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Body Systems Lesson (Part 2)

Body Systems Lesson (Part 2): Working with Science

Objective: students will use drama to replicate living systems.

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This continues from Part 1 with students transforming their bodies to simulate organs or other body systems (part of the fourth grade objectives). Systems (actors and organs) must work in tandem and create a story. The actions of one impact the actions/reactions of another. This lesson could also be used with machines to connect to mechanical science or teach other interconnected systems (e.g., political systems, food chains, life cycles). This lesson is part of our recommended sequence in the Fourth Grade Curriculum.

Fourth Grade Drama Journal: Body Systems (Part 2)

To maximize student achievement, download this drama journal for students to use as reflection or formative assessment. For each lesson in the curriculum, we have created a corresponding journal page for your students. A drama journal allows participants to reflect on their learning and artistic growth (metacognition). It also allows you, the teacher, to see how students are using the drama vocabulary, thinking about big ideas, and perceiving their own strengths and weaknesses. If you use the journal for assessment and would like more assessment tools, visit our Fourth Grade Curriculum. 

Body Systems Lesson (Part 1)

Body Systems Lesson (Part 1): Working with Science

Objective: students will use drama to replicate living systems.

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Students working in small groups will transform their bodies to simulate organs or other body systems (part of the fourth grade objectives). Systems (actors and organs) must work in tandem. The actions of one impact the actions/reactions of another. In Part 2 of this lesson, the students will use their organs to create a story. This lesson could also be used with machines to connect to mechanical science or teach other interconnected systems (e.g., political systems, food chains, life cycles). This lesson is part of our recommended sequence in the Fourth Grade Curriculum.

Fourth Grade Drama Journal: Body Systems (Part 1)

To maximize student achievement, download this drama journal for students to use as reflection or formative assessment. For each lesson in the curriculum, we have created a corresponding journal page for your students. A drama journal allows participants to reflect on their learning and artistic growth (metacognition). It also allows you, the teacher, to see how students are using the drama vocabulary, thinking about big ideas, and perceiving their own strengths and weaknesses. If you use the journal for assessment and would like more assessment tools, visit our Fourth Grade Curriculum. 

Ferdinand Lesson

Ferdinand Lesson: Fantasy & Real Life 

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Objective: students compare characters and situations in drama to situations and people in real life.

Bullying and being misunderstood are topics explored through the story “Ferdinand” by Munro Leaf. This lesson in our third grade sequence continues the comparison of people and situations in drama to real life (part of the third grade objectives) as well as continuing the study of personification and reality vs. fantasy in drama. In language arts, students sequence the plot before playing out the story. This lesson is part of our recommended sequence in the Third Grade Curriculum.

Third Grade Drama Journal: Ferdinand

To maximize student achievement, download this drama journal for students to use as reflection or formative assessment. For each lesson in the curriculum, we have created a corresponding journal page for your students. A drama journal allows participants to reflect on their learning and artistic growth (metacognition). It also allows you, the teacher, to see how students are using the drama vocabulary, thinking about big ideas, and perceiving their own strengths and weaknesses. If you use the journal for assessment and would like more assessment tools, visit our Third Grade Curriculum. 

The First Woodpecker Lesson (Part 2)

The First Woodpecker Lesson (Part 2): Transformation 

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Objective: Students compare characters and situations in drama to situations and people in real life. Students combine the primary drama tools to create character and setting. Students demonstrate transformation in a drama.

Transformation is key to the message of the story and understanding of societal values of the community (part of the third grade objectives). This lesson uses the story of the same name, "The First Woodpecker": download it to complete the lesson if you haven’t already. Review our tips for viewing student work before you begin. This lesson can also be used with the original story Vision Quest by Karen Erickson. This lesson is part of our recommended sequence in the Third Grade Curriculum.

