Pantomime-A-Tale

Pantomime-A-Tale By: Rachel Walraven

"Tell me and I'll forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I'll understand." ~ A Chinese Proverb What is it? 

When individuals pantomime they are expressing a concept or meaning through exaggerated gestures or facial expressions. Often people tend to use pantomime to communicate with those who may not understand their language or verbal expressions.

Pantomime-A-Tale is based off of this definition. It is often used with literature/stories, both fiction and non-fiction. It gives children a chance to engage with the material they are learning and connects gestures with concepts and ideas, making them easier to remember.

How can it help? Though the dramatic arts are being cut from schools today due to lack of funding, this is no reason to cut them from the classroom as well. Combining drama with classroom education is an incredibly effective and useful teaching tool. Studies have shown that students learn best through dramatic play and interaction with their environment. Using drama then allows them to access their imaginations and learn in the ways that best benefit them.

Often times, material taught in the classroom may appear to be unapproachable. Students may read their text and understand the words, but not the meaning. They may state a definition but be unable to apply it. Drama, whether verbal or pantomime, allows for meanings to become clear and information to become personal. As students act out skits, historical events, vocabulary words, and more, they begin to comprehend more than spellings and fact lists. They become invested in the material and, in order to be convincing, find themselves searching for the deeper understanding and meaning in a piece so that they can properly convey the emotion, experience, or activity. Using pantomime further reinforces learning because it creates an even bigger challenge: indicate meaning and express messages without using any words. Though such a task may appear difficult, the assignment is also fun and captures their imagination, which makes learning feel less like work and more like play. Teachers who have used drama in their classrooms have found that students built a better understanding of both textual information and their own world when drama was used to teach concepts.

Beyond the reinforcement of concepts and meaning, drama also helps students develop a sense of self-confidence. Students may struggle with particular subjects or feel like they don’t know how to explain material. However, when they realize that they can interact with their peers and indicate understanding through a pantomime piece, they will begin to realize that they are capable of learning, just like their peers. Acting, particularly without words, may also give a shy child the outlet they need to find their voice. Drama and pantomime gives teachers a chance to help their students interpret text in a wide variety of ways beyond simply reading the text. These different interpretations may help any number of students better understand and develop confidence in working with the material.

So why is this a SDAIE strategy? How do ELL students benefit?



For English Language Learners (ELL), the above advantages are extremely beneficial to their education. They may not have confidence in their learning abilities as they may feel that they do not understand everything that is happening in the classroom. Drama will allow them to actively participate in the classroom and help them interact with the material in a different manner. This will build their confidence in their ability to learn. Drama will also help the students understand difficult vocabulary and concepts. The use of actions and facial expressions often create a universal message that all can understand. The concept of Pantomime-A-Tale helps create comprehensible input from material that may otherwise be too difficult to understand. Gestures and facial expressions can help convey meaning and help students understand the true meaning behind the CALP (academic) language that they must use in the classroom. They will have gestures or an experience to associate with what they may not have understood before. This helps erase the language barrier because the ELL student is now being included in the material presented and is capable of understand words that may appear intimidating in print.

This can be appropriate for all CELDT levels, as it may be used in a wide variety of ways with various subjects/disciplines. See the Resources idea below.

How can it be used? The Pantomime-A-Tale activity can be used in a variety of ways: 1) The teacher may read the literature to the students, while the entire class pantomimes. 2) The teacher may give students particular roles to play within the story. While the teacher reads, individuals in the class will pantomime their given part. 3) Students may be split into groups and work on their own group pantomime of the tale. The groups may then present to the class. 4) Pantomime and gestures can always be used for difficult concepts or abstract words to help students have a point of association.

<span style="color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;">**TEACHER NOTE:** Before jumping into a pantomime activity, make sure that students are comfortable with the idea. Introduce pantomime and gestures for simple topics, like brushing one's teeth. Indicate how this would be enacted and give students the opportunity to practice with similar ideas. Demonstrate the importance of facial expressions by having them pantomime what it would look like if something smells bad. Games may be played to help students become comfortable with the idea of using gestures instead of words.

<span style="color: #800080; display: block; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 160%; text-align: left;">Resources: <span style="color: #800080; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">Classroom Ideas <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">: These are only a few sample ideas...the options are endless! __<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Language Arts: __ __History:__ __Science:__
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Stories, such as //Cinderella// and //The Ugly Duckling//, may be acted out in pantomime to help children remember sequence of events.
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Vocabulary lists may be learned through games like Charades, which will allow the students to act out the words and recognize meanings.
 * Read about historical events and then reenact them. Example: The Boston Tea Party.
 * Work through science concepts using pantomime. For example, children may act out the steps of plant growth.
 * Vocabulary: see idea under Language Arts

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<span style="color: #800080; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">Further Reference

DeBlase, G. (2005). Teaching literature and language through guided discovery and informal classroom drama. //English Journal, 95//(1), 29-32. http://search.proquest.com/docview/237300284?accountid=8459.

Fairchild, R. (2002, April 22). //Why drama?//. Retrieved from http://www.angelfire.com/ego/edp303/why.htm.

Hirsch, S. (2011, July 03). //How to use drama with esl students//. Retrieved from http:www.ehow.com/how_8683160_use-drama-esl-students.html.

//Mountain, L. (1986). Releasing the Remedial Reader's Creative Power.// Journal Of Learning Disabilities//,// 19//(1),//

//Yaffe, S. H. (1989). Drama as a Teaching Tool.// Educational Leadership//,// 46//(6), 29.