Today I went to Apple Valley and wanted to focus my teaching on helping the students understand that "drama" isn't always as formal as standing on a stage, wearing a costume and delivering memorized lines. Many times drama is just stepping out of our world and imaging how other characters would act in a new one!
Warm-Up: We started with a fun warm-up called, "Name Game" to get to know each other better. The students sat in a big circle and we went around chanting to a rhythm of clapping and snapping: "Name game, name game, what's your name and what's your fame?" (You use the pattern of alternating between slapping your thighs and clapping your hands on the beat.) The children absolutely loved it, and even insisted on saying more than one thing that they were famous for. This age group is so fun because they recognize their strengths easily and even when one student couldn't think of what he was "famous" for, lots of students piped in reminding him about his strengths! As I could see they were getting tired of the movement, I had them change to trying alternating between a clap and reach out to their neighbors to clap with each of their hands. They did well keeping up as I switching between the different clapping patterns.
Warm-up: I then had students move around the space randomly to find a toe-touch partner. As they sat with their partner, I gave them about a minute to brainstorm all the different activities you could do in the Fall. When they had some ideas, I told them to stand up with quiet mouths and freeze. When everyone was ready, I divided up the students and told half of the partnerships to sit down with their partners and be the audience members, while the other partnerships lined up two-by-two behind one another. We played, "What are you Doing?" which involves Partner 2 asking Partner 1 "what are you doing?" after Partner 1 acts out a fall activity without using words. Then, Partner 1 responds by saying something totally different than what they were acting out. For example, Partner 1 could have been raking leaves, but when asked "what are you doing?" could have responded by saying that he was baking an apple pie. Then Partner 1 goes to the back of the line and Partner 2 receives a new partner but the roles reverse. Partner 2 then acts out what Partner 1 said they were doing. And so it continues until everyone has a chance to act out a fall activity. Sometimes it was hard for students to come up with fall activities, so I was there to whisper some suggestions to them. The students enjoyed acting but the audience members got fidgety since it did take a little bit of time. I was impressed how quickly they understood the game and how well they did! After reflecting about this game with questions such as "What did you like about this activity?" and "What words would you use to describe drama after those two games?" we moved on to explore tree growth.
Activity: Mrs. Smith had communicated with me that they had recently learned how trees grow, so I decided that the best way to continue exploring that subject was through dance. I had students personify the trees and go through the life of a tree. I helped them explore different levels (low, medium and high), different energy qualities (staccato, sustained, vibrating, swinging, etc.) and tempo (fast, medium, slow). Students started as small as they could on the ground as a seed. They concentrated then on growing so slowly that anyone looking at them could hardly see movement. Some reached out slowly with fingers, elbows, their heads, etc. After they were tall, we went through the different season: the acted out wilting in the fall and losing their leaves, how cold and bare they would be in winter and their renewed energy of the spring and summer. I acted as the wind and went around them blowing their leaves, then changed to be a wet storm. We then started again as a seed and tried different ways of growing (in a sustained way, a sharp way, etc.) After they tried using their legs to show branches growing and balancing, I then told them to give each other a high five and return to their desks.
Reflection: To end the lesson, I had students go back to their desks and write in their notebooks about how they felt acting as a tree. Some students wrote it in diary form, others simply in first-person. Students worked quietly for 15 minutes or so writing about the different seasons and growth. We then had a few students share their favorite sentence that they had written. Although some needed help spelling words, most students were motivated by their writing prompt and really spent time thinking and writing about their experience. Overall, I thought it was a great lesson where they really got to learn with a combination of their bodies and their minds!
