Enchanted Tales

Overview

Week Duration: 8 weeks
Class Duration: 40 minutes each session
Student Year Level: Year 1
Subject: Drama
Focus: Exploring Fairy Tales
Australian Curriculum Link: Drama (Foundation to Year 2) - Exploring role and situation, imagining and acting out, and sharing the role with intention and the world of the story.

Lesson Structure: Weeks 1 to 8

Week 1: Introduction to Fairy Tales

Objective: Introduce students to the world of fairy tales and their key characteristics.
Activities:

1. Warm-up (5 mins): Begin with a storytelling circle. Ask students to share their favourite fairy tale and discuss common elements (e.g., magical creatures, enchanting lands, good vs. evil).
2. Main Activity (25 mins): Teacher performs "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" using simple props. Encourage students to join in, mimicking movements or sounds related to the characters.
3. Reflection (10 mins): Discuss how the story made them feel and what they found most interesting.

Week 2: Becoming Characters

Objective: Understand characters and their motivations.
Activities:

1. Warm-up (5 mins): Engage in a simple ’Character Walk’. Students walk around as if they are bears, fairies, or giants.
2. Main Activity (25 mins): Focus on "The Three Little Pigs". Assign roles and let students act out the story, experimenting with voice and movement.
3. Reflection (10 mins): Share what it felt like to be their character and discuss how they might interact with other characters.

Week 3: Exploring Feelings

Objective: Express different emotions through drama.
Activities:

1. Warm-up (5 mins): 'Emotion Pass': Sit in a circle and pass an imaginary ball that conveys a specific emotion.
2. Main Activity (25 mins): Work with "Cinderella". Focus on one scene and have students express various emotions Cinderella might feel (e.g., joy, sadness).
3. Reflection (10 mins): Discuss how showing emotions changes the story and character understanding.

Week 4: Setting the Scene

Objective: Create and appreciate different settings within a story.
Activities:

1. Warm-up (5 mins): Use a magic wand (real or imaginary) to transform the room into various fairy tale settings.
2. Main Activity (25 mins): In small groups, re-create the setting of "Jack and the Beanstalk". Use scarves, fabric, and chairs to denote different areas (e.g., the giant's kitchen).
3. Reflection (10 mins): Encourage students to walk the setting and discuss how it feels to be in the story's world.

Week 5: Magic and Imagination

Objective: Explore the role of magic in fairy tales.
Activities:

1. Warm-up (5 mins): 'Magic Object': Pass around a magical prop and have each student use it in a short, imaginative action.
2. Main Activity (25 mins): Use "The Magic Porridge Pot". Students dramatise what happens when 'magic' goes out of control and create their own magical scene.
3. Reflection (10 mins): Discuss the importance of magic in stories and how it affects characters.

Week 6: Dialogue and Interaction

Objective: Develop dialogue skills and interaction.
Activities:

1. Warm-up (5 mins): 'Guess the Sound': Make sounds or say lines without showing the emotion, then guess.
2. Main Activity (25 mins): Use "Rapunzel". Focus on interactions between characters (e.g., Rapunzel and the witch) and practice speaking lines with different emotions.
3. Reflection (10 mins): Explore how changing the way we speak a line changes its meaning.

Week 7: Conflict and Resolution

Objective: Understand the elements of conflict and resolution in stories.
Activities:

1. Warm-up (5 mins): 'Stop/Start': Students model conflict with actions, then freeze and resolve peacefully.
2. Main Activity (25 mins): Work on "Little Red Riding Hood", examining the conflict between Red Riding Hood and the Wolf. Let students improvise alternative resolutions.
3. Reflection (10 mins): Discuss feelings during conflict scenes and how they are resolved.

Week 8: Creating a Fairy Tale

Objective: Work collaboratively to create their own fairy tale performance.
Activities:

1. Warm-up (5 mins): 'Magic Teams': Split students into teams representing different story elements (character, setting, magic).
2. Main Activity (25 mins): In groups, students plan and rehearse a short fairy tale using elements learned over the past weeks. Encourage creativity and use of props.
3. Reflection and Sharing (10 mins): Students perform their tales to the class. Reflect on the overall experience and what they enjoyed most.

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Teacher Notes:

• Encourage all students to participate and express their ideas.
• Use simple props and costumes to enhance engagement.
• Adjust activities based on student interest and class dynamics.
• Foster a safe and inclusive environment for students to express themselves.

By the end of this 8-week program, Year 1 students should feel more confident in their expressive capabilities, have a deeper understanding of fairy tale narratives, and enjoy the collaborative experience of drama.