Freeze, Don’t Click!

Overview

Curriculum Area: The Arts – Drama
Level: New Zealand Curriculum Level 3
Year Level: Year 5
Lesson Duration: 40 minutes
Class Size: 29 students

Big Idea (from NCEA Drama):
"Titiro whakamuri, kokiri whakamua – Drama is influenced by whakapapa and is a way to respond to and share identity, culture, and perspectives.”

Key Competencies Integrated:

• Thinking: Reflecting on choices and online scenarios
• Participating and Contributing: Working constructively in groups
• Relating to Others: Collaborating and role playing responsibly
• Using Language, Symbols and Texts: Interpreting digital behaviour and transforming it into dramatic action

Drama Focus:

• Freeze Frame (Tableau)
• Role play
• Physicalisation of an idea
• Exploring conflict resolution and safe behaviours with digital technology

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Learning Intentions

Students will:

• Understand expectations for the safe and responsible use of digital tools at school.
• Use dramatic techniques (especially freeze frames) to explore different digital dilemmas.
• Work collaboratively to interpret and communicate specific rules through performance.
• Build empathy by acting out potential online behaviour – both correct and incorrect.

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Success Criteria

By the end of the lesson, students will:

• Create and perform a freeze frame based on a digital safety rule.
• Clearly communicate the rule being depicted through body language and facial expression.
• Work cooperatively in small groups, sharing ideas and roles.
• Reflect on the message behind each scenario during group discussions.

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Resources Needed

• Printed rule cards (one per group)
• Scenario task cards (see below)
• Open space in the classroom or hall
• A visible timer
• Optional: Teacher iPad to take photos of freeze frames for reflection

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Lesson Structure

⏱ 0–5 Minutes – Warm-Up Game: ‘Yes Let’s!’

Goal: Activate creativity and physicality.

• Gather class in an open space.
• Explain the rule: One student suggests a physical action (e.g., "Let’s go swimming!"), and the whole group responds, "Yes, let’s!" and acts it out for a few seconds.
• Repeat five times. Rotate who suggests.
• Focus on whole-body engagement and quick transitions.

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⏱ 5–10 Minutes – Introducing Freeze Frames

Goal: Teach the dramatic convention.

Explain:

• “A freeze frame is like a paused movie. You make a picture with your bodies to show what’s happening in a moment.”
• Demonstrate with a simple example (e.g., "Someone falling over" – freeze just before the fall).
• As a class, practise two freeze frames together:
  1. Celebrating a birthday
  2. Waiting at a traffic light

Discuss:

• What details help us understand the story? (Facial expressions, body position, levels)

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⏱ 10–15 Minutes – Scenario Grouping & Setup

Goal: Prepare students for their drama task.

• Divide class into 8 groups of 3–4 students.
• Hand out a different rule-based scenario card to each group (see next section).
• Explain the task:
  • As a group, plan ONE freeze frame that shows someone breaking the rule.
  • Hold the freeze.
  • Then, create a SECOND freeze frame that shows the correct behaviour.
• Students must decide:
  • Who will be which character(s)
  • Which part of the situation to freeze
  • How to clearly show the problem and the solution

Note: Help groups who need ideas or clarification/reminders of the rules.

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⏱ 15–30 Minutes – Group Work: Devise & Rehearse

Goal: Create freeze frames for performance.

• Circulate among groups, prompting with questions:
  • What is the setting?
  • How will we know the character is breaking the rule?
  • Is it clear who is affected?
  • How will we show the improvement in the second frame?

Encourage physical levels, strong shapes, and clear facial expressions.

Optional: Capture still photos for later classroom discussion or a digital safety wall display!

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⏱ 30–37 Minutes – Performance & Peer Feedback

Goal: Share and reflect on work.

• Each group presents:
  • 1st freeze frame (wrong choice)
  • 2nd freeze frame (safe/correct choice)
• After each, ask the audience:
  • “What do you think was happening?”
  • “Which rule do you think this group showed?”
  • “How did their poses show what was going on?”

Celebrate groups for specific features: strong freeze, clear storytelling, creativity.

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⏱ 37–40 Minutes – Class Reflection

Goal: Reinforce learning.

Ask:

• "Which of these rules do we find the hardest to follow sometimes?"
• "What strategies could help us stick to the right choice in real life?"
• “How can drama help us remember these rules better?”

You might add a shared class mantra:
"Pause, Think, Freeze – Then Click!"

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Scenario Cards (One Per Group)

1. Using a device without permission.

   • A student sneaks onto a laptop during wet lunch to play games.

2. Clicking on a pop-up or suspicious link.

   • A game offers a secret code if you click 'here' – should they?

3. Spending too long on a device.

   • A group keeps watching videos after the 20-minute session ends.

4. Not logging out of a shared account.

   • Someone uses a classroom device but leaves their personal work open.

5. Posting a photo without asking.

   • Someone shares a classmate’s silly photo without asking them or the teacher.

6. Saying something mean online.

   • A student writes a rude comment on a shared Padlet during class collaboration.

7. Hiding your screen.

   • A student keeps switching tabs whenever the teacher walks past.

8. Sharing personal information.

   • A pop-up asks for your name and you type it in.

(You may duplicate some scenarios if needed or create variations.)

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Extensions & Differentiation

• Support: Mixed-ability groups. Provide sentence starters for discussion (e.g., “We can make it better by…”).
• Extension: Include a narrator in group performances who introduces the scene aloud: “In this scene, someone makes a poor choice…”
• Alternative Assessment: Ask students to choose one rule and write or draw a comic strip version at home.

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Teacher Tips

• Revisit these freeze frames later in the term, especially before tech-heavy assignments.
• Use the photos taken today for classroom displays or as prompts for writing.
• Link this work into digital citizenship inquiry units.

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Final Thought

This drama lesson harnesses students’ imagination, empathy and creativity while reinforcing essential online safety rules. Through embodied learning and collaboration, students not only understand the rules—they feel the consequences and solutions.

Let’s continue fuelling safe and responsible tech use—one freeze frame at a time. 🎭💻✨