Week #4 Free Post: Two Islands Process Drama

During a Professional Development event I went to we learned about a process drama, which is something I had never heard of before.  It is a very interactive form of learning that engages students and allows them to really take control of their learning and develop independent thinking skills.  The meeting leader took on the role of the teachers and I (along with other classmates) were the students.

The process drama started by having the room split into two halves where one half was the island of Greenel and the other was the island of Graynel.  She started by reading us descriptions of our islands.

"Once there were two islands, Greenel and Graynel. They sat in the middle of the ocean with a wide stretch of deep water between them.  The very first people who came to the island of Greenel found a peaceful place with tall green trees and dark, fertile soil. Their leaders said, “Since we are here in the middle of the ocean, and our island is only so big and no bigger, we will all have to work very hard to tend it and keep it as lovely as it is today. If we are careful and wise we will be able to grow our own food and learn to make the other things we need to be happy and comfortable.”  And down through the years, that is the way it was on Greenel. Life was simple and it moved at the pace of the Sun and the Moon and the changing seasons.
The first people who ever came to Graynel found an island very similar to Greenel—quiet and green and lovely. But their leaders said: “Since our new land is here in the middle of the ocean and is only so big and no bigger, we will have to work very hard if we are to keep up with the rest of the world. We will have to build ships and factories and use all of our land very wisely or we will never be able to make and buy all the things we want.”  There were changes on Graynel, big changes. Even though the island was small, it kept up with the world, and life on Graynel moved at the pace of the shipping timetables, the factory clocks, and the traffic lights."

Below is a list of activities that follow from the above story as well as a list of things that can be learned from the activities, and how they could be turned into social studies or science lessons.

Activity 1: Draw a map of your island considering jobs, what you do for fun, government systems, what happens to the people that die...

• Demonstrate understanding of government systems
• Use of natural resources
• Artistic/fine motor skill development
• Practice working with a group to make decisions and exercise compromise skills

Activity 2: Greenel people circle around Graynel map and talk about what they see (keeping their job back on Greenel in mind) while Graynel people listen.  Graynel then has a chance to respond to the comments.  Same activity for Graynel people surrounding the Greenel map.

• Understanding and appreciating different value systems

Activity 3: Graynel and Greenel members line up and face each other and proceed to talk about "those people" behind their backs.  There is graffiti on some rocks that face the opposite island.  We are supposed to come up with what the graffiti says.  For example, a Greenel person might say "they say that those people all act like robots".  Graynel and Greenel islanders continue to insult each other trying to top the previous insults.

• Developing the plot
• Ability to think on your feet

Activity 4: Cautionary tales are told on both islands.  Greenel island members have to act out a scenario in which their fisherman went out to sea and got run over by a Graynel speed boat, was then captured and taken back to their island where he was poisoned but eventually escaped and rowed all the way back to his island.  The same story is then told from the Graynel perspective.  A Greenel man was fishing in a poisonous area so they went to stop him, discovered he was already passed out, brought him back to their island where he was treated with medicine and then couldn't find him when they came back to check on him.

• Acting
• One story can be twisted into multiple perspectives

Activity 5: Some people from both islands are proposing a bridge be built to connect the two islands so that they can share resources.  Based on your job on your island, decide whether you are 100% for the idea, 100% against the idea, or somewhere in the middle and then line up accordingly.

• Logical decision making
• Understanding of external factors effecting business

We didn't have time to finish the whole story, but you get the drift.  Through this process drama students are able to really interact with concepts they might have normally learned from a textbook.  This is not just a one day lesson, but is something that can be spread out over several days, even weeks.  There are also so many different variations of this that it can really be adapted to work for any age and any unit.

Have you ever experienced anything like this in a classroom?  What other lessons could you think of that might go along with this story?  Do you think teaching in this style is a good idea or not? Why?