Maya’s Popping Words

Maya's Popping Words

MAYA'S POPPING WORDS

Learning Description

Using Maya Angelou’s poem, “I Love the Look of Words,” students will create gestural and full-body enactments of the poem and explore new and high-powered words.

 

Learning Targets

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

Download PDF of this Lesson

"I Can" Statements

“I Can…”

  • I can think about words metaphorically and identify new and unfamiliar words.

Essential Questions

  • How and why do we expand our vocabulary with new words?

Georgia Standards

Curriculum Standards

Grade 4:

ELAGSE4RL4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including those that allude to significant characters found in mythology (e.g., Herculean).

Grade 5:

ELAGSE5RL4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used ina 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:

ELA.4.AOR.8.1 Determine an author’s use of words and phrases in grade-level literary, informational, and multimedia texts: a. distinguish between literal and nonliteral meanings of words and phrases (e.g., take steps); b. explain the meaning of commonly occurring similes, metaphors, and idioms.

Grade 5:

ELA.5.AOR.8.1 Determine an author’s use of figurative and technical language in literary, informational, and multimedia texts: a. recognize and explain the meaning of figurative language, including similes and metaphors, in context.

Arts Standards

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

 

Key Vocabulary

Content Vocabulary

Metaphor - An implied comparison of unlike objects.

Simile - A comparison of unlike objects that uses ‘like’ or ‘as.’

Literal - Having a meaning that is exactly what the word or words say; the original meaning.

Figurative - Having a meaning that is not exactly what the word or words say, but that applies their original meaning in a different way.

Poem - A piece of writing in which the words are chosen for their beauty and sound and are carefully arranged, often in short lines that rhyme.

Arts Vocabulary

Voice - An actor’s tool, which we shape and change to portray the way a character speaks or sounds.

Body – An actor’s tool, which we shape and change to portray the way a character looks, walks, or moves.

Gesture - A specific physical movement, especially of the hands or arms, intended to convey meaning.

Act - To pretend to be or do something imaginary; bringing an idea or character to life.

Facial Expressions - Conveying thoughts and feelings through the face and eyes.

 

Materials

 

Instructional Design

Opening/Activating Strategy

Warm Up
Have students stand up and alternate between intervals of random sound and movement and intervals of stillness and silence:  5, 10, 15, 20 seconds (i.e., 5 seconds of random sound and movement, then 5 seconds of absolute stillness and silence, etc.).  Have students sit down to reflect on the feelings evoked by each.  “How does it feel to speak and move?  How does it feel to be silent for an extended period?  When in your life do you have to maintain silence?  Why?”  (Reflection can be with a partner, in a small group, or in the full group.)

 

Work Session

Connect the stillness and silence of the Warm-Up to the story of Maya Angelou, told selectively from information gleaned from the Poetry Foundation page (according to teacher comfort).  Suggested script:

“Maya Angelou was a famous poet.  She was an African-American woman born in 1928 in St. Louis, Missouri.  She would grow up to become the Poet Laureate, or the official poet, of the United States, and to earn many awards and honors.  She is also the first African-American woman to be pictured on a quarter.  But when she was 8 years old she stopped talking.  She had been mistreated by someone in her family, and she spoke up.  But she felt that speaking up had caused more trouble, including violence, and so she stopped speaking.  She remained mute for five years.  During that time, she read a lot, and developed a passion for reading and a love of words.  Many people tried to get her to speak, but none were successful until a teacher named Mrs. Flowers, when Maya was 12 ½, convinced her of the importance of the spoken word, and Maya began to speak again.  Maya Angelou died in 2014 at the age of 86.”

(Note:  Teacher should become familiar with the story of Angelou’s childhood.  There are some details that are not appropriate for sharing in the classroom; teacher should be prepared to answer any questions that may arise.)

  • Introduce, or review, the difference between literal and figurative language, and the definitions of metaphor and simile.
  • Introduce the poem, “I Love the Look of Words,” by Maya Angelou.  Read it at least twice:  teacher reads it through once, then the class reads it through all together.
  • Discuss the dominant metaphor in the poem.  What two unlike things is Angelou comparing to each other?  How does this metaphor convey her feelings about her subject?  How do you respond to this metaphor?  What other similes and metaphors are found in the poem?  
  • First enactment:  Enact the poem with gestures.  
    • Drama instruction:  Define and discuss gestures as physical movements used to convey meaning.  
  • Define and discuss facial expression as the way we convey thoughts and feelings with our faces.  
  • Define and discuss enactment as the process of bringing something to life through acting.
  • First model with the opening three lines, using gesture and facial expression to represent the “popcorn,” “popping from the floor,” the “hot black skillet,” and “into my mouth.”  Then brainstorm gestures, facial expressions, and actions for the remainder of the poem.  Have students stand and enact the gestures as the teacher does a full reading of the poem.
  • Second enactment: Enact the poem with full body movement.  
    • Brainstorm ways to use the body to become both the leaping popcorn and the leaping words.  
    • Explore with the students ways to express phrases like “sliding into my brain,” “the words stay stuck,” “the weight of ideas,” and “the tracks of new thinking.”  
    • Have students stand and enact the full-body interpretation of the poem as the teacher does a full reading.
  • Third enactment: Enact the poem with “popping words.”  
    • Brainstorm new and interesting words with the students:  these can be vocabulary words, words they have encountered through their own reading, interests or conversations, or unfamiliar words they have heard that they are curious about.  
  • Final read-through:  Either the teacher reads, or the teacher assigns groups to read sections.  As the poem is being read, those not reading become words popping up randomly (e.g., “Armistice!”  “Melancholy!”  “Obtuse!” “Thermodynamic!” etc.), leaping up and speaking the words with energy and clarity.  

Drama instruction:  thinking about Angelou’s love of words, have students explore speaking their words with different feelings, altered voices, dialects, pitches, varying volume and pace, etc.

  • Reflect on the different processes.  “How did we bring the poem to life?  Which actions – gestures, facial expressions, full-body movements, popping words - did you feel best represented Maya Angelou’s purpose in writing the poem? How do you relate to this poem now?”
  • Distribute the Popcorn Box template.  Have students cut out the pieces and build the popcorn box.  Have students use dictionaries or other reference materials (in hand or online) to find interesting, unfamiliar words – words that were not used in the enactment - to write on the popcorn pieces; then have them crumble the pieces and put them in the popcorn box.  Use the boxes in pairs, small groups, or full class to explore new words.

 

Closing Reflection

Ask students, “How did we use our voices and bodies to bring the poem to life?”  “How did we creatively interpret the similes and metaphors in the poem?”  “How did we convey the theme of the poem?”  “How do you think Maya Angelou might have felt observing our lesson today?”

 

Assessments

Formative

  • Note students’ responses in discussion of silence and movement.
  • Note students’ understanding of metaphors and similes through their citing of examples from the poem.
  • Observe students’ use of body, voice, and facial expression in the enacted readings of the poem.

