LISTEN, THINK, WRITE! 4-5

LISTEN, THINK, WRITE!

LISTEN, THINK, WRITE!

Learning Description

In this lesson, students will incorporate the elements of a story to create an engaging narrative inspired by a musical piece. Students will use temporal words and descriptive details to improve their writing.

 

Learning Targets

GRADE BAND: 4-5
CONTENT FOCUS: MUSIC & ELA
LESSON DOWNLOADS:

Download PDF of this Lesson

"I Can" Statements

“I Can…”

  • I can use music to write narratives about real or imagined experiences.

  • I can listen and respond to music.

  • I can use sensory language and descriptive details to develop events, setting, and characters.

Essential Questions

  • How can listening to music encourage creative writing?

 

Georgia Standards

Curriculum Standards

Grade 4: 

ELAGSE4W3 Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences. 

  1. Orient the reader by establishing a situation and introducing a narrator and/or characters; organize an event sequence that unfolds naturally. b. Use dialogue and description to develop experiences and events or show the responses of characters to situations. c. Use a variety of transitional words and phrases to manage the sequence of events. d. Use concrete words and phrases and sensory details to convey experiences and events precisely. e. Provide a conclusion that follows from the narrated experiences or events.

 

Grade 5: 

ELAGSE5W3 Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences. 

  1. Orient the reader by establishing a situation and introducing a narrator and/or characters; organize an event sequence that unfolds naturally. b. Use narrative techniques, such as dialogue, description, and pacing, to develop experiences and events or show the responses of characters to situations. c. Use a variety of transitional words, phrases, and clauses to manage the sequence of events. d. Use concrete words and phrases and sensory details to convey experiences and events precisely. e. Provide a conclusion that follows from the narrated experiences or events.

 

 

Arts Standards

Grade 4: 

ESGM4.RE.1 Listen to, analyze, and describe music. 

ESGM4.RE.2 Evaluate music and music performances. 

ESGM4.CN.1 Connect music to the other fine arts and disciplines outside the arts.

 

Grade 5: 

ESGM5.RE.1 Listen to, analyze, and describe music.

ESGM5.RE.2 Evaluate music and music performances.

ESGM5.CN.1 Connect music to the other fine arts and disciplines outside the arts.

 

 

 

South Carolina Standards

Curriculum Standards

Grade 4: 

ELA.4.C.3.1 Write narratives developing real or imagined experiences. When writing: 

  1. establish a situation and setting; b. introduce a narrator and/or characters; c. organize a plot structure; d. use narrative techniques such as dialogue, descriptive language, and sensory details to develop events, setting, and characters; e. use a variety of transitional words and phrases to sequence events; and f. provide an ending that follows from the narrated experiences or events.

 

Grade 5: 

ELA.5.C.3.1 Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences. When writing: 

  1. establish a situation and setting; b. introduce a narrator and characters; c. establish a plot structure; d. use narrative techniques such as dialogue, precise words, descriptive language, and sensory details to develop events, setting, and characters; e. use a variety of transitional words and phrases to sequence the events; and f. provide an ending that follows logically from the narrated experiences or events.

 

 

Arts Standards

Anchor Standard 6: I can analyze music.

Anchor Standard 7: I can evaluate music.

Anchor Standard 9: I can relate music to other arts disciplines, other subjects, and career paths.

 

 

 

Key Vocabulary

Content Vocabulary

  • Narrative writing - A form of writing that tells a story or recounts a series of events

  • Exposition - Explaining or describing something in a detailed and systematic manner

  • Rising action - The series of events, conflicts, and complications that build tension and lead to the climax of the story

  • Climax - The point at which the central conflict or problem reaches its peak

  • Falling action - The part of a story's plot that occurs after the climax and leads to the resolution or conclusion

  • Conclusion - The part where the story's conflicts are resolved

  • Setting - The time, place, and environment in which the story takes place

  • Character - A person, animal, or entity depicted in a story

  • Mood - The overall emotional atmosphere or tone that a piece of writing evokes in the reader

  • Sensory language - Descriptive language that engages the five senses: sight, sound, touch, taste, and smell

  • Transitional words - Terms that help to guide readers through a piece of writing, ensuring that ideas flow smoothly from one to the next

Arts Vocabulary

  • Pitch - High/low sounds

  • Rhythm - Long/slow sounds

  • Tempo - Fast/slow sounds

  • Dynamics - Loud/soft sounds

  • Timbre - Instrument sounds

  • Form - Same/different sounds
  • Articulation - Smooth/detached

 

Materials

  • Paper
  • Pencils
  • Teacher access to computer and Internet

 

