  urlLink Dramatic Activities in Language Arts Classrooms: Resource Summary. ERIC Digest. This ERIC Digest is by Sibel Tatar. It looks at the different resources need to teach language arts skills using dramatic activities.
From the ERIC Digest: Increasing numbers of teachers are discovering classroom drama to be highly valuable as an instructional tool (Kaaland-Wells, 1994). In dramatic activities, children learn to use language effectively and creatively while they are experiencing different points of views, looking for solutions, and discussing ideas. This digest will review some of the related literature regarding the benefits of classroom drama, as well as introduce a variety of resources to help educators incorporate dramatic activities in their language arts classrooms.
Although several terms have been used to refer to "classroom drama" such as creative dramatics, educational drama, theater games, sociodramatic play, role drama, and role playing, the terms "creative drama" and "drama in education" are umbrella concepts which embrace all the various types of improvised and informal drama used in classrooms. According to some authors, the goal and focus of creative drama are twofold: (1) creating "an experience through which students may come to under-stand human interactions, empathize with other people, and internalize alternative points of view" (Wagner, 1988, p. 5), and (2) developing understanding and learning through drama rather than "some finished product such as a well-mounted play" (Heinig, 1993, p. 22). In other words, the purpose of educational drama is not to produce a theater play for an audience but to contribute to students' personality growth and facilitate their learning by having them respond to situations, dilemmas, or conflicts assuming the role of imagined characters. It should be also noted that almost all students, regardless of their artistic skills for acting, can perform and benefit from this type of drama.
For example, some of the techniques used in creative drama such as mime, movement exercises or invented dialogue give every child an opportunity to be actively engaged in drama without necessarily having to act or speak (Stewig, 2000). According to Heining (1993, p. 6), the value of drama in teaching language arts comes from the fact that "learning language arts becomes more meaningful when it stimulates everyday life experiences.
" Dramatic performance can provide students an opportunity to use language to express various emotions, to solve problems, to make decisions, to socialize, and to develop empathy which eventually contributes to their self-esteem and creativity. In addition, drama activities may be useful in the development of oral communication skills, reading, and writing. Through drama, children may discover different styles and registers which are very different from their everyday speech. Wagner (1998) notes that "drama provides children with experiences that enhance their ability to judge the appropriateness of verbal and non-verbal communication strategies for a wide variety of imagined experiences" (p. 35). Drama has also been found by one author to be helpful for reading and writing skills: McCaslin (1990), for instance, argues that "most teachers find drama to be a strong motivation for reading and vocabulary building" (p. 291). The oral language skills developed through drama have also been found by some scholars to facilitate student's writing skills (Heathcote, 1981; Wagner, 1985). 