 

Summative

Assessment instrument – questionnaire:

Questions

  1. What is a metaphor?
  2. What is a simile?
  3. What is the central metaphor of “I Love the Look of Words”?
  4. Describe one way in which you enacted a phrase or section of the poem.
  5. List three of the words you wrote on your popcorn.
  6. Tell one interesting fact you learned about Maya Angelou.

 

Answers

  1. An implied comparison of two unlike objects.
  2. A comparison of unlike objects using ‘like’ or ‘as’.
  3. Words = popcorn
  4. Possibly, “I used my hands to be the popping popcorn,” “I leapt in the air and shouted new words,” “I chomped with my teeth,” “I pretended to smell the butter on my fingers,” “I ran like I was on a track of new thinking,” etc.
  5. (student choice)
  6. Possibly:  She was the chief poet of the U.S., she stopped speaking as a child, a teacher got her to speak again, she won many awards, her picture is on a quarter, etc.

 

Differentiation

Acceleration

  • Assign groups to independently develop gestural or full-body enactments of sections of the poem, to present to the class.
  • Instruct students to follow up with a writing exercise, creating a short piece that includes all of the new words they wrote on their pieces of popcorn.  Have them read their written pieces with expression.

Remediation

  • Plan out the gestural and full-body enactments ahead of time, to be less dependent on brainstorming and student input.
  • Do leaping and popping more simply, in a seated position, or with a specific gesture of the arms alone, rather than with full body.
  • Brainstorm as a class a list of unfamiliar, interesting words, and write them on a board, for the students to use in the third enactment of popping words.

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: Barry Stewart Mann

Revised and copyright: February 2023 @ ArtsNOW

Camouflage and Mimicry

CAMOUFLAGE AND MIMICRY IN THE CLASSROOM

CAMOUFLAGE AND MIMICRY IN THE CLASSROOM

Learning Description

Animals are very creative! They adapt to their environments to improve their chances of survival; two types of adaptation are camouflage and mimicry. In this lesson, students will use voice and body, as well as the observational and creative skills of Costume and Set Designers, to use camouflage and mimicry in their own natural habitat – the classroom!

 

Learning Targets

GRADE BAND: 3-4
CONTENT FOCUS: SCIENCE
LESSON DOWNLOADS:

Download PDF of this Lesson

"I Can" Statements

“I Can…”

  • I can define camouflage and mimicry, and tell the difference between them.
  • I can identify color, shape and pattern in my own clothing and in my classroom environment and make choices that create the effect of camouflage.
  • I can use my voice, body, and simple craft materials to create the effect of mimicry of another organism (a classmate) in my classroom environment.

Essential Questions

  • What are camouflage and mimicry?
  • How are color, shape and pattern important elements of camouflage and mimicry?
  • How can we use acting and design skills to explore camouflage and mimicry in the classroom?

 

Georgia Standards

Curriculum Standards

Grade 3:

S3L1 Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information about the similarities anddifferences between plants, animals, and habitats found within geographic regions (Blue Ridge Mountains, Piedmont, Coastal Plains, Valley and Ridge, and Appalachian Plateau) of Georgia.

b. Construct an explanation of how external features and adaptations (camouflage, hibernation, migration, mimicry) of animals allow them to survive in their habitat.

Arts Standards

Grade 3:

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

TA3.PR.2 Execute artistic and technical elements of theatre.

 

South Carolina Standards

Curriculum Standards

Grade 4:

4.L.5B.3 Construct explanations for how structural adaptations (such as methods for defense, locomotion, obtaining resources, or camouflage) allow animals to survive in the environment.

Arts Standards

Anchor Standard 2: I can design and use technical elements for improvised scenes and written scripts.

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

 

Key Vocabulary

Content Vocabulary

Adaptation - A change by which an organism becomes better suited to its environment.

Mimicry - An adaptation by which an organism copies the physical or vocal characteristics of another.

Camouflage - An adaptation by which an organism visually blends into its surroundings by virtue of its shapes, patterns, and coloring.

Habitat - The natural home or environment of an animal, plant, or other organism.

Arts Vocabulary

Voice – An actor’s tool, which we shape and change to portray the way a character speaks or sounds

Body – An actor’s tool, which we shape and change to portray the way a character looks, walks, or moves.

Set Design - The creation of the physical space in which the action of a performed event takes place.

Costume Design - The creation of clothing and accessories for a character in a performance.

 

Materials

  • Drum or percussion instrument (optional)
  • Images of camouflage and mimicry in the natural world (from textbook, class resources, or the internet)
  • Sound clips of mimicry (optional)
  • Multi -colored pieces of construction paper
  • Scissors
  • Glue

 

Instructional Design

Opening/Activating Strategy

Animal and Habitat Statues
Use a drum, percussion instrument, or clapping to establish that students will form statues in response to a single beat and then relax out of the statues in response to a double beat.  Remind students that statues do not move, but that they must allow themselves to breathe and blink.  Provide a series of prompts of animals and habitats that fit with the lesson, e.g., parrot, cheetah, lizard, butterfly, owl, etc.; and rainforest, desert, tundra, prairie, etc.  Use observational language to comment on specific physical choices that students make to create their statues (e.g., “I see that Caitlyn has her chest low like a stalking leopard,” or “Donté’s arms are straight back like a grasshopper’s wings.”

 

Work Session

Number Statues

  • Define and discuss camouflage.  Show examples of camouflage from the natural world.
  • Introduce the concept of camouflage in the classroom.  Model by looking for colors and patterns that mirror your own clothes.  Find a place in the classroom where you can approximate blending in.  Prompt students to say, “Where’s Ms. _______?  We can’t see her!”
  • Discuss how, in theatre, television, and film, costume and set designers make intentional choices about costumes and sets used in the production.  Explain that students are going to be like designers, making choices based on colors, shapes, and patterns in the given costumes and settings in the classroom.
  • Invite a volunteer or two to step up.  Have the class identify colors, shapes, and patterns both on the volunteers and around the classroom, and brainstorm ideas for the volunteers to camouflage themselves in the classroom.
  • Model being a predator, looking for prey (the volunteers), and passing them by because they blend into their surroundings.
  • Have students partner up and work together to identify camouflage opportunities for each; when each is camouflaged, have the other act like a deceived predator.
  • Have volunteers share examples of the camouflage opportunities they found around the classroom.
  • Define mimicry; share examples (visual and perhaps aural) from the natural world.
  • Remind students about the roles of designers; explain that they will use simple materials to create external adaptations to mimic other organisms (classmates).
  • Model with construction paper, scissors, and glue.  Select a student to mimic, and use the supplies to quickly create a ‘costume’ piece that mimics what that student is wearing.  Have the student come up and make a random sound.  Stand by the student with the costume piece, and mimic the sound.  Have the class say, “Look, it’s two ______s!”  (i.e., if standing next to and mimicking Tyler, the class says “Look, it’s two Tylers!”).
  • Discuss mimicry as a form of flattery, and impress upon the students that the activity should not be used in order to mock, tease, taunt, make fun of, or bully others.  
  • Have students use materials to create a costume piece to mimic other students’ visual appearance – primarily costuming, but hair is also a possibility.
  • Once students have created their pieces, invite volunteers to come to the front, and invite the classmates on whom they based their mimicry. Have the model make a sound, and have the mimic stand beside them and mimic the sound.  Have the class say, “Listen!  Look!  It’s two ______’s!”
  • Remind students that they worked together to understand mimicry, and have students thank each other for the honor of both mimicking and being mimicked.

