Acting Out Life Cycles Lesson: Reviewing the Tools & Skills Objective: students use the tools and skills to transform into human, animal, and object characters. This science-integrated lesson serves as a year-end culmination for students in first grade. Students play characters going through a transformation. Each story presents an opportunity to discuss and act out … Read more
The Vegetable Garden Lesson: Creating Characters Objective: students compare actions of characters to real life behaviors and demonstrate how the body and voice are used to create character. A vegetable garden and a vineyard vie for attention in this story of a farmer who forgets the produce that has supported him for so long. This … Read more
The River Lesson: Mirroring Life through Cooperation Objective: students discuss how drama is similar to real life. This is a Life drama lesson for students in first grade. It focuses on environmental, urban and immigration issues as part of the story. This lesson incorporates the book A River Ran Wild by Lynn Cherry. The first grade objectives addressed are using … Read more
Mindless Woman Lesson: Communicating with the Body Objective: students demonstrate how the drama tools are used to create a story. Based on an old Chinese folk tale, this lesson has groups working to create settings for a very humorous story (part of the first grade objectives). This is a full class drama and you are the … Read more
Early American Life Lesson: Creating Action Objective: students use the body to imitate character actions and create objects in a setting; they also identify problems and solutions in a story. Students reenact the lives of early American settlers, a great connection to Social Studies (early American life). This lesson also uses the children’s book The … Read more
Hermit Monster Lesson: Playing Emotions Objective: students identify how emotions are used to tell a story. Hermit Monster is small and frightened and becomes large and angry. Other characters in the story go through emotions as well. Friendship saves the day rather than anger or fear. The students identify simple emotions and use the body … Read more
Emotions Lesson Objective: students identify and imitate simple emotions. Students identify and imitate simple emotions in beginning simple exercises. Next, they create a scene, using the body, to communicate an emotion through imitative action (part of the first grade objectives). Before working with the children, review our side coaching tips to encourage them to “be real.” … Read more
Hungry Caterpillar Lesson: Sequencing with the Body Objective: students use the body to tell a story. Based on the book “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” by Eric Carle, this lesson has students working in partners and triads to create the objects and the caterpillar who systematically eats through each item. Students sequence and retell the story … Read more
The Puddle Lesson: More Story Elements Objective: students discuss the elements needed to make a story. Students work with physical shapes as they play a puddle who wants to be round like the sun. The students are asked to identify the character, plot, conflict, setting and message of the story (part of the first grade objectives). … Read more
Cubby Finds a Home Lesson: Communicating with Voice Objective: students use the voice to communicate a story. This winter story has a surprise ending. Students infer, make guesses, and put clues together to figure out who Cubby is and where he needs to live for the winter. Students add sound effects with the voice for the … Read more