WebPlay
WEBPLAY
October to April
Years 4, 5 and 6
Sign up deadline: June 2008
WebPlay enables primary school classes to create plays by collaborating online with a professional theatre company, and partner classes from different countries and regions.
The programme immerses children in experiencing and creating theatre with professionals. Classes also form in-depth partnerships with classes from other schools, and learn about other cultures and places.
Highly motivational, WebPlay is a powerful programme that integrates technology and drama across the whole curriculum.
In the UK, we are currently working in London, Birmingham, Leicester, Shropshire, Nottinghamshire, Berkshire, Hampshire, and Sussex. In the US, we work in Los Angeles and New York. Contact us to see if we are currently working in your area, or if we have plans to do so soon!
How It Works
- WebReady: Children and teachers learn internet skills and rules for web safety. They build their own web pages on thinkquest.org, a secure, easy-to-use online learning environment.
- WebPartners: Classes are grouped together and establish regular communication at class and individual level. Each week they go online to research and communicate with each other.Where is their partner community? Who lives there and what are they like? What do people do there? What makes that place special?
(check out the project pages to see examples of our theme pages) - WebDrama: Classes interact on-line with a professional theatre company to monitor how a play is created, communicating weekly with the writer, director, actors and backstage team. Classes then take a field trip to see the play performed live, and participate in a post-show workshop on how to create their own plays.
- WebPlays:Combining everything they've learned about their partner city and class during the project, children create their own ‘WebPlays’ about their partner community. These are performed, digitally videotaped and uploaded to thinkquest.org so the classes can watch and feedback on each other’s performances.
What’s Included
WebPlay is delivered in class, and on average requires two 45 minute sessions a week. The teaching plan and training sessions cover a number of different models for timetabling lessons.
- Full teaching plan mapped across the National Curriculum, including week-by-week lesson guides and extension activities
- All teaching and pupil resources (including partnership pack with books and other resources on your partner area), drama skills handbook, internet safety leaflets for pupils and parents, “theme-zines” (magazine-style write-ups about the area), and resource pages on this website
- Three days of teacher training - thinkquest.org, WebPlay Curriculum, and Drama Workshop Skills
- Access to www.thinkquest.org, a secure schools-only webspace that becomes a permanent resource for the school
- On-line communication with a professional theatre company
- Performance at a local venue by a professional theatre company, as well as a post-show discussion and drama workshop for pupils
- WebPlay staff come into class to video WebPlays
- Ongoing and on-demand support from mentor teachers and the WebPlay team via email, phone or in-class visits, as well as weekly email reminders outlining objectives for the week and highlighting best practice
For an overview of the topics covered in each phase of WebPlay, download this PDF document:
