Review: 40+ ‘Drama’ Strategies To Deepen Whole Class Learning

This comprehensive handbook, divided into two distinct sections, is a valuable resource for both primary and secondary drama teachers. The first section looks at methods for using drama strategies in different ways to explore the work taking place in the classroom. These are broken down into separate headings: supporting teaching and learning, thought and talk frames, supporting and improving writing, making and exploring images.

There are some really good ideas here – not merely well-documented tips that everyone's already familiar with. I particularly liked the section looking at written work as this can be an area sometimes lacking in drama handbooks. There are also suggestions for using the strategies to stimulate various types of conversation in preparation for written work, and also looks at providing motivation for written tasks by making them purposeful and directed at a responsive audience. All information is linked to the relative strategies in section 2, so you can see how each approach works in practical terms.