These lessons are aimed towards students at the Stage 2 (Years 3-4) level of education.

In each of the lessons below, you will find links to download each PDF lesson plan with its associated resources as a complete pack (click on ‘Download Full Lesson Plan’), or  just the individual resources themselves (under ‘Lesson Resources’).

Lesson Overview

Students will delve into the differences of The Dreamtime versus Dreaming stories. Using storytelling, students will take on the role of local fauna and play a part in Australia’s First Nations Dreamtime story, Tiddalick The Frog, while exploring the importance of sharing water and resources.

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Lesson Outcomes

A student will learn to:

  • take on both individual and group roles
  • recognise that drama is used for different purposes in communities and cultures, e.g. through observations of indigenous performances.

A student will learn about:

  • devising the action through movement and voice by adapting stories such as a well-known cultural story, developing a particular character, exploring the consequences of the story’s ending or creating dramatic meaning through metaphor.

Lesson Overview

Students will focus on popular characters and identify what draws people to be interested in them. Students will explore a range of positive personality traits, that they will then be able to connect to themselves as personal attributes. Through these activities, students will discover that often when looking at someone, we first see their physical appearance, however delving deeper to look at personality traits should be of high importance to us.

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Lesson Outcomes

A student will learn to:

  • use the elements of drama, to deepen the meaning of the drama, and in discussing drama work
  • sustain and build belief in their roles.

A student will learn about:

  • making decisions and asking questions which help to develop in-role depth and dramatic responses.

Lesson Overview

Individually and collaboratively, students discuss and explore the possible personality traits and interests of an unknown character. Students are to create a character from a visual stimulus and are encouraged to reflect upon and challenge any assumptions or preconceived ideas they may have. When creating and performing these characters, students will focus on the dramatic elements of voice, gesture, and movement.

» Download Full Lesson Plan

Lesson Outcomes

A student will learn to:

  • express dramatic meaning by taking on and sustaining familiar and different roles and by selecting character-specific props, gestures and movements
  • consolidate interpretative and symbolic work in the drama forms of improvisation, movement, storytelling, and playbuilding
  • devise drama using narrative or episodic sequences in collaboration with others
  • interpret the meaning of their own drama and that of others.

A student will learn about:

  • making decisions and asking questions which help to develop in-role depth and dramatic responses
  • acting in and devising drama from the perspective of drama maker and audience
  • appreciating drama by viewing others’ performances.

Lesson Overview

Students will learn four basic Auslan words that help explore the theme of friendship. Students will create a performance, based on a scenario they have constructed in small groups. The aim is for students to create inclusive scenarios that account for different characters’ preferences and needs.

» Download Full Lesson Plan

Lesson Outcomes

A student will learn to:

  • express dramatic meaning by taking on and sustaining familiar and different roles and by selecting character-specific props, gestures and movements
  • consolidate interpretative and symbolic work in the drama forms of improvisation, movement, storytelling, and playbuilding
  • devise drama using narrative or episodic sequences in collaboration with others
  • interpret the meaning of their own drama and that of others.

A student will learn about:

  • making decisions and asking questions which help to develop in-role depth and dramatic responses
  • acting in and devising drama from the perspective of drama maker and audience
  • appreciating drama by viewing others’ performances.

Lesson Overview

Using a range of diverse scenarios, students compose a performance that caters to those who may be vision impaired. Through narration, students are able to orally set the scene, and provide detail to an improvised group performance.

» Download Full Lesson Plan

Lesson Outcomes

A student will learn to:

  • express dramatic meaning by taking on and sustaining familiar and different roles and by selecting character-specific props, gestures and movements
  • consolidate interpretative and symbolic work in the drama forms of improvisation, movement, mime and storytelling
  • interpret the meaning of their own drama and that of others.

A student will learn about:

  • acting in and devising drama from the perspective of drama maker and audience
  • appreciating drama by viewing others’ performances.

Lesson Overview

Throughout this lesson, students will explore the use of sound to create mood and facilitate audience engagement during a performance. Building on the narration from the previous lesson ‘Our Five Senses’, students will take on the role of a character and participate in a performance, without the use of dialogue. As an audience, students will experience a new way of viewing a performance when they have their back to the stage.

» Download Full Lesson Plan

Lesson Outcomes

A student will learn to:

  • express dramatic meaning by taking on and sustaining familiar and different roles and by selecting character-specific props, gestures and movements
  • consolidate interpretative and symbolic work in the drama forms of movement, mime, storytelling, and playbuilding
  • devise drama using narrative or episodic sequences in collaboration with others
  • interpret the meaning of their own drama and that of others.

A student will learn about:

  • interpreting everyday situations through a range of drama elements (e.g. tension, contrast, symbol, time, space, focus, mood)
  • acting in and devising drama from the perspective of drama maker and audience
  • appreciating drama by viewing others’ performances.

Lesson Overview

Students will engage in a number of drama activities designed to maximise participation and confidence building through: gesture, playbuilding, class discussion and teamwork. Students will also work in groups, involving scripted presentations (written by the students) and improvisation. Through these activities, students will determine that every person has the capacity to display a range of positive values associated with being a good person.

» Download Full Lesson Plan

Lesson Outcomes

A student will learn to:

  • express dramatic meaning by taking on and sustaining familiar and different roles and by selecting character-specific props, gestures and movements
  • devise drama using narrative or episodic sequences in collaboration with others.

A student will learn about:

  • making decisions and asking questions which help to develop in-role depth and dramatic responses
  • acting in and devising drama from the perspective of drama maker and audience.

Lesson Overview

This lesson follows on from the ‘What are Values?’ lesson, which needs to be completed prior to commencing this lesson. Students will present their Key Values Performances that were created in the previous lesson. Students will be assessed on their involvement in the performance. This performance will form their overall Drama grade for the term. The assessment may also be used to help form students’ English (Speaking and Listening) grade.

» Download Full Lesson Plan

Lesson Outcomes

A student will learn to:

  • communicate through speaking, listening, reading, writing, viewing and representing
  • make connections between Standard Australian English and different methods of communication, including home language, sign language and body language
  • express dramatic meaning by taking on and sustaining familiar and different roles and by selecting character-specific props, gestures and movements
  • interpret the meaning of their own drama and that of others.

A student will learn about:

  • interpreting everyday situations through a range of drama elements (e.g. tension, contrast, symbol, time, space, focus, mood)
  • appreciating drama by viewing others’ performances.