About Ron Birkhahn

I remember that when I first began teaching drama, I struggled to find exciting two-person stories to adapt for dramatic use with my teens. Although teachers may be tempted to use large-group activities with early drama students, I have found that partner work can be the best way to introduce core skills, ease students into … Read more

While we typically associate drama with spontaneity, I’ve found structure more effective when working with younger children.  Kids of younger age prefer routines –  to know what to expect out of the day and the lesson.  This is one of the drama challenges with younger students doing drama integration.  But if you apply structure effectively, … Read more

Young children need a way to recognize incorrect behavior choices while also feeling in control in the classroom.  Because drama is a collaborative art form, students can observe their behavior and the behavior of others though active encounters in social situations.   Drama allows the students to redirect poor choices of behavior into more positive choices … Read more

A teacher recently posed a question to me assessing student discussion in class:  “What is the best way to get students to speak up in class and how should that be evaluated?”  I recommend you consider three topics:  objectives from state or national standards, school-based requirements for student participation and what is essential learning in the … Read more

We know words can be very powerful.  Choosing the right words leads to clear and effective assessments.  Selecting them is an art…but you don’t need to do them yourself.  I’ve provided tips on creating assessments in my latest blog. Additionally, I’ve created many grade-appropriate assessments linked to national standards during many years of working with … Read more

As teachers we want to teach everything right away but the best practice is to introduce a skill or concept, demonstrate how it is used in practice, then turn it over to the students to experiment and apply it in a dramatic story or activity.  Where drama is concerned the saying “less is more” holds … Read more

Since I started using drama in teaching over 40 years ago, I’ve found that drama builds personal character.  This is done through many of its interactive processes such as planning, rehearsing, devising, evaluating, and critiquing others.  During the acting process, actors must interpret, analyze, discuss, and imitate the character traits of the roles they play in a … Read more