 

Closing Reflection

Discuss:  How did we use elements of costume and set design – color, shape, and pattern – to bring camouflage and mimicry to life in our classroom ‘habitat.’

Students will draw a picture of themselves demonstrating camouflage or mimicry in the classroom. Identify the image as an example of either camouflage or mimicry.  Identify the areas and objects in the classroom that were used for camouflage or the classmate on whom the mimicry was based.

 

Assessments

Formative

  • Observe student comprehension of camouflage and mimicry as they make artistic decisions in the lesson.
  • Observe how students use color, shape, and pattern to successfully create the effects of camouflage and mimicry.

 

Summative

Evaluate the student drawings for evidence of comprehension of camouflage and effective use of design concepts in the lesson activity.

 

Differentiation

Acceleration: For mimicry, have students pair up; have one create a distinctive sound and movement, and have the other mimic it as precisely as possible.

Remediation:  Lead a slow visual tour of the classroom as a class, identifying specific colors, shapes, and patterns, and making connections with individuals to provide ideas to be used for camouflage.

Allow students to adjust objects in the classroom environment to facilitate the camouflage effect.

Rather than mimicking one another, have all the students mimic the teacher.

*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, MFA

Revised and copyright: August 2022 @ ArtsNOW

Grades 4-8:
Light and Sound

VISUAL ARTS

Light & Sound

Description

In this program, we investigated Light and Sound through STEM activities, visual art, music, and dance.

 

Learning Targets

“I Can…”

  • Explain reflection and refraction.
  • Explain how pixels work together to give off colors.
  • Describe how sound waves move and how frequency is related to the sound an object produces..
  • Show how lighting and sound affects a piece of choreography.
  • Demonstrated how transparent, translucent, and opaque work together in visual art.

Essential Questions

  • How can I obtain, evaluate, and communicate information about the nature of light and how light interacts with objects?
  • How can I obtain, evaluate, and communicate information about how sound is produced and changed and how sound and/ or light can be used to communicate?
  • How can I develop and use a model to compare and contrast how light and sound waves are reflected, refracted, or absorbed through various materials?
  • How can I develop and use a model to illustrate how transparent, translucent, and opaque materials work in relation to light?

Curriculum Standards

S4P1. Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information about the nature of light and how light interacts with objects.

 

  1. Plan and carry out investigations to observe and record how light interacts with various materials to classify them as opaque, transparent, or translucent.
  2. Plan and carry out investigations to describe the path light travels from a light source to a mirror and how it is reflected by the mirror using different angles.
  3. Plan and carry out an investigation utilizing everyday materials to explore examples of when light is refracted. (Clarification statement: Everyday materials could include prisms, eyeglasses, and a glass of water.

S4P2. Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information about how sound is produced and changed and how sound and/or light can be used to communicate.

 

  1. Plan and carry out an investigation utilizing everyday objects to produce sound and predict the effects of changing the strength or speed of vibrations.
  2. Design and construct a device to communicate across a distance using light and/or sound.

S8P4. Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information to support the claim that electromagnetic (light) waves behave differently than mechanical (sound) waves.

 

  1. Develop and use a model to compare and contrast how light and sound waves are reflected, refracted, absorbed, diffracted or transmitted through various materials. (Clarification statement: Include echo and how color is seen but do not cover interference and scattering.)

 

Arts Standards

VA4.CR.1 Engage in the creative process to generate and visualize ideas by using subject matter and symbols to communicate meaning.

VA4.CR.2 Create works of art based on selected themes.

VA4.CN.3 Develop life skills through the study and production of art (e.g. collaboration, creativity, critical thinking, communication).

VA5.PR.1 Plan and participate in appropriate exhibition(s) of works of art to develop the identity of self as artist.

VA5.CN.3 Develop life skills through the study and production of art (e.g. collaboration, creativity, critical thinking, communication).

VA6.CR.1 Visualize and generate ideas for creating works of art.

VA6.CR.3 Engage in an array of processes, media, techniques, and/or technology through experimentation, practice, and persistence.

VA6.CR.6 Keep an ongoing visual and verbal record to explore and develop works of art.

VA6.PR.1 Plan, prepare, and present completed works of art.

VA7.CR.1 Visualize and generate ideas for creating works of art.

VA7.CR.2 Choose from a range of materials and/or methods of traditional and contemporary artistic practices to plan and create works of art.

VA7.CR.3 Engage in an array of processes, media, techniques, and/or technology through experimentation, practice, and persistence.

VA7.PR.1 Plan, prepare, and present completed works of art

VA8.CR.1 Visualize and generate ideas for creating works of art.

VA8.CR.2 Choose from a range of materials and/or methods of traditional and contemporary artistic practices to plan and create works of art.

VA8.CR.3 Engage in an array of processes, media, techniques, and/or technology through experimentation, practice, and persistence.

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

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

ESD4.PR.4 Understand and apply music concepts to dance.

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

ESD5.CR.1 Demonstrate an understanding of the choreographic process.

ESD5.PR.2 Understand and model dance etiquette as a classroom participant, performer, and observer.

ESD5.PR.4 Understand and apply music concepts to dance. a. Demonstrate and create movement in response to a variety of musical selections. b. Demonstrate musicality while performing dance phrases.

ESD5.RE.1 Demonstrate critical and creative thinking in dance.

MSD.PR.4 Understand and apply music concepts to dance.

MSD.RE.1 Demonstrate critical and creative thinking in dance.

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

MSD.CN.3 Demonstrate an understanding of dance as it relates to other areas of knowledge.

ESGM4.CR.1a. Improvise rhythmic question and answer phrases using a variety of sound sources.

ESGM4.PR.2a. Perform rhythmic patterns with body percussion and a variety of instruments using appropriate technique.

EESGM4.RE.1c. Identify and classify (e.g. families, ensembles) classroom, orchestral, American folk, and world instruments by sight and sound.

ESGM4.CN.1b. Discuss connections between music and disciplines outside the fine arts.

ESGM5.CR.1 Improvise rhythmic phrases.

ESGM5.PR.2a. Perform rhythmic patterns with body percussion and a variety of instruments using appropriate technique.

