B. Drama / D. Visual Arts · Drama and Visual ArtsDrama: Exploring Issues and Themes in Role
B1.1 B2.1About 40 minutes
Learning goals- I can tell the difference between an issue and a theme.
- I can explore an issue in role, using ideas from a made-up story (fiction) and from true information (non-fiction).
- I can show more than one side of a moral dilemma in drama.
- I can share my personal response to a drama and connect it to my own life, to other stories and to the world.
Words to know
issue
A problem or question that people can disagree about, like "Should the town cut down the forest to build houses?"
theme
A big idea about life that a story or drama explores, like friendship, fairness or caring for nature.
fiction
A made-up story.
non-fiction
True information about real people, places, things or events, like a news report, an interview or an information book.
moral dilemma
A hard choice between two (or more) options, where each choice has good and bad parts.
tableau
A frozen picture made with bodies to show a moment. (Plural: tableaux.)
thought tracking
A drama convention: a character in a tableau is tapped on the shoulder and says what they are thinking.
personal response
What you think and feel about a drama, with reasons.
connection
A link between the drama and your own life, another story, or something happening in the world.
Remember from Grade 4
Last year you built believable roles with gestures, voice and relationships, found the pivotal moment of a story with tableaux, and used conventions like hot seating, meeting in role, conscience alley and thought tracking.
In Grade 5 you will use those tools to explore issues and themes. Your ideas will come from made-up stories and from true information, from many communities, times and places.
What would you do?
You are at the arena after hockey practice. On the floor of the parking lot you find a wallet with $20 inside. Nobody saw you pick it up. You have been saving for new skates...
Stop! What do you do? Keep it? Hand it in? Find the owner?
Most people know the right answer, but they can still feel the pull of the other choice. That is a moral dilemma. Drama lets us step inside hard choices safely. We can try one choice, freeze, rewind and try another, and see what happens to everyone.
One small object can start a whole drama. What would you do if you found this wallet? Thinking about everyone the choice affects is how drama explores a moral dilemma. AI-generated imageIssue or theme?
These two words go together, but they are different.
- An issue is a problem or question that people can disagree about. You can usually say it as a question: Should the school ban phones at recess? Should the town build a new road through the forest?
- A theme is a big idea about life that the story explores. Themes are often one or two words (honesty, belonging, courage, caring for nature), or a sentence that sums up a message: "Telling the truth builds trust."
A trick: the issue is what the characters argue about. The theme is what the story makes you think about after it ends.
Ideas from fiction and non-fiction
Drama can start from many sources:
- Fiction: folk tales, picture books, novels, myths and your own made-up stories.
- Non-fiction: news stories, interviews with real people, information books, photographs, letters from long ago.
Stories also come from many communities, times and places. For example, Anansi the spider is a clever trickster in stories first told by the Akan people of West Africa; Anansi stories are also told in the Caribbean and in many other places. Stone Soup is a folk tale with many versions about hungry travellers who get a whole village to share.
First Nations, Métis and Inuit stories are living stories, told by community members today. Some stories belong to certain families or Nations and are shared only in certain ways or seasons. The best way to explore them is to listen to a storyteller, Elder or Knowledge Keeper who has been invited to share, or to read books by Indigenous authors.
| Source | Fiction or non-fiction? | An issue | A possible theme |
|---|
| "The Boy Who Cried Wolf" (a fable) | fiction | Should the villagers believe the boy the third time? | Honesty builds trust. |
| "Stone Soup" (a folk tale) | fiction | Should the villagers share their food with strangers? | When everyone gives a little, there is enough for all. |
| A news report about a town deciding where to build a skatepark | non-fiction | Should the skatepark go in the park where little kids play? | Sharing space in a community. |
| An interview with a family who moved to Canada | non-fiction | How can a new student be made to feel welcome? | Belonging. |
Our Grade 5 drama: Birch Bay
In this unit, a made-up (fiction) story runs through the drama lessons.
Birch Bay is a small town on a lake. At the edge of town is Heron Marsh, a wetland full of cattails, frogs, turtles and great blue herons. Kids catch tadpoles there in spring and skate on the frozen ponds in January, once adults say the ice is safe.
A company wants to fill in the marsh and build new houses and a big store. The town needs homes: families are waiting for places to live, and the store would bring jobs. Mira, a Grade 5 student, loves the marsh. Her dad, Luis, has been looking for work for months. The building company has offered him a job.
Some true (non-fiction) facts to bring into the drama
- Wetlands like marshes are habitats for many animals, such as frogs, turtles, ducks and herons.
