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Providing Opportunities for Interactive Learning
through Drama, Language, and Mathematics

Action Research Project

Fatima Santos, 1997

 

Introduction   The central concern in my practice was that I was not giving my grade 4 students sufficient opportunities for productive interaction with their peers. The first few lessons I taught were teacher-centered and consisted of the children working individually at their desks. These lessons were solid in the sense that I integrated audio and visual stimuli to teach my lessons and then asked students to perform a task which would demonstrate their understanding. Most of the students responded well to the lessons. I recognized however that the learning would be more dynamic and successful if students were given greater responsibility in the learning process and interacted more with their peers. This type of interactive learning and exploration can lead to a far greater understanding of the concepts than a totally teacher-centered lesson ever could.  

The Process   My associate was equally interested in having the students interact more with each other and was very open to my suggestions. With a class that had rarely been asked to work in groups we decided to proceed slowly.  

Professional ReadingAs I searched for methods to increase student interaction within the classroom, I was influenced by Kohn's book "Beyond Discipline: From Compliance to Community". He reiterated my concern that student interaction and ownership should be, but is often not, promoted in the classroom. He stressed that our main objective in the classroom as teachers should be to increase depth of understanding and motivation. These goals are not effectively accomplished by maximizing silent individual work. I decided to provide students with increased opportunities for group work and problem solving. My primary role would be one of facilitator, not enforcer.

I also examined the "Primary Program Foundation Document" published by the province of British Columbia which outlined the many features and strengths of the various curriculum areas ranging from mathematics to the fine arts. Among those described in the document, drama was characterized as both a process and a learning medium which "releases children to move, speak, and respond more freely than traditional classroom activities." I was determined therefore to incorporate drama into my lessons. I also studied the 1997 Ontario mathematics curriculum in order to find guidelines about how to teach mathematics in a fun and interactive way. What I found in the Ontario mathematics curriculum were very specific expectations, with no specification as to how teachers should attain the outlined goals. Lessons could be as creative and expansive as the teacher planned. During my on-campus weeks at the Faculty of Education I also learned some interactive curriculum ideas from my various professors.

In summary, I aimed to make learning more interactive by using the following four strategies:

1. Introducing drama across the curriculum;
2. Relating math to real life;
3. Allowing students to lead the teacher in an activity;
4. Integrating math and literature.

1. Introduction of Drama into My Lesson  

I was planning a lesson on friendship and saw the perfect opportunity for students to start working collaboratively. Students were asked to make groups of 2, 3, or 4 and were given a short problematic scenario. They had to prepare a skit which included portrayal of the problem and their resolution of the situation. Immediately groups were at work deciding who would play what role, what they would do and how they would do it. The skits were well done and after each skit I led discussions. The discussions were rich and included the students sharing alternative solutions, feelings and ideas about issues ranging from stealing to racism.  

2. Relating Math to Real Life  

In class, we had just begun "The Voyage of the Mimi" which is a cross-curricular unit on whales. The unit involves students watching a series of episodes about a group of people who have gone whale-watching. Accompanying the video series is a book containing language, math and/or science exercises for each episode. The unit itself includes centres and a lot student interaction. The students were all immediately intrigued by the topic of whales. They would eagerly await that time in the day when we would study the "Voyage of the Mimi" (even on days that didn't include the video).

I was asked to teach a lesson comparing different whale sizes. I started the lesson by asking the students how long the Blue Whale (30m) was... the length of one student?, of the classroom?, of the school?. As I expected the students were uncertain and a debate occurred. The only solution, I said, was to actually measure them out. I asked the students to make their own groups and then I gave each group a metre stick (or measuring tape) and string. Each group was assigned a different whale. The energy in the room was electric. Students were excited and totally dedicated to the task. They asked questions of each other and delegated tasks and only one or two students needed my help in finding some direction. After they were done measuring, they had to answer questions together as a group such as "How many centimeters long was your whale?".

