Overview

This practical book offers unique and powerful ways to use play to investigate stories, big ideas, and events. It focuses on dramatic play as a natural response to learning. Dramatic Play in the Early Years argues that dramatic play is not theatre but a dynamic process that involves planning, playing, and practice. It shows teachers how to involve young students in play where they become the story and live the life of the characters or animals, bump up against issues, and better appreciate the complexities of the human journey. This comprehensive resource covers many aspects of learning through play and explores • The Creative Process — from setting up the “Aha” moment to describing the teacher’s role • Getting Started — from the willing suspension of disbelief to strategic use of pauses to listening for next steps • The Importance of Practice — from working towards focus and control and side-coaching to becoming believable characters • Building Belief — from narrating to cast a spell to using blank paper to set a story scene • Finding the Story — from choosing a story to strategies for prompting improvisation • Playing Inside the Curriculum — from establishing a framework to finding the story in subject areas Rooted in classroom experience, this valuable resource offers a variety of effective ways in which children can be encouraged to incorporate voice, characterization, movement, stillness, concentration, and listening for more expressive play.

Full Product Details

9781551383071

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Author Information

Elizabeth Coffman is an active participant in the arts education community in Manitoba. For many years Liz has been a professor in the Faculty of Education at the University of Manitoba specializing in the early years and the arts. She has written both art and drama curricula for the province and is well known for her work in schools with teachers and children as a consultant in dramatic play. Liz currently resides in Winnipeg.

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