How to Excite Students With Drama Integration

Today, I want to blog about “How to Excite Students With Drama Integration”–one of my favorite subjects! I have an Instagram Profile which I maintain regularly. My followers are comprised of teachers who see the importance of drama but are unconfident using it. They are looking for a teaching method concerning how to excite students with drama integration.

Usually that’s not what they mention, however.  It’s more implied by statements such as “I just can’t get my students to do anything.” Or “They are too busy being too cool for school.”  Or, “They are completely checked out in my class.”

No one wants to say aloud what they are really thinking, “Help someone!”  I can tell by the number of likes I receive and my checking out their own IG account posts, these teachers want to use this fabulous tool with their students. They aren’t convinced they can do it with success. I’m here to tell you that you can!

While we are on this subject….Did you know I have the secret to boosting student engagement?  My new book, “We’re Live! Radio Theater #101” explains my journey to implementing this unique tool in the classroom. Check it out here

How to Excite Students with Drama Integration

I’m continually seeking the perfect magic words to get these teachers to cross the bridge from belief to action.  Understanding these are very busy people with far too much on their plate, I know it’s difficult to take a few minutes and consider strategies for student engagement.

Here I sit smiling at them through my IG profile.  Drama integration has been a part of my life since I was ten years old and in fourth grade when I played Queen Isabella.  That was in 1966!  My teacher engaged me right from the beginning by our class performing a short play about the meeting between Queen Isabella and Christopher Columbus. ( I always thought it was so funny because the boy who played Christopher was named Christopher himself!)

But I digress…

If you are someone searching for a way to integrate drama into your classroom, you came to the right blog.  I could give you my opinion, but sometimes we learn better from people of which we are unfamiliar.  Let’s see what other teachers and researchers  discovered.

Drama encourages them to think and act creatively, thus developing critical thinking and problem-solving skills that can be applied in all areas of learning. Through drama, children are encouraged to take responsible roles and make choices – to participate in and guide their own learning.

How does drama help in the classroom?

Drama stimulates them to think and act creatively, thus developing critical thinking and problem-solving skills that can be applied in all areas of learning. Through drama, children are nurtured to take responsible roles and make choices – to participate in and guide their own learning. Check out this resource to use in your language arts class: You can find it on Teacherspayteachers.com at: The Cask of Amontillado radio play script.  Don’t know how to teach radio theater? Check out my Made by Teachers Store: Radio Theater Unit  or in my TPT store: Radio Theater Unit

Drama in the Reading Classroom

Plays inherently come with built-in strategies to help students read better. The acting out of play dialogue compels readers to work more closely with the text to interpret it and project meaning into the experience. As a result, students show improvement in vocabulary, comprehension, and retention.

Researching the drama integration subject, I ran on to Jane Udalla’s article, “The Effect of Drama Based Instruction on Reading Comprehension which states, “Drama-based activities can help struggling readers to “feel” the story, because students report being able to experience the emotions of the characters. Consequently, the students make personal connections to the text and characters while experiencing comparable emotions.  As you would expect, this experience inside the story changed students’ ability to comprehend.” Because it is made real to them, the story reading stays with them.

Drama in the social studies classroom

Language Arts Teacher, Michelle Pieczura states in her article Decidedly Dramatic! The Power of Creative Drama in Social Studies, “Creative dramatics, a highly effective method for integrating arts education into core curriculum. It produces a positive and lasting impact on student learning, in terms of creative and critical thinking, language development, listening, comprehension, retention, cooperation, and empathy and awareness of others.

Creative dramatics not only has the power to bring curriculum to life, but also to stimulate active involvement in the development of conceptual understandings.” Personally, I think social studies is a fabulous place for a drama integration.

If you would like more information about how to integrate drama into social studies, check out my post: The Reasons Teaching Multiculturalism in the Classroom is Vitally Important or peruse my Teacherspayteachers.com product–Multicultural Readers Theater Units or check out The Magic Lake in my Payhip store.

Drama in the math classroom

I know it’s difficult to believe, but drama can also make a math classroom sizzle with excitement! Here is one example.  In the article, The Effects of Drama on At-Risk Students, by  Patrick Kariuki and Steven G. Humphrey stating, “In a higher education classroom, a teacher used stories of mythology to help students understand statistical problems.

This teacher reasoned that storytelling is effective because it allowed him to share with students certain symbols– such as myths that everyone could understand. Furthermore, it also placed unfamiliar concepts in a more familiar setting. If you are intrigued by this idea, check out how to use Native American folk tales: 370 Million Indigenous People Want You to Know About Their Cultures

Outside help for your school

Maybe you would like to provide a full-scale musical production at your school as a way to engage students more fully? The Jump Start Theatre program is your answer.

The Jumpstart Theatre Program

The JumpStart Theatre program creates sustainable theatre arts programs in middle schools where there previously were none.  Participating schools are chosen through a rigorous application process and receive training, materials.  Plus there is  budget support to produce their first full-scale musical production. The support continues for three years until the program becomes self-sustaining.

Non-theatre teachers are equipped with skills and resources to produce their school’s first musical through a proven combination of bootcamp style training and hands-on mentoring. The Educational Theatre Foundation operates JumpStart Theatre through a national network of regional theatre company partners who are selected based on their track-record of success in running educational programs for children. In my opinion, this is just wonderful! 

JumpStart Theatre partners are:  Alliance Theatre, Atlanta, Ga.; La Jolla Playhouse, La Jolla, Calif.; Mountain City Center for the Arts, Frostburg, MD; Stages St. Louis, St. Louis, MO; and The Children’s Theatre, Cincinnati, OH.

Drama Integration through Radio Theater

Here’s how I can help you. A fabulous way to use drama in your classroom is through radio theater.  Now. hear. me. out! Radio theater, now in existence for 100 years, is the predecessor to podcasts. (Ask your students if they know what a podcast is–they will!) I understand the actress Amy Poehler is starting a podcast series, Say More with Dr? Sheila. It will feature 30 comedic episodes spread across three seasons, starring Poehler as a couples therapist with questionable methods and credentials. Each ten-episode season will focus on a central character and distinct theme; however, characters will make crossover appearances across stories and seasons.

The great part of that news is that if one actor does this, more will come!

Harry Potter is entering the podcast scene

Recently, it was announced a brand-new co-production of the original Harry Potter stories, will revisit the beloved listening experience for the first time ever. Scheduled for late 2025, these full-cast audio productions will bring these iconic stories to life as never heard before, offering immersive audio entertainment through high-quality sound design in Dolby Atmos, stunning scoring, a full range of character voices, and real-world sound capture.

Some people would rather just jump in to learn about this incredible tool by experiencing it  on their feet. In that case, I have radio play scripts available (The Invisible Man, The Monkey’s Paw, Cask of Amontillado, Bow Wow Blues, The Frozen Pirate, It Could Always Be Worse, The Brave Little Tailor, etc.) You can find them here:  Dramamommaspeaks Products

How to Excite Students with Drama Integration

As teachers we know that teaching strategies play an important role in classroom instruction. Without the use of a strategy, teachers would be aimlessly projecting information that doesn’t connect with learners or engage them. Luckily, these strategies help learners participate, connect, and add excitement to the content being delivered. That, my friend, is where drama integration comes in!

I hope you’ll consider integrating drama into your classroom. I am always here to help you should you need me or need a sympathetic ear.  Just email me at DhcBaldwin@gmail.com Want to check out my new teacher guidebook, “We’re Live! Radio Theater #101?  It’s available on Amazon and in my Dramamommaspeaks store.