Third Grade Drama Journal: The First Woodpecker (Part 2)

To maximize student achievement, download this drama journal for students to use as reflection or formative assessment. For each lesson in the curriculum, we have created a corresponding journal page for your students. A drama journal allows participants to reflect on their learning and artistic growth (metacognition). It also allows you, the teacher, to see how students are using the drama vocabulary, thinking about big ideas, and perceiving their own strengths and weaknesses. If you use the journal for assessment and would like more assessment tools, visit our Third Grade Curriculum. 

The First Woodpecker Lesson (Part 1)

The First Woodpecker Lesson (Part 1): A Life Drama 

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Objective: Students compare characters and situations in drama to situations and people in real life. Students combine the primary drama tools to create character and setting.

Mythic stories appeal to all ages. This story of "The First Woodpecker," based on Native American myth, is a powerful lesson about respecting societal law and assisting others within a community. The drama places the students in role in an early Native American setting where they play members of a tribe faced with a great dilemma (part of the third grade objectives). A brief history of the Mandan Tribe is included for your reference. Review our tips for No Denial of Creation (helpful in a Life Drama) to improve the imagination and teamwork of the group. We included suggestions for integrating both Social Studies and Language Arts in the lesson. This lesson is part of our recommended sequence in the Third Grade Curriculum.

Third Grade Drama Journal: The First Woodpecker (Part 1)

To maximize student achievement, download this drama journal for students to use as reflection or formative assessment. For each lesson in the curriculum, we have created a corresponding journal page for your students. A drama journal allows participants to reflect on their learning and artistic growth (metacognition). It also allows you, the teacher, to see how students are using the drama vocabulary, thinking about big ideas, and perceiving their own strengths and weaknesses. If you use the journal for assessment and would like more assessment tools, visit our Third Grade Curriculum. 

 

Little Breeze – Great Storm Lesson

Little Breeze – Great Storm Lesson: Building Schema 

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Objective: Students use personification in a drama. Students compare characters and situations in a drama to situations and people in real life.

Where does the wind come from? How are great storms made? This is a wonderful science lesson but also could be used as a character education lesson addressing anti- bullying. Building on the Fire Lesson, students use their bodies and senses to personify wind (part of the third grade objectives). Students are encouraged to do their own research on weather conditions, but a brief background on wind is provided. The lesson can become a two-day lesson if students need more time to research their science content for use in the drama. This story goes perfectly with Aesop’s Fable “The Wind and the Sun.” A brief warm-up activity is provided called Feather to capture the qualities of the wind character needed for the story; the full activity can also be downloaded from our website. This lesson is part of our recommended sequence in the Third Grade Curriculum.

Third Grade Drama Journal: Little Breeze - Great Storm

To maximize student achievement, download this drama journal for students to use as reflection or formative assessment. For each lesson in the curriculum, we have created a corresponding journal page for your students. A drama journal allows participants to reflect on their learning and artistic growth (metacognition). It also allows you, the teacher, to see how students are using the drama vocabulary, thinking about big ideas, and perceiving their own strengths and weaknesses. If you use the journal for assessment and would like more assessment tools, visit our Third Grade Curriculum. 

The Long Ago Community Lesson

Long Ago Community Lesson

The Long Ago Community Lesson: Remembering & Celebrating Important Events

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Objective: students demonstrate improvisation to show how drama is used to celebrate and remember important events.

This Life Drama takes place over several days and has the students creating a fictional tribe of people facing calamity, surviving, and then celebrating the outcome. Students work through an improvisational process where there is no pre-written story or pre-determined outcome. They apply the practice of "no denial of creation" or saying “yes” to what others create as a way to support the drama and honor the imagination of others. You might choose to play in role in this drama or act as a guide on the side, either way is a joyful experience. This lesson is part of our recommended sequence in the Second Grade Curriculum.

Second Grade Drama Journal: The Long Ago Community

To maximize student achievement, download this drama journal for students to use as reflection or formative assessment. For each lesson in the curriculum, we have created a corresponding journal page for your students. A drama journal allows participants to reflect on their learning and artistic growth (metacognition). It also allows you, the teacher, to see how students are using the drama vocabulary, thinking about big ideas, and perceiving their own strengths and weaknesses. If you use the journal for assessment and would like more assessment tools, visit our Second Grade Curriculum. 

