Collaborative Kandinsky

COLLABORATIVE KANDINSKY

Collaborative Kandinsky

Learning Description

Students will review some of Kandinsky’s works to find shapes. Students will create a collaborative piece of art using shapes and lines that is inspired by the artwork of Wassily Kandinsky.

 

Learning Targets

GRADE BAND: K-1
CONTENT FOCUS: Math
LESSON DOWNLOADS:

Download PDF of this Lesson

"I Can" Statements

“I Can…”

  • I can identify different types of shapes and lines.
  • I can use different types of shapes and lines to create an original artwork.

Essential Questions

  • How can you utilize visual images to learn math concepts?
  • How can you create an original work of art using a variety of shapes and lines?

 

Georgia Standards

Curriculum Standards

Kindergarten: 

K.GSR.8 Identify, describe, and compare basic shapes encountered in the environment, and form two-dimensional shapes and three-dimensional figures.

Grade 1: 

1.GSR.4 Compose shapes, analyze the attributes of shapes, and relate their parts to the whole.

1.GSR.4.1 Identify common two dimensional shapes and three dimensional figures, sort and classify them by their attributes and build and draw shapes that possess defining attributes.

1.GSR.4.2 Compose two-dimensional shapes (rectangles, squares, triangles, half-circles, and quarter-circles) and three dimensional figures (cubes, rectangular prisms, cones, and cylinders) to create a shape formed of two or more common shapes and compose new shapes from the composite shape.

Arts Standards

Kindergarten: 

VAKMC.3 Selects and uses subject matter, symbols, and/or ideas to communicate meaning. 

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

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

VAKAR.1 Discusses his or her own artwork and the artwork of others. 

Grade 1:

VA1MC.3 Selects and uses subject matter, symbols, and ideas to communicate meaning. 

VA1PR.1 Creates artworks based on personal experience and selected themes. 

VA1PR.2 Understands and applies media, techniques, and processes of two-dimensional works of art (drawing, painting, printmaking, mixed media) using tools and materials in a safe and appropriate manner to develop skills. 

VA1AR.1: Discusses his or her artwork and the artwork of others.

 

South Carolina Standards

Curriculum Standards

Grade 1:

1.NSBT.1.c. Read, write and represent numbers to 100 using concrete models, standard form, and equations in expanded form1.NSBT.4 Add through 99 using concrete models, drawings, and strategies based on place value to: a. add a two-digit number and a one-digit number, understanding that sometimes it is necessary to compose a ten (regroup)

Arts Standards

Grade 1:

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

 

Key Vocabulary

Content Vocabulary

Place Value - The value of where the digit is in the number, such as units, tens, hundreds, etc.

Arts Vocabulary

Statue (Statues) - An actor frozen in a pose.

Tableau (Tableaux) - A group of actors frozen to create a picture.

 

Materials

Plus (+) and equal (=) sign placards that can stand on the floor (one possibility – written with marker on an inverted file folder - or part thereof – and capable of standing like a tent).

 

Instructional Design

Opening/Activating Strategy

Letter Statues
Introduce or review what a statue is – an actor in a frozen pose. Explain that the students will make letter statues with their bodies. Call out one letter at a time and have them make the letters. Use a drum, another percussion instrument, or clapping to cue the statues. Encourage students to be creative, using full body, limbs, fingers, etc., and exploring the possibilities of standing, kneeling, sitting, lying down, etc., as appropriate for the classroom space. Use observational language to comment on the different ways in which students use their bodies to create the statues.

