The Art of Conflict

Overview

This lesson plan focuses on enhancing Year 9 students' understanding and skills in dialogue and conflict within the drama curriculum. It aligns with the UK Key Stage 3 Drama educational standards, focusing on the development of speaking and listening skills and the ability to understand and convey subtext.

Curriculum Area: Spoken Language
Level: Key Stage 3

Learning Objectives

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

1. Understand how dialogue can be used to convey conflict in a scene.
2. Develop skills to interpret and perform dialogues with underlying or explicit conflict.
3. Critically analyse a dramatic text focusing on the use of language and subtext to represent conflict.

Resources

• Short script excerpts showcasing dialogue and conflict (see Appendix for examples).
• A whiteboard and markers.
• Space for role-play activities.
• Reflective journals for students.

Lesson Structure

Introduction (10 minutes)

1. Opening Discussion:

   • Begin with a brief discussion on "What is conflict in drama?" Encourage students to brainstorm different types of conflict (e.g., character vs character, internal, societal).
   • Write the student responses on the whiteboard to visualise different types of conflict.

2. Objective Narration:

   • Explain the lesson's objectives and highlight the importance of dialogue in conveying conflict.

Activity 1: Script Reading and Analysis (15 minutes)

1. Group Reading (5 minutes):

   • Divide the class into small groups of three.
   • Provide each group with a script excerpt from the handouts (Appendix) featuring dialogue-driven conflict.
   • Have students perform a cold read-through to become familiar with the text.

2. Analysis and Discussion (10 minutes):

   • Within their groups, ask students to identify the type of conflict present and discuss how it's conveyed through dialogue.
   • Have groups consider questions such as:
     • What words or phrases intensify the conflict?
     • What is left unsaid, and how does that contribute to the tension?

Activity 2: Role-Play and Improvisation (15 minutes)

1. Conflict Scenes (10 minutes):

   • Assign each group a conflict type and ask them to create their own short scene or dialogue of 3-4 lines based on that conflict, rooting it in a context relevant to their age (e.g., conflict over group project roles).
   • Encourage students to explore tone, pacing, and body language to emphasise conflict.

2. Performance and Feedback (5 minutes):

   • Ask each group to perform their scene in front of the class.
   • Provide constructive feedback focusing on how effectively the dialogue communicated the conflict.

Plenary and Reflection (10 minutes)

1. Class Reflection:

   • Invite students to sit in a circle. Facilitate a group discussion on what they learned about the use of dialogue in conveying conflict.
   • Possible questions:
     • "What did you find challenging?"
     • "How did the dialogue shape the scene's conflict?"

2. Reflective Journaling:

   • As a closing activity, have students write a brief reflection in their journals about what they discovered regarding dialogue and conflict, and one technique they might use in the future.

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Appendix: Script Excerpts

Example 1

Situation: A disagreement between two friends over a broken promise.

Dialogue:

• Character A: "You said you’d be there!"
• Character B: "I had no choice, things changed."
• Character A: "You always have an excuse, don’t you?"
• Character B: "Well, maybe I’m just tired of trying to please everyone!"

Example 2

Situation: A student struggling with whether or not to speak up about a dishonesty they witnessed.

Internal Dialogue:

• Character: "If I tell the truth, he’ll hate me. But if I keep quiet… is that who I am?"

This lesson plan provides an immersive experience that challenges students to interpret, perform, and analyse drama, focusing specifically on using dialogue as a tool to explore and express conflict.