ESGM5.RE.1b. Describe music using appropriate vocabulary (e.g. fortissimo/pianissimo, presto/largo/moderato/allegro/adagio, legato/staccato, major/minor), intervals (e.g. step, skip, repeat, leap), timbre adjectives (e.g. dark/bright), and texture (e.g. unison/harmony).

ESGM5.RE.1c. Identify and classify (e.g. families, ensembles) classroom, orchestral, American folk and world instruments by sight and sound.

ESGM5.CN.1b. Discuss connections between music and disciplines outside the fine arts

MSGM6.RE.1a. Recognize and describe musical events in an aural example using appropriate musical terminology

MSGM7.CR.1b. Improvise simple rhythmic and melodic variations

MSGM7.RE.1a. Recognize and describe musical events in an aural example using appropriate musical terminology

MSGM8.CR.1b. Improvise melodic embellishments and simple rhythmic and melodic variations.

MSGM8.RE.1a. Recognize and describe musical events in an aural example using appropriate musical terminology

 

Content Vocabulary

  • Reflection: the throwing back by a body or surface of light, heat, or sound without absorbing it.
  • Refraction: A change of direction that light undergoes by passing obliquely through one medium.
  • Sound: vibrations that travel through the air or another medium and can be heard when they reach a person's or animal's ear.
  • Sound waves: a vibration of waves by which sound is projected.
  • Pitch: the quality of a sound governed by the rate of vibrations producing it.
  • Frequency: the number of occurrences of a repeating event per unit of time
  • Pixel: an area of illumination on a display screen, many pixels compose an image.
  • Digit: any of the numerals from 0 to 9.
  • Digital: a series of the digits 0 and 1 represented by values of a physical quantity such as voltage.
  • Additive color theory: starts without light (black) and light sources of various wavelengths combine to make a color.
  • Subtractive color theory: starts with light (white), colored inks, paints, or filters between the light source subtract wave lengths from the light, give it color.
  • Binary code: a coding system using the binary digits 0 and 1 to represent a letter, digit, or other character in a computer or other electronic device.
  • Bits: a unit of information expressed as either a 0 or 1 in binary notation.
  • RGB code: the RGB color model is an additive color model in which red, green, and blue light are added together in various ways to reproduce a broad array of colors.
  • Electric circuit: a path in which electrons from a voltage or current source flow.
  • Conductor: a material that transmits heat, electricity, or sound.
  • Insulator: a substance which does not allow the full passage of heat or sound.
  • Open circuit: an electrical circuit that is not complete.
  • Closed circuit: an electrical circuit that is complete.

Arts Vocabulary

  • Opaque: not able to be seen through; not transparent.
  • Transparent: allowing light to pass through so that objects behind can be distinctly seen.
  • Translucent: allowing light, but not detailed shapes, to pass through; semitransparent.
  • Literal movement: Movements that show exact meaning and actions.
  • Abstract movement: symbolic movement.
  • Choreography: the sequence of steps and movements in dance
  • Levels of Dance (low, middle, high): The three levels in dance movement are high, middle and low.
  • Percussive: This refers to a quality of movement characterized by sharp starts and stops; staccato jabs of energy.
  • Rhythm: a strong, regular, repeated pattern of movement or sound.
  • Mood: atmosphere that evokes certain feelings or vibes
  • Pitch: highness or lowness of sound.
  • Timbre: distinctive quality of sounds; the tone color or special sound that makes one instrument or voice sound different from another.

Materials

Materials Provided by Teachers

  • Two Plastic Bottles (approximately 12-16 oz in size)
  • Masking Tape (one roll)
  • Foil (1-2 foil sheets or approximately one foot from a roll)
  • Teaspoon of Uncooked Rice
  • Five rubber bands
  • Ziplock baggies to package materials for students
  • Lamination Pocket, laminated (cut one piece in half, students need ½ apiece)
  • Grid paper
  • One Small Bottle of Food Coloring
  • Alka Seltzer (one tablet per student)
  • Four LED lights
  • Two Coin Battery per student
  • One Bottle of Liquid Glue per student
  • One Piece of Cardstock
  • Journal
  • Pencil
  • Markers
  • CD
  • Flashlight
  • Watercolor paint
  • Watercolor paper
  • Clear tape
  • Kaleidoscope Kit
  • Colored paper (three half-sheets of assorted colors)
  • Plastic sheets (three half-sheets of assorted colors, you may cut plastic notebook dividers for these)
  • One Roll of Plastic tape

Materials Students Provided at Home

  • Large Box
  • Scissors
  • Bowl
  • Saran Wrap
  • Objects from around the house (tissue boxes, toilet paper tubes, etc.)
  • Salt
  • Newspaper (to protect surfaces)
  • Vegetable oil
  • Shaker Object (pack of tic tacs or bottle of sprinkles, etc.)
  • Grocery Bag

Activating Strategy (5-10 min)

Day 1 AM Session:

  • Introduce Light Refraction with Jar & Pencil Activity
    • Fill a clear container with water.
    • Tell the students you will be placing the pencil in the water.
    • Ask the first question.
    • Place the pencil in the water.
    • Give students a few moments to make observations.
  • Ask the following questions:
    • What do you think is going to happen?
    • What do you observe?
    • What do you believe is causing the “bent/ split” pencil illusion?
    • Introduce the word refraction

Day 1 PM Session:

  • Review the Light Box Magic STEM challenge from the morning session and allow students to discuss their observations/ discoveries
    • How the amount of light in the box may change with different amounts of water, different time of day, blocking the top side of the bottle, etc?
    • Light Box Example
  • Investigate the CD with reflections of light using house lighting and the flashlight provided
    • Possible questions to ask: What shapes and colors do you see in the rainbow?  What do you notice when you use two CDs? What do you notice when you put the flashlight close to the CD?
    • How does the CD act as a prism?
    • Allow students to write their observations in their journals.
    • Investigating Light

 

Day 2 AM Session:

  • Ask students the following questions to prompt discussions verbally or in the chat
    • What do you think of when you hear the word sound?
    • What do you think of when you hear the word waves?
  • Discuss that sound is made of vibrations and invisible soundwaves
  • Demonstrate and have students complete dancing sprinkles/ rice activity at the same time to demonstrate how you can “see” soundwaves
  • Sound Waves Example
  • Discuss how sound waves travel, how vibrations are recognized as different sounds, and how the size and shape of the sound waves determine the kind of sound heard.
  • Review various musical instruments, homemade and traditional. Have students compare and predict sounds of these instruments and how the sounds (vibrations) were created.
  • Have students find a way to create sound using objects around them and improvise an 8-beat pattern using that object.
  • Have students create an 8-beat pattern and repeat it. Add to YouTube backing track.

Day 2 PM Session:

  • Students will share their instruments they created after the morning STEM challenge.  Play eight beats of music together as a group/ class.
  • Discuss as a class the following questions
    • What is a shadow?
    • How might artists use shadows?
    • Possible answers: to make things look more realistic, to add depth, etc
  • Find a shadow in your house and spend five minutes sketching the object and its shadow in your journal with a pencil.