 

Work Session

Number Statues

  • Repeat the process with numbers (single digits). After exploring multiple possibilities, inform students that they will focus on making number statues that use their whole bodies, and for which they will remain standing. Practice standing number statues.
  • Ask students how they would make a statue of a number up to 100. Elicit from them, or guide them to, the idea of working in pairs or trios.
  • Introduce or review what a tableau is – a group of actors frozen in a picture. Explain that tableaux often create pictures with characters and settings, but the tableaux today will be of numbers and number sentences.
  • Invite two, and then three, volunteers to model creating a tableaux up to 100. Ask students what each digit in a multiple-digit number represents. Introduce or review the concept of place value. Ensure that students understand that the digit to the left represents a higher place value than the digit to the right, and identify the units: ones, tens, and hundreds places.
  • Have students work in pairs to create a 2-digit number tableau (full-body, standing). Have them work together to say the name of the number together out loud. After creating a number, have them switch positions and say the name of the number with the digits switched. Move among the pairs to confirm that they are expressing each number correctly.
  • If students have grasped the 2-digit numbers and are ready for 3-digit numbers, have them repeat the process in trios. Each trio can explore all the possibilities with their three digits (if the digits are all different, e.g., 1, 2, and 3, there will be six permutations: 123, 132, 213, 231, 312, 321.)
  • Introduce the idea of moving from number tableaux to addition sentence tableaux.
  • Invite three students to model a simple addition sentence tableau, e.g., 3 + 4 = 7. Have the students assume their positions, and then have them speak the sentence together. (Note: this is an opportunity, if relevant, to introduce or reinforce the Commutative Property of addition by having the addends switch places.)
  • Provide plus and equal sign tent cards and have students work in trios to create addition sentence tableaux.
  • Use the same process, first modeling and then having the students work in small groups, to move into more complex addition sentences: adding two 1-digit numbers that result in a 2-digit sum (e.g., 5 + 7 = 12), adding a 1- and a 2- digit number together, without and then with sums that require making a new ten (e.g., 31 + 7 = 38, and then 29 + 3 = 32), and then adding two 2-digit numbers, without and then with sums that require carrying to the tens and hundreds places (e.g., 45 + 12 = 57, then 24 + 19 = 43, then 74 + 38 = 112).

Teaching Tips:

  • As appropriate to the class, use established addition strategies (counting on, making ten, etc.) to calculate sums, and advance only as far in the sequence of complexity as the class can manage.
  • This may be a lesson that is done over time. The first step may best be suited for when single digit addition is taught, then adding 2-digit addition as the concept is taught, and so on.

 

Closing Reflection

Ask students: How did you use your bodies to create letter and number statues and addition sentence tableaux? Which were more challenging, letter statues or number statues? How do we determine the name and value of a 2- or 3-digit number? How did you determine your place or role in the number sentence?

 

Assessments

Formative

  • Students will identify shapes and describe where they are in Kandinsky’s artwork through group discussion.
  • Students will be able to explain the difference between two-and three-dimensional shapes.

 

Summative

  • Student collaborative artwork with required shapes and lines
  • Student scavenger hunt/checklist for closing/reflection

 

Differentiation

Acceleration: After the assessment, have the students practice combining two or more simple shapes to create a different shape.  Example:  You can combine two triangles to make a rectangle.

Remediation: Provide students with a printed copy of the types of shapes as a visual guide. Provide a visual guide for the types of shapes and lines that the student is required to include in their part of the artwork.

 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: Carolynn Stoddard.  Updated by Katy Betts

 Revised and copyright:  August 2022 @ ArtsNOW

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Let’s FACE It… We Love to Learn K-1

LET’S FACE IT… WE LOVE TO LEARN

LET’S FACE IT… WE LOVE TO LEARN

Learning Description

Students will visualize a memory by creating a self-portrait with a specific background that represents the memory. Students will look at how the folk artist, Howard Finster, incorporates writing into his portraits. Students will then add personal narratives to their self-portraits, integrating visual art with narrative writing, thinking deeply about who they are.

 

Learning Targets

GRADE BAND: K-1
CONTENT FOCUS: Visual Arts & ELA
LESSON DOWNLOADS:

Download PDF of this Lesson

"I Can" Statements

“I Can…”

  • I can use the Elements of Art to create a self-portrait.
  • I can write a narrative based on my self-portrait that has a beginning, middle, and end.
  • I can visualize a memory through art.

