While watching film of one of my classes I saw a still shot of an actor. The concentration on her face (we were saying that she wanted to drink a glass of water) was intense. She was holding a make believe cup in her hand and focusing completely on my words (rule #6).
Many actors just stand there, which is fine, but some actors really get into it. Looking at that image made me reflect on what we are doing in storytelling. There is a whole “acting” piece in what we do. It is waiting there, like the reading and music pieces, to be explored. We need not be drama teachers, but the piece is there if we want to pick it up. Emotions drive language acquisition more than robotic speech.
Stories, reading, music, acting, emotion – we’re not in Kansas anymore….