 

Day 3 AM Session:

  • Review shadow sculptures from the end of Day 2
  • Introduce how sound is related to dance
  • Students will watch a clip from Broadway’s STOMP to get students thinking about how sound is used in dance.  Video: STOMP - Established in 1994 NYC
    • Ask students what common household instruments they see in the video.

Day 3 PM Session:

  • View images of Yayoi Kusama’s work.  Students will discuss in chat what they observe/ notice about her work. (mirrors, reflections, infinity rooms, duplicates, etc)
  • What makes her work unique?
  • What themes do you notice?

 

Day 4 AM Session:

  • Introduction to vocabulary words transparent, translucent, and opaque by making a lava lamp. Possible questions to ask:
    • After pouring the water and oil into the glass, what do you believe is going to happen when food coloring is added? Will it mix with the water, oil, or both?
    • What do you observe when you initially add the food coloring?
    • If you continue to add food coloring to the water, will the water stay transparent or translucent?
  • Example

Day 4 PM Session:

  • Briefly discuss what an electric circuit is and what materials are used/needed to make a complete (closed) circuit
  • Show students how to use a coin battery to illuminate a LED light
  • STEM Challenge: LED Glue/ Salt Circuit
    • Gather materials: half piece of cardstock, coin battery, LED light, glue, salt and tray/ paper plate to work over
    • Fold the corner of your paper up to make a “switch”
    • “Draw” a line using glue from the folded corner of the paper and then towards the edge.  Be generous with the glue
    • Skip a space for your LED and continue your glue line back near the folded corner
    • add your LED to the space making sure the “legs” are in the glue
    • sprinkle a good layer of salt on the glue.  Lift the paper and dump the extra salt on the tray
    • When it is dry, use the coin cell battery to try and light up your LED
    • **The salt circuit is not a very strong circuit. The light will be dim. You may try paper circuits with copper tape for a brighter light.

Example

Main Activity

Day 1 AM Session: 

  • Students were introduced to the concept of light refraction during the activating strategy.
  • Students watched a video “Liter of Light” to be inspired by how light refraction is being used in 3rd World countries to reduce electricity costs for families.
  • Students STEM activity was to create a way to light up a “room” using light refractions.
  • Teachers demonstrated how to create a Light Box to demonstrate this concept.
  • Step 1: Gather your materials
  • Step 2: Fill your bottles with water (Add a few drops of food coloring if you want!)
  • Step 3: Trace the bottom of the bottles on the top of the box and carefully (and with a parent/older siblings help) cut holes.  Put tinfoil on the top of the box, covering the holes. Poke a hole in the foil over the open. This will help the light reflect into the bottles.
  • Step 4: Carefully (and with a parent/older siblings help) cut a hole in the side of the box to look inside.  We recommend cutting a smaller window or just eye holes.
  • Step 5: Push bottles into holes and look in the viewing window.
  • Example

Adapted from: https://www.trueaimeducation.com/light-box-magic/

  • Teachers demonstrated the relationship between colors and math (seeing the numbers in digital media). The following topics were discussed:
    • What does the word digital mean?
    • Pixels-comparing LED & LCD close up images of digital screens
    • Additive Color Theory vs Subtractive Color Theory
    • Teacher demonstrates a “large scale pixel” by using three lights (red, green, and blue bulbs)
    • Discuss how every pixel has three parts (red component, green component, and blue component)
    • Discuss how each pixel receives three digital (mathematical) signals--one signal for how much red light, how much green light, and how much blue light
    • Discussion of how number values in ColorMath are based on binary code
    • 8-bit Color: An RGB Code has 3 values (256 possible red values, 256 green values, and 256 blue values)
    • Presentation
  • Students can create their own digital art using https://paintz.app

Day 1 PM Session:

  • Students experimented with a flashlight and CD in the activating strategy.
  • After completing the investigation, instruct students trace the CD on a piece of watercolor paper
  • Students will use markers to draw the “lines/ rainbows” created by the flashlight against the CD.  Students may use their paint brush to paint water on top of the marker to use as a watercolor option (water of the washable markers acts like watercolor.
  • Students may then use the watercolor paint to paint outside of the CD showing what shapes and angles they see when observing the reflection of light against the CD
  • Allow approximately 10-15 minutes for students to paint their observations followed by a share out

Examples:

Day 2 AM Session: 

  • After introducing sound and soundwaves in the activating strategy, introduce the vocabulary word pitch.  You may do this by playing different sounds on an instrument
  • Show students a variety of instruments (these may be real instruments or instruments created from household/ classroom objects
  • Example
  • Allow students to find an object to create an instrument out of to play a beat (for example: pencil and water bottle make a drum, using spices/ sprinkles as a shaker)
    • using the instrument they create, play 8 beats together (all playing one note at the same time) followed by 8 beats of 8 counts of a beat of their choice
    • you may do this a few times to allow students to experiment with their instrument
  • STEM Challenge: Create & build your own musical instrument using household items (rubber bands, rice, toilet paper/ paper towel rolls, etc.)
    • students will share out their instruments and play music together at the beginning of their afternoon session

Day 2 PM Session: 

  • After sharing instruments and introducing shadows in the activating strategy, allow students to look at images of shadows made by sculptures
  • Show clip video of (time 1:40-4:00): Tim Noble & Sue Webster, NO - Exhibition & Limited Editions
  • Students are challenged with the task of creating a sculpture with household items that will create an interesting shadow.

 

Day 3 AM Session: 

  • After reviewing shadow sculptures and dance clip in the activating strategy, discuss the following:
    • STOMP is performed in theaters, but it is not a play, musical, or opera. It is not theater in the traditional sense of the word. There is no speech, dialogue or plot. However, it does have two characteristics of traditional theater: mime and characterization. Each performer has an individual character which is distinct from the others. These characters are brought out through the mime and dance in the show.
    • The entire show is highly choreographed, interweaving dance into all its aspects. In STOMP, there is a symbiotic relationship between dance and music. The music is created within the dance, but the dance itself is dependent on the music for its rhythm and character. STOMP shows a true marriage of movement and music, where both create and enhance each other.
  • Show second video: How To STOMP: Hands & Feet
    • Play the video a second time and ask students to mimic the dance moves taught in the video.  You may need to replay the video to allow
  • Show third video: How to STOMP: Bags
    • Ask students to create their own rhythm using bags from their house and share out
  • Show fourth video: How to STOMP: Breath Mints
    • Ask students to repeat the rhythm taught using something they can shake from their house (breath mints, spices, sprinkles, etc.)
  • Show fifth video: STOMP Pancakes 1 #StompAtHome
  • Think about all the different ways you made sound and the different ways you saw sound made in the STOMP videos.
    • Why do you think the different props made different sounds?
    • Challenge: Create your own STOMP inspired choreography using found sound.
  • Clip
  • STEM Challenge: Create Your Own Hologram
    • Follow directions of how to make a trapezoid pattern (see picture)
    • Cut out the pattern and trace four trapezoids on your clear plastic sheet
    • Cut out the four trapezoids and tape together four of the perpendicular lines to create a square pyramid.
    • Place your finished hologram on top of the video playing on your device
    • Example 1, Example 2

Day 3 PM Session:

  • After introducing Kusama’s work and discussing reflections, have students build their kaleidoscope using the kaleidoscope kit.
  • Allow students time to investigate and place different objects in the kaleidoscope to see how it appears.

