USING DRAMA TO EXPLORE BEGINNING, MIDDLE AND END OF A STORY

USING DRAMA TO EXPLORE BEGINNING, MIDDLE AND END OF A STORY

Learning Description

In this lesson, students will use drama techniques to explore the story elements of Swimmy by Leo Lionni. Students will use tableau and pantomime to act out the story as it is read aloud and will then create their own scenes to retell the story after it has been read.

 

Learning Targets

GRADE BAND: K-1
CONTENT FOCUS: THEATRE & ELA
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"I Can" Statements

“I Can…”

  • I can use pantomime and tableau to communicate or retell parts of a story.

  • I can act out a portion of a story and determine where it fits in the sequence–beginning, middle or end.

  • I can accurately retell the parts of a story using writing and illustrating.

Essential Questions

  • How can theatrical techniques help us understand stories better?

 

Georgia Standards

Curriculum Standards

Kindergarten: 

ELAGSEKRL3 With prompting and support, identify characters, settings, and major events in a story.

 

Grade 1: 

ELAGSE1RL2 Retell stories, including key details, and demonstrate understanding of their central message or lesson. ELAGSE1RL3 Describe characters, settings, and major events in a story, using key details.

Arts Standards

Kindergarten:

TAK.CR.1 Organize, design, and refine theatrical work.

TAK.CR.2 Develop scripts through theatrical techniques.

TAK.PR.1 Act by communicating and sustaining roles in formal and informal environments.

 

Grade 1:

TA1.CR.1 Organize, design, and refine theatrical work.

TA1.CR.2 Develop scripts through theatrical techniques.

TA1.PR.1 Act by communicating and sustaining roles in formal and informal environments.

 

South Carolina Standards

Curriculum Standards

Kindergarten: 

ELA.K.AOR.1.1 Identify and describe the main character(s), setting, and events that move the plot forward. 

ELA.K.AOR.6.1 Retell a text orally to enhance comprehension: a. include main character(s), setting, and important events for a story.

 

Grade 1: 

ELA.1.AOR.1.1 Identify and describe the main story elements, such as character(s), setting, and events that move the plot forward. 

ELA.1.AOR.2.1 Retell a story using main story elements and identify a lesson in a literary text. 

ELA.1.AOR.6.1 Retell a text orally and in writing to enhance comprehension: a. include main story elements at the beginning, middle, and end for a literary text.

Arts Standards

Anchor Standard 1: I can create scenes and write scripts using story elements and structure.

 

Anchor Standard 3: I can act in improvised scenes and written scripts.

Anchor Standard 8: I can relate theatre to other content areas, arts disciplines, and careers.

 

Key Vocabulary

Content Vocabulary

  • Narration - The act of telling a story

  • Character - A person, an animal or other figure assuming human qualities, in a story

 

  • Setting - The time and place in which a story takes place

  • Plot - The events that happen in a story
  • Cause - The reason something happened
  • Effect - What happens because of the cause

Arts Vocabulary

  • Theater - Dramatic literature or its performance; drama

  • Tableau -  A “living picture” in which actors pose and freeze in the manner of a picture or photograph
  • Pantomime - Acting without words through facial expression, gesture, and movement
  • Ensemble - All the parts of a thing taken together, so that each part is considered
  • Body - An actor’s tool, which we shape and change to portray the way a character looks, walks, or moves

 

Materials

  • Smart board/white board
  • Markers/crayons
  • Story Map with characters, setting, and the parts of a plot
  • Pencils
  • Swimmy by Leo Lionni
  • Optional: Sock puppet or stuffed animal

 

Instructional Design

Opening/Activating Strategy

Classroom Tips: Use cueing methods when directing tableau in your classroom: “3–2–1–Freeze”.

 

  • Start with a general physical warm-up to get the students' bodies ready. Use exercises such as:
    • Stretching: Stretch all major muscle groups.
    • Shaking Out Limbs: Shake out arms, legs, and the whole body to release tension.
    • Energy Passes: Stand in a circle and pass a clap or a simple motion around to build group focus and energy.
  • Introduce the art form of tableau with a warm-up: Statues in the Garden.
    • Tell students that the teacher is the guard of the garden and all of the other players are statues in the garden.
    • The guard counts to ten and says “Freeze”.
    • During the count, all of the other players move around the room and become a frozen statue by the count of 10.
    • Tell students that when the guard is wandering through the garden and is not looking at them, they should change their statue position. However, if the guard sees a statue move or in the process of moving, that player will be “out”.
    • As the teacher wanders through the garden, prompt students to create statues in different environments (ie. statues we may see in a city, statues of animals we may see in a forest, etc,).
    • Debrief the activity sharing that when actors make “frozen pictures” with their bodies, this is called tableau in theatre. Tell students that they will be using tableau in the lesson today.

