SCHOOL RESOURCES .
SCHOOL RESOURCES .
Drama Activities
after reading Crossing the Line
Hot-seating
Hot-seating is a good technique to encourage empathy and create a deeper engagement with the characters. The groupings below are suggestions only. See this link for setting up hot-seating. Students can work in small or larger groups, and may also be hot-seated in pairs.
K1: questions from Mums on the estate / Erik’s mum / Maria (Mikey’s mum)
Ravi: questions from teachers at school / Erik
Erik: questions from the police / Erik’s mum / Ravi / K1
Erik’s mum: questions from social workers
Mikey’s mum: questions from Mikey / Erik / Fritz
Extension follow-up writing activity: Imagining you are one of the hot-seated characters, write a page-long statement defending yourself. Why is it ‘not your fault’?
Role on the wall
(works well in conjunction with hot-seating)
Role on the wall is a great empathy-provoking tool to help students understand how we are shaped by what has happened to us. You’ll need paper and different coloured pens; markers and large sheets of paper/wallpaper for the big figures if you make them.
As a class, pick a character from Crossing The Line.
In pairs, students draw an outline of a person on a sheet of paper or use the template here
On the outside of the outline, write or draw pictures of the external forces (events, circumstances, interactions with other people, etc) that affect the character throughout their story or life. What happened to them? What did they do? Students can use quotes as evidence.
One the inside, write or draw pictures of the character’s personality traits, feelings or emotions throughout the story/their life.
Draw lines between things on the outside and feelings on the inside and /or link them thematically or into positive/negative etc
Create more drawing for different characters. Compare and contrast them. Do they connect at all?
If possible, ask a student to draw around another to make a full-sized outline on a large sheet of paper for classroom display. The pairs can add their work on to this larger figure to make an ensemble analysis of that character.
Freezeframe
Freezeframe is another good technique to encourage empathy and create a deeper engagement with the characters. Can be used here to encourage thoughts about the wider responsibilities of communities towards bullying, gangs and victims. Here is a useful resource on working with freezeframes. In a drama session, students could work out how to move from one freezeframe to the next.
Students work in small groups of 3 or 4.
Choose a ‘crowd scene’ from the book, where there are background ‘witnesses’ as well as the major players, for example:
Erik being bullied by Travis and Ben on his first day
K1’s first conversation with Erik in the rec
In the shopping centre when Erik finds his dog poisoned.
When the driver drops Erik off at Fritz’s trap house.
When the students have created their tableau, the teacher should tap them on the shoulder and ask them to explain their role in the scene and what they are thinking/feeling/deciding.
Alternative: In a non-drama version, students could work in groups on a white board or flipchart board to draw stick-figure tableaux using thought bubbles.
Decision Alley
Decision (or Conscience) Alley is a great tool for getting students to think about the issues involved in a situation, to develop empathy, consider multiple viewpoints, use persuasive language and reflect on character motivations. Here is a useful resource on working with the decision alley technique.
One student is chosen to be the decision-maker and the rest of the students form two groups representing the opposing sides of an argument. The teams work together to create persuasive arguments, which they call out as the decision-maker walks between the opposing sides. After the walk, the ‘character’ must make their choice.
Suggested decision-making moments in Crossing the Line:
Erik – should he accept K1’s first offer to sell drugs?
Erik – should he run the drugs to the trap house on the coast?
Erik – should he carry out Ravi’s plan to ditch the gun?
Ravi – should he tell someone about Erik’s involvement with county lines?
Erik’s mum – should she move away to protect her family?
Extension follow-up activity: Make a mind map of the alternative decisions and the probable consequences of each.