Rain Forest
Rain Forest Teaching Unit

Rain Forest

Drama Teaching Unit for 6th Grade (6 Lesson Plans)

This teaching unit uses the backdrop of the South American rain forest to examine the how people cooperate and communicate and how organisations contribute to society socially and economically. It explores the issues surrounding the economy of the local area, how it is governed and how the local communities feel about the situation. It looks at the impact that decisions have on the environment. Students will need to use their creative skills to develop a drama piece and build the confidence to perform it.

Each lesson plan has clearly stated objectives and learning outcomes. They are structured to include introductory warm up, development and plenary sessions. A home work task is also included.

Rain ForestTooltip

The teaching unit contains 6 drama lesson plans.

  • Lesson 1: Animals And The Environment (Co-operation)
    Practice mime and soundcapes, along with the warm-up activity ‘The Jungle Game’.

  • Lesson 2: Politicians And Policies (Communication)
    Use improvisation and frozen pictures to develop characters in the activity ‘Political Groups’.

  • Lesson 3: Amnesty International (Contribution)
    Using drama to understand characters and how they negotiate, along with the warm-up activity ‘Raising Ghosts’.

  • Lesson 4: Economic Issues (Capital Gain)
    Spontaneous improvisation portraying conflicting interests at a town hall protest.

  • Lesson 5: Assessment Preparation (Creativity)
    Devising a news report using three key drama skills based on what they have learned about the rain forest.

  • Lesson 6: Assessment Performance (Confidence)
    Students are filmed and assessed on their ability to perform a polished piece of drama.

Supporting Materials include

  • Category Cards
  • Skill Cards
  • News Theme Music

Additional resources are included in the appendices

  • Basic Drama Skills
  • End Of Unit Self-Assessment

The module is supplied as a ZIP file. It contains the teaching unit (PDF, readable on most computers) along with 1 music file (MP3 format).