Discover the Art of Playwriting K-2

DISCOVER THE ART OF PLAYWRITING

DISCOVER THE ART OF PLAYWRITING

Learning Description

Students will be introduced to the art and technique of playwriting by brainstorming possible emotions, relationships, and storyline extensions based on a familiar fairy tale.

 

Learning Targets

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

Download PDF of this Lesson

"I Can" Statements

“I Can…”

  • I can contribute ideas to write a short play based on a familiar nursery rhyme.
  • I can take a role in acting out an original script.

Essential Questions

  • How can we write a short play together based on a familiar nursery rhyme? 

 

Georgia Standards

Curriculum Standards

Grade 2:

ELACC2W3 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. 

ELACC2W5 With guidance and support from adults and peers, focus on a topic and strengthen writing as needed by revising and editing.

ELACC2SL4 Tell a story or recount an experience with appropriate facts and relevant, descriptive details, speaking audibly in coherent sentences.

Arts Standards

Grade 2:

TA2.CR.2 Develop scripts through theatrical techniques. a. Explore the dramatic writing process. b. Collaborate to generate story ideas.

  1. Develop dialogue based on stories (e.g. personal, imaginary, real). d. Develop character and setting through action and dialogue. e. Sequence plot events for dramatizations.

TA2.PR.1 Act by communicating and sustaining roles in formal and informal environments. a. Use imagination and vocal elements (e.g. inflection, pitch, volume, articulation) to communicate a character’s thoughts, emotions, and actions. b. Use imagination and physical choices to communicate a character’s thoughts and emotions.  c. Collaborate and perform with an ensemble to share theatre with an audience.  d. Explore character choices and relationships in a variety of dramatic forms (e.g. narrated story, pantomime, puppetry, dramatic play).

 

South Carolina Standards

Curriculum Standards

Grade 2: 

2.W.MCC.3.1 Explore multiple texts to write narratives that 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

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 an animal or object that has human qualities, in a story.

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

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

Arts Vocabulary

Theater - Dramatic literature or its performance; drama.

Playwriting – the process of writing or composing a script to be performed by actors.

Script – a story written in a format to be acted out, indicating what the characters say and do.

Dialogue – the part of the text that the characters speak aloud to one another.

Line – words or sentences spoken by an actor.

Stage Directions – actions or emotions for the actor, usually included in parentheses before or after a line of text.

 

Materials

  • Copies (on paper, or on one or more screens) of a familiar nursery rhyme, such as “Jack and Jill”
  • Flip chart, white board, or digital blank page for developing class script
  • Pencils 
  • Clip boards and lined paper

 

Instructional Design

Opening/Activating Strategy

CLAP-AROUND

This warm-up exercise helps students connect to one another through collaboration and eye  contact.

  • Arrange students in a circular formation. 
  • Have students place their hands on their hips and bend their knees to make sure they are in a neutral position. 
  • Begin the process by making eye contact with the first student and then clapping at the same time.  Instruct that student to turn to their other neighbor, make eye contact, and clap simultaneously.  That student continues the process.  Each student, in turn, passes the clap to the next student until the circle is completed.
  • Continue striving to keep the clap moving smoothly around the circle multiple times, with participants establishing eye contact and synchronizing the clap as it passes. 
  • Option:  Once the students have gained mastery of the Clap-Around activity, for an extra challenge try it with two starting points and two claps going around simultaneously.

 

Work Session

NURSERY RHYME 

  • Show students the selected nursery rhyme.  Read/recite it together. 
  • Ask students about the story elements:  “Who are the characters?  What is the setting?  What happens in the plot of the story?” (e.g., Jack and Jill; a hill, during the day; going to get water, then falling down).

