Engaging the pupils when teaching allows a process of learning to activate. The engagement encourages the learners to explore more and process information more effectively.
The Spirit of Christmas is Peace by Linda DeGree is a book featuring a play following an alien learning about Christmas on Earth. A choir of students and a band of angels in heaven help guide the alien to gather information about the true spirit of Christmas. Author Linda DeGree intended to create a play that would cater to 35 pupils as cast members of the play, which showcases each one of them in conveying the message of the piece.
As an educator, you want your learners to digest the information you are teaching. Engaging the pupils in children’s plays allows them to explore and experience the learning process in real time. Active learning is an educational tool that allows the learners to engage in activities that provide the lessons to learn.
Letting the kids join a beginner’s theatre play will help them explore and encounter lessons through a story. As they get into the shoes of different characters, they will absorb information from the play, learning the lessons they are conveying firsthand.
But how does one properly handle a group of kids in a play? Here are ways to facilitate a children’s play:
Involve Yourself in the Process
As the facilitator, engaging with the pupils helps create a collaborative atmosphere in the room. Rather than focusing on the goal of producing a fun play, you need to immerse yourself in the process. You may ask the pupils questions when they introduce an action to help them navigate their characters in the play. For example, if the kid uses a telescope, you might want to ask what the kid sees through the lens. What does the view make them feel? Are they looking at something panoramic, fascinating, or fear-inducing view? You can use this to let them get into character more, thus learning the lesson more easily.
Keep Their Interests Burning
When collaborating with young learners in a play, you may observe how they explore their spaces and the objects they interact with. Engaging the pupils with the materials allows them to process information and learn the lessons in the story. As you discover their interests in the collaboration, you can find leverage to keep them curious to explore more. While observing the kids, you can make comments, provide a new scenario, or give a new set of props to let them stay active in the process. With this, active learning takes place without you exerting much effort to feed them information.
Reflect the Young Learners’ Emotions
When facilitating a children’s play, you may observe some individuals enjoying much of their time. Engaging the pupils with your material will help them express what they feel in a certain scene. Reflect their emotions to help them properly execute a direction. When you reflect on what they are expressing, you actually give them a sense of validation that they are doing great.
Help the Kids Negotiate Skills
If you are engaging the pupils in an active learning strategy, you might as well introduce new skills to help them deal with other challenges they may encounter in the future. When you notice they are struggling with a certain direction, you can always introduce new skills to let them think of alternatives in completing a task. To do this, you must be able to let them identify the problems first when they start to struggle with their tasks. You may ask them questions and suggest other ways to keep them thinking and discover their way out of their dilemma.
Let them Explore and Accept
Allow the kids to explore and accept ideas when immersed in a story they will portray. With this, a collaborative atmosphere allows them to discover new ideas from their peers and helps them find ways to convey their message as a unit. Provide varied materials to keep them thinking for new possibilities. Let them have the time to explore and accept as they develop new skills to pass through a challenging task.
Engaging the pupils in your play should help them digest information faster as they are actively learning from the experience. The collaborations will create core memories they can treasure for the future.
The Spirit of Christmas is Peace by Linda DeGree is a play that can be used by a large class to convey a message about the true meaning of Christmas. Get a copy of the book today!
