week 3

Presentations

This first picture shows a group who created a scene about the environment. This group chose to have some character who don't move and others who do. They also had a narrator who helped describe the scene. For this particular presentation, the group focused on a book called Just a Dream, and tried to depict a scene dealing with the human impact on the environment. This activity can be used for a variety of subjects, and teachers can adapt it to their particular grade and the subjects they are teaching.

 

The next activity is tapping in. The students who are chosen are given a character known to them, and are to act like that character during an interview. An interviewer is chosen to ask questions to the group, and will try to guess who the speakers are. If the interviewer guesses right, another student will take the place of the speaker as a new character. This week they used people who have an impact on the environment like politicians, ans students, and the interviewer asked questions dealing with that subject. This can be done with other subjects like history where the characters are people the class has been studying in their unit.

 

The last activity I want to highlight is the collective drawing. Each student is given a blank piece of paper, and would be asked to draw/write how they feel about the environment. After 30sec, the students are to pass their paper to a student beside them. They are now able to add to a peer's drawing for 30sec. This process repeats until the teacher feels the timing is right. The students are to put their papers together so it looks like one image. They are welcome to share and explain their drawings, or why they chose to add certain images to other drawings. Again this was done with the science curriculum, but it can be used with many others.

Dewey's Progressive Theory

John Dewey is well known in education. He has helped developed many of the classroom techniques we use today. His progressive theory states that children learn by doing, so a hands-on approach can benefit students in the classroom. This theory opposes the traditional classroom setup where the students sit and rows and listen to the teacher talk all day. This takes us into the child-centered approach, where students can work collaboratively, and use inquiry to learn. The teacher plays an important role in guiding students, so they focus on the right level and subjects. The video below summarizes some of Dewey's accomplishments and contributions to education.

 

Important to know!

ELEMENTS OF DRAMA

• Role/Character: adopting the attitude, voice, or emotional state of a fictional character

• Relationship: listening and responding in role to other characters in role

• Time and Place: pretending to be in the established setting of the drama

• Tension: being aware of a sense of mystery or of a problem to be solved

• Focus and Emphasis: being aware of the main idea or issue in the drama

MATH AND DRAMA

Graffiti: The teacher can ask students math questions, and students are to use their finger/hand/arms to draw out the answer. For example if the question is 2+2, the students are to draw out 4 in the air. This can be adapted so the questions meet the student's grade level, and all the students are participating as they are thinking and trying, even though they don't get the right answer. 

Geometry and Spatial Sense:create and analyze designs by translating and/or reflecting a shape, or shapes, using a variety of tools. Students will be put in groups and given a shape. they are to use their bodies to demonstrate the different shape movements.

Living Venn diagram: One circle represents shapes with congruent sides, the other represents shapes with congruent angles. Give students a shape and they must step into the correct circle. 

Directed tableau: Divide students into groups of 4 or 5. Tell each group that they are to create different shapes with their bodies. Then they are to figure out a way to show their shape through flip, turn, translation.