Instructional Design

Opening/Activating Strategy

  • Engage students in “Listening: Ten Times Two” thinking routine (modified to “Five Times Two”).
    • Prepare students for the listening activity by telling students they are going to listen to a musical composition and list five words or phrases that come to mind while they are listening. (See “Additional Resources” section for musical suggestions. Use a listening excerpt about 45-60 seconds in length. The excerpt can start and end at any point during the composition.) 
    • Wait until the end of the listening activity to tell students the title and composer. Revealing the title and composer before the activity may influence the listener.
    • During the first time listening to the music, students listen without talking and generate their first list of five words and phrases.
    • Students listen a second time without talking and add five additional words to their list.
    • Students listen a third time without talking and write the sounds they heard that inspired their list. Musical sounds can include: pitch (high/low sounds), rhythm (long/short), dynamics (loud/soft), tempo (fast/slow), timbre (instruments), form (same [repetition], different), and articulation (smooth/detached).
    • After the listening activity: 
      • Students turn and talk to a neighbor, share their words/phrases, and discuss the musical sounds and music vocabulary they heard that inspired their list. 
      • Ask students what the mood of the music is.
      • Students share out to the class. Validate the answers students give; there are no right or wrong responses.
  • Facilitate a discussion with students about how musical sounds can inspire and enhance writing and storytelling. Ask students if there is any music that they associate with stories. 
    • Remind students that songs have a structure–beginning, middle, and end, and that some songs have lyrics that tell a story that accompanies the melody of the song.
  • Transition into the lesson about narrative writing.

 

Work Session

COLLABORATIVE NARRATIVE WRITING

    • Introduce or review a lesson about narrative writing. Use modeling, visual representations, and hands-on manipulatives to help students understand the concept of narrative writing.
    • Tell the students they are going to practice writing a narrative as a whole class using the opening activity as inspiration.
      • Remind students that narratives have a setting, characters, rising action, climax, falling action, and conclusion. The narrative should fit the mood of the music.
      • Emphasize the use of descriptive details and sensory language to develop events, setting, and characters.
    • Tell students to refresh their memories of the opening music and review their list of words while the teacher plays the music again.
    • Provide students with a graphic organizer such as the Student Friendly Narrative Writing Graphic Organizer PDF to guide the students in writing a whole class story. 
    • Teacher and students read the final product and discuss possible edits.
    • Option: Students can act out the story.

    INDEPENDENT NARRATIVE WRITING

    • Tell students they are going to do another “Five Times Two” with a different composition and write their own narrative based on that composition. (See “Additional Resources” section for musical suggestions. Use a listening excerpt about 45-60 seconds in length. The excerpt can start and end at any point during the composition.) 
    • Students complete another round of “Five Times Two”. Remind students to think about the mood of the music. 
    • Provide students with a graphic organizer to structure their narrative. 
      • Their narrative should fit the mood of the music.
      • Remind students to:
        • Include a setting, characters, rising action, climax, falling action, and conclusion. 
        • Use descriptive language and sensory details to develop the characters and setting.
        • Use transitional words and phrases to move the reader smoothly through the story.
    • Allow students to develop their graphic organizer into a written narrative.
    • Circulate the classroom, observe student progress, and offer constructive feedback or conferencing during the writing process.
    • Allow time for students to engage in the peer review process. Provide time for students to revise their narratives.

     

     

     

    Closing Reflection

    • Allow students to volunteer to read their narratives to the class.
    • Review the concept of narrative writing facilitating a conversation around the connection between music and storytelling.

     

    Assessments

    Formative

    Teacher will assess students by:

    • Observing and listening to students’ discussions and answers.
    • Conferencing with students during the writing process.
    • Listening to students’ responses to the activity, Five Times Two.

     

     

     

    Summative

    CHECKLIST

    • Students can effectively use storytelling elements, descriptive details, sensory language, and transitional words and phrases to write a narrative.
    • Students can use music to inspire a narrative that has a beginning, middle, and end.
    • Students can use music elements to analyze and evaluate music.

     

     

    DIFFERENTIATION 

    Acceleration: 

    • Students create their own music then write a narrative.
    • Students can incorporate theatre by writing their narratives as a script with dialogue. Students can then rehearse and perform their work for the class.

    Remediation:

    • Have students work with a partner to write their narrative.
    • Use a simpler graphic organizer such as the Narrative Writing Graphic Organizer.
    • Use scribing or speech-to-text technology.

     

     ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

    *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: Rue Lee-Holmes. Updated by: Katy Betts.

    Revised and copyright:  July 2024 @ ArtsNOW

     

     

     

    Back to Modules

    DOL DANCING THE BILL OF RIGHTS 4-5

    DANCING THE BILL OF RIGHTS

     

    DANCING THE BILL OF RIGHTS

    Learning Description

    In this lesson, students will demonstrate their understanding of the Bill of Rights by choreographing a movement phrase to represent each amendment using the elements of dance.

     

    Learning Targets

    GRADE BAND: 4-5
    CONTENT FOCUS: DANCE & SOCIAL STUDIES
    LESSON DOWNLOADS:

    Download PDF of this Lesson

    "I Can" Statements

    “I Can…”

    • I can choreograph a movement phrase using the elements of dance to represent the Bill of Rights.
    • I can explain my assigned amendment from the Bill of Rights.

    Essential Questions

    • How can movement represent an idea?
    • What is the Bill of Rights?

     

    Georgia Standards

    Curriculum Standards

    Grade 4

    SS4CG3 Describe the structure of government and the Bill of Rights. 

    Identify and explain the rights in the Bill of Rights, describe how the Bill of Rights places limits on the powers of government, and explain the reasons for its inclusion in the Constitution in 1791.

    Arts Standards

    Grade 4

    ESD4.CR.1 Demonstrate an understanding of the choreographic process.

     

    ESD4.CR.2 Demonstrate an understanding of dance as a form of communication.

     

    ESD4.CN.3 Integrate dance into other areas of knowledge.