The next logical step was to have students stretch their string outside, on the school ground, and draw the whales to full size with chalk. Again this task reaped amazing results. Though they had measured out the lengths with string, nothing had prepared them for seeing the actual length of the whales. Since the whales were huge, each child was involved in drawing their part of the whale. Wonderful, unplanned learning occurred. One group, for example, decided to see how long their whale was using a unit other than meters. (Did you know that the Grey Whale was "11 students and 2 feet long?") Students learned the relative size of whales to real life objects such as the school building.  

3. Allowing Students to Lead an Activity  

Graphing is an essential skill that should be extended throughout the grades. The students had already completed one graph when I began this action research project, but I wondered if they really understood the information that a graph relayed. Therefore, I decided to have the students lead me in making a graph. Before I even spoke of graphs, I asked them how we can show the different size of whales. Students answered with answers such as string, paper, metre sticks, people, etc.. Then I asked how they could show this on a single piece of paper. Eventually someone told me that using a graph would work. The students instructed me as to the steps I should take in creating the graph. As I did each step on an overhead, students prepared their own graph. When we had problems, I let the students discuss amongst themselves how we could solve them. One student said, for example, that the largest whale was 30 metres and that we only had 10 spaces on the vertical axis. The class solved this problem together; students were actively learning.  

4. Integrating Math and Literature  

I felt that integrating literature and mathematics would intrinsically motivate the students and lead to productive learning on many fronts. We made tangrams together and then I read "Grandfather Tang's Story" by Ann Tompert. During the story, students changed their tangrams to correspond to characters in the book. This activity involved manipulating different geometric shapes, a process that is essential for mathematical understanding. The book also allowed students to predict what was going to happen after every page. Prediction, of course, is a cornerstone of mathematics and reading ability.    

The Results    

1. Many important skills were exercised and the learning was more expansive than seat work often allows. Mathematical skills, such as measuring and manipulating geometric shapes, were performed. Language skills were also practiced, as well as interpersonal skills necessary for group work. Students at various levels of intellectual development were successful at the tasks since the tasks required students to make use of many forms of intelligence. Unexpected learning situations occurred, for example, when students decided to measure the length of the whale in number of people. Understanding was deep, as demonstrated by the fact that students were able to lead me in making a graph and explain what it meant. Students were also able to relate the size of different whales to concrete objects in the school yard.  

2. Students were excited about doing these activities.   The students' feedback about the activities was very positive. Many students commented that they worked better in groups because others helped them concentrate. When we went outside to draw the whales, many commented about how amazed they were at the actual size of the whales. The day we did the graphing and the tangrams, one students said in surprise "we're doing two fun activities in the same day!". They didn't even correlate these educational activities with work or learning; it was fun.

In addition to the direct positive feedback, I observed the two obvious indicators of student interest: the expression on their face and their dedication to the task. Students were visibly happy and on task because they wanted to see the result.

3. There were less problems in classroom management.   I didn't need to remind students to not speak out of turn or to stay on task. I was a part of the learning process and had more time to assure that the students had understood the task. The result was an increase in independent, constructive learning, as predicted by Alfie Kohn in his book "Beyond Discipline". Students rarely had to ask me a question because the instructions were clear and when in doubt they asked each other questions.  

Conclusions   Providing students with increased opportunities for interactive, integrated learning increased the quality of the learning that occurred within the classroom. Students were motivated when they were given a greater responsibility for their learning and when it was important to them. Since the students were interested in the material, they gave the task a lot of effort and concentration. As a consequence, discipline problems within the classroom decreased. As a teacher, I then had time to focus my attention on facilitating and furthering the students' learning.  

References  

Kohn, A. (1996). Beyond Discipline: From Compliance to Community. Virginia: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.  

Ministry of Education and Training. (1997).Mathematics: The Ontario Curriculum Grades 1-8. Queen's Printer for Ontario.  

Province of British Columbia's Ministry of Education and Ministry Responsible for Multiculturalism and Human Rights.(1990). Primary Foundation Document.  

Tompert, A. (1990). Grandfather Tang's Story. New York: Crown Publishers.