PLAYWRITING

  • Tell students that together the class will use a playwriting process to adapt this simple story into a script that the class can act out.
  • Ask students what happened first in the story.  Ask them to imagine what the characters might have said – this can be imagined, as it likely is not included in the nursery rhyme (e.g., perhaps their mother said, “Children, we need water!”; Jill said, “Come on, Jack.  Let’s go! I have the pail,” and Jack said, “But I’m playing with my toys!” etc.).  
  • Select and write their ideas in script format.  Put the character name on the left margin followed by a colon. Then write what the character says.  Skip a line on the page between different characters’ spoken lines  Elicit enough ideas to fill out a simple scene.  Explain that the class is generating dialogue, composed of lines for the individual characters.  Option: Define, solicit, and include stage directions, including feelings or actions to help the actors know how to play the roles. Place those in parentheses within the script.
  • Hand out clipboards with paper and pencils.  Have students copy the developing script, being sure to follow the playwriting format.
  • Repeat the process with other segments of the story (e.g., climbing the hill, then tumbling down).  Write out the students’ ideas in a way that all can see, follow, and copy.  Remind them to use their neat handwriting as they copy the script.
  • As appropriate to the story, ask students to imagine what might have happened afterward, and then develop further dialogue for their idea (e.g., Jack and Jill are taken to the hospital).
  • Invite volunteers to come to the front to read and act out the script that the class generated.  Coach them in using voice and inflection to convey the meaning and emotions of the lines.  Prompt with lines as needed for emerging readers.  Allow several groups to do readings/performances (after several rounds, the students will be familiar with the script).

 

Closing Reflection

Ask:  “What is playwriting?  What is a script?  What is dialogue?  How did we add ideas to expand and fill out the story?  How did we act out our script for the story?  How is our script different from the original nursery rhyme?”

 

Assessments

Formative

  • Students are able to identify key elements of the story.
  • Students suggest additional ideas that are suitable to the story.

 

Summative

  • The class-generated script contains dramatic elements of character, setting, and plot.
  • The students’ copies of the script follow the prescribed playwriting format.
  • Students read and enact the script with enthusiasm and expression.

 

Differentiation

Acceleration:

Have students work in groups to replicate the process with other familiar nursery rhymes.

Remediation:

In developing the script with students’ ideas, keep the lines short with simple vocabulary and clear emotions.

 ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

http://www.teachingheart.net/readerstheater.htm - a site with numerous readers theater scripts available.

*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: Susie Spear Purcell and Barry Stewart Mann

Revised and copyright:  June 2023 @ ArtsNOW

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Dr. Seuss is on the Loose K-2

Description

The rhythmic and melodic elements of Theodor Geisel’s children’s literature provide many opportunities for knowledge of language, vocabulary acquisition and use, and creative expression and communication in music. The two books chosen in this lesson, Dr. Seuss’s ABC and P.D. Eastman’s Go, Dog. Go!, are two of many which can provide successful learning experiences. With this lesson, words are lifted off the page and into the children’s world of enduring understanding, giving them the tools needed for the most complex creativity.

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Dramatic Living and Non-Living K-1

DRAMATIC LIVING AND NON-LIVING

DRAMATIC LIVING AND NON-LIVING

Learning Description

Students explore the differences between living organisms and nonliving objects through the eyes of the nursery rhyme, “Hey Diddle Diddle”. After bringing these familiar characters to life, the students discuss the concepts of living organisms and nonliving objects. Students then act out pictures of living organisms and nonliving objects for their classmates to classify, infusing fun and movement into the classroom.

 

Learning Targets

GRADE BAND: K-1
CONTENT FOCUS: THEATRE & SCIENCE
LESSON DOWNLOADS:

Download PDF of this Lesson

"I Can" Statements

“I Can…”

  • I can accurately portray characteristics of living organisms and nonliving objects using my body and voice.
  • I can accurately recognize and identify physical attributes of living organisms and nonliving objects.

Essential Questions

  • How can theatre techniques be used to portray living organisms and nonliving objects?
  • What is the difference between living organisms and nonliving objects?

 

Georgia Standards

Curriculum Standards

Kindergarten:

SKL1. Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information about how organisms (alive and not alive) and non-living objects are grouped. a. Construct an explanation based on observations to recognize the differences between organisms and nonliving objects. b. Develop a model to represent how a set of organisms and nonliving objects are sorted into groups based on their attributes.

Arts Standards

Kindergarten:

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

 

South Carolina Standards

Curriculum Standards

Kindergarten:

K-LS1-1. Use observations to describe patterns of what plants and animals (including humans) need to survive.