     

     

    South Carolina Standards

    Curriculum Standards

    Grade 4

    Standard 2: Demonstrate an understanding of the identity of a new nation, including the state of South Carolina between 1730-1800.

    4.2.CC Explain the continuities and changes in natural rights as seen from the French and Indian War to the creation of the Bill of Rights.

    Arts Standards

    Anchor Standard 1: I can use movement exploration to discover and create artistic ideas and works.

     

    Anchor Standard 2: I can choreograph a dance.

     

    Anchor Standard 3: I can perform movements using the dance elements.

    Anchor Standard 7: I can relate dance to other arts disciplines, content areas, and careers.

     

    Key Vocabulary

    Content Vocabulary

    • Bill of Rights - The first ten amendments of the US Constitution; the purpose is to protect the rights of citizens
    • Amendment - A formal change to a legal document, statute, or constitution

    Arts Vocabulary

    • Body - The physical instrument used by dancers to express movement, emotion, and artistry
    • Locomotor Movements - Movements that travel through space, such as walking, running, hopping, skipping, leaping, sliding, and galloping
    • Non-locomotor Movements - Movements that occur without traveling, such as bending, stretching, pushing, pulling, twisting, turning, and shaking
    • Levels - The height of the movement, which can be low (close to the ground), middle (midway), or high (elevated)
    • Directions - The direction of movement, such as forward, backward, sideways, diagonal, up, and down
    • Pathways - The patterns made in space, like straight, curved, zigzag, or circular
    • Dynamics - The quality of movement, which can be smooth, sharp, sustained, percussive, swinging, or collapsing
    • Tempo - The speed of movement, which can be fast, moderate, or slow
    • Choreography - The art and practice of designing and arranging dance movements and sequences
    • Movement phrase - A sequence of movements that are connected and form a coherent unit of motion, much like a sentence in language

     

    Materials

    • Copy of the Bill of Rights
    • Smart board

     

    Instructional Design

    Opening/Activating Strategy

    • Begin the lesson by practicing a typical call and response with students. Continue the call and response adding body movements.
      • Incorporate some of the aspects of the elements of dance such as levels, pathways, direction, locomotor/non-locomotor movements, changes in tempo, etc.

     

    Work Session

    • Tell students that they will be using movement and dance to express ideas. 
      • Have students practice using their whole bodies based on a specific task, such as, to write their names in the air with finger, then elbow, then foot, then nose, then top of your head, then hip.
      • Begin to make the directions more abstract (i.e. make your body a leaf, and move like a leaf holding on to a branch in the wind, etc). Remind students that they should use their whole bodies.
      • Add in the aspects of the elements of dance such as levels, pathways, direction, locomotor/non-locomotor movements, changes in tempo, etc.
    • Tell students that dancers use their bodies to communicate ideas. Today, they will be using dance to represent the Bill of Rights.
      • Review the Bill of Rights; display each amendment on the board.
      • Arrange students into small groups. 
      • Each group will be responsible for choreographing a two to three movement phrase to represent their assigned amendment. 
        • Remind students to use their bodies and movement to represent ideas (like the leaf blowing in the wind), not to act or pantomime.
        • Remind students of some of the aspects of the elements of dance (types of movements, levels, tempo, dynamics, etc.). Tell students to select at least one that they will use intentionally in their movement phrases. 
    • After a designated time, have each group come up and present their choreography to the class.
      • Facilitate a discussion around how the dancers’ movements represented their assigned amendment. Ask students where they saw the elements of dance in each movement phrase and how that element of dance helped to communicate meaning.
    • Finally, have the entire class perform their choreography consecutively as a complete dance. This will allow all of them to sequence the movements and collectively perform one dance of the entire Bill of Rights.

     

    Closing Reflection

    • In their groups, students should discuss which movements they chose and how those movements represented their assigned amendment. 
    • Facilitate a class discussion around the process of choreographing a dance that communicated a specific idea.
      • Ask students what they thought they did well and what they would do differently if they were to do it again.

     

    Assessments

    Formative

    Teachers will assess students’ understanding by observing students’ review of the Bill of Rights, contributions to small group choreography and ability to create movements to represent ideas using the elements of dance.

     

    Summative

    CHECKLIST

    • Students can choreograph a movement phrase using the elements of dance to represent their assigned amendment.
    • Students can explain how their movements represent the meaning of their assigned amendment.

     

    DIFFERENTIATION 

    Accelerated: 

    • Challenge students to move to the steady beat of the music.
    • Students can complete a written reflection around which movements they chose and how those movements represented their assigned amendment.

     

    Remedial: 

    • Students can create one movement instead of a two to three movement phrase to represent their amendment.
    • Choreograph the first amendment as a whole class to scaffold the process.
     

     

    *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: Andrew Sbarra

    Revised and copyright:  May 2024 @ ArtsNOW

    Back to Modules

    Voice Activation Station 4-5

    VOICE ACTIVATION STATION

    VOICE ACTIVATION STATION

    Learning Description

    Students will harness the power of one of their most valuable assets – their voice – through exploration of vocal expression, including diaphragmatic breathing, the elements of shaping sound, and the dynamics of volume, pace, articulation and pitch.

     

    Learning Targets

    GRADE BAND: 4-5
    CONTENT FOCUS: THEATRE & ELA
    LESSON DOWNLOADS:

    Download PDF of this Lesson

    "I Can" Statements

    “I Can…”

    • I can use my voice in different ways to express different emotions and ideas.

