“Drama in the performance of texts is one of the most compelling of language learning resources…This book offers a wealth of preparatory activities, suggestions for varied ways of using the text and helpful suggestions for follow-up.” — Alan Maley
“A treasure trove of teaching ideas, covering areas like pronunciation, grammar, pragmatics, discussion themes.” — Charlyn Wessels Dyers, author of Drama in the Oxford Resource Series for Teachers
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Description
Her Own Worst Enemy is an English language textbook that teaches spoken communication skills through the performance of a one-act play. Aida is a high-school senior who loves the theatre. She’s talented enough to get an audition at a drama school. But a career in STEM could be more practical. Should she follow her head or her heart?
Whether it’s reader’s theater, an in-class performance, or a full production, putting on a play is the ultimate group project. And drama is a powerful tool for learning spoken communication skills! Students take on acting skills like using body language, gesture, intonation, and other non-verbal cues to communicate better. They are exposed to natural language in a realistic setting. And they become engaged and motivated to learn!
Inside find everything you need to help students prepare to do the play, whether it be as reader’s theatre, a classroom performance, or a full production. Your students will look forward to class with this innovative resource that utilizes drama in language teaching!
Whether it’s reader’s theater, an in-class performance, or a full production, putting on a play is the ultimate group project. And drama is a powerful tool for learning spoken communication skills! Students take on acting skills like using body language, gesture, intonation, and other non-verbal cues to communicate better. They are exposed to natural language in a realistic setting. And they are motivated and engaged!
Your students will look forward to class with this innovative resource that utilizes drama in language teaching! The play’s the thing!
Inside find a range of activities prepare students to perform as they practice language skills:
- Background readings on the advantages of arts vs. STEM careers, an interview with a theatre director, and an interview with the CEO of a tech company.
- An original one-act play about a teenager who has to decide between pursuing her passion for the arts or a career in science.
- Pragmatics lesson on encouraging people.
- Scaffolding to prepare students to produce a play including
- Lessons on attentive listening
- Guided questions to analyze the play
- Ideas for auditioning, learning a part, and marking scripts for emotional content to improve line readings.
- Tips for staging a play
- Post-Performance Activities, including a talkback, a mini-debate, writing a new scene or even a sequel or mining the play for useful language
- An optional assignment to interview families about screen time
- Assessment rubrics and answer key
Preview Her Own Worst Enemy
Take a look inside by downloading the Table of Contents and a sample of Her Own Worst Enemy
Additional information
| Weight | 7.4 oz |
|---|---|
| Dimensions | 8.5 × 11 × .25 in |
| Format | |
| ISBN | 9781948492034, 9781948492126 |
| Publication Date | 28 March 2018 |
| Series | |
| Writer | |
| Pages | 72 pages |
| Size | 8.5 x 11 inches |
| Skills | |
| Age Group |
Resources
Resources
Preview Her Own Worst Enemy
- Table of Contents
- Preview
- Listen to the play performed scene by scene on our podcast on Soundcloud or wherever you listen to podcasts
- Buy the full uninterrupted audio performance to download.
Here are some free downloadable resources you can use with the book. Have you come up with your own great idea for an activity that works with Her Own Worst Enemy? Send it to us. If we use it, we’ll send you a discount coupon good for any of our titles.
Answer Key
Her Own Worst Enemy Answer Key
Extension Ideas
How to Organize a Mini-Debate One of the suggestions for post-performance activities in the book is a mini-debate. It’s a great way to have students grapple with the theme of the play, work with language, and practice the pragmatics of persuasion. Suggested topics for Her Own Worst Enemy include:
- Who should choose what a student majors in? Or what a young person’s career should be?
- Should you pursue your talents or your interests?
Should Aida study acting or science? - Agree or Disagree: Studying Liberal Arts is a waste of time.
- Agree or Disagree: Science without a sense of history and ethics is dangerous.
How to Do Readers Theater Reader’s Theater is a great way to practice pronunciation and pragmatics with a minimum of preparation. Students can also being analyzing the script and rehearse for a full-production. Here’s some things to take into consideration as you do Reader’s Theater in class.
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Great resource for a 4-6 week module
I teach in an IEP with 6-week long sessions. We always need electives to teach students and this one is going to be very appealing. We’ve started working on it and students are really excited to be putting on a play. I think 6 weeks will be enough to take them to a full staged play, and there are a lot of suggestions and help for students to rehearse. If not, we can do a performance with scripts. I love all the activities on pragmatics and sentence stress, and the way students are encouraged to think about body language and speaking with emotion. All very applicable to their speaking skills in general! Really great creative project, with a lot more substance to it than you might think!
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Great book to use in an ESOL class to encourage students to speak and practice their English.
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I bought this book to use with my high-intermediate ESL students to work on their fluency and intonation. I’ve found it to be a fun way to get the students speaking and learning about pragmatics. Even students who feel nervous to speak in English, can gain confidence when they have a script in front of them. This text has engaging activities that students of all ages and backgrounds can have fun with. I’m excited to use this text in my class and think theater will be a great way to get the students to participate.
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DECIDING WHAT TO MAJOR IN
Her Own Worst Enemy is a fun way for students to explore the journey from family life to college and adullthood. Aida must not only navigate her own dreams but also those of her parents. Her parents wishes are not what she wants to do. Students can learn useful langage for encouraging and explaining and there is great potential to work on emotional interactions, something few students get to do.
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This “serious comedy” is about a girl who wants to go into a STEM career but her parents want her to become an actress. I tried it with some intermediate students at the end of my conversation class last semester, and my students had a good time playing with the role reversals. They seemed to find value in the process and even met on the weekends to rehearse, which I did not expect. We did the play with script in hand, and they were still able to capture some of the intonation and emotional expressions. (I had not realized how different language sounds when it is delivered with emotion!)
We didn’t have a lot of time, but we tried out a few of the activities provided by the book, and I was especially interested in the pragmatics section, which is an exploration of the social skills at work in conversations. I learned a lot that I had not thought about regarding the strategies that people use to get what they want when talking to others. For example, there is a funny scene in which the father is trying to talk his daughter into auditioning at a famous acting, and she is resisting.
In sum, I can recommend this book for any intermediate and above ESOL teacher who wants to have a fun time with their students and work on pronunciation and conversation skills at the same time.