Arts Standards

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

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

 

Key Vocabulary

Content Vocabulary

  • Living - Includes those things that are alive or have ever been alive
  • Nonliving - Includes things are not alive, nor have they ever been

Arts Vocabulary

  • Theater - Dramatic literature or its performance; drama
  • Character - A person, an animal or other figure assuming human qualities, in a story
  • 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
  • Improvisation - A creation that is spoken or written without prior preparation

 

Materials

  • Photo pages of living organisms and nonliving objects
  • Frog video and sound clip
  • Props such as a rock, spoon, etc.
  • Object to use as a “magic wand”
  • Anchor chart paper with columns for living and nonliving objects

 

Instructional Design

Opening/Activating Strategy

Classroom Tips: Classroom set-up will be key for this lesson! Set up chairs and tables in a circular format, to maximize students’ engagement and ability to see their peers during the activity and performance. 

 

  • Start with a general physical warm-up to get the students' bodies ready. Use exercises such as:
    • Stretching: Stretch all major muscle groups.
    • Shaking Out Limbs: Shake out arms, legs, and the whole body to release tension.
    • Energy Passes: Stand in a circle and pass a clap or a simple motion around to build group focus and energy.
  • Explain that students will explore different characters by changing their walk and physicality. Use simple prompts to get students thinking about different ways to walk and move. Call out various types of characters and ask students to walk around the space embodying those characters. Examples include:
    • A bird searching for a worm to eat
    • A tree blowing in the wind
    • A hungry lion
    • A happy dog

 

Work Session

“HEY DIDDLE DIDDLE” ALIVE  

  • Recite “Hey Diddle Diddle” nursery rhyme. Ask students to say it with you two times.
  • Ask seven students to come up to the front of the room to each play one of the characters in the rhyme: Cat, fiddle, cow, moon, dog, dish or spoon.
  • Ask the actors to give their character a movement, then have them act it out while everyone else recites “Hey Diddle Diddle”.
  • Ask students if this story is fiction or non-fiction.
    • Remind students that fiction is an entertaining, make-believe story that is not true, while non-fiction is true information that gives you fact to explain something.
    • “Hey Diddle Diddle” is fiction because it is a make-believe story.
    • We know that plates and spoons don’t really run, right?

 

LIVING/NONLIVING REVIEW  

  • Ask students, “What do you need to be healthy and grow?”. Write answers on the board.
    • Make sure that the words air, food, and water are mentioned, and circle those words.
  • Show students a rock and ask, “What do rocks need in order to grow and be healthy?”.
    • Students should respond that the rock does not need air, food, and water because it does not grow.
  • Emphasize that living things grow and eat, can move on their own, and need air, food and water (write these on the board).
    • Explain to students that things that need air, food, and water are called living organisms.
    • Add movements:
      • Air – open fingers and hands wiggling in front of body with a wind sound,
      • Food – hands holding an imaginary hamburger and mouth eating it with an eating sound
      • Water – pinky up and thumb down with other fingers bent like you are drinking in front of your mouth and make a drinking sound
      • Repeat the movements and explanation with students.
  • Discuss differences between living organisms and nonliving objects with students: Things that need air, food, and water are called living organisms, while things that do not need air, food, and water are called nonliving objects.
  • Discuss some examples of each.
    • Is a frog living or nonliving?
      • Show students a frog with a sound and movement.
      • Have students repeat the sound and movement of the frog.
      • Ask students if they know what kind of animal a frog is (mammal, fish, reptile or an amphibian)? A frog is an amphibian.
      • Does a frog grow? (let me see you grow, frogs)
      • Does a frog need food? What kind? (let me see you eat a fly, frogs)
      • Does a frog move on its own? (let me see you move, frogs)
      • Does a frog need air? (let me see you breathe air, frogs)
      • Does a frog need water? Do they drink water? No. They have special skin that absorbs the water to help hydrate them. So they need water to live but they don’t drink it. (let me see you jump in the water to soak it through your skin, frogs)
      • Is a frog living or nonliving?
    • Is a rock living or nonliving? Let’s all sit like a rock.
      • Does a rock move?
      • Does a rock grow?
      • Does a rock eat?
      • Can a rock move on its own?
      • Does a rock need air, food or water?
      • Is a rock living or nonliving?