    Essential Questions

    • How can drama techniques be used to improve speaking skills?

     

    Georgia Standards

    Curriculum Standards

    Grade 4:ELAGSE4RL3 Describe in depth a character, setting, or event in a story or drama, drawing on specific details in the text (e.g., a character’s thoughts, words, or actions).

     

    ELAGSE4SL4 Report on a topic or text, tell a story, or recount an experience in an organized manner, using appropriate facts and

    relevant, descriptive details to support main ideas or themes; speak clearly at an understandable pace.

     

    Grade 5:

    ELAGSE5SL4 Report on a topic or text or present an opinion, sequencing ideas logically and using appropriate facts and relevant, descriptive details to support main ideas or themes; speak clearly at an understandable pace.

     

     

    Arts Standards

    Grade 4:

    TA2.PR.1 Act by communicating and sustaining roles in formal and informal environments. 

    1. Use vocal elements (e.g. inflection, pitch, volume, articulation) to communicate a

    character’s thoughts, emotions, and actions.

     

    Grade 5:

    TA3.PR.1 Act by communicating and sustaining roles in formal and informal environments.

    1. Use vocal elements (e.g. inflection, pitch, volume, articulation) to communicate thoughts, ideas, and emotions of a character.

     

     

    South Carolina Standards

    Curriculum Standards

    Grade 4:

    COMMUNICATION – Language, Craft & Structure

    Standard 5: Incorporate craft techniques to engage and impact audience and convey messages.

    5.1 Set a purpose and integrate craft techniques to create presentations.

     

    Grade 5: 

    COMMUNICATION – Language, Craft & Structure

    Standard 5: Incorporate craft techniques to engage and impact audience and convey messages.

    5.1 Set a purpose, integrate craft techniques and maintain a clear focus in presentations.

     

     

     

     

    Arts Standards

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

     

     

    Key Vocabulary

    Content Vocabulary

    • Audience – People intently watching and/or listening to a speaker or performer
    • Craft techniques – The ways in which voice and language are used for communication, such as intonation and word stress
    • Characterization - The process by which an author develops and reveals a character's personality, traits, and attributes to the reader

    Arts Vocabulary

    • Articulation – The way that words are shaped by the articulators – the lips, teeth, tongue, cheeks, and jaws; the way that an accent or dialect affects speech; the clarity of speech; also called ‘diction’ or ‘enunciation’
    • Articulators – The parts of the body that help to shape sound
    • Diaphragm – A muscle extending across the bottom of the ribcage, below the lungs and above the stomach
    • Diaphragmatic breathing – Breathing from the diaphragm, allowing the shoulders to remain relaxed and the belly to engage with expansion and contraction
    • Neutral Position – A simple position of readiness and neutrality, in which the actor has not committed to any specific movement or attitude; standing upright with feel flat on the ground and arms hanging by the sides
    • Pace – How fast or slow speech is delivered
    • Pitch – How high or low a sound is
    • Slating – A process in which an actor states their name and piece (text, speech, monologue) before presenting
    • Volume – How loud or quiet the voice is

     

    Materials

    • Anchor paper
    • Markers
    • Photo Image of the respiratory system showing the diaphragm
    • Copies (or projection) of text that demonstrates characterization
    • Paper and pencils

     

     

    Instructional Design

    Opening/Activating Strategy

    • Introduce Neutral Position to students. 
      • Discuss the meaning of “neutrality” as ready and not committed to movement or action in one direction or another.
      • Have students stand in a large circle (alternative: have students stand at desks or tables). 
      • Tell students to put their hands on their hips and look down to place their feet directly under their hips and shoulders. Tell students, “Your feet shouldn’t be too far apart or too close together; directly under the hips; hip distance apart”.
      • Tell students that this is called Neutral Position. Have students repeat the term.  
      • Have students drop their hands by their sides and lead them through some shoulder movements, such as forward and back, up and down, then circles to the front and the back. 
      • Give the students a signal (such as a clap) to move their bodies freely, and then suddenly to return to Neutral Position. Practice several times. 
      • Explain that Neutral Position is a good starting point for speaking with a clear voice.

     

    Work Session

    • Introduce “Breathe” to students.
      • Have them imagine there is a tire around their belly/waist area. Encourage them to fill up the entire tire, the front, the back and the sides.
      • Ask students what “breathing” means. Take in answers and discuss the definition in scientific terms.
      • Instruct students, “Breathe in through your nose all the way to your toes”. 
      • Tell students that this is using our diaphragm. Show an image of the diaphragm to explain its role in supporting breath and the production of sound.

     

    • Introduce vocal exercises to students.
      • Model saying the “Ha!” to the next person in the circle, and having them pass it on.  The “Ha!” is then passed around the circle at full volume.
      • Use fingers to count out how long it takes to completely exhale the breath. 
      • Repeat several times, trying to extend the hiss each time.
      • “Pass the ‘Ha!’”:  Lead students in practicing expelling all the air out of the lungs in one exhalation saying “Ha!”.
      • “Hiss it Out”:  Direct students to breathe in using their diaphragm muscle, and then exhale slowly and evenly using a hiss.  
      • “Ahhhh”:  Shift from the hiss to a voiced “Ahhhh,” continuing to elongate by evenly drawing out the breath longer with each “Ahhhh”.

