Take a Bow!: Lesson Plans for Pre-School Drama (Young Actors Series)
Czitrom reminds readers through lesson plans that "drama is storytelling." While a section on fairy tales covers traditional favorites such as "Little Red Riding Hood" and "Jack and the Beanstalk," it is in both the adventure unit and the section on "New Ideas" that the author becomes creative while framing stories around careers or a day in space. It goes without saying that "Moral Stories" tend to be a bit didactic. The many follow-up activities range from charades to "listening signals" that teachers often use, such as blinking the lights to prepare the class for further instruction. A concluding unit helps set goals for either a small, half-hour circle-group play or a loftier goal of an original production with several dress rehearsals. Although these drama ideas are planned for preschoolers to learn about a story's beginning, middle, and end, many of them could be easily adapted for older ESL or LD students as they extend their vocabularies or model appropriate behavior.–Blair Christolon, Prince William Public Library System, Manassas, VACopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.