Submitted by Daniel Lalonde on January 23, 2013 - 1:46pm
Here's a cool little exercise that works well as part of a tableau unit, or on its own. It works best with a class that you know can handle some of the subject matter with maturity.
Activity of the Week: Tableau Circle
Type of Activity: Tableau; Warm-up; Showing how drama can be used as a way of exploring personal/social issues; physical expression
Submitted by Daniel Lalonde on January 16, 2013 - 4:12pm
Here is another great activity to try in your class. It is particularly good in helping students break down their wall and get more comfortable with physical expression. Check the CODE site every week for a brand new activity.
Activity of the Week: Tell That Story
Type of Activity: Warm-up; Physical Expression; Specificity in Movement
Submitted by Daniel Lalonde on January 8, 2013 - 12:34pm
Every week, check out the CODE website to find a new activity that you can use in your classroom! Actvities could be warm-ups, ice breakers, acting exercises, scene development, improv, etc. Feel free to use these activites in your class and if they are successful or you have expanded the activity, we'd love to hear about it!
Activity of the Week - January 7-11 - Wuzzle Wuzzle
Type of Activity: Warm-up; Observation skills; Group/Trust building
Submitted by stephen wei on October 4, 2012 - 7:42am
If you are interested in serving on the CODE Executive board, please download the attached nomination form and submit to Wendie Gibbons at the CODE Conference.
Patrice Baldwin, President of the International Drama and Education Association providing workshops in Toronto
Submitted by stephen wei on October 2, 2012 - 10:21pm
PATRICE BALDWIN is President of the International Drama Theatre and Education Association (IDEA) and Chair of National Drama (UK), as well as a member of the Executive Council of the World Alliance for Arts Education. She was for many years, a headteacher and a local authority Adviser for Arts Development and Improvement and has been a school inspector. She also worked as a scriptwriter and series consultant for the BBC Education. Since becoming President of IDEA in July 2010, Patrice has worked increasingly internationally, as a speaker and workshop leader for Drama and also works freelance as a school improvement professional and arts and curriculum consultant in the UK. She is currently an Artsmark assessor for Arts Council England and a part time lecturer at the University of Warwick. Patrice is a well-established and prolific author in the field of drama, creativity and the curriculum and has a particular interest in the links between arts, learning and neuroscience as well as between drama and literacy.
This drama is based around an ambiguous poem, ‘The Listeners’ by Walter de la Mare. Using a range of drama strategies, participants will imagine and explore together what is both evident and inferred in the poem itself. Actively and collaboratively participants will explore and develop character/s, setting/s and plot/s in ways that will deepen that their understanding of the poem itself and also give opportunity for its narrative extension and elaboration. The drama approaches used will be transferable, for use with other poems and text types.
This drama session explores the picture book, ‘The Princess’ Blankets’ by Carol Ann Duffy. Through Storydrama participants will enter an imaginary world partly of their own making. They will use a range of drama strategies (using sound, words, movement, image) to collaboratively explore the universal themes of love, marriage, trust, fear, parenting and environmental sustainability. Although the book creates the frame for the drama, the participants will make it their own and the outcome of the drama is in the hands of the participants. The drama approaches used will be transferable, for use with other picture books and texts.
HARVESTIn Memory of Jason Edmonds Paul Davenport Theatre Western University Saturday, September 29,2012 at 7:30 p.m. Purchase Tickets through the Grand Theatre phone: 672-8800 featuring a special guest appearance by jazz vocalist, Denise Pelley.
STAGECRAFT posters instruct-at-a-glance, presenting basic theatre principles and ideas to help the student learn and the professional teach. These posters are ideal for classroom, green room and backstage; they can help the new student or volunteer to understand basic concepts and help the old hand to better explain them. The four stagecraft posters are: Back stage, Stage lighting, Stage Set Design and Construction, and Stage Management. Each poster measures approx. 18” x 24” (46cm x 61cm).