 

LIVING AND NONLIVING CHART  

    • Say to students, “Let’s investigate and make a chart to list our findings. We will have a column for living organisms and a column for nonliving objects”.
    • Ask students if there are things in “Hey Diddle Diddle” that do not need air, food, and water. Students should respond with a plate, spoon, moon and fiddle. Therefore, these things are nonliving.
    • Ask students if there are things in the rhyme that need air, food and water. Students should respond with a cat, cow and dog. Therefore, these are living organisms.
  • Note: Be aware that some students may want to identify the dish, spoon, moon, and fiddle as alive because in nursery rhymes they do take on human characteristics. Real objects such as a dish and a spoon may help to clarify this misconception.  
  • Write the appropriate objects under the correct columns of the chart.
  • Now, ask students to look around the classroom and raise their hands to identify objects that they see. Decide as a class if the objects are living or nonliving. Ask students how they know if it’s living or nonliving.
  • Write the objects that students list in the correct column on the chart.

 

MAGIC WAND  

  • Hold up your magic wand. Ask students if anyone knows what the object is. Tell students that it’s a magic wand!
  • Ask students to play a game called “Magic Wand''. Tell students that in this game, they will see if the wand can change something that’s living into a nonliving thing.
    • Find one object in this room that’s living (a person). See if the wand can change it into a nonliving thing. Nope! It won’t work.
    • Now tell students that you will see if the wand will change something that is nonliving into a living thing. Ask if someone will show you a nonliving thing in the room (trashcan). Let’s see if this magic wand will change it to living. Nope! Won’t work. It’s impossible to do!
    • Ask students why we can’t change the objects that were living to nonliving and the nonliving thing to living.

 

LIVING AND NONLIVING ACTION  

  • Tell students that in this next game, you will call out an animal or object and they should use their bodies and voices to make a sound to become the animal or object.
  • Call out “Spider”. Ask students to become spiders, and then ask students whether a spider is living or nonliving. Ask students how they know.
  • Call out the following and repeat the process:  Frog, rock, butterfly, moon, dog, computer.
  • Now, pass out pictures of organisms and objects to students, such as a snail, tree, spider, fish, human, flower, bird, cat, plant, seed, dead plant, snake, alligator, brown bear, deer, dog, frog, tortoise, turtle and rock, hat, cup, pencil, lego, computer, book, car, bike, clock, backpack, book, ring, house.
    • On the count of three, ask students to use their bodies and voices to become what is in their picture.
    • Ask students to move to the right side of the room if they are a living organism.
    • If the student is a nonliving object, ask them to move to the left side of the room.
    • Have students showing living organisms each demo their organism and ask the others to guess their identity.
    • Have students showing nonliving objects each demo their object and ask the others to guess their identity.

 

Closing Reflection

  • Close the lesson by saying the rhyme again as a class and acting out the characters.
  • Ask students to tell you which things are living and which are not living and why.

 

Assessments

Formative

Teachers will assess students’ understanding of the content throughout the lesson by observing students’ participation in the activator, discussion of living versus nonliving things, and use of bodies and voices to demonstrate living versus nonliving things.

 

Summative

CHECKLIST

  • Students can accurately portray characteristics of living organisms and nonliving objects using their bodies and voices.
  • Students can accurately recognize and identify physical attributes of living organisms and nonliving objects.

 

DIFFERENTIATION 

Acceleration: 

  • Have students write about their living organism or nonliving object in sentence form saying which it is and why.
  • Challenge students to come up with their own example of a living organism and nonliving object to act out.

Remediation: Provide students with cut out images of living organisms and nonliving objects. Have students sort and glue each item into two categories on chart paper–living and nonliving. This can be done as a whole class or students can work with a partner.

 

*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: Susie Spear Purcell. Updated by Katy Betts.