 

Work Session

  • Read the book, Swimmy, by Leo Lionni, aloud to the class.
  • Pause throughout the reading and ask students to use tableau and pantomime to analyze the characters, setting, and major events.
    • Example: “I wonder what the tuna fish’s face looked like at this point in the story? Can I see everyone make the face of the tuna fish? 3–2–1–FREEZE!”.
    • In this way, students will explore the characters using tableau, movement and pantomime at various points in the text. Select different students to demonstrate the story using tableau, movement, and/or pantomime for the rest of the class.
      • Example: “When Swimmy was exploring the underwater creatures he saw some pretty amazing things! Can anyone remember one creature he saw?” Ask several students to show the class a statue of that creature.
    • When the class gets to the end of the story, discuss the lesson that the school of fish learned. Facilitate a class discussion relating personal experiences to the story’s lesson.
  • Introduce the parts of the story–beginning, middle, and end–with a class visitor such as a puppet or stuffed animal.
    • The class puppet/stuffed animal/etc. should arrive and visit the class right after you finish the story. Tell the puppet that you just finished reading a story.
    • The puppet tells the class that they love retelling stories and shares “Retell a Story Dance” with the class. 
    • Students learn the dance: Hand up for the beginning, out for the middle and down for the end.
    • The puppet wants to know what the story is about. 
    • As a class, retell the story with the beginning, middle, and end. At each point in retelling the story, students should put their hand in the appropriate position to indicate which part of the story it is–beginning, middle, or end.
  • Divide students into small groups. Assign each group a part of the story–beginning, middle, or end. Each group should create a short scene acting out their part of the story.
    • Circulate the room to work with students and check for understanding as they create their scenes.
  • Put three groups together–one with the beginning, one with the middle, and one with the end of the story. Have students put their scenes together in the correct sequence.
    • Provide time for students to practice. Circulate the room to work with students and check for understanding.

 

Closing Reflection

  • Students will perform the story for the class. Discuss appropriate audience participation and etiquette prior to performances.
  • After each performance, students should discuss how the groups showed the beginning, middle, and end of the story.
  • Ask students how drama techniques like pantomime and tableau helped them understand the story.
  • As a class, or in small groups, create a story map of the beginning, middle and end of the story using illustrations and descriptions.

 

Assessments

Formative

Teachers will assess students’ understanding of the content throughout the lesson by observing students’ participation in the activator, use of pantomime and tableau to act out parts of the story as it is read aloud, discussion of the story’s lesson and relating it to their own personal experiences, retelling of the story, and conferencing with students as they act out their assigned part of the story.

 

Summative

CHECKLIST

  • Students can use pantomime and tableau to communicate or retell parts of the story. 
  • Students can act out an assigned portion of a story and determine where it fits in the sequence.

Students can accurately retell the parts of a story using a Story Map.

 

DIFFERENTIATION 

Acceleration: 

  • Writing extension:
    • What did Swimmy learn during the story? 
    • How did the school of fish stay safe? 
    • Discuss with students how a “school of fish” is much like a family.
    • Ask students: Is there a time in your own life where you helped your family much like Swimmy did?
    • Let students pair-share.
    • Ask students to return to their tables and draw about a time when he/she was helpful to his/her family much like Swimmy. Pair-share their drawings. 
    • Chose a few to share-out with the class 
  • Visual art extension:
    • This could be a part of a much larger Author Study Unit of Leo Lionni’s texts and illustrations.
    • Table puppets could be created after reading each story.
    • Cover the table with butcher paper and work with the class in small groups to create a backdrop for the story using elements present in the artwork of Lionni’s illustrations (watercolor, texture, crayons). 
    • Then, direct students to create character stick puppets.
    • Let students practice retelling the story using their puppets on a table on top of the scenery.
  • Math extension:
    • Create math story problems using the characters in Swimmy and gold fish for manipulatives.
    • Students can create their own stories and get in pairs to test them out with one another.

Remediation: 

  • Divide the lesson into two separate sessions. On day one, focus only on reading the story and acting out the story in real time using pantomime and tableau. On day two, focus on the parts of the story and retelling them through acting.
  • Act out the parts of the story as a whole class rather than assigning parts of the story to individual groups. 

 

 *This integrated lesson provides differentiated ideas and activities for educators that are aligned to a sampling of standards. Standards referenced at the time of publishing may differ based on each state’s adoption of new standards.

Ideas contributed by: Jessica Rosa Espinoza. Updated by: Katy Betts.

Revised and copyright: July 2024 @ ArtsNOW