Art Form: Theatre

Supplies Needed

Be You! book

Vocabulary

Character - a person in a story or play, or an animal or object that has human qualities; also, a person’s personality, and how they make choices, or what makes a person unique

Character trait - an aspect of a person’s character or personality; a characteristic

Adjective - a describing word; a word that tells the color, shape, size, smell, taste, sound, or feeling of a person or object

Vocal expression - the way an actor uses their voice to portray a character or to convey feelings

Pantomime - a style of acting that involves pretending to hold, touch, or use things that you are not holding, touching or using; also, sometimes it is done silently.

Instructions

1. Look at the first two pages of the book, where it says,“You were born to BE so many things,” and features an illustration of a baby. Look at all of the words on the page. They are adjectives; they convey character traits. Read the book.

2. Choose a word that describes you. It might describe you all the time or only sometimes. Think of a time when that word describes you.

3. Make up a sentence that includes the character trait and when you exhibit it, with the format,  “I am ______ when I see _____". For example, it could be, "I am excited when I jump rope with my friend Chelsea," or "I am curious when I see a picture of an animal I’ve never seen before”

4. Decide on an action you can pantomime to go with your statement about your character trait. Think about how to use your body to act it out. Think about how to use your hands to pretend you are holding or doing something imaginary. Think about the size, shape and weight of the objects you are pretending to use.

5. As you pantomime the action, use your voice to express the feeling of the character trait. For example, you could pantomime drying dishes and say, with a very strong, proud voice, “I am helpful when I dry the pots and pans after a big dinner”.

6. Repeat the process with several adjectives from the book. Continue to make your pantomime actions feel and look real.

Extensions

Find or identify two opposite adjectives. Write a new sentence putting them together, and act it out. For example, “I am generous when I share my snack with my friends at school, but I am selfish when my sister asks for some of my popcorn on Movie Night”.

Make a collage using copies of family photos or simply draw a picture of yourself with all your various character traits and the actions that go with them.

Art Form: Theatre

Supplies Needed

Change Sings book

At least 2 people (i.e. friends, family members, neighbors)

Vocabulary

Tableau - a vivid living scene in a still frame form involving more than one person

Verbs - action words (ex. run, jump, sing, change, chant, play, build, etc.)

Figurative Language - a way of expressing oneself that does not use a word's strict or realistic meaning

Stanza - a group of lines forming the basic unit of a poem

Instructions

1. Read Change Sings together. Read chorally or take turns reading.

2. Point out the verbs together.

3. Once a verb has been identified, use your bodies to create your tableau of a scene from the book demonstrating the actions that created change.
Think about how your bodies could be used to represent each action. Remember to use high, middle, and low levels in your tableau.

Extensions

What happens next? Brainstorm other verbs to inspire change, and add to the poem with your own stanza. Try to maintain the poem’s rhyme scheme.

Create a tableau for your new stanza. Remember to take pictures and share!

Write a script for the characters in your tableau explaining how actions can inspire change.

Art Form: Theatre

Supplies Needed

Maybe Something Beautiful book

Colorful and non-colorful household items (ex: colorful
towel, t-shirt, etc.)

Vocabulary

Pantomime - show or represent without using sound

Story Elements:

Character - a person or thing in the story

Setting - a place where a story takes place

Plot - the main events of a story

Instructions

1. Read the book together.

2. Have the children identify the different settings in the story. Examples: city, park, house, school

3. Explain to the children what pantomime is.

4. Demonstrate a simple pantomime, like eating an apple. Add details, like picking the apple up, wiping it on your sleeve, taking a big bite, chewing, and swallowing. Make sure to exaggerate the motions. Ask the children what you were pantomiming!

5. Now, let's create a pantomime for one of the characters in the story. With the children, list the characters in the story:

• Mira (the little girl),
• Mr. Henry (the shop owner),
• Ms. Lopez (the lady with the sparkling eyes),
• The muralist, etc.

Give the children a few moments to select one character and silently begin acting out things the character might do. Examples: Mira might draw and paint. Mr. Henry might restock a shelf or sweep the shop floor.

6. Next, create a pantomime for the setting. Brainstorm parts of the city and/or things you might see or do in a city: tall buildings, busy streets, cars/traffic. Give the children a few moments to select one element of the
city and silently act them out. Examples: You could shade your eyes and look at the tall building. You can
walk swiftly and dodge other busy people on the sidewalk, checking your watch.

7. Then, brainstorm the plot of the story. What happened in the beginning, middle, and end of the story? Examples: In the beginning, Mira created and shared her artwork. In the middle, she met the muralist, and they began painting the city. Next, others joined in. In the end, Mira was happy.

8. Now, have children put this all together. Choose a character and begin to pantomime their feelings and actions to retell the story. Have them practice once or twice, then give the option to perform for others.

9. Remind the children that in pantomime, actors use their face and body to silently show details and tell a story.

Art Form: Theatre

Supplies Needed

I Believe I Can book

Vocabulary

Pantomime - show or represent without using sound

Scene - where something happens or happened

Facial Expression - using your face to show emotion

Theatre - a dramatic literature or its performance; drama

Perform - to present to an audience

Audience - the group of people together in one place to watch or listen to a performance

Instructions

1. Identify and discuss different settings, events, and characters in the story.

2. Choose your favorite event from the story.

3. Discuss how an actor uses their voice, body, and face to tell a story.

4. Discuss how you could pantomime the event. Remember to use your facial expressions and body to act out the scene with no sound.

5. Practice and perform your scene in front of an audience. Don’t forget to take a bow when you are finished.

Extensions

Choose 3 events (first, second, third) from the story and act them out in order.

Perform a pantomime to represent the beginning, middle, and end of the book.

Art Form: Theatre

Supplies Needed

Thank You, Omu!

Paper and pencil

Vocabulary

Playwriting - The art of crafting a dramatized story to
be performed by actors; the process of writing a play

Scene - A part of a play or story that happens in one
place for a continuous stretch of time

Dialogue - The lines and speeches spoken by the
characters in a story or play

Stage directions - Instructions in a script or play that
tell the actors what to do or how to act

Script - The written version of a play, scene, or
movie

Instructions

1. After reading the book, look at the page where everyone brings food to Omu.

2. Imagine the scene where everyone gets together, realizes they had eaten
all of her stew, and decides to bring her food. Choose several of the
characters from the illustrations to include in your scene.

3. Brainstorm what the characters might have said to one another when they realized they had eaten all of Omu’s rood and how they came to the resolution to work together to bring her food.

4. Write a script showing the dialogue and stage directions.

5. As you write, use playwriting format, putting the name of the character who speaks before each line, skipping lines between the different characters’ speeches, and enclosing the stage directions in parentheses.

6. Read the scene aloud, by yourself or with others, using different voices for the different characters.

Extensions

Find simple costume pieces or props around your home for each character, and use them to act out the scene.

Convert your scene into a short comic strip, like part of a graphic novel.