Essential Questions

  • How can visual art be used to inspire narrative writing?
  • How can visual art be used to visualize memories?
  • What is a self-portrait?

 

Georgia Standards

Curriculum Standards

Kindergarten:

ELACCKW3:  Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to narrate a single event or several loosely linked events, tell about the events in the order in which they occurred, and provide a reaction to what happened. 

ELACCKSL5:  Add drawings or other visual displays to descriptions as desired to provide additional detail.

 

Grade 1: 

ELACC1W3:  Write narratives in which they recount two or more appropriately sequenced events, include some details regarding what happened, use temporal words to signal event order, and provide some sense of closure. 

ELACC1SL5:  Add drawings or other visual displays to descriptions when appropriate to clarify ideas, thoughts, and feelings. 

 

Arts Standards

Kindergarten:

VAKCU.2: Views and discusses selected artworks.  

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

Grade 1:

VA1CU.2: Views and discusses selected artworks.  

VA1PR.2: Understands and applies media, techniques, and processes of two-dimensional works of art (drawing, painting, printmaking, mixed-media) using tools and materials in a safe and appropriate manner to develop skills.

 

 

 

South Carolina Standards

Curriculum Standards

Kindergarten

WRITING - Meaning, Context, and Craft

Standard 3: Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective techniques, well-chosen details, and well structured event sequences.

3.1 Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to narrate a single event or several loosely linked events, to tell about the events in the order in which they occurred, and to provide a reaction to what happened.

 

Grade 1

WRITING - Meaning, Context, and Craft

Standard 3: Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective techniques, well-chosen details, and well structured event sequences.

3.1 Explore multiple texts to write narratives that recount two or more sequenced events, include details, use temporal words to signal event order, and provide a sense of closure.

 

 

Arts Standards

Anchor Standard 1: I can use the elements and principles of art to create artwork.

Anchor Standard 2: I can use different materials, techniques, and processes to make art.

 

 

Key Vocabulary

Content Vocabulary

  • Personal narrative - A type of writing that tells a story from the author's own life

Arts Vocabulary

  • Elements of Art - The fundamental components that artists use to create visual works
  • Line - An element of art that defines space, contours and outline
  • Shape - A two-dimensional enclosed object
  • Color - An art element with three properties: hue, value and intensity; reflected or absorbed light.  
  • Self-Portrait - A portrait of oneself done by oneself
  • Horizon line - The line that separates the earth from the sky 
  • Proportion - The size of one object compared to another
  • Folk Art - Art produced from an indigenous culture; folk-artists are not formally trained artists–instead, they are self-taught

 

Materials

    • Pencils 
    • Variety of skin toned crayons 
    • Markers or crayons in a variety of colors 
    • Mirrors 
    • White paper 
    • Oval templates for tracing
    • Visual samples of Howard Finster’s portraits 

     

     

    Instructional Design

    Opening/Activating Strategy

    • Students will take turns describing their physical appearance (eye color and shape, skin color, hair color and style, face shape, etc.) to a partner. Encourage students to be specific.
    • Students will then look at themselves in a mirror. Ask students what new details they can add to their descriptions.
    • Allow students to share some of their favorite attributes about themselves.

     

    Work Session

      CREATING SELF-PORTRAITS

      • Show students samples of portraiture art through time to see that it is consistently proportionate, and specifically for this lesson, they will look at Howard Finster’s portraits.
        • Discuss portraits and self-portraits with students, explaining the difference.
      • Ask students what similarities and differences they notice in the portraits. Help students identify proportions in portraits and the spatial and size relationships between the placement of eyes and nose, nose and mouth, etc. 
      • Show students how to use their fingers as rulers to measure their faces (i.e. How long is their nose compared to their index finger? Students will use that form of measurement to recreate their nose on their paper).
        • Show students a visual demonstrating the proper use of line, shape, and proportion to create a portrait. 
        • Help students identify which basic shape makes their head (an oval instead of a circle) and which basic shapes can be used to create a nose, a mouth, eyes, etc.
      • Provide students with white paper and an oval template to outline. 
        • Students will trace the oval on their white paper. This will represent their head.
      • Tell students to draw in the details of their faces; remind them of the things they identified in the opening activity.
        • Provide students with crayons representing various shades of skin tones. 

