ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on using whole group drama to create an imaginary community at Key Stage One and Lower Key Stage Two as a context for a wide range of opportunities for writing. The term community encompasses a wide range of contexts, including people living in a street, a block of flats, a village, a town, an island, a castle, an undiscovered planet or a magic city. It can also include people working in a park, fairground or other public space. The drama can be based on a community in a story with imaginary inhabitants or based on inhabitants involved in a real-life event in the past. The two examples of communities in this chapter involve children taking on roles as owner/workers of a pets corner and owner/workers of a beautiful place for tourists. An imaginary community can be developed from a basic given outline or created entirely by the children. Most contexts have the potential to provide a range of opportunities for writing but what tends to motivate the writing is not so much the context, as the sense of ownership and belonging created by the drama. A strong sense of ownership will help motivate children to complete related writing tasks.
