  urlLink Using Drama and Theatre To Promote Literacy Development: Some Basic Classroom Applications. ERIC Digest. This ERIC Digest is by Ping-Yun Sun. It reviews some simple ways to use drama to help reading skills.
From the ERIC Digest: Although numerous researchers have emphasized the tremendous effect drama and theatre can have on children's cognitive and affective development as well as provided abundant resources for teachers, there still exists a gap between understanding its value and actually applying it (Furman, 2000). The reasons teachers still hesitate to embrace the ideas of utilizing drama and theatre in classroom activities can be summarized as follows: (1) In the search for drama resources to develop curricula, teachers are easily overwhelmed by various terms used in drama and theatre, such as creative drama, creative dramatics, developmental drama, process drama, educational drama, improvisational drama, improvisation, informal drama, classroom drama, drama in education, etc. (2) Dramatic activities tend to be placed at the "edge" of the official curriculum; they seem to be time-consuming and unnecessary. (3) Since most teacher education programs do not offer courses related to drama and theatre, teachers are unfamiliar with facilitating dramatic activities (Furman, 2000). (4) Dramatic activities are so playful that teachers might be afraid that children will not take learning seriously.
In light of these factors that hinder teachers in the use of drama and theatre in classroom application, this Digest will explain the "myths" of drama and theatre and focus on their effect on children's literacy development. In addition, rather than presenting a tour de force of resources, this Digest will highlight some readily applicable strategies for classroom application. 