       

      INCORPORATING PERSONAL NARRATIVES

        • Tell students that they will add a background to their self-portraits. 
        • Explain that the background is what appears farthest away from the viewer. Show students a portrait with a background, such as the “Mona Lisa”.
        • Ask students to visualize a memory such as their first day of school, a favorite trip they’ve taken, etc. Ask them to think about what things they saw, how they felt, etc.
          • Demonstrate to students how to create a horizon line. Explain that what is below the horizon line is on the ground and what is above the horizon line is in the sky.
          • Students will use markers or crayons to draw in the background of their artwork with a scene from their memory. Encourage students to use the entire space on their paper.
        • Tell students that they will be writing about their memories. 
        • Show students images of Howard Finster’s artwork and direct students to notice how he incorporates writing into his art. 
        • Ask students to reflect on their memory identifying a sequence of events including a beginning, middle, and end. 
        • Provide students with paper and instruct them to write about their memory using complete sentences (as appropriate for grade level). 
          • Narratives should have a beginning, middle, and end.

       

      Closing Reflection

      • Students will reflect on their artwork using “two glows and a grow”. Students will identify two things in their artwork and writing that they are proud of and one thing that they would like to improve.
      • Provide students an opportunity to share their artwork with the class and explain how their artwork tells the viewer about their narrative

      Assessments

      Formative

      Teacher will assess student learning through observing students’ responses in class discussion and their progress on their self-portraits.

       

       

      Summative

      CHECKLIST

      • Students can create a self-portrait using the Elements of Art.
      • Students can visualize a memory by creating a background for their self-portrait.
      • Students can write a personal narrative about a memory that has a beginning, middle, and end.

       

       

       

      Differentiation

      Acceleration: Students should create a portrait for a character in a story they are reading. Students should add a background that shows something that happened in the story.

       

      Remediation: 

      • Students should be provided with a graphic organizer to help them write their narrative. 
      • Allow students to orally tell their narrative.

       

       ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

      • Examples of portraiture
      • Story writing graphic organizer
      • Facial proportions visual
      • “Howard Finster.” Artnet.Com, www.artnet.com/artists/howard-finster/3. Accessed 26 June 2023.
      • Teacher Note: Folk Art at the High Museum of Art: The High is dedicated to supporting and collecting works by Southern artists and is distinguished as the first general museum in North America to have a full-time curator devoted to folk and self-taught art. The nucleus of the folk art collection is the T. Marshall Hahn Collection, donated in 1996, and Judith Alexander's gift of 130 works by Atlanta artist Nellie Mae Rowe. Other artists the High has collected in depth in this field include the Reverend Howard Finster, Bill Traylor, Thornton Dial, Ulysses Davis, Sam Doyle, William Hawkins, Mattie Lou O'Kelley, and Louis Monza. The collection of almost 800 objects also boasts superb examples by renowned artists from beyond the South, such as Henry Darger, Martín Ramírez, and Joseph Yoakum. 

      *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 and updated by: Debi West and Katy Betts

      Revised and copyright:  May 2024 @ ArtsNOW

       

       
      Back to Modules

      Link it Up Plane Figure Word Chains K-2

      Description

      Through composition of word chains describing plane figures, students will develop skills and understandings in mathematics and music. Teamwork and creativity are necessary to create an interesting word chant that demonstrates understanding and identification of plane figures. Musical skills addressed include improvising, composing, listening, speaking, playing instruments, and moving.