- Wetlands soak up rain and melting snow like a sponge, which can help reduce flooding.
- Wetland plants help filter and clean the water.
Using real facts in a made-up drama makes the issue feel real, and helps characters make strong arguments.
Worked exampleExample: Finding the issue, the theme and the dilemma in Birch Bay
Let's explore the Birch Bay story like drama detectives.
- Issue (what people argue about): Should Birch Bay fill in Heron Marsh to build houses and a store?
- Sides: Some people say yes: families need homes and people need jobs. Some say no: the animals need the marsh, and the marsh helps stop flooding. Both sides have good reasons.
- Moral dilemma for Mira: if she speaks up against the houses, her dad might not get the job her family needs. If she stays quiet, she might lose the place she loves.
- Theme (big idea): caring for nature, and also what we owe our family and our community.
- Show it in drama: make two tableaux. Tableau 1: Mira at the marsh, kneeling by the water, holding a frog in cupped hands. Tableau 2: Mira at the kitchen table, watching her dad read the job offer, a big smile on his face.
- Thought tracking: tap Mira on the shoulder in each tableau. Tableau 1: "I can't let them fill this in." Tableau 2: "How can I say no when Dad looks this happy?"
The issue is the marsh. The theme is caring for nature and for each other. The two tableaux show both sides of Mira's moral dilemma, and thought tracking lets the audience hear her inner struggle.
Mira's moral dilemma as a fork in the road. Each path has something good and something hard, which is why the choice is tough.Worked exampleExample: Sharing a personal response with connections
After the tableaux, your grown-up asks: "What did you think of the drama?" Let's build a strong answer.
- Say what you think and feel: "I felt torn, like Mira. I didn't want either side to lose."
- Give a reason from the drama: "When Dad smiled at the job letter, I understood why Mira couldn't just say no."
- Connect to yourself (text-to-self): "It reminded me of when I wanted to go to a sleepover but my grandma was visiting."
- Connect to another story (text-to-text): "It's like the Grade 4 drama about the oak tree, where people needed parking but wanted to keep the tree."
- Connect to the world (text-to-world): "Real towns argue about building on wetlands and fields too."
A strong personal response says what you think and feel, gives a reason from the drama, and makes connections to your life, to other stories and to the world.
Exploring tough issues respectfully
- Every character has reasons. Try to understand them, even if you disagree.
- Avoid making one side the "bad guys." Real issues are more complicated.
- When you speak out of role, you are yourself again, so don't stay angry at someone because of what their character said!
- If an issue feels too personal or upsetting, it is okay to say so and choose another one.
Just for funWhat kind of stories do the frogs of Heron Marsh like best?
Non-fiction, because they only want the whole toad truth! 🐸
Hands-on activityDilemma tableaux and thought tracking
You need: a family member or two (or stuffed animals as extra characters), a little open space, and paper and a pencil.
- Choose a dilemma (or make up your own):
- You see a friend copying answers on a test.
- Your team can win the game if you play your best friend's spot, but your friend will have to sit out.
- Your family must choose: adopt a dog from the shelter, or go on a summer trip.
- Name the issue as a question, and write the two choices.
- Make Tableau A showing one choice and Tableau B showing the other. Use levels (high, medium, low) and clear facial expressions.
- In each tableau, your grown-up taps one character on the shoulder: say one sentence of thought tracking in role ("I...").
- Step out of role. Decide together: what is the theme?
- Finish with a personal response: one feeling, one reason, and one connection (to yourself, another story or the world).
Bonus: find a short non-fiction source (a kids' news article, or ask a grown-up about a real choice their community had to make). Turn it into a dilemma tableau too.
Your turn
1What is the difference between an issue and a theme?
An issue is a problem or question people can disagree about (what the characters argue about). A theme is a big idea about life that the story explores (what it makes you think about afterward).
2Is a news report about a real flood fiction or non-fiction?
Non-fiction. It gives true information about a real event.
3Write the issue in this story as a question: The village elders must decide whether to let strangers stay in the village during the winter.
Example: "Should the village let the strangers stay for the winter?"
4Name a theme for the fable "The Boy Who Cried Wolf."
Honesty (or: "If you lie, people may not believe you when you tell the truth"; trust).
5Why is Mira's choice a moral dilemma?
Both choices have good and bad parts. Speaking up may protect the marsh but might cost her dad a job; staying quiet helps her family but she may lose the marsh.
6In thought tracking, what does a character do when tapped on the shoulder?