Ask students to sketch what they see in their kaleidoscope in their journals

Day 4 AM Session:

  • Discuss a Lighting Director’s role in dance and show Mark Stanley: Lighting the New York City Ballet
    • Discuss how light gives character to dance and creates the mood
    • Light can also do the following: create space, intensity, shapes, shadows, dimensions, etc.
  • Discuss “What is mood? What are examples?”
    • Possible answers: mood is a literary element that evokes certain feelings or vibes in readers, but can be used the same way in dance
    • Examples of moods:  cheerful, reflective, gloomy, humorous, melancholy, whimsical, romantic, mysterious, ominous, calm, lighthearted, hopeful, angry, fearful, tense
  • Discuss “How can you create mood with lights?”
    • colors (how they mix), shadows (what will happen when things are in front of the lights), angle, intensity, movement of light, layers of light, etc.
  • Watch the following video clips and discuss what you believe the mood is and how did the lighting help create the mood?
  • Dance Challenge: Think about how lighting affected the mood in the various performances and complete the following steps:
    • 1. Pick a mood (for example: cheerful)
    • 2. Create a movement phrase that matches your mood.
    • 3. Are there any adjustments you can make to the lighting in your space to match the mood of your choreography?  Example: brighter lights, dimmer, lights, use shadows, colored light, light coming in at a different angle, light movement.

Day 4 PM Session:

  • After introducing circuits and completing LED salt/ glue circuit, show video clip of Tom Fruin’s work and allow students to type their observations in the chat
  • Ask students, “What do you need to make a shadow?”
    • Possible answers: light source, an object to block the sun, an opaque object, etc.
    • Why are some of the shadows in Tom Fruin’s work different colors?
    • Discuss transparent, translucent and opaque materials and how each respond to light.
  • Sculpture Challenge: Make a 3D sculpture incorporating transparent, translucent and opaque materials inspired by Tom Fruin’s work.

Here are some snippets of student work throughout the week: VIDEO

Reflection Questions

  • What colors did you feel worked together and why?
  • What challenges did you have during this process?
  • What tools worked best for your process and why?

 

TECHNOLOGY INTEGRATION (Include technology that is integrated directly into the project. Ex: apps, websites for research, virtual field trips, mystery skype calls, etc..)

 

Google Meet

Google Classroom

Virtual STEM + Arts Summer Camp Slideshow

Student Activity Slideshow

Visual Arts Slideshow

https://musiclab.chromeexperiments.com/Sound-Waves/

Video: Liter of Light

Light Magic Box Website

https://Paintz.app

Video (timestamp 1:40-4:00): Tim Noble & Sue Webster, NO - Exhibition & Limited Editions

Video: STOMP - Established in 1994 NYC

Video: How To STOMP: Hands & Feet

Video: How to STOMP: Bags

Video: How to STOMP: Breath Mints

Video: STOMP Pancakes 1 #StompAtHome

Video: Fireworks Hologram Video

Video: Mark Stanley: Lighting the New York City Ballet

Video: Houston Ballet-Reveal-Garrett Smith Choreography

Video: “Ounce of Faith” | Trailer | Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater

Video: Trailer - IN Cognito Full Piece Premiere

Video: Tom Fruin’s Large-Scale Sculptures, Icons of Brooklyn’s Public Spaces

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85ZptB9kgaM&t=344s

Grades 4-5:
Exploring Color

Exploring Color, Shape and Form

Visual Arts Component - Exploring Color, Shape and Form

Description

In this program, we will explore color, shape, and form through explorations of 2d and 3d projects. Students will gain a deeper understanding of how these elements work together to help an artist create their compositions. Students will look closely at the work of American artist Jen Stark.

Learning Targets

“I Can…”

  • Create a 3-D form with 2-D materials.
  • explore the relationship between shape and form to create a composition.
  • Explore chemical and physical changes with heat.

Essential Questions

  • How do we use color, shape and form to create 2d and 3d compositions?

Curriculum Standards

MGSE4.G.1 Draw points, lines, line segments, rays, angles (right, acute, obtuse), and perpendicular and parallel lines. Identify these in two-dimensional figures.

MGSE4.G.3 Recognize a line of symmetry for a two-dimensional figure as a line across the figure such that the figure can be folded along the line into matching parts. Identify line-symmetric figures and draw lines of symmetry.

MGSE5.G.3 Understand that attributes belonging to a category of two-dimensional figures also belong to all subcategories of that category. For example, all rectangles have four right angles and squares are rectangles, so all squares have four right angles.

S5P1. Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information to explain the differences between a physical change and a chemical change.

Arts Standards

VA4.CR.3 Understand and apply media, techniques, processes, and concepts of two dimensional art.

VA4.CR.4 Understand and apply media, techniques, processes, and concepts of three dimensional art.

VA5.CR.3 Understand and apply media, techniques, processes, and concepts of two dimensional art.

VA5.CR.4 Understand and apply media, techniques, processes, and concepts of three dimensional works of art.

Content Vocabulary

  • Gravity - the force that attracts a body toward the center of the earth, or toward any other physical body having mass.
  • 3-Dimensional Shape - a three-dimensional shape can be defined as a solid figure or an object or shape that has three dimensions – length, width and height.
  • Edges - the outside limit of an object, area, or surface; a place or part farthest away from the center of something.
  • Vertices - The common endpoint of two or more rays or line segments.
  • Faces - In any geometric solid that is composed of flat surfaces, each flat surface is called a face.
  • Surface Area - The surface area of a solid object is a measure of the total area that the surface of the object occupies.
  • Flow - formalizes the idea of the motion of particles in a fluid.

Arts Vocabulary

  • Primary - are basic colors that can be mixed together to produce other colors. They are usually considered to be red, yellow and blue.
  • Secondary - a color resulting from the mixing of two primary colors.
  • Composition - the arrangement of elements within a work of art.
  • Pattern - an underlying structure that organizes surfaces or structures in a consistent, regular manner. Patterns can be described as a repeating unit of shape or form.

Formative Assessment

  • Daily student process reflections.

Summative Assessment

  • Artist statements discussing the themes present in all of their pieces created over the session.