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      Living with Something Unusual

      Living With Something Unusual

      LIVING WITH SOMETHING UNUSUAL

      Learning Description

      Students will explore two stories about an unusual creature becoming part of a family, and then create and enact their own stories on the same theme.

       

      Learning Targets

      GRADE BAND: 2
      CONTENT FOCUS: THEATRE & ELA
      LESSON DOWNLOADS:

      Download PDF of this Lesson

      "I Can" Statements

      “I Can…”

      • I can identify similarities and differences in two stories on a similar theme.
      • I can use my body and voice to act out animal characters.
      • I can work with a group to create a new story based on a theme from picture books.

      Essential Questions

      • How do we compare two stories on a similar theme?
      • How do we create an original story based on a theme from picture books?

       

      Georgia Standards

      Curriculum Standards

      Grade 2:

      ELAGSE2RL6 Acknowledge differences in the points of view of characters, including by speaking in a different voice for each character when reading dialogue aloud.ELAGSE2RL7 Use information gained from the illustrations and words in a print or digital text to demonstrate understanding of its characters, setting, or plot.ELAGSE2RL9 Compare and contrast two or more versions of the same story (e.g., Cinderella stories) by different authors or from different cultures.ELAGSE2W3 Write narratives in which they recount a well-elaborated event or short sequence of events, include details to describe actions, thoughts, and feelings, use temporal words to signal event order, and provide a sense of closure.

      Arts Standards

      Grade 2:

      TAES2.2 Developing scripts through improvisation and other theatrical methods.

      TAES2.3 Acting by developing, communicating, and sustaining roles within a variety of situations and environments.

       

      South Carolina Standards

      Curriculum Standards

      Grade 2:

      2.Rl.5 Determine meaning and develop logical interpretations by making predictions, inferring, drawing conclusions, analyzing, synthesizing, providing evidence, and investigating multipleinterpretations.

      2.RL.8 Analyze characters, settings, events, and ideas as they develop and interact within a particular context.

      Arts Standards

      Grade 2:

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

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

       

      Key Vocabulary

      Content Vocabulary

      Character - A person or animal in a story who takes part in the action.

      Setting - The time and place of a story (when and where).

      Plot - The series of related events that together form a story.

      Illustration - A drawing, painting, photograph, or other image that is created to depict a story, poem, or newspaper article.

      Theme - A central idea or topic in a story.

      Arts Vocabulary

      Act - To pretend to be or do something imaginary.

      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.

       

      Materials

      Aaaarrgghh Spider!!! by Lydia Monks. and How Do Dinosaurs Say Good Night?, by Jane Yolen, illustrated by Mark Teague; or two texts that have the same theme of living with an unusual animal character

      Paper

      Pencil

       

      Instructional Design

      Opening/Activating Strategy

      Character Movements:
      Have students shift their bodies to become the animals in the stories: First, a spider . . . walking, climbing, dancing, spinning a web, jumping; then, dinosaurs . . . different types (from the text) walking, flying, running, eating, digging, settling down to sleep.

       

      Work Session

      Process

      • Read two quick texts for the students that share the theme of living with an unusual animal character, such as Aaaarrgghh, Spider!!!, and How Do Dinosaurs Say Good Night?.
      • Discuss similarities and differences between the two texts. Identify the theme – living with an unusual animal.
      • Gather favorite scenes from the two stories and act them out all together, using the illustrations in the books as guides. Have students become the animals and/or the creatures (e.g., the spider washing herself, the mother shaking the spider webs out on the broom, the children swinging, the ankylosaurus yawning and dragging a blanket, the apatosaurus swinging his neck, the trachodont stomping and shouting). Spotlight the specific physical choices that individual students make to enact the characters.
      • Discuss the theme. Discuss what animals are kept as housepets, and brainstorm creatures that would be very unlikely to live with a family (possible ideas: elephant, whale, moose, wooly mammoth, vulture, unicorn, grizzly bear, walrus, etc.).
      • Divide the class into groups and instruct the students to come up with their own story based on an unusual animal living with humans, and how they overcome obstacles. Tell them that they should have the human characters in the family and one unusual animal house-pet character (if there is conflict, they can alternate acting out the different roles). They should decide on several activities that the family and animal engage in. (Possibly, assign the number of activities equal to the number of students in the group, so that each student has a chance to enact the animal role.)
      • Pair up groups and have them share with each other, or have each group share with the whole class.