Revised and copyright: July 2024 @ ArtsNOW

 

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Explore Geometry with Abstract Imagery K-1

EXPLORE GEOMETRY WITH ABSTRACT IMAGERY

EXPLORE GEOMETRY WITH ABSTRACT IMAGERY

Learning Description

Delve into the abstract world of Wassily Kandinsky! Allow your imagination to soar as you discover mathematical connections within Kandinsky images that explore the relationships between geometric shapes and polygons.

 

Learning Targets

GRADE BAND: K-1
CONTENT FOCUS: VISUAL ARTS & MATH
LESSON DOWNLOADS:

Download PDF of this Lesson

"I Can" Statements

“I Can…”

  • I can use geometry to create original artwork inspired by Wassily Kandinsky.

Essential Questions

  • How can you utilize visual images to learn about shapes?

 

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: 

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

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

VAK.CR.3 Understand and apply media, techniques, and processes of two-dimensional art.

VAK.RE.1 Discuss personal works of art and the artwork of others to enhance visual literacy. 

VAK.CN.2 Integrate information from other disciplines to enhance the understanding and production of works of art. 

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

Grade 1: 

VA1.CR.1 Engage in the creative process to generate and visualize ideas by using subject matter and symbols to communicate meaning

VA1.CR.2 Create works of art based on selected themes.

VA1.CR.3 Understand and apply media, techniques, and processes of two-dimensional art.

VA1.RE.1 Discuss personal works of art and the artwork of others to enhance visual literacy. 

VA1.CN.2 Integrate information from other disciplines to enhance the understanding and production of works of art. 

VA1.CN.3 Develop life skills through the study and production of art (e.g. collaboration, creativity, critical thinking, communication).

 

South Carolina Standards

Curriculum Standards

Kindergarten:

K.G.4 Analyze and compare two- and three-dimensional shapes of different sizes and orientations using informal language. 

K.G.5 Draw two-dimensional shapes (i.e., square, rectangle, triangle, hexagon, and circle)

Grade 1: 

1.G.4 Identify and name two-dimensional shapes (i.e., square, rectangle, triangle, hexagon, rhombus, trapezoid, and circle)

1.G.2 Combine two-dimensional shapes (i.e., square, rectangle, triangle, hexagon, rhombus, and trapezoid) or three-dimensional shapes (i.e., cube, rectangular prism, cone, and cylinder) in more than one way to form a composite shape.

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.

Anchor Standard 4: I can organize work for presentation and documentation to reflect specific content, ideas, skills, and or media

Anchor Standard 5: I can interpret and evaluate the meaning of an artwork.

 

Key Vocabulary

Content Vocabulary

Geometry - Branch of mathematics that deals with deduction of the properties, measurement, and relationships of points, lines, angles, and figures in space from their defining conditions by means of certain assumed properties of space.

Polygon - A closed plane figure with at least three straight sides and angles, and typically five or more.

Arts Vocabulary

Abstract - Process of art-making that has reference to the real world but is distorted or manipulated in some way. 

Non-objective - Process of art-making that has no reference to the real world; strictly 

composed of design elements. 

Contrast - Exhibiting unlikeness in comparison to something else. 

Line – One of the seven elements of art; a mark made by a pointed tool such as a brush pen or stick; a moving point

Shape (Geometric and Organic) – One of the seven elements of art; a flat, enclosed area that has two dimensions, length and width

 

Materials

  • Kandinsky prints of your choice 
  • Tag board (9” x 12” sheets) or drawing paper
  • Pencils 
  • Pastels, colored pencils, and/or tempera paint 
  • Wassily Kandinsky images

 

Instructional Design

Opening/Activating Strategy

  • Introduce this activity by having students look at an image of “Color Study: Squares with Concentric Circles” by Russian artist, Wassily Kandinsky.
  • Have students draw or write down as many shapes as they see in the artwork.
  • Students should turn to a partner and compare answers.