Materials

Activating Strategy (5-10 min)

Students looked closely at the art of American Artist Jen Stark. We watched a video of Stark discussing her process.

Main Activity

PROCESS:

Day 1:

We discussed  the color wheel and basic color theory, including warm and cool colors. Students explored what kind of shapes would create the illusion of movement or drips.

Students used illustration markers to create a repeating pattern inspired by the work of Stark.

Day 2:

We watched a video of Jen Stark’s animations and discussed the relationship between the animations and music.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svakc8t1UYY and created a self portrait photograph incorporating Stark’s art.

We looked closely at Jen Stark’s relief sculptures. Students used colorful cardstock to explore relief sculpture.

Day 3:

We explored  material movement in a new way. Students created relief sculptures with crayons on canvas. They predicted how the wax of the crayon might move and change if heated.

They used heat guns to melt the wax. We discussed physical and chemical changes and states of matter.

Classroom Tips:

Set the classroom up in stations. Most students will be working on 2d and 3d compositions. This limits the number of students using heat guns. We had 2 heat gun stations. They were monitored by an adult at all times.

Reflection Questions

  1. How did you use color and pattern to create variety in your drip composition?
  2. How did you create 3d forms with paper?
  3. How did heat and position change your relief sculpture?

Differentiation

BELOW GRADE LEVEL:

  • Provide a piece of paper with the first “drip”. Students will fill in the rest of the composition.
  • Use pre cut shapes for collage or sculpture building.

ABOVE GRADE LEVEL:

  • Encourage students to work larger and collaboratively on the drip illustration.
  • Set a height perimeter for the cardstock relief sculpture, encouraging students to use measuring tools and piece together paper to reach the required height.

EL STUDENTS:

  • Demonstrate each hands on technique before students begin their work.

Credits

Shannon Green

Module 4:
Ecosystems

ECOSYSTEMS

Ecosystems

Module Description

In this series of STEAM activities, students will analyze the ecosystem by using tableaux to dramatize roles of various plants and animals in the food chain. Students will then write in-role as their plant/animal, arguing why they are important to the ecosystem. The class will use these writings in a role drama, where students will debate which plant or animal is most important to the ecosystem. Finally, the class will discuss the interdependence of each plant and animal in the ecosystem.

In the second part of this module, students will analyze the Water Lilies series by Claude Monet and his garden in Giverny, France. Students will then create their own oil based paintings that depict the ecosystem. Students will be asked to visually represent the roles of consumers, producers, and decomposers, as well as their energy sources, through their artwork. Students will be asked to reflect on how they synthesized their knowledge of the ecosystem in their impressionistic paintings.


Learning Targets

“I Can…”

  • Identify consumers, producers, decomposers and their energy sources
  • Apply impressionistic techniques while painting an ecosystem landscape
  • Analyze the relationships of the different roles in the ecosystem
  • Dramatize the roles of consumers, producers, and decomposers
  • Interpret the various roles in the ecosystem by making body movement and voice choices

Essential Questions

  • How can the artistic process of theatre & visual arts synthesize my overall understanding of the interworking of an ecosystem?
  • How can tableau and role drama be used to explore the food chain and its effect on the ecosystem?

Curriculum Standards

GA Performance Standards:

S4L1. Students will describe the roles of organisms and the flow of energy within an ecosystem.

  1. Identify the roles of producers, consumers, and decomposers in a community.
  2. Demonstrate the flow of energy through a food web/food chain beginning with sunlight and including producers, consumers, and decomposers.
  3. Predict effects on a population if some of the plants or animals in the community are scarce or if there are too many.

National Standards:

NS.K-4.3. LIFE SCIENCE As a result of activities in grades k-4, all students should develop understanding of the characteristics of organisms and their environments.

Arts Standards

GA Performance Standards:

TAES4.3. Acting by developing, communicating, and sustaining roles within a variety of situations and environments.

VA4CU.2. Views and discusses selected artworks.

  1. Identifies elements, principles, themes, and/or time period in a work of art.

VA4PR.1. Creates artworks based on personal experience and selected themes.

  1. Creates representational artworks from direct observation (e.g., landscape, still life, portrait).

VA4PR.2. Understands and applies media, techniques, and processes of two-dimensional art processes (drawing, painting, printmaking, mixed-media) using tools and materials in a safe and appropriate manner to develop skills.

  1. Creates paintings with a variety of media (e.g., tempera, watercolor, acrylic).

National Standards:

Standard 2. Acting by assuming roles and interacting in improvisations.

Standard 5. Researching by finding information to support classroom dramatizations.

Content Vocabulary

  • Bacteria: Microorganisms that can make you sick, but also can help you digest food; found everywhere in nature
  • Carnivore: An animal that eats only other animals
  • Camouflage: Process of animals changing their colors, patterns, and shapes to disguise themselves from predators or prey
  • Community: All the organisms in an ecosystem
  • Consumer: An animal that gets its energy by eating plants or other animals
  • Decay: To break down into simpler materials
  • Decomposers: A living thing that breaks down the remains of dead organisms
  • Ecology: The study of how living and non-living factors interact
  • Ecosystem: A system made up of an ecological community of living things interacting with their environment especially under natural conditions
  • Energy source: A source from which useful energy can be extracted or recovered either directly or by means of a conversion or transformation process (e.g. solid fuels, liquid fuels, solar energy, biomass, etc.)
  • Extinct: A species that is gone forever because all of its kind have died
  • Food chain: The path of energy in an ecosystem from plants to animals (from producers to consumers)
  • Habitat: The place where an animal or plant lives
  • Herbivore: An animal that eats plants
  • Hibernate: When animals go into a deep sleep
  • Interdependence: When living things in an ecosystem need each other to meet their needs
  • Microorganisms: Very small living things
  • Omnivore: An animal that eats both plants and animals
  • Organism: A living thing
  • Photosynthesis: Process through which plants make food
  • Plankton: Small organisms in water that are producers and give off oxygen
  • Producer: A living thing (such as a green plant) that makes its food from simple inorganic substances (such as carbon dioxide and nitrogen) and many of which are food sources for other organisms

Arts Vocabulary

Theatre Arts

  • Concentration: The ability of the actor/actress to be “in” character - that is, to be like the character she/he is portraying - in dialog, attitude, carriage, gait, etc.
  • Gesture: An expressive movement of the body or limbs
  • Projection: Using a “big” actor voice so that you can be heard in the very back row of a space (classroom, auditorium, theatre)
  • Tableau: A “living picture” in which actors pose and freeze in the manner of a picture or photograph
  • Narration: The act of telling a story
  • Storytelling: Conveying events in words and images, often by improvisation or embellishment