       

      Closing Reflection

      • Review the theme of the stories, and what a ‘theme’ is.
      • Reflect on how students used their voices and bodies to become their characters.

       

      Assessments

      Formative

      • Observe students enacting animals in the opening activity and the group scenes.
      • Listen to students discussing similarities and differences between the two stories.

       

      Summative

      • Observe how well students’ scenes clearly follow the theme of the source texts – with an unusual animal pet and a series of actions or activities.
      • Observe how students work together to enact their scenes.

       

      Differentiation

      Acceleration:

      • Have students write out their scenes in a playwriting format.
      • Have the groups develop a narrative in which the characters face and resolve a specific problem related to the unusual animal.

      Remediation:

      • Rather than having students work independently in groups, brainstorm and collectively enact several ideas in sequence as an entire class.
      • Guide students specifically in making choices for vocal and physical expression in creating characters together (instruct and model what to do with arms, legs, upper body, faces, etc.)

       

      Additional Resources

      Other possible texts: Clifford the Big Red Dog, by Norman Ray Bridwell; Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile, by Bernard Waber; Charlotte and the Rock, by Stephen W. Martin; Sparky, by Jenny Offill, Illustrated by Chris Appelhans (sloth); and My Tiny Pet, by Jessie Hartland (tardigrade/water bear).

      *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: Carolynn Stoddard and updated by Barry Stewart Mann

      Revised and copyright: August 2022 @ ArtsNOW

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      Magic Rocks & Habitats 1-2

      MAGIC ROCKS & HABITATS

      MAGIC ROCKS & HABITATS

      Learning Description

      Students will explore using their voices and bodies to become animals from three distinct habitats, and then work in groups to enact interactions among the animals in their assigned habitat. They will become Magic Rocks, emerging from stillness to act their roles, and then returning to stillness. Group will share their simple habitat scenes with the class.

       

      Learning Targets

      GRADE BAND: K-2
      CONTENT FOCUS: SCIENCE & THEATRE
      LESSON DOWNLOADS:

      Download PDF of this Lesson

      "I Can" Statements

      “I Can…”

      • I can use my voice and body to enact an animal from a particular habitat.
      • I can work with a group to portray relationships among animals in a habitat.

      Essential Questions

      • How do we use our voices and bodies to enact diverse animals?
      • How do animals interact in a desert, rainforest, and tundra?

       

      Georgia Standards

      Curriculum Standards

      Grade 1:

      S1L1. Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information about the basic needs of plants and animals.

      Arts Standards

      Grade 1:

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

       

      South Carolina Standards

      Curriculum Standards

      Grade 2:

      2.L.5B. Animals (including humans) require air, water, food, and shelter to survive in environments where these needs can be met. There are distinct environments in the world that support different types of animals. Environments can change slowly or quickly. Animals respond to these changes in different ways.

      Arts Standards

      Grade 1:

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

       

      Key Vocabulary

      Content Vocabulary

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

      Animal - a living organism that feeds on plants or other animals, has organs that sense what is going on around it, and is able to move and respond to its surroundings.

      Desert - an arid landscape with little vegetation.

      Tundra - a large, barren region with no trees found between the permanent ice of the far north and the northern forests of North America, Europe, and Asia.

      Rainforest - a lush, warm, wet habitats with tall trees and several layers of plant and animal life.

      Predator - an animal that hunts or preys on other animals for food.

      Prey - an animal hunted or killed by another animal for food.

      Parent - an animal that has had or given birth to offspring.

      Offspring - the child of an animal.

