Process Drama
Source: Parvana, une enfance en Afghanistan –Deborah Ellis
OMLTA Workshop leader: Line Roberge
Original lesson created by Debbie Nyman source used was novel Park’s Quest
Process step by step:
Whole group- individual/pairs
□ Distribute text to class
□ Real aloud: (experimenting with voice)
ü walk around read section out loud
ü Meet with a partner take turns reading text out loud to each other
ü Walk around and whisper the text
ü Face a wall and say the text as if you are giving a lecture
ü Walk around read text and find people with same section of text
Small groups – create a scene from text
□ Put students in group of three and invite them to act out a short scene (3rd person
will create a constraint that can be a challenge, they are not allowed to be a lamp they must be in the scene somehow )
Small group- (group of three) present scene
□ Present the various scenes in the round and start with any group. Once the groups have presented ask what they have learned to make their scene better. Ask students if the groups should go in some specific order so that the information flows in sequence of the story.
Whole group- What do you know for sure?
□ Ask the students “What do we know for sure?” from the text (on chart paper or backboard track what it is we know for sure.
Small group- What would you like to know?
□ Create groups of four and give each group chart paper and a maker. Invite students to generate 10 questions “What would you like to know?” Invite students to choose their top 3 questions and share with the whole group. Record the questions on chart paper, black board as a reference
Choice: Teacher can choose to have the student recreate the moment before the father is taken (in groups of 2-3 recreate the circumstances of the father leaving or returning using the flashback or flash-forward convention
or have the students interview certain people in role (hot seat convention) who may have some of the answers to their questions. For example they may want to talk to the mother, a Taliban, Parvana, a soldier, a neighbor etc…
Whole group- Who would you like to talk to?
□ Students brainstorm who they would like to speak to; for example grandmother, brother, sergeant , doctor at war, nurse (they will come up with some interesting ideas… one year they wanted to speak to a fortune teller ) choose about 5 people to interview and have the students take on this role. They must answer in role and talk about the circumstances as they know them to be.
Small group- In role interview
□ Divide class in groups of four and have them join one of the people being interviewed and ask question related to the circumstances and mystery of the father.
□ After I minute or so have the groups circulate clockwise or in some organized manner to go and interview another person etc..
Whole group- What have you discovered about the circumstances?
□ Students share their discoveries with one another (they may have some pretty wild stories)
Individual- writing in role (or can be referred to rapid writing)
□ Invite students to write a letter, memo, obituary, poem, diary, journal, newspaper article…they are to write in role as one of the characters related to the story (mother, father, Park)
□ Invite students to not lift their pens, that they are to write until you stop them…encourage them to don’t judge, just write)
Whole group- collage of voices
□ Play soft instrumental music as background
□ Invite students to randomly read out loud their writing in role, the music will fill the awkward pauses and let students read as they wish. You may ask one brave soul to start and then the rest will follow. (the students are often surprise by what they have written and the quality of their writing)
Another option
□ Create to two lines, to form a corridor
□ Invite one student to be Parvana and every student that has addressed their writing to Parvana stop him/her as they progress down the corridor and say, “Parvana”… and read their writing while the person faces them…this same student progresses all the way down the corridor until everyone has read the writing intended for that character. (This is a very powerful exercise and can be emotional as you take on the role)
Whole group- Set up a room (can be Parvana’s room)
□ Create a set with mementos and such place a suitcase or some mystery item were the student will find a surprise (I usually put a copy of the book in a suitcase underneath a makeshift bed and in the book the student finds a letter written by the father to explain what happened and that the boy is loved)
□ Students have quite an emotional reaction to this and then I show them the book that inspired the drama. Most often the students want to read the book. I read them a bit of the book and then they find out that some of their assumptions were actually right even though they were creating and leading the drama.