Exploring Narrative Elements Through a Drama Game

The fourth graders in Katie Giordano’s class at Arts and Letters 305 United in Brooklyn, New York, play theater games to develop and reinforce their academic work. From morning meetings to warm-ups, brain breaks to academic exercises, these students have done a variety of improvisation activities in a wide range of subjects, including English language arts, math, science, and social studies. Today, they began a writing lesson with an improv exercise that helped them explore basic narrative elements, called “Somebody Wanted But So Then.” 

Before taking a pencil to paper, five students stand in front of the class, and each is assigned a role. The first person is “Somebody” and is responsible for starting the game by naming a character aloud. The second person in the line is “Wanted” and must say what the character desires. The next person, “But,” introduces the conflict, and “So” provides the way the character works through the conflict. The fifth and last person is “Then,” and they come through with the resolution. Going down the line, each student shares their portion, and a full story comes together. Everyone is thinking on their feet—and must listen carefully to the person before them.

The game is a great way to unlock students’ writing potential. “When you play in a group, there is this collective sense of anything goes. Whereas oftentimes (alone), we censor ourselves,” says guest teacher and Child’s Play NY founder Jocelyn Greene. “But when you play it with each other in this fast-paced, improvisational style, it all is a yes and it all works.”

The fun and supportive environment that improv creates—where ideas can be shared freely—sets the stage for writing. By exploring the the narrative elements that make up a story through a game, students become so familiar that writing is not so difficult. As Greene notes, “They’re taking that same generosity that they gave to each other, and they can give it to themselves when they sit down in front of the paper. And it’s not a blank paper anymore. They know they have to say ‘Somebody Wanted But So Then’ and let’s go with it! And they kind of flow from there.”

For more theater games that support learning, check out the many articles that Child’s Play NY founder Jocelyn Greene has written for Edutopia.