To be used during a

Unit review week or

STAAR Preparation
weeks for 5th grade

Drama
Objectives
Elements and Structure
Vocabulary
Lesson
Discussion Questions

Objectives

RC2 S-Reading/Comprehension of Literary Text/Drama.

Students understand, make inferences and draw conclusions
about the structure and elements of drama and provide
evidence from text to support their understanding.
Tested SEs for Drama
F19 (D) Reading Comprehension Skills - make inferences
about text and use textual evidence to support understanding
2(B) use the context of the sentence and surrounding text
(e.g., in-sentence example or definition) to determine the
meaning of unfamiliar words or multiple meaning words
F19 (E) summarize and paraphrase texts in ways that
maintain meaning and logical order within a text and
across texts
8(A) evaluate the impact of sensory details, imagery, and
figurative language in literary text

STAAR Vocabulary
Actor/Actress- A male or female person who performs a role in
a play, work of theatre, or
movie.
Costume- Clothing worn by an actor on stage during a
performance.
Cue- A signal, either verbal or physical, that indicates something
else, such as a
line of dialogue or an entrance, is to happen.
Dialogue-The conversation between actors on stage.
Narrator-person telling the story and exposition (not involved in
the action or related to characters)
Play -The stage representation of an action or a story; a
dramatic composition.
Playwright- A person who writes plays.
Props-Items carried on stage by an actor; small items on the set
used by the actors.

Elements

Theme-What does it mean?

What the play means as opposed to what happens
(the plot). Sometimes the theme is clearly stated in
the title. It may be stated through dialogue (words
or lines spoken by a character or narrator) by a
character acting as the playwrights voice. Or it may
be the theme is less obvious and emerges only
after some study or thought.

Elements
Plot-The action
The events of a play, the story as opposed to the
theme -what happens rather than what it means.
The plot must have some sort of pattern by which
each action starts the next, rather than standing
alone without connection to what came before it or
what follows. In the plot of a play, characters are
involved in conflict that has a pattern of movement.
The action and movement in the play begins from
the initial conflict, through rising action, climax, and
falling action to resolution.

Elements
Characters or Cast
These are the people presented in the play that are involved
in the plot. Each character should have his/her own
personality, age, appearance, beliefs, background, and
language. The reader should note character relationships
with one another and their involvement in the plot.
Language
The word choices made by the playwright. Language and
dialogue delivered by the characters moves the plot and
action along, provides exposition and defines the
characters. Each playwright creates imagery and sensory
details through dialogue and stage directions to appeal to a
readers senses.

Structure
Most modern plays are structured into acts that can
be further divided into scenes and acts. Scenes
are usually used to :
Introduce new characters
Introduce new settings
Foreshadow future events
Generally the wants and desires of one character
will conflict with another character. With this
method the playwright establishes a pattern of
introducing conflict, rising action, climax, and
resolution. This is the common structure of literary

Structure
Stage Directions
Nonverbal instructions written as part of the script
of a play, a message describing how something is
to be done or how something should be spoken.
Often in italics or (parentheses)
Dialogue
The words/phrases/speeches spoken by each
character in a play.

Structure
Exposition
Exposition is important information that the
audience needs to know in order to follow the main
story line of the play. It is the aspects of the story
that the audience may hear about but that they will
not witness in actual scenes. It includes the past
actions of the characters before the plays opening
scenes progress.
Foreshadowing - When the writer clues the reader
in to something that will eventually occur in the
story; it may be explicit (obvious) or implied
(disguised). Usually found in scene changes

Structure
Plot - the arrangement of ideas and/or incidents
that make up the story in a drama or play
Conflict-the struggle or problem characters
most overcome (man vs man, man vs. self, man
vs. nature)
Rising Action-the section of the plot beginning
with the first action and the
sequence of events
moving to the crisis or climax. These scenes make
up the body of the play and usually create a
sense of continuous building suspense for the
audience.

Structure
The Climax/Crisis
All of the earlier scenes and actions in a play will build to the
highest level of dramatic intensity. This is the moment where the
mystery is starting to be solved, there is a twist or turning point,
the audience wants to know what happens next, or something is
revealed. This should be the point of the highest stage of
dramatic intensity in the action suspense of the play. The whole
combined actions of the play generally lead up to this moment.
Resolution
The resolution is the moment of the play in which the
conflicts are resolved. It is the solution to the conflict in the
play, the answer to the mystery, and the clearing up of the
final details. This is the scene that answers the questions
raised earlier in the play. In this scene the methods and

Structure

Strategies
Preview the drama by reading the title, characters, and narrator. Read
any background information provided.
Read the drama once for overall meaning.
Visualize the characters. What does the person look like? How do
they sound? How do they deliver each line? Think about the the setting
to have a clear understanding of the storys time and place. Try to
imagine the sets (scenery and props),costumes, and lighting..
Sit in the Directors Chair. To visualize the play, the
student should think like a director. To truly appreciate the
dramatic literature, a student must imagine the cast (crew of
actors), the set, and the movement.
Evaluate the dramas theme by asking what message is the
play trying to send or help you understand? Does it relate to
your life in any way?

Lesson (2-3 Days)

Whole Class Select a provided play and read aloud as a class.
Model using strategies.
Model how to identify elements and structure of the play.
As a class, model and complete a story map/mountain graphic
organizer of the play.
Provide students discussion questions on the last slide. Allow students
to Think-pair-share each question and then discuss.
Answer STAAR-aligned comprehension questions as a class.
Group or Pairs
Select a provided play and read in groups or pairs
Students discuss each strategy
Students discuss the elements and structure.
In groups or pairs, students complete story map/mountain organizer.
Provide students discussion questions on the next slide. Students
answer select questions in groups
Groups share story maps and answers with the class

Lesson (2-3 Days)

Individual Students answer STAAR aligned comprehension questions
Writing-Students will write a paragraph comparing and contrasting a
drama to another literary genre. Students should compare and contrast
the structure and elements
Technology Options
On iPads, students use the app Tools4Students to create a
story graphic organizer.

Additional online story mapping sites:

http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/interactives/dramamap/
http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/interactives/plot-diagram/

Students can publish their compare and contrast essay using Keynote,
Pages, or Prezi

Discussion Questions
Plot
What are key events that advance the plot? Do they foreshadow one another?
Conflicts
What kinds of conflict are in the playfor instance, between two groups, two individuals, or an
individuals internal struggle?
Resolution
How are the conflicts resolved?

Which character(s) helped to resolve the conflict?

Is the resolution satisfying to you?

Characters
How does the author develop the characters?

How are the characters related?

How is each involved in the conflict?

Do the characters change as the play proceeds?

Structure and Elements
How do the playwrights stage directions add to your understanding of the play?

What do they imply about the characters tone, attitude, or gestures to another character or
situation?

Why is the setting important to the play? How is it revealed?

How do costumes or props add to the meaning of the play?

How are props and lighting involved in the conflict, climax, and resolution?

What is the theme?