     

    • Introduce articulation to students.
      • Explain that “articulators” are the body parts that help us to shape sound:  Lips, teeth, tongue, cheeks, jaws, the roof of the mouth, the nasal cavities, etc.
      • Ask, “Does anyone know what the word “Articulation” means?  Discuss the definition of “articulation”, as well as the related words “enunciation” and “diction”.
      • Ask, “What do you think ‘articulators’ are?”  
      • Instruct students, “Let’s warm up our articulators by scrunching and stretching our mouths saying, ‘ee’ and ‘ooo’.”
      • Have students chew on an imaginary wad of bubble gum that keeps getting bigger and bigger, thus requiring greater stretching of the articulators.
      • Discuss how articulation can be very important in communicating with an audience.

     

    • Introduce tongue twisters to students.
      • Toy boat, toy boat, toy boat
      • Unique New York, Unique New Yorl
      • She sells seashells by the seashore.
      • Use other tongue-twisters by preference. 
      • Ask the students to repeat each line of the tongue twisters that you say. Lead the following “call and response” phrases one line at a time.

     

    • Introduce the elements of vocal expression to students. 
      • Volume:  Louder/quieter
      • Pace:  Faster/slower
      • Articulation:  Clearer/mumblier
      • Pitch:  Higher/lower
      • Describe and define the four main elements of vocal expression: Volume, pace, articulation and pitch.
      • Direct the students to change the volume, pace, articulation and pitch with which they speak the tongue twisters.

    Teacher note (South Carolina): Tell students that these elements are sometimes referred to as Craft Techniques – aspects of the craft or techniques of speaking.

    • Make an anchor chart of volume, pace, articulation, and pitch.

     

    • Apply concepts to a class text.
      • Tell students that slating is when you state your name and introduce what you will be reciting in a strong clear voice. 
      • For example, say, “My name is ______ and I’m going to say the first part of the Itsy Bitsy Spider”. Speak the chosen text using the concepts that students have learned.
        • Ask students what techniques they recognized.
      • Apply the voice work to a particular text.  It can be a general text (familiar nursery rhyme, poem, part of a story), or something drawn specifically from a current curriculum topic (e.g., a paragraph about weather, a dialogue between two characters, roles of community helpers, etc.).  
      • Model walking to the front of the room and “slating”. 
      • Have individual students come to the front, slate and speak the selected text.

     

    • Incorporate the concept of characterization. 
      • Practice one or two together as a class.
      • Remind students to try articulating how the character would and to speak from their diaphragm.
      • Refer to the different vocal qualities on the anchor chart as needed.
      • Facilitate a class discussion of how the students embodied the character using their voices.
      • Discuss vocal expression and vocal qualities that characters take on.  
      • Make an anchor chart of different characters or types of characters (e.g., monster, cowboy, kitten) and next to each write some of the vocal qualities they would have. 
      • Arrange students in pairs. Assign (or allow pairs to choose) a character from the list. Students should use what they learned about vocal qualities to speak as that character.
      • Allow students to perform their character for the class. 

     

    Closing Reflection

    • Ask students to point to their diaphragm.  
      • What is diaphragmatic breathing? 
      • Can you point to your articulators?  Who can demonstrate moving one of your articulators?  
      • How can we make different types of sounds?
      • How does an actor’s voice help to convey a character in a play or story?
      • Ask students the following questions: 
    • Have students draw pictures to show people speaking loudly and quietly, fast and slow, clearly and mumbly, and high and low to show what they learned.

    Assessments

    Formative

    Teachers will assess students’ understanding throughout the lesson by observing how students use their voices as each technique is taught and how students use the techniques to embody a character.

     

     

    Summative

    CHECKLIST

    • Students can use the elements of voice to express emotions, ideas and to embody a character.
    • Students can identify different types of vocal qualities.
    • Students can show what they learned about vocal qualities through drawings.

     

     

     

    Differentiation

    Acceleration: 

    • Have students create their own tongue twisters.
    • Have students practice changing volume, pace, articulation and pitch on a scale of 0-10, exploring more subtle gradations.
    • Have students create their own characters and dialogue instead of using one from the class chart.

     

    Remediation:

    • Allow students to work and vocalize at their own level of comfort throughout the lesson.
    • Introduce the tongue twisters slowly and chunk them into sections.
    • Provide pictures for students to sort and glue onto a chart in the closing activity rather than drawing.

     

     ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

     

    *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 and Barry Stewart Mann

    Revised and copyright:  June 2024 @ ArtsNOW

     

     

     
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    BRINGING FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE TO LIFE 4-5

    BRINGING FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE TO LIFE WITH COME ON, RAIN!

    BRINGING FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE TO LIFE WITH COME ON, RAIN!

    Learning Description

    Splash and play with figurative language through book that is light on action but rich with carefully crafted language, Come On, Rain!, by Karen Hesse. Working their way through the story, students will identify and enact similes, metaphors, hyperbole, and personification.

     

    Learning Targets

    GRADE BAND: 4-5
    CONTENT FOCUS: THEATRE & ELA
    LESSON DOWNLOADS:

    Download PDF of this Lesson

    "I Can" Statements

    “I Can…”

    • I can identify examples of and define similes, metaphors, hyperbole, and personification.
    • I can change my voice and body to convey the meaning of examples of figurative language.

