Level 5
Developing Practical Knowledge in Drama (PK)
Students will select and use dramatic elements, techniques, and conventions for specific purposes and explore the use of relevant technologies.
Developing Ideas in Drama (DI)
Students will initiate ideas and individually and collectively develop and refine drama for specific purposes.
Communicating and Interpreting in Drama (CI)
Students will present and respond to drama and describe how dramatic elements, techniques, conventions, and technologies combine to create form and meaning.
Understanding Drama in Context (UC)
Students will investigate and compare the treatment of similar themes in drama of past and present cultures.
Learning Examples
- Develop a group drama, using techniques and conventions (e.g., conversations,
mapping, role on the wall) to create an imagined community. (PK, DI)
- Investigate and describe how different cultures make use of symbols
in ritual and ceremony. Create a symbol that represents a theme or
issue and use it in a devised ritual or ceremony, incorporating sound
and movement. Present the ritual or ceremony and discuss the effectiveness
of the symbol in the performance. (UC, PK, DI, CI)
- Devise, rehearse, and make an audio recording of a soundscape to
accompany, and reinforce ideas and feelings in, a mimed sequence.
View the mime with its accompaniment and discuss how the use of sound
enhanced meaning in the mime. (PK, DI, CI)
- Develop a series of freeze-frame images to highlight key moments
from a historical event. Record the images for analysis and to develop
them into a scripted drama. Rehearse the drama to refine the use of
space and focus and to build the tension of the historical event.
(PK, DI)
- Compare the treatment of themes (e.g., family relationships, friendships)
in scenes from two or more plays with contrasting social or cultural
settings and from different periods. (UC)
- Experiment with voice, gesture, facial expression, and body movement
to refine characterisation in drama work. Reflect on how effectively
these techniques are used. (PK)
- Review a live performance, evaluating how lighting and other technologies
were used to transform time or space, create tension, or focus audience
attention. (CI)
- Use personal experiences as a starting point for developing and
narrating a group story. Develop and present the story within a selected
style (e.g., science fiction, melodrama, korero paki), paying attention
to conventions and techniques that enhance the style. (PK, DI, CI)
- Using the convention of chorus, storytelling, or mimed activity,
highlight and compare similar themes in excerpts from plays that originate
from contrasting cultural or social contexts. Combine the excerpts
into a montage and present them to another class. (PK, DI, UC, CI)
- In a group, negotiate to create a rounded character with a rich history. Gather and create objects that reveal aspects of the character's life. Display the objects to the rest of the class, who work as detectives to piece together a detailed picture of the character and present a scene based on their findings. Compare the detectives' conclusions with the originating group's idea. (DI, CI)
