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Creative Drama and Reading Comprehension Integration!

Creative drama can be an effective tool for motivating children to read and for reinforcing their reading skills. It includes all four of the major language arts--listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Drama activities build such reading skills as vocabulary development, sentence and story comprehension, word meanings, visualization, and sentence recognition. The use of creative drama engages children as they improve such skills as visual and auditory discrimination, listening, oral expression, and articulation. 

Last year, a pilot group of 27 third, fourth, and fifth grade teachers from Sombra del Monte and Corrales spent part of their collaboration time in a study group exploring creative drama and reading comprehension.  Led by Erin K. Hulse, APS Drama Resource teacher and using the book A Dramatic Approach to Reading Comprehension by Lenore Blank Kelner and Rosalind M. Flynn, teachers explored using drama as a means to differentiate reading instruction.  The book applies the frameworks from Keene and Zimmerman’s Mosaic of Thought: Teaching Reading Comprehension in a Reader’s Workshop.

Some of the comments from an end of the year survey were:

“Excellent information for drama/literacy integration.  The collaboration aspect of this study group was both rewarding and stimulating.”

“Learning comes alive using drama or integrating it with reading comprehension.”

 “Focus was as valuable as the reading comprehension.

 “Erin did a great job modeling and providing resources.  What was particularly awesome was her links to standards (she took LA standards and aligned drama activities).”

This year, some of the teachers from the pilot group will continue their investigation by implementing the drama techniques and assessing students’ progress.  It will be an exciting “Act 2”.

As for the continuation of “Act 1”, there will be a group of teachers who will begin their exploration of reading comprehension and creative drama for 2008-2009.  What an engaging way to differentiate instruction!

For more information about the book or the study  groups, contact Erin Hulse at the APS ARTS Center, 880-8249 ext 160!