    Essential Questions

    • What is figurative language?
    • What are similes, metaphors, hyperbole, and personification?
    • How can I enact figurative language?

     

    Georgia Standards

    Curriculum Standards

    Grade 4:

    ELAGSE4L5: Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word meanings.

     

    Grade 5: 

    ELAGSE5RL4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative language such as metaphors and similes.

    Arts Standards

    Grade 4:

    TA4.PR.1 Act by communicating and sustaining roles in formal and informal environments.

     

    Grade 5:

    TA5.PR.1 Act by communicating and sustaining roles in formal and informal environments.

     

    South Carolina Standards

    Curriculum Standards

    Grade 4:

    READING - Literary Text

    Language, Craft, and Structure 

    Standard 9: Interpret and analyze the author’s use of words, phrases, and conventions, and how their relationships shape meaning and tone in print and multimedia texts. 

    9.1 Identify and explain how the author uses imagery, hyperbole, adages, or proverbs to shape meaning and tone. 

     

    Grade 5: 

    READING - Literary Text

    Language, Craft, and Structure 

    Standard 9: Interpret and analyze the author’s use of words, phrases, and conventions, and how their relationships shape meaning and tone in print and multimedia texts. 

    9.1 Cite examples of the author’s use of figurative language, dialogue, imagery, idioms, adages, and proverbs to shape meaning and tone.

    Arts Standards

    Anchor Standard 3:

    I can act in improvised scenes and written scripts.

     

    Key Vocabulary

    Content Vocabulary

    • Simile – A comparison of two things using ‘like’ or ‘as’
    • Metaphor – An implied comparison of two things
    • Hyperbole – Extravagant exaggeration
    • Personification – The attribution of human qualities to something that is not human

    Arts Vocabulary

    • Voice – An actor’s tool used to portray the way a character speaks or sounds
    • Body – An actor’s tool used to portray the way a character looks, walks, or moves

     

    Materials

    • Come On, Rain! By Karen Hesse
    • Drum or percussion instrument (optional)
    • Board or chart paper and marker (optional)
    • Rain-like instrumental music (optional)
    • Spray bottle with water (optional)
    • Pencils and paper

     

     

    Instructional Design

    Opening/Activating Strategy

    • Lead students in a walking warm-up with figurative language; use a drum or clapping protocol for stopping and starting.  
      • Signal students to start walking. 
      • Give them a prompt, then have them walk to that prompt. 
        • Prompts should include examples of figurative language such as “Walk as slowly as a snail”, “Walk like an angry bull”, “Walk as if you are carrying three tons of bricks”, “Walk on ground as slimy as a slug”, “Walk with a heavy heart”, “Walk on twinkly toes”, “Walk as smoothly as a gently flowing river”, etc.

     

    Work Session

    Introduce or review figurative language devices including simile, metaphor, hyperbole, personification.  

        • Connect the types with the warm-up.  
        • Discuss how students made choices with their bodies to bring the figurative language to life.
      • Introduce the book, Come On, Rain!, to students. Explain that students will use their voices and bodies to enact the figurative language in the book.
      • Do a slow read aloud of the book. Ask students to listen for examples of figurative language. Help direct their attention to examples as needed.  
        • When an example is located, have students determine what kind of figurative language it is, and articulate why (what is being compared to what, what is being exaggerated, or what is being given human qualities or abilities). 
        • For each page or several pages, select a phrase or two for students to enact.  Suggestions include:
          • “endless heat” (hyperbole)
          • “listless vine” (personification)
          • “sagging over her parched plants” (metaphor)
          • “I am sizzling like a hot potato” (simile)
          • “not a peep from my pal Jackie-Joyce” (metaphor)
          • “grey clouds, bunched and bulging” (metaphor)
          • “a creeper of hope circles ‘round my bones” (metaphor)
          • “the dim stuffy cave of her room” (metaphor)
          • “the smell of hot tar and garbage bullies the air” (personification)
          • “her long legs, like two string beans, sprout” (simile)
          • “sweeps off her hat” (metaphor)     
          • “peeling out of my clothes” (metaphor)
          • “swollen sky” (metaphor)
          • “making dust dance all around us” (personification)
        • When an example is located, have students determine what kind of figurative language it is.
    • Optional: Create a chart on a board or chart paper, with columns for the four types of figurative language. Write the first example of figurative language in the appropriate column.
        • Model for students using voice and body to convey the meaning of the phrase.  
          • For example, bend at the knees and allow the head, shoulders, arms, and back to droop or sag, and let out a long sigh for, “sagging over her parched plants”.
            • Have students replicate the movements.  
            • Then, read the phrase again and allow students to interpret the phrase in their own ways. 
              • Use observational language to uplift the different choices that the students make, such as, “I see Carlos’s fingers dangling close to the floor.  Kierra’s eyes look really tired and droopy”.
        • After ample modeling, group students with a partner or in groups of three. 
        • Assign each group a phrase; have the students determine the vocal and physical expression for the figurative language.  
          • Allow for variety in students’ interpretations and expressions.  
          • After practicing, allow each group or pair to perform their phase.
          • Engage the class in a discussion after each performance of how the students used their voices and bodies to enact the phrase. 
          • Identify which type of figurative language was portrayed. If using the optional chart, have a student come and write the word or phrase in the appropriate column after each performance.
      • Optional:  
      • At the climax of the story, play instrumental music that is suggestive of rain (see Additional Resources for recommendations), and allow students to move/dance like falling rain.  
      • Use a spray bottle full of water to reinforce the sensation of rainfall by spraying a gentle mist or spray over any students who would like the experience.

