Ready for action?
Resources
Tangible Resources
All prior research
Goals, messages & concepts
Specific goals
- To use expressive arts to educate others about illicit drugs in an engaging and meaningful way.
- To devise, develop and refine a dramatic piece.
Specific messages
- Depth of meaning and experience can be created in a dramatic piece by carrying out and using detailed research of the subject to enhance plot and characterisation.
Main terms
- plot
- characterisation
- structure
- audience
- communication
Practices & skills
STEM practices
- Analysing and interpreting data
- Constructing explanations and designing solutions
- Developing and using models
- Engaging in argument from evidence
- Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information
Soft skills
- Empathy
- Learning failure is a part of learning
- Teamwork and collaboration
Management skills
- Planning
- Use of resources
Course of activity
step 1
To prepare for this Learning Unit, students will analyse and interpret all the research they have carried out to draw out the 'human story'. They will discuss how they can use drama to model the impact of drugs to an audience, and how they can use their scientific knowledge to ensure their characterisation is accurate.
step 2
Students will work in their group to write a script, following this structure:
- Start with a flashback or a flashforward
- Introduce characters
- Introduce a plot
- End on a cliffhanger
step 3
Students will work on Scene 1, an introduction to the teenage characters. They will build their scene by identifying a reason why one or both of the characters are considering experimenting drugs (e.g. mental health, negative family situation, thrill, exterior pressure – peer pressure, social media and traditional media).
step 4
Scene 2 will illustrate the euphoria/feeling of taking drugs. Students may incorporate a level of poetry, include freeze frames at the start and end of each scene, and use characterisation.
step 5
Scene 3 will illustrate the consequences of using drugs (e.g. getting expelled, losing job/house, loss of pleasure).
step 6
Once devised, students will assemble all three scenes together, adding seamless transitions. They will rehearse and refine their dramatic piece ready for performance.