      Arts Vocabulary

      Act - to pretend to be or do something imaginaryCharacter - a person, or an animal or object that has human qualities, in a dramatic work.

      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.

      Scene - a unit of drama, composed of dialogue and action that occurs in one place over a continuous period of time.

       

      Materials

      Note cards of animals that can be found in the rainforest, desert and tundra (number of notecards is dependent on the number of students in the class). Each card should have a picture of the animal, the animal’s name, and the environment in which the animal lives.

       

      Instructional Design

      Opening/Activating Strategy

      Ask students, what are animals? What are plants? What is the difference? What makes an animal an animal, and what makes a plant a plant?

       

      Work Session

      Grouping Habitats and Animal Characters

      • Divide students into three groups. Assign each group one of three habitats: rainforest, desert, and tundra. Hand out note cards with the pictures, names, and habitats of various animals - e.g., the rainforest notecards might include a toucan, a black panther adult, a black panther cub, a tree frog and a monkey. Have students work in their groups to discuss their habitat, e.g., weather, plant life, land forms, other animals not featured, etc.
      • Students will explore using their voices and bodies to become their animal. Remind them that they are constrained by the limitations of the human body, but can use their imaginations. For safety, it is recommended that all animals be portrayed standing up on the floor, rather than crawling or slithering on the ground, or standing on chairs or desks.
      • Instruct the students to move through the space meeting other animals in character. The animals introduce themselves by showing their cards and saying their names and habitats. Remind them to use their character voices.

      Small Group Drama

      • Put the students in their habitat groups, and assign each group a separate area of the classroom. Then tell the students to lie on the ground curled up tight to become “magic rocks”. When given a cue (“Magic rocks, come to life!”), they should wake up and gradually become their animals using their voices and bodies. They can talk to the other animals in their habitat group from their character viewpoint, using details about their needs, their physical and behavioral characteristics, and the environment in which they live. A predator might talk about wanting to hunt its prey; an herbivore might talk about the plants it eats; a young animal might talk about its life cycle; two animals might discuss the aspects of their environment that are important to them (temperature, land surface, plant life, etc.). Note: Instruct students not to act out predator/prey relationship, i.e., no chasing or pretend-eating of classmates. These may be discussed, but not enacted.
      • Give students the cue to return to Magic Rocks (“Animals, return to Magic Rocks!”). Once they have become Magic Rocks, instruct them to become themselves again.
      • Give groups a chance to discuss their Drama and their interactions. Instruct them to shape a simple scene with some planned dialogue and actions. Give them a chance to practice their scene several times.
      • One at a time, each group presents their habitat scene to the class. Have them begin as Magic Rocks, come to life, become their animals, enact their dialogue and actions, and then settle back down into Magic Rocks. If necessary, Teacher may need to give a cue for the animals to become Magic Rocks again.

      Extension Activity: Have each student draw a picture of their habitat, showing all the animal characters they had in their group, and showing the relationships between them and their relationships to their environments. Remind them they can include aspects of the landscape, plants, water features, and elements of the weather.

      Closing Reflection

      Ask students: How did we use our voices and bodies to create animal characters? How did we make choices to act out the animals and their relationships?
      What did you learn about the three habitats? How are they alike and different?

       

      Assessments

      Formative

      • Students use both voice and bodily to become their animal character.
      • Students work together collaboratively in their groups.
      • Students use and apply knowledge in creating their animal characters and group knowledge.

       

      Summative

      • Student group dramas convey accurate interrelationships in their habitats.
      • Student drawings show accurate details about the animals, plants, and landscape of their assigned habitat.

       

      Differentiation

      Acceleration: Have groups write out the dialogue and actions of their group drama in scene format.

      Remediation: Choose one of the three habitats, and work through the sequence with the entire class together. Allow multiple students to portray the same animal character; they can work together to create their characterization.

       

      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 updated by:  Barry Stewart Mann

      Revised and copyright: January 2023 @ ArtsNOW

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