      Closing Reflection

      • Facilitate a class discussion asking:
        • What types of figurative language did we explore?  
        • What were some examples of each, either from Come On, Rain! or in general?
        • How did you use your bodies and voices to enact the figurative language?
      • Have students create a chart with five rows and three columns.  
        • Across the top row, have them write “Figurative Language”, “Definition” and “Example”. 
        • Solicit from the class the types of figurative language explored in the lesson, and have the students write them in the four cells of the left column.
        • Instruct students to write definitions and provide examples.  Examples can be general, or specifically from Come On, Rain! Students can work independently or with a partner.

       

      Assessments

      Formative

      Teachers will assess student learning by observing students’ use of voice and body to enact figurative language; by assessing students’ responses to questions about figurative language; and by their ability to locate examples and identify figurative language by type.

       

      Summative

      CHECKLIST

      • Students can identify, classify, and define similes, metaphors, hyperbole, and personification in a story.
      • Students can change their voices and bodies to convey the meaning of examples of figurative language.

       

      Differentiation

      Acceleration: 

      • After several examples enacted all together, assign pages to groups/partners to locate for examples of figurative language. Students will enact the example they located in the text.
      • Add in additional figurative language, such as idioms and onomatopoeia, to seek and enact.

       

      Remediation:

      • Focus on the contrast between the literal and figurative meanings of each example found in the text (e.g., “endless heat” suggests that it is hot in all directions, everywhere, and until the end of time, but in reality it is not hot everywhere and for all time, it just feels that way).
      • Reduce the number of examples of figurative language explored.
      • Instead of having students write in the chart in the closing, provide printed examples from the text that students will glue in the appropriate column.

       ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

      Suggested music for the optional rain movement: 

      • “Stars”, by Bobby McFerrin and Yo Yo Ma
      • “Paul’s Dance” or “From the Colonies”, by the Penguin Café Orchestra
      • “Clouds Below Your Knees” or “Celestial Soda Pop”, by Ray Lynch
      • Search “playful children's instrumental music” for options in online videos

       

      *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: Barry Stewart Mann

      Revised and copyright: June 2024 @ ArtsNOW

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      WE ARE THE PARTS 4-5

      WE ARE THE PARTS

      WE ARE THE PARTS

      Learning Description

      In this lesson, students will use their bodies and space, working together to create visual and corporal models to investigate and represent equivalent fractions.

       

      Learning Targets

      GRADE BAND: 4-5
      CONTENT FOCUS: VISUAL ARTS, ELA, SOCIAL STUDIES
      LESSON DOWNLOADS:

      Download PDF of this Lesson

      "I Can" Statements

      “I Can…”

      • I can use my body and work with others to create visual representations of equivalent fractions.
      • I can identify and articulate equivalent fractions.

      Essential Questions

      • How can I demonstrate equivalent fractions using my body?

       

      Georgia Standards

      Curriculum Standards

      Grade 4 

      4.NR.4: Solve real-life problems involving addition, subtraction, equivalence, and comparison of fractions with denominators of 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12, and 100

      using part-whole strategies and visual models.

       

      Grade 5

      5.NR.3: Describe fractions and perform operations with fractions to solve relevant, mathematical problems using part-whole strategies and visual models.

       

      Arts Standards

      Grade 4  

      TA4.PR.1 Act by communicating and sustaining roles in formal and informal environments.

      1. Use body and movement to communicate a character’s thoughts and emotions.
      2. Collaborate and perform with an ensemble to present theatre to an audience.

       

      Grade 5

      TA5.PR.1 Act by communicating and sustaining roles in formal and informal environments.

      1. Use body and movement to communicate thoughts, ideas, and emotions of a character.
      2. Collaborate and perform with an ensemble to present theatre to an audience.

       

       

       

      South Carolina Standards

      Curriculum Standards

      Grade 4

      4.NSF.1 Explain why a fraction (i.e., denominators 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12, 25, 100), / , is equivalent to a fraction, ×

      × , by using visual fraction models, with attention to how the number and size of the parts differ even though the two fractions themselves are the same size. Use this principle to recognize and generate equivalent fractions.

       

      Grade 5

      5.NSF.1 Add and subtract fractions with unlike denominators (including mixed numbers) using a variety of models, including an area model and number line.

       

       

      Arts Standards

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

       

       

      Key Vocabulary

      Content Vocabulary

      • Denominator – The bottom number in a fraction, indicating how many total equal parts in the whole
      • Equivalent Fractions – Fractions that have the same value, though they have different numerators and denominators
      • Fraction – A numerical value that is part of a whole, indicating a certain number of parts of an equally divided whole
      • Numerator – The top number in a fraction, indicating how many of the total parts are present or included.

