Foundation Class 

Why Is Drama So Important for Comprehension?

For the last few weeks, we have been reading a language rich text and then matching it with a non-fiction text. Pairing fiction with non-fiction is a fantastic way to engage all Preps and to help them understand the attributes and text features of both kinds of texts. We often think of these genres as separate and distinct, teaching them separately and not linking them for instruction.

The Preps have enjoyed comparing the two genres. Last week, we explored the well-known fiction book, “The Little Red Hen” and this week we are investigating chickens through non-fiction multimedia and texts, which will hopefully include a visit from a parent with some baby chicks later in the week.

Last week, we also included some drama while we were exploring ‘The Little Red Hen’. We have included this activity in past texts. The acting out of play dialogue allows the Preps to work more closely with the text to interpret it and project meaning into the experience. As a result, the students show improvement in vocabulary, comprehension, and retention.

The Prep students loved the experience of interacting with their peers and acting out the Little Red Hen, the Cat, the Duck and the Dog. It enabled the students to have empathy for the characters and have a better understanding of them in the story. Everyone enjoyed the roleplaying, as it embraced the students imagination and created a love for learning.