Exploring Characters Together

Overview

A 60-minute drama session designed for Year 2 students to explore characters, emotions, and cooperative role play within a familiar short story context. This lesson plan aligns with the New Zealand Curriculum Refresh, particularly focusing on the English learning area’s drama and oral language strands, nurturing the development of students' communication, collaboration, and imaginative skills.

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Curriculum Links

Learning Areas & Strands

• English / Oral Language (Years 1-3):
  • Communicating Ideas and Information: Engage with and contribute to discussions; use expressive oral language to communicate ideas and feelings.
  • Taking on Roles: Try behaving and speaking as someone else; interact and maintain roles in role play.
• Key Competencies:
  • Relating to Others: Work collaboratively in role play, showing empathy and cooperation.
  • Thinking: Understand characters’ motives and emotions through story interpretation.
  • Participating and Contributing: Engage actively and share ideas in group activities.

Achievement Objectives (Foundation Phase: Years 0-3)

• Learn to use imagination and creativity to interpret stories and express ideas in role play.
• Understand simple story structure including characters and plot.
• Use verbal and non-verbal communication to express character emotions.

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Learning Objectives

By the end of the lesson, students will be able to:

1. Identify and describe the main characters in a short story.
2. Express emotions of characters through voice, facial expression, and body language.
3. Collaborate with peers to act out simple scenes, showing respect for others’ ideas and roles.

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Materials Needed

• A short, age-appropriate storybook (choose a story with clear characters and emotions, e.g., Where the Wild Things Are or a well-known New Zealand children’s story).
• Space for movement and acting.
• Simple props or costume items (optional).
• Visual aids: Character pictures or name cards.

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Lesson Breakdown

Time	Activity	Description	Notes
0-10 min	Introduction & Story Read-Aloud	Gather students on the mat; read the chosen short story aloud with expression and pauses to engage students.	Use animated voice and facial expression to model emotions.
10-20 min	Discussing Characters & Plot	Facilitate a guided discussion about the story: Who are the characters? What happened? How did they feel?	Use visual aids. Encourage different opinions and personal connections.
20-35 min	Role Play Preparation	Divide class into small groups (~5 students). Assign or let each group choose a simple scene from the story to act out.	Model simple role play behaviours and language structures (“I am [character], I feel…”). Encourage body language and voice variation.
35-55 min	Role Play Activity	Groups act out their scenes in front of the class. Encourage audience to observe and express what emotions or actions they notice.	Rotate roles if time permits. Provide positive reinforcement.
55-60 min	Reflection & Assessment	Circle discussion: What was your favourite character to be? How did you show their feelings? What was fun or tricky about working together? Teacher observes and notes participation and emotional expression during role play.	Provide positive feedback focusing on cooperation and expressive skills.

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Teaching Tips

• Use clear, simple language and scaffold new vocabulary around feelings and actions (e.g., happy, sad, scared, walk, jump).
• Model and demonstrate role play for students unfamiliar with drama activities.
• Be attentive to cultural inclusiveness and ensure stories and characters reflect diverse identities, including Aotearoa New Zealand contexts and te ao Māori perspectives if possible.
• Encourage turn-taking and supportive listening to enhance cooperative learning.

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Assessment

• Formative: Teacher observes and records student participation and ability to express emotions during role play.
• Indicators of achievement:
  • Students stay in role and use body language or voice to express character emotions.
  • Students listen and respond cooperatively to peers.
  • Students can describe characters and story events orally in discussion.

Use these observations to guide future drama or oral language activities.

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This lesson plan celebrates storytelling as a key taonga tuku iho (treasure) of Aotearoa New Zealand and fosters students' joy in drama through a shared story experience, consistent with the New Zealand Curriculum's vision and values to promote creativity, communication, and cultural awareness in young learners.