 

Work Session

Process 

  • Project Kandinsky’s Composition VIII and Red, Blue and Yellow (linked above in materials). Direct students to use math vocabulary and concepts to describe the shapes and polygons found within these abstract and non-objective masterpieces. Students should draw these images on sticky notes.
  • Using the sticky notes, direct students to identify shapes within these images according to size, shape, and color and sort according to the number of sides and angles.
  • Students will then create Venn diagrams that compare and contrast the two different Kandinsky prints. 
  • Next, direct students to generate their own abstract or non-objective design in the style of Kandinsky according to criteria set by the teacher. (For example, criteria might include designs housing a minimum of 10 circles that overlap, 5 straight lines, number of corners and sides, etc.) 
  • Students will then draw their shapes lightly on a tag board in pencil and embellish with bright contrasting colors using colored pencils, pastels, or tempera paint. 

Upon completion of these designs, ask students to identify shapes according to the number of sides, faces, and vertices within their compositions.  

 

Closing Reflection

Display students’ artwork on walls or place on tables/desks. Give students a “scavenger hunt” to find objects in each other’s artwork. Objects could include different types of shapes, lines, and angles.

 

Assessments

Formative

  • Students will recognize and identify two-dimensional shapes and figures within a given art piece. 
  • Students will sort objects within an art piece according to size, shape, and color. 
  • Students will identify shapes according to the number of sides, faces, and vertices. 
  • Students will discover the way artists compose abstract imagery.

 

Summative

  • Students will create an artwork inspired by Wassily Kandinsky that demonstrates their mastery of mathematical concepts including geometry, line, and angle.
  • Students will be able to identify types of shapes, lines, and angles in each other’s artwork.

 

Differentiation

Acceleration: Instead of using basic geometric shapes, artwork requirements should include students dividing and combining shapes to create new shapes (i.e. - circle into semicircle; two triangles into rectangle, etc.).

Remediation: 

  • Provide students with specific objects to look for in Kandinsky’s artwork. Partner students will identify shapes, lines, and angles.
  • Reduce criteria in artwork to focus on fewer shapes at a time.
  • Provide visuals with examples of each shape and its attributes for supporting students.

 ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Wassily Kandinsky images

Types of shapes handout

*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: Darby Jones and updated by Shannon Green and Katy Betts.

 Revised and copyright:  August 2022 @ ArtsNOW

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Explore Time with Theater K-1

EXPLORE TIME WITH THEATRE

EXPLORE TIME WITH THEATRE

Learning Description

In this lesson, students will explore the concepts of time and sequence by acting out various activities performed at different times of the day. They will then become "Story Detectives," investigating the beginning, middle, and end of different nursery rhymes. By using theatre techniques, students will immerse themselves in the concept of sequence and time, experiencing a deeper level of learning.

 

Learning Targets

GRADE BAND: K-1
CONTENT FOCUS: THEATRE, MATH & ELA
LESSON DOWNLOADS:

Download PDF of this Lesson

"I Can" Statements

“I Can…”

  • I can correctly identify and sequence the activities of the day based on the time that they occur.
  • I can correctly identify and sequence the beginning, middle and end of simple stories.
  • I can use my voice and body to act out events and characters.

Essential Questions

  • How can theatre techniques be used to understand time and sequence?

 

Georgia Standards

Curriculum Standards

Kindergarten: 

Math

K.PAR.6: Explain, extend, and create repeating patterns with a repetition, not exceeding 4 and describe patterns involving the passage of time.

K.PAR.6.2 Describe patterns involving the passage of time using words and phrases related to actual events.

 

ELA

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

Arts Standards

Kindergarten:

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

 

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

 

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

 

TAK.CN.1 Explore how theatre connects to life experience, careers, and other content.

 

South Carolina Standards

Curriculum Standards

Kindergarten: 

Math

K.MDA.3 Sort and classify data into 2 or 3 categories with data not to exceed 20 items in each category. K.MDA.4 Represent data using object and picture graphs and draw conclusions from the graphs.

 

ELA

READING - Literary Text

Meaning and Context

Standard 7: Analyze the relationship among ideas, themes, or topics in multiple media and formats, and in visual, auditory, and kinesthetic modalities.

7.1 With guidance and support, retell a familiar text; identify beginning, middle, and end in a text heard or read.

Arts Standards

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

Anchor Standard 4: I can direct and organize work for a performance to reflect specific content, ideas, skills, and media.

