Drama Of Color: Improvisation With Multiethnic Folklore

Theatre is often perceived as elitist, something reserved for the affluent mainstream. But all children can be given the opportunity to explore dramatic art if individual teachers choose to integrate these experiences into their curriculum. Johnny Saldana's Drama of Color is a unique resource for using drama to enhance K-6 children's ethnic literacy by provoking personal insights into the multiethnic world in which we live. Multiethnic folklore - specifically Hispanic, Native American, Asian and Pacific Islander, and African/African American - becomes a springboard for examining different ethnic perspectives and world views and dispelling stereotypes along the way.

" This is} a clearly written and easy-to-use volume." - MultiCultural Review

"Drama of Color" is a book for teachers who wish to use folk literature and informal classroom drama to promote multiethnic awareness among elementary students. Salda-a presents twenty folk tales drawn from the oral traditions of Hispanics, Native Americans, Asians and Pacific Islanders, Africans, and African Americans. He encourages teachers to use the literature as a framework and springboard for pantomime and verbal improvisation, adding detailed methods for dramatizations, with follow-up activities in the social studies and language arts. In these dramas, you and your students will find not only the commonalities that link all human beings, but also the special values, symbols, and traditions that differentiate and distinguish us as individuals and groups.