The English in Action series provides a range of fun, practical drama-based activities for students in Years 7–11. Particularly useful for English and Drama classes, these stand-alone activities can be used in any order to suit your curriculum.

Each activity comes complete with full teacher notes and printable activity pages – picture cards, word cards, student journal sheets or whatever is required in the class. Extension ideas are also offered to lengthen each activity or provide new challenges for advanced students.

These activities will do more than just improve skills in Drama – students will use their problem-solving, teamwork, performance, improvisation and writing skills to work with language in innovative ways. You’ll also find plenty of tips for encouraging even the most timid students into participating! Series 2 also includes staging tips, performance tips and a handy template for reviewing professional and class performances.

Topics Include:

• Move it – a fun warm-up to get students moving
• Envelopes – creating characters from the letters they post
• Pitch – trying a persuasive ‘hard sell’ on the class
• Ingredients – incorporating random elements to create a scene
• Agendas – two characters with different motivations talk it out
• Opera score – turning operatic duets into dramatic dialogue
• Video script – scripting original dialogue for a recorded scene
• What’s cooking? – reading non-verbal language
• Urgent communications – conveying a desperate message without words
• Graft poses – a spontaneous, fast-paced physical activity