Visual Arts

  • Background: The area of the artwork that appears furthest away and is smallest
  • Color: An element of art with three properties: 1. hue, or the name of the color (e.g. red, yellow, etc.); 2. intensity, or the purity and strength of the color, such as brightness or dullness; and 3. value, or the lightness or darkness of a color
  • Emphasis: In a composition, this refers to developing points of interest to pull the viewer's eye to important parts of the body of the work
  • Subject matter: Refers to the things that are represented in a work of art such as people, buildings, and trees
  • Texture: This refers to the surface quality or "feel" of an object, such as roughness, smoothness, or softness; actual texture can be felt while simulated textures are implied by the way the artist renders areas of the picture
  • Impressionist: A painter, writer, or composer whose work exhibits the characteristics of impressionism
  • Impressionism: A painting style originating in France in the 1860s that depicts the visual impression of the moment, especially in terms of the shifting effect of light and color

Formative Assessment

  • Class discussion, group discussions, and reflection questions
  • Anecdotal notes when observing students working in small groups
  • Tableaux created and the role drama
  • Digital ecosystems presentations
  • VoiceThread presentations and drawings

Summative Assessment

  • Monet Style Ecosystem Painting
  • Monet Style Ecosystem Painting Rubric (see Appendix)
  • Students should accurately identify producers, consumers, and decomposers
  • Students should properly order producers, consumers, and decomposers in the food chain
  • Pieces of writing written in-role

Materials

Theatre Arts:
Anchor Chart Paper
Markers
Music
Index cards
Paper & Pencils
Charged iPad with Showme and VoiceThread apps installed

Visual Arts:
Stretched canvas, one per student
Oil based paints
Various sizes of paint brushes

Theatre Arts - Activating Strategy

  • Begin this project by letting students know that “tableau” means “frozen picture.”
  • Explain to students that today we will use our bodies to create frozen pictures.
  • Begin by having students stand up and create the following tableaux:
    1. 102 year old grandparent crossing the street
    2. Baseball player focusing on hitting the ball
    3. A chef that dropped a pizza

*Discuss how creating a strong tableau requires a clear body level (low, mid, high) and big facial expressions.

  • Direct students to get into small groups (3-5 students) so we can now explore creating relationships.
  • Direct students to create a tableau of:
    1. A family portrait
    2. A teacher and students in class
    3. A castle (using just their bodies)

*Draw attention to how creating a strong tableau requires establishing clear relationships between the various characters in a story/scene and making sure the audience can see our faces when we perform.

Theatre Arts - Main Activity

Part 1

  • Review key terminology and concepts that are critical to understanding the food chain (producers, consumers, herbivores, carnivores, etc.).

Part 2

  • Place students in small groups.
  • Give each group 4 index cards with different animals/plants that are in a food chain. Direct the groups to create a tableau that dramatizes the food chain with each student taking on the role of the animal/plant listed on the index card.
  • Each small group shares out their tableau with the class.
  • Teacher will take photos of each student-generated tableau.

Part 3

  • Teacher will demonstrate how to use Showme app on the iPad, an excellent tool to teach what the tableau illustrates and can document the presentation.
  • Using Showme, teacher demonstrates how to circle, highlight and label tableau parts in a photo.
  • Students participate by labeling their own tableau photos, concentrating on answering the following questions: Which animal or plant was a Producer? Consumer? Decomposer? How did you know this?

Part 4

  • Teacher demonstrates on iPad how to use VoiceThread app, which allows students to upload, share and discuss documents presentations, images, audio files and video.
  • Students have the opportunity to comment on other students’ voice threads.
  • Students return to their seats and write in first person as their character in their food chain. They write about why they are most important to the ecosystem.
  • Students use VoiceThread to record their writing in the character role they have taken on. They can upload pictures and/or drawings to illustrate their written work.

Part 5

  • Students are asked to become “experts” on their ecosystems before participating in the Character Panel.
  • Teacher instructs students on how to conduct research on the iPads and create a presentation. Using przi.com, students can create an engaging presentation on their ecosystem (habitat research, what animals fall into the categories of producers, consumers and decomposers).
  • Suggested sites for research include:
  • Students in each group are then placed on a Character Panel in role as their characters and the remaining students role-play as reporters who ask the panel questions. Together we all step into role and create a Role Drama that analyzes why each animal is critical to the Food Chain and the Ecosystem at large.
  • Students debate why their plant/animal is important and defend it by explaining why. The reporters are charged with the responsibility to determine which character is most important. The objective is to spark a class discussion that deeply analyzes the food chain’s interdependence on one another. We also discuss what ways each plant/animal can protect him/herself.

Visual Arts - Activating Strategy

  • The students will view 2 separate video clips of Claude Monet painting in his flower garden as well as a clip that allows the class to see many of Monet’s various versions of his Water Lilies series.
  • Share the following information with the class: Water Lilies is a series of approximately 250 oil paintings by French Impressionist Claude Monet. The paintings depict Monet's flower garden at Giverny and were the main focus of Monet's artistic production during the last thirty years of his life.

Visual Arts - Main Activity

Part 1

  • As a whole group, view “Claude Monet’s Garden” 4 minutes 3 seconds https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2KGkK2wcbk. In order to cut down on time, you could view the clip from the 1 minute 55 second mark till the 3 minute 6 second, as this part of the video focuses on the ponds and water lily plants.
  • Pause the video clip every once in a while to ask the class what types of ecosystems they see. Create a list of the producers, consumers, and decomposers that inhabit these gardens.
  • Once the list is complete, ask the students where the producers, consumers, and decomposers received their energy from? What is their energy source?

Part 2

  • Discuss with the class the artistic methods Monet used in his paintings. (Big brush strokes, heavy use of oil based paint, etc.) This would be a good opportunity to ask the visual arts teacher at your school for assistance.
  • Each student will receive a stretched canvas, along with paint brushes and oil based paints.
  • The students will paint their own version of Monet’s water lilies. They will include a water source, plants, as well as animals that may live in this type of habitat. In essence they will be creating an ecosystem with consumers, producers, and decomposers. The students must also include the energy sources as well in their painting.
  • Students will create an “Artist Statement,” which is a brief paragraph description written by the artist about the piece created. The statement should describe how the artist integrated the science vocabulary and concepts into the painting.
  • Once the paintings have dried, host a “Gallery Walk” with the class. The students will take a tour of each painting. As they view the paintings they will discuss and identify the consumers, producers, and decomposers, as well as energy sources.

Reflection Questions

  • How did engaging in the arts using tableau support and build upon your understanding of ecosystems?
  • How did painting a Monet style painting help you better understand the roles/responsibilities of producers, consumers, and decomposers in an ecosystem?
  • Why is the energy source for producers, consumers, and decomposers an important part of an ecosystem?

Additional Resources & Extension Activities

Websites/Video Clips

Books

  • The Magical Garden of Claude Monet by Laurence Anholt
  • Who Was Claude Monet? by Ann Waldron
  • Linnea in Monet’s Garden by Cristina Bjork
  • Monet Paints a Day by Julie Danneberg

Appendix

  • Monet Style Ecosystem Painting Rubric