“Listening is not merely hearing. Listening is reacting. Listening is being affected by what you hear. Listening is active.” - Michael Shurtleff

The drama session was mainly skewed towards developing the ‘Listening Skills’ of the young learners of class III. In order to understand what is required from them and catch the nuances, the students were trained to become active listeners.

Active listening involves a two-way communication where the learners pay complete attention to what they hear and are able to absorb the words and understand their meanings. The reaction to the commands then become easier and stress-free. Through a simple game of ‘five’ the instructor established a sequence for following commands. On the mark of 1 - they were told to sit down, at the call of 2 - they stood up, at 3 - they made their symbols, at 4 - they became an object, in this case they posed as ‘water’ and at 5 - they relaxed by posing as ‘fans’. The children enjoyed this exercise thoroughly.

Ms. Meeta Mishra also taught them the ‘sense of space’ which is maintaining distance from each other while on stage or during solo presentation. What to do with the hands, how to stand, when to move, where to look; are various questions that come to a performer’s mind. The spacing out is the first thumb rule for any performance. This exercise instils a feeling of self-confidence.

The next level of understanding finer patterns and sequences, was achieved by singing songs. Ms. Mishra appealed to their musical and rhythmic intelligence that helped them to think in patterns, rhythms and recognize sounds. She found that the batch of students had a strong appreciation for music and she plans to make good use of this strength for a musical composition.

“The key to their learning is involvement. As long as they are curious to move on to the next level and enjoy what they are doing, half the battle is won. I make it a point to bring in a lot of laughter to make the learning environment congenial for my young dramatists” said Meeta Mishra.