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

 

Key Vocabulary

Content Vocabulary

  • Morning - Early/first part of the day
  • Afternoon - Daytime, between midday and evening
  • Night - Dark time between bedtime and waking
  • Beginning - The start or first part
  • Middle - Halfway between the beginning and end, center part
  • End - Final part or stop
  • Story - An account or report that tells you what is happening to someone or something with a beginning, middle and an end

Arts Vocabulary

  • Theater - Dramatic literature or its performance; drama
  • Character - A person, an animal or other figure assuming human qualities, in a story
  • 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
  • Improvisation - A creation that is spoken or written without prior preparation

 

Materials

 

Instructional Design

Opening/Activating Strategy

Classroom Tips: This activity works best in an open space with room for students to move. Review audience etiquette and expectations before students perform for their classmates.

 

  • Start with a general physical warm-up to get the students' bodies ready. Use exercises such as:
    • Stretching: Stretch all major muscle groups.
    • Shaking Out Limbs: Shake out arms, legs, and the whole body to release tension.
    • Energy Passes: Stand in a circle and pass a clap or a simple motion around to build group focus and energy.
  • Explain that students will explore different characters using movement and sound Use simple prompts to get students thinking about different ways to move. Call out various types of characters and ask students to walk around the space embodying those characters. Examples include:
    • A bird searching for a worm to eat
    • A tree blowing in the wind
    • A hungry lion
    • A happy dog
  • Next, ask students to add sound to their characters. Allow time for students to move around the room as the characters, using their bodies and voices.
  • Have students return to the carpet; ask them to share what it was like to use their voices and bodies to become someone else.

 

Work Session

My Day Play

  • Ask students what comes to their minds when you say the following words: morning, afternoon and night.
  • Ask students what the beginning, middle and end of the day is called (morning, afternoon and night).
  • Display visuals with morning/afternoon/night written on them while discussing that particular time of day.
  • When finished, tape the visuals on the wall to designate that area for that time of day in the following exercise.
  • Ask students to tell you what activities are done at different times of the day.
    • Show visuals of some activities performed at different times of the day. [Note: Have visuals stacked in groups by the three times of the day.]
      • Morning (ex: brushing teeth, sun rising, rooster crowing, eating breakfast, getting on the school bus)
      • Afternoon (ex: eating lunch in the cafeteria at school, playing outside with friends, getting off the school bus at home)
      • Night (ex: eating dinner, putting on pajamas, going to bed, looking at the stars)
  • Say to students, “Now we are going to bring these activities to life using sound and movement. When I call out an activity, you will start acting like you are doing it. When I say freeze, you will stop all sound and movement. Ready. Set. Go!”.
    • Call out “eating breakfast” and let the students perform. Follow up with asking what time of day that activity happens.
    • Repeat the process calling out at least three different activities, one from each of the three times of day.
    • Ask three students to come to the front of the room. Have each student pick one activity from one of the times of day. All three times of the day should be represented.
    • Ask each student, one at a time, to show you his/her activity using sound and movement.
    • Now ask another student to come up and play the director. Ask the director to put the three students in order from beginning, middle and end of the day when the students bring their activity to life.
    • Continue until every student gets to perform or direct.

 