In Memory of CODE's founding member - Helen Dunlop
Submitted by Ashley Winchell on August 25, 2012 - 2:56pm
Helen Dunlop, Founder of CODE and a founding member of the Board of the Ken and Ann Watts Memorial Scholarship Foundation passed away on August 4th. Helen began her working life teaching English in Woodstock and Toronto, and then moved on to the Ministry of Education, where in the 1960’s she was instrumental in the introduction of Drama programs for Ontario Secondary Schools. She then became Assistant Superintendent in the Curriculum Division of the Department of Education, she nurtured the acceptance of drama as both a subject and as a methodology. Helen has been an honourary member of CODE since its founding in 1971 and we are especially grateful for all she has done. A memorial to celebrate Helen’s life was held in Toronto; our president, Brooke Charlebois attended on behalf of CODE. With her passing, the combined education, theatre, ballet and opera worlds have lost a widely respected colleague, friend and long-term supporter.
Registration is now open for the 2013 CODE Conference: Back to Basics, at Deerhurst Resort in Huntsville. Visit the conference website to register now.
Many of you have inquired about CODE's response to the Conservative Party's remarks about Justin Trudeau's ability to be a leader based on his work history, which included two years as a drama teacher. Below is CODE's official statement to the media about these remarks.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Council of Ontario Drama and Dance Educators (CODE)
The True Value of the Drama Teacher
Toronto, Ontario, April 2013
Suggesting that those who teach Drama are unworthy of leadership, or somehow lesser than those who lead is ignorant of the true value of drama in developing young people. The Council of Ontario Drama and Dance Educators is not affiliated with any political party and generally does not comment on federal politics. Education is a provincial matter. However, we do, as an organization, resent the negative connotations of the remark about Justin Trudeau’s experience as a drama teacher. Drama is a vital part of the curriculum at both the elementary and secondary school level. Participation in drama engages students and provides a powerful way for them to express their knowledge, ideas and to explore their understanding of the world around them. As Sir Ken Robinson says, “Creativity is as important now in education as literacy and we should treat it with the same status.” “The educators teaching this subject are highly skilled and trained. They are leaders in their schools and communities, developing our leaders of tomorrow, they are not ‘in over their heads.’ Our organization supports this profession with pride and passion,” states Brooke Charlebois, President of the Ontario Council of Dance and Drama Educators (CODE)
Drama is one of four mandatory arts subjects in Ontario.
The province of Ontario Arts Curriculum outlines that: "[Students] can identify common values, both aesthetic and human, in various works of art, and in doing so, increase their understanding of others. The arts can also encourage students to be responsible and critically literate members of society and citizens of the world. Students can learn to approach issues and present ideas and points of view in new ways and to challenge perceptions, while engaging their audience."
“Drama in fact, is a critical subject area that provides multiple tools and skills to help students to succeed in our very complex and ever changing modern world. They develop imagination, creativity, emotional literacy, communication skills, problem solving, and other critical thinking skills. All of these are essential skills for the 21st century citizen. Current education research demonstrates over and over that we need our future thinkers to be creative, critical, effective problem solvers who are process driven, flexible, open to change and able to create change themselves. This issue is not just about education but in fact our social, political and economic future,” says Charlebois.
The skills students learn in drama class are easily transferable to their experiences in the real world. Those who teach these skills are themselves leaders in education and our communities and should be respected as such. They are contributing to our children’s welfare and the welfare of our future economy.
Who we are: CODE is the Ontario provincial subject association for dance and drama. Our goal, as stated in our bylaws is to "encourage and support the development of drama and dance in education in Ontario".
To do this, we
Promote strong arts education in schools and communities across Ontario
Provide a forum a forum for the exchange of ideas among those involved in drama and dance in education
Provide leadership and advocacy in drama and dance in education
Provide professional development in those involved in drama and dance in education
Cooperate with existing arts agencies and education organizations.