Do Not Open (Part 2) Lesson

Do Not Open Lesson

Do Not Open (Part 2) Lesson: Transformation and Prediction

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Objective: students discuss how transformation reveals the message of a story while applying C.I.T.I to play out the story elements.

Miss Moody has a cat that is afraid of storms--but why isn’t she? What is she afraid of when she finds a mysterious bottle on the beach after a terrible storm at sea? Students love this story, Do Not Open, by Brinton Turkle. We recommend you warm-up the class by practicing concentration and transformation with a Body Objects activity. Students will have the chance to make and demonstrate predictions and apply transformations based on ideas from the book (part of the second grade objectives). This lesson pairs with Do Not Open (Part 1) Lesson, and it is part of our recommended sequence in the Second Grade Curriculum.

Second Grade Drama Journal: Do Not Open (Part 2)

To maximize student achievement, download this drama journal for students to use as reflection or formative assessment. For each lesson in the curriculum, we have created a corresponding journal page for your students. A drama journal allows participants to reflect on their learning and artistic growth (metacognition). It also allows you, the teacher, to see how students are using the drama vocabulary, thinking about big ideas, and perceiving their own strengths and weaknesses. If you use the journal for assessment and would like more assessment tools, visit our Second Grade Curriculum. 

Do Not Open (Part 1) Lesson

Do Not Open Lesson

Do Not Open (Part 1) Lesson: Putting Action Verbs in Acting

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Objective: students demonstrate character actions, C.I.T.I.(concentration, imagination, transformation, imitation), and identify story elements.

Miss Moody has a cat that is afraid of storms--but why isn’t she? What is she afraid of when she finds a mysterious bottle on the beach after a terrible storm at sea? Students love this story, Do Not Open, by Brinton Turkle. In this lesson, students will identify action verbs and learn how actors use verbs to tell stories. We recommend playing Peanut Butter and Jelly, a silly activity that will get your students to explore verbs with their bodies. This lesson pairs with Do Not Open (Part 2) Lesson, and it is part of our recommended sequence in the Second Grade Curriculum.

Second Grade Drama Journal: Do Not Open (Part 1)

To maximize student achievement, download this drama journal for students to use as reflection or formative assessment. For each lesson in the curriculum, we have created a corresponding journal page for your students. A drama journal allows participants to reflect on their learning and artistic growth (metacognition). It also allows you, the teacher, to see how students are using the drama vocabulary, thinking about big ideas, and perceiving their own strengths and weaknesses. If you use the journal for assessment and would like more assessment tools, visit our Second Grade Curriculum. 

Turtle who Lived by the Pond Lesson

Turtle who Lived by the Pond Lesson

Turtle who Lived by the Pond Lesson:  Fantasy and Reality

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Objective: students use transformation and delineate reality from fantasy in a drama.

Which part is fantasy and which is reality in the story of the turtle who wants to be something he is not? Turtle learns a very important lesson along the way in this story, “The Turtle Who Lived by the Pond.” From plot twist to plot twist, students plan and play a series of transformations into objects and animals. Download the story to complete the materials for the lesson. Review our techniques for viewing and sharing student work before you have the students present their stories to others. This lesson is part of our recommended sequence in the Second Grade Curriculum.

Second Grade Drama Journal: The Turtle Who Lived by the Pond

To maximize student achievement, download this drama journal for students to use as reflection or formative assessment. For each lesson in the curriculum, we have created a corresponding journal page for your students. A drama journal allows participants to reflect on their learning and artistic growth (metacognition). It also allows you, the teacher, to see how students are using the drama vocabulary, thinking about big ideas, and perceiving their own strengths and weaknesses. If you use the journal for assessment and would like more assessment tools, visit our Second Grade Curriculum.