Story Detectives 

  • Tell the students, ”We just talked about our days having a beginning, middle and an end.”
  • Say, “What else in our lives has a beginning, middle and end?”.
    • Trains (front car, middle cars and caboose)
    • Games (we set them up, play them and then put them away)
    • School (arrive/bell rings, class/lunch/recess, bell rings/go home)
  • Ask the class, “Do stories that we read and tell have a beginning, middle and end?”.
  • Ask the class, “What is a story?” A story usually tells about what happens to someone or something with a beginning, middle and an end.
  • Place the three cards (beginning, middle and end) on the wall.
  • Say, “We can always figure out what happens at the beginning, in the middle and at the end of a story. Are nursery rhymes stories?”.
  • Read “Humpty Dumpty” aloud while holding up a visual: Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall. Humpty dumpty had a great fall. All the king’s horses and all the king’s men couldn’t put Humpty together again.
    • Read Humpty Dumpty one more time and tell the students to become Humpty by using their bodies and arms.
  • Tell students, “I need some help today. Do you think you could be detectives? What does a detective do? He/she investigates something. I need to find the beginning, middle and end of some nursery rhymes that you might know. We are going to be Beginning, Middle and End Detectives.”
  • Have the students pretend to take out their magnifying glasses and put on their detective hats.
  • Read “Humpty Dumpty” aloud again while holding up the visual of the story.
    • Ask, “What happened at the beginning of the story? Humpty sat on a wall.”
    • “What happened in the middle of the story? Humpty fell off the wall.”
    • “What happened at the end of the story? Humpty was broken and could be fixed by his horsemen.”
  • Repeat this process with “Itsy Bitsy Spider” and “Jack and Jill”.
    • Read “Itsy Bitsy Spider” aloud while holding up the visual and follow-up with questions. The Itsy Bitsy Spider went up the waterspout. Down came the rain and washed the spider out. Out came the sun and dried up all the rain, And the Itsy Bitsy Spider went up the spout again.
    • Read “Jack and Jill” aloud while holding up the visual and follow-up with questions. Jack and Jill went up the hill To fetch a pail of water. Jack fell down and broke his crown And Jill came tumbling after.
  • Ask three students to come to the front of the room. Have each student pick one activity from one of the three parts of the nursery rhyme. All three parts of the story should be represented.
  • Ask each student, one at a time, to show you their activity using sound and movement.
  • Now ask for another student to come up and play the director. Ask the director to put the three students in the order from beginning, middle and end of the nursery rhyme when the students performing the activities come to life.
  • Continue until every student gets to perform or direct.

 

Closing Reflection

  • Close the lesson with reflection questions. Ask students to connect the concept of beginning, middle and end to the different parts of the day–morning, afternoon and night. Ask students how our days are like stories.
  • Pass out paper with three sections–morning/beginning, afternoon/middle and night/end. Have students draw and label a picture showing one activity that occurs at each time of day. Have students write a “story” at the bottom of the paper saying what happens at the beginning of the day, what happens at the middle, and what happens at the end of the day.

 

Assessments

Formative

Teachers will assess students’ understanding of the content throughout the lesson by observing students’ participation in the activator, discussion of time of day and parts of a story, participation and contributions in My Day Play and Story Detectives, and conferencing during the writing process.

 

Summative

CHECKLIST

  • Students can correctly identify and sequence the activities of the day based on the time that they occur.
  • Students can correctly identify and sequence the beginning, middle and end of simple stories.
  • Students can use their voices and bodies to act out events and characters.

 

DIFFERENTIATION 

Acceleration: Provide students with a story that is out of order. Students will determine the appropriate order and rearrange the story to make logical sense. The student will pick one activity from each section of the story (beginning, middle, and end) to represent and perform through movement.

Remediation: Begin with one nursery rhyme. Provide a sound and movement and encourage students to match it with the correct beginning, middle or end illustration of the nursery rhyme. Discuss student choices. Repeat with each section of the rhyme. Assess students by determining if they can accurately identify the beginning, middle and end of a nursery rhyme by providing the correct movement as the section is read.

ESOL Modifications and Adaptations: Introduce vocabulary and discuss what activities happen for each of the following words: morning, afternoon, night, beginning, middle and end. Have picture cards of different activities that happen during different times of the day. Students can perform the activity as the cards/pictures are shown. For the nursery rhymes, make should they have cards/pictures that illustrate the nursery rhyme for students to put in sequence order.

WIDA English Language Proficiency Standards 

Standard 1: English language learners communicate for Social and Instructional purposes within the school setting.

Standard 3: English language learners communicate information, ideas, and concepts necessary for academic success in the content area of Mathematics.

Standard 4: English language learners communicate information, ideas, and concepts necessary for academic success in the content area of Science.

*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: Susie Spear Purcell Modifications, Extensions, and Adaptations Contributed by: Peggy Barnes, Candy Bennett, Lindsey Elrod, Jennifer ​​Plummer, and Vilma Thomas. Updated by: Katy Betts.

Revised and copyright: July 2024 @ ArtsNOW

 

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