Week 5, Term 1:

In week 5 and across the term so far, the whole-school has been practising some of the Elements of Drama - character, movement (facial expressions and body language) and voice.
PLC:
Our new Prep students have settled into Performing Arts classroom routines. We are learning to identify and perform emotions through body language and facial expressions. This week, the students rehearsed social stories about using manners, practising calm-down strategies, and solving conflict with hand-puppets as characters. It was heart-warming to see how students' voices changed to match the emotion of their hand-puppet character and the story's events.
SLC:
SLC investigated movement and voice using finger puppets and fairy tales. We followed the process of:

• Looking at the fairy-tale picture book's page and discussed what the characters are doing and saying 
• Acting out the page of the fairy-tale using character voices
• Turning the page and repeating the steps

This gave students the opportunity to identify each scene's emotions, the relationships of characters, and ensured that each scene was performed in detail instead of rushing to the end.
CLC:
CLC had a 'blast from the past' and created 30-second skits about Dora the Explorer. Their small-groups were provided with a Dora 'backpack' with 3 random items, and a problem-solving scenario to build a performance from. Students also practised being a respectful and supportive audience to a variety of 'Dora the Explorer' performances, which involved actors:

• Role-playing the problem (something is wrong)
• Opening the backpack and presenting the items (what can we used to help?)
• Choosing the most appropriate object
• Solving the problem with the chosen item

This gave CLC their first experience on stage in 2025 in front of an audience. Renee looks forward to supporting more experiences like this in Term 1 to build further confidence and inspire creativity. 
YYLC:
YYLC were immersed into the story of 'Belonging' by Jeannie Baker which has NO WORDS. Students created small-groups for their end-of-term performances, and which which window scenery they wish to to build their script around. Students used Jeannie Baker's window collages to:

• Analyse visual elements and symbols (e.g. picture frame, diary) to provide context to the main character's age
• Examine character situations e.g. likes/dislikes
• Scan how the background and characters link with the storyline and mood
• Infer character relationships and which supporting characters would also be involved in the performance.

As weeks progress, this investigation will come in handy for script-writing, stage directions, and rehearsals.