Says what they are thinking, in role, in the first person ("I...").
7Give one fact about wetlands that a character in Birch Bay could use in an argument.
Any one: wetlands are habitats for frogs, turtles, ducks, herons; they soak up water and can help reduce flooding; wetland plants help clean the water.
More practice: warm-up
1True or false: A theme is usually a big idea about life, like friendship or courage.
2Is a fairy tale fiction or non-fiction?
3What do we call a frozen picture made with our bodies?
A tableau (plural: tableaux).
4Name one source of non-fiction ideas for a drama.
Any one: a news report, an interview, an information book, a photograph, a letter from long ago.
5Finish this sentence starter for a personal response: "This drama reminded me of..."
Any connection is fine, for example: "...the time I had to choose between two friends' birthday parties." Look for a real link to the child's life, another story or the world.
More practice: on your own
1Give two good reasons a Birch Bay character might want to build the houses, and two reasons to keep the marsh.
Build: families need homes; the store would bring jobs (and money for the town). Keep: animals like herons and frogs live there; the marsh helps reduce flooding and clean the water (and kids enjoy it). Any two on each side.
2A story is about a girl who is the only one in her class who speaks French at home, and she feels left out. Name the theme and an issue.
Theme: belonging (or being proud of who you are, accepting differences). Issue (example): "How can the class make sure everyone feels included?" Look for a big idea for the theme and a question/problem for the issue.
3Why might a drama group use non-fiction facts in a made-up drama?
Real facts make the issue feel true and serious, help characters make strong arguments, and teach the audience something real.
4Write a personal response to the Birch Bay tableaux with a feeling, a reason and a connection.
Example: "I felt worried for the herons because in the first tableau Mira was holding the frog so gently. This connects to the pond near my cottage that was turned into a parking lot." Look for all three parts.
5Why is it a good idea to avoid making one side the "bad guys" in an issue drama?
Because in real issues both sides usually have reasons. Showing that helps us understand people, think more deeply and find better solutions.
Challenge
1Turn this non-fiction fact into a dilemma for a drama: Many towns have rules that dogs must be on a leash in parks. Name the issue, two characters with different views, and a theme.
Example: Issue: "Should the town make an off-leash area in the park?" Characters: a dog owner whose energetic dog needs to run; a parent whose young child is afraid of dogs. Theme: sharing community spaces fairly (or respecting other people's needs). Look for a real disagreement where both sides have reasons.
2Two students watch the same Birch Bay drama. One says the theme is "caring for nature." The other says it is "family comes first." Can they both be right? Explain.
Yes. A drama can have more than one theme, and people make personal interpretations based on what they notice and their own experiences. Both are right if they can point to evidence in the drama (the marsh tableau / Dad's job tableau).
3Plan a three-tableau drama about the folk tale Stone Soup: beginning, pivotal moment and end. Add one thought-tracking line.
Example: 1. Hungry travellers knock on doors; villagers turn away with crossed arms. 2. (pivotal moment) A villager peeks into the pot and drops in a carrot. 3. The whole village eats together, laughing. Thought tracking (villager in tableau 2): "If I add just one carrot, maybe it will taste better... and maybe they're not so strange after all." Look for a clear change from the beginning to the end.
Quiz
1. Which of these is an issue?
3. Which source is non-fiction?
5. In thought tracking, a character who is tapped on the shoulder ___.
6. Which is the strongest personal response?
Big idea: In Grade 5, drama exploration focuses on examining issues and themes in fiction and non-fiction sources from diverse communities, times and places (B1.1). Students also express personal responses and make connections to characters, themes and issues (B2.1).
How to help:
- Read a short news story for kids together and ask, "What's the issue? Who would agree? Who would disagree?"
- When you watch a movie or read a book, ask, "What's the theme?" Accept more than one answer if your child can point to evidence.
- Play "What would you do?" with everyday dilemmas at dinner. There's no need to settle on one answer; the aim is to see more than one side.
Common difficulties:
- Mixing up issue and theme. The issue is a question people argue about; the theme is a big idea, often one or two words.
- Only seeing one side. Ask, "What would someone who disagrees say? Why might they feel that way?"
- Short responses ("It was good"). Prompt with: "How did it make you feel? What part made you feel that way? What does it remind you of?"
A note on stories from First Nations, Métis and Inuit communities: these are living traditions, and some stories have protocols about who may tell them and when. Books by Indigenous authors, or a storyteller invited through your school or library, are respectful ways to explore them.
The Birch Bay story continues in the next three drama lessons, so keep any notes or drawings.