      Arts Vocabulary

      • Collaborate/Collaboration – Teamwork, working together in a group
      • Pose – A positioning or shape of the body

       

      Materials

        • Optional: Paper and pencils for drawing the extension activity

         

         

        Instructional Design

        Opening/Activating Strategy

        • Teach and lead the students in playing Countup, a listening game in which the group tries to count as high as possible, one number per person, randomly, without duplication.  
          • Leader (teacher) gives a cue (e.g., “Ready, Set, Go!”), then someone says “1,” then someone else says “2”, and so on.  If two people say a number at the same time, the round ends and the game reverts to the beginning, back to 1.  
          • If a pattern emerges (e.g., three players start alternating numbers), the round is stopped and a new one begins.  
          • After the game is established, give volunteers the opportunity to give the starting cue.
          • Once students understand the game, emphasize the listening aspect, and the fact that the class will not necessarily get farther by going faster.
          • After playing with cardinal numbers, explore variations through other sequences.  Move into odd/even numbers and multiples (of 3, 5, 10, 4, 6, etc.).  
          • Then move into fractions: Unit fractions (1/2, 1/3, 1/4, 1/5, etc.), the complements of unit fractions (1/2, 2/3, 3/4, 4/5, etc.), and equivalent fractions (1/2, 2/4, 3/6, 4/8, etc.; 1/3, 2/6, 3/9, 4/12, etc.).

         

        Work Session

          EQUIVALENT FRACTION POSES

          • Tell students that they will be using their bodies to create poses that represent equivalent fractions.
          • Review equivalent fractions with students.

          Creating Halves

          • Have two students come to the front or the center of the room, ideally where they can sit on the ground and be seen by all.  
          • Have them sit cross-legged facing each other.  Explain that together, their upper legs form a whole square, and their lower legs bisect the square, or cut it in half.  
            • Have each student say, “I am one half.”
          • Have the two students place one arm with the elbow at their navel and the arm extended out to the center.  Point out that each half has been cut in half, and the resulting parts are fourths of the whole.  
            • Have each student say, “I am two fourths.”  
            • Point out that by splitting the space in half, the students are effectively multiplying the number of parts by two – both the number of parts each student represents and the number of parts overall.  
              • This is the same as multiplying both the numerator and the denominator by the same number to get an equivalent fraction.
          • Have the students use both arms, with elbows on thighs and fingertips to the center, to trisect the shape defined by their legs.  Point out that each half has been cut in thirds, resulting in six parts all together.  Have each student say, “I am three sixths.”
          • Have all the students pair up and find a place in the room to repeat the sequence – “I am one half,” “I am two fourths,” “I am three sixths.”
          • Reflect and discuss how and why the fractions described by the parts created are equivalent.

           

          Creating Thirds

            • Have the students form groups of three.  Rather than sitting cross-legged, have them sit so that their bodies form a single triangle. 
            • Repeat the process with the further divisions of the parts, and the accompanying lines, “I am one third,” “I am two sixths”. Challenge students to see how many equivalent fractions they can make.
            • Have students describe fractions made by combining parts.  For example, “Giselle and I are two thirds,” “Giselle and I are four sixths,” “Mariah and I are six ninths.”
          • If the class does not divide evenly into threes, assign the extra student or two to other groups and have them ask prompting questions, e.g., “Terence, what part are you?”  “Abby and Lucas, what part are you?”

           

          Beyond Thirds

          • Continue the process with even larger groupings.  
          • Each time, have students seat themselves on the ground with their legs to the side and their feet together. (As the numbers grow larger, the angle formed by each child’s legs grows smaller, and the distance to stretch the arms toward the center grows greater.)  
          • Have students articulate their fractions; then, add an arm to bisect the part, and then two arms.  As the groups grow, the number of groups will get smaller but the number of extra students who can be assigned to ask questions will increase.

           

           

          Closing Reflection

          • Have the students reflect on how they used their bodies to create the fractions, and how they used their voices to name their values.
          • Ask students to reflect on the activity with the following questions: 
            • What are equivalent fractions?  
            • Who can give an example of equivalent fractions?  
            • When you were sitting on the floor, how did you use your bodies to show equivalent fractions?” (“We stretched out our arms to divide the parts.”)  
            • “With numbers in your minds or on paper, how do you find equivalent fractions?” (“We multiply the numerator and the denominator by the same number.”)

          Assessments

          Formative

          Teachers will assess students’ learning by observing students’ participation in creating equivalent fractions with their bodies and students’ responses to class discussion.

           

           

          Summative

          CHECKLIST

          • Students can accurately define, create, and identify equivalent fractions.
          • Students can form equivalent fractions by creating poses with their bodies.

           

           

           

          Differentiation

          Acceleration: 

          • Have students imagine and articulate fractions with greater numerators and denominators, beyond what is apparent in their positions.  E.g., when in groups of 3, call out a higher denominator, such as 12, or a higher numerator, such as 5, and have students identify the fractions they represent with those values.
          • Have students draw a picture of one of their groups as if looking down from the ceiling.  Label the classmates in the group.  Write sentences naming the fractions they represent (e.g., “Alberto is one fifth,” “Cameron is two tenths,” “Alberto, Cameron and Jade are nine fifteenths,” etc.).

           

          Remediation:

          • Build the Count-up game slowly.  Use a fishbowl process to have a smaller group play the game while others watch, and rotate students through the activity.
          • Limit the process to fractions involving halves and thirds.

           

          •  

           

          ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

           

          *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: Mary Gagliardi and Barry Stewart Mann

          Revised and copyright:  May 2024 @ ArtsNOW

           

           
          Back to Modules