate everyone in the valley.(Note) He says he supposes they could persuade Lance Surveyor to stay or, failing that, they could hold him so that he couldn't return to "The Great Dome" and divulge the existence of the valley and its people. But even if Lance didn't get back, he believes its only a matter of time before someone else or many someones stumble into the valley.

Another student says that her view is a more optimistic one. She says that it sounds to her as if things are not all going well in "The Great Dome". If the dome dwellers have been there as long as the valley dwellers have been in their valley, they probably don't know anything about life outside a dome. In fact, according to what little they know from Lance Surveyor, it may be that this generation of dome dwellers would be unable to survive outside the dome. In either case, it makes sense to her that co-operation and a sharing of knowledge, skills and goods that would benefit both communities would be the best course of action for all concerned.

Another student says that, while they might believe that a spirit of co-operation would be best, it doesn't seem to him to be the way things would work between two groups when one of them is clearly more powerful than the other. In this case, he would have to agree with the boy that spoke first. The valley dwellers couldn't win, if it came to a fight. They would either all be wiped out or captured and put to work as slaves or something like that. Perhaps, another student offers, the valley dwellers should move on. They have the skills they need to survive in the natural environment and they could begin a community somewhere else. As well, she says, now that we know the valley dwellers are not the only people on the earth, it is quite likely that there would be other groups and the valley dwellers could well come across other people whose life styles are similar to theirs.

As the discussion continues, other students seem generally to side with one of the views that has been expressed. The teacher says she is very pleased with their ideas and, as the drama continues, they will work with all of them. Now she says they are probably interested in what their guest thinks of all of this. "Lance" says that when their teacher invited him to come and participate in a "drama", he really didn't realize what he was getting himself into. He says he has been in a number of plays and has done improvisational work in auditions and rehearsals, but he had never been called upon to think on his feet for such a sustained period before. He says the class made it relatively easy for him because they believed in the Lance role and, even when they came up with questions that he hadn't anticipated, he found the answers rolling off his tongue. He says probably the most challenging aspect of it all for him was to make sure that he consistently spoke in the formal way that he did. He said he agreed with their teacher that his way of speaking was important if they were all to sustain their belief in the Lance role and in the situation. It helped, he said, that not all of what Lance said was meant to be understood by the valley dwellers, and because Lance was a little weak, he was able to speak more slowly and deliberately. He tells the students that he was really impressed by their response to him in role during the previous class.(Note) He says he had not expected to have to work in the Lance role for the whole period. He tells them that, as he listened to the discussion earlier in this period, he was again impressed by their ideas and how they connect what they know and feel about the real world to a purely fictional situation. He says he wished he had had drama classes like this when he was a student.

The time remaining in the period is taken up by an informal discussion in which the guest and the teacher respond to students questions about their work in community theatre. They talk about why they became involved, how long they've been participating, why they think people in rural areas attend their plays, how people of all ages can become involved and on and on. As the bell rings, the students and their guest thank and applaud one another.(Note)

The Grade Eight Model Unit Continues