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 Writing with Ansel Adams 4-5

DRAMATIC WRITING WITH ANSEL ADAMS

DRAMATIC WRITING WITH ANSEL ADAMS

Learning Description

Using Ansel Adams photographs for inspiration, students will explore creative writing, directing, and acting.

 

Learning Targets

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

Download PDF of this Lesson

"I Can" Statements

“I Can…”

  • I can use a photograph as inspiration for creative writing and acting based in a particular setting.
  • I can work with a group to bring to life a scene inspired by a photograph.

Essential Questions

  • How can visual art be a catalyst for writing and acting?

 

Georgia Standards

Curriculum Standards

Grade 4: 

ELAGSE4W3 Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences. a. Orient the reader by establishing a situation and introducing a narrator and/or characters; organize an event sequence that unfolds naturally. b. Use dialogue and description to develop experiences and events or show the responses of characters to situations. c. Use a variety of transitional words and phrases to manage the sequence of events. d. Use concrete words and phrases and sensory details to convey experiences and events precisely. e. Provide a conclusion that follows from the narrated experiences or events.

 

Grade 5: 

ELAGSE5W3 Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences. a. Orient the reader by establishing a situation and introducing a narrator and/or characters; organize an event sequence that unfolds naturally. b. Use narrative techniques, such as dialogue, description, and pacing, to develop experiences and events or show the responses of characters to situations. c. Use a variety of transitional words, phrases, and clauses to manage the sequence of events. d. Use concrete words and phrases and sensory details to convey experiences and events precisely. e. Provide a conclusion that follows from the narrated experiences or events.

 

Arts Standards

Grade 4:

TA4.CR.1 Organize, design, and refine theatrical work.

TA4.CR.2 Develop scripts through theatrical techniques.

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

 

Grade 5

TA5.CR.1 Organize, design, and refine theatrical work.

TA5.CR.2 Develop scripts through theatrical techniques.

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

 

 

South Carolina Standards

Curriculum Standards

Grade 4: 

Writing (W) - 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 Gather ideas from texts, multimedia, and personal experience to write narratives that: a. develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences; b. orient the reader by establishing a situation and introducing a narrator and/or characters; c. organize an event sequence that unfolds naturally; d. use dialogue and description to develop experiences and events or show the responses of characters to situations; e. develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, and editing building on personal ideas and the ideas of others; f. use a variety of transitional words and phrases to manage the sequence of events; g. use imagery, precise words, and sensory details to develop characters and convey experiences and events precisely; and h. provide a conclusion that follows from the narrated experiences or events.

 

Grade 5: 

Writing (W) - 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 Gather ideas from texts, multimedia, and personal experience to write narratives that: a. develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences; b. orient the reader by establishing a situation and introducing a narrator and/or characters; c. organize an event sequence that unfolds naturally; d. use dialogue, pacing, and manipulation of time to develop experiences and events or show the responses of characters to situations; e. develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, and editing building on personal ideas and the ideas of others; f. use a variety of transitional words, phrases, and clauses to manage the sequence of events; g. use imagery, precise words, and sensory details to develop characters and convey experiences and events precisely; and h. provide a conclusion that follows from the narrated experiences or events.

 

Arts Standards

THEATRE

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.

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

 

VISUAL ARTS

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

 

 

Key Vocabulary

Content Vocabulary

  • Character - Actor or actress in a specified role.
  • Setting - Environment or place of action.
  • Plot - List, timetable, or scheme dealing with any of the various arrangements of a story or play.
  • Imagery - The use of descriptive language that appeals to the reader's senses, helping them to visualize scenes, hear sounds, feel textures, taste flavors, and smell scents
  • Sensory details - Descriptive elements that appeal to the five senses: sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch. They help create vivid imagery and make the writing more engaging and realistic for the reader by allowing them to experience the scene as if they were there.

 

Arts Vocabulary

  • Theater - Dramatic literature or its performance; drama.
  • Photography - the process of capturing an image – a photograph – with a camera, either on paper or through a digital medium.
  • 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

  • Index cards and lined paper
  • Pencils
  • Copies of Ansel Adams photographs (see “Additional Resources”)

 

Instructional Design

Opening/Activating Strategy

  • Have students stand by their desks, or in open space.
  • Call out a setting (e.g., desert, baseball stadium, birthday party, or under the ocean), and have students enact a person or thing in the environment.  As appropriate, allow students to use voices and make sounds, or instruct them to be in the setting in silence.
  • Use observational language to comment on student choices (e.g., “I see Sara has her arms to be a cactus” or “Dylan is wiggling his body as a snake on the rug”).
  • Continue to call out a variety of settings.  Alternate between natural settings and human settings.  Allow students to be objects or natural forces in the settings, or people interacting with the settings.

 

 

Work Session

Creating a Setting through Art

  • Pass out photos by the artist, Ansel Adams, to the students. Explain that Ansel Adams was a famous American photographer known for his photos of American outdoor landscapes including Yosemite, Big Sur, the Sierras and more.
  • Ask the students to study their photo and examine the visual details: “What is the first thing your eye is drawn to? What lines and shapes do you see in the photo? Did Adams take it from near or far? How do the light and dark areas work together? Where is the light source in the image, and which areas are in shadow? Why do you think Adams chose to take this photograph?”
  • Have students imagine/visualize details about the setting in the photo, saying:  “Where is this place? You can make it up. It can be anywhere in the world. What season is it--winter, early spring, etc.? What time of day is it - early morning, high noon, sunset? What sounds and smells are there? Is the wind blowing? Are birds chirping or other animals making sounds even though you can’t see them? Can you smell pine trees, flowers, or the ocean? If you could place yourself in this picture, where would you be?”
  • Tell the students:  “Place the picture in front of you and stand or sit as you imagine you would be in the picture. Now, close your eyes and take a deep breath of the clean air in this place. Listen to the sounds in your environment. Take another deep breath and smell the beautiful aromas.”
  • One at a time, ask each student to make a sound that they hear in their environment.
  • Ask students to think of three descriptive phrases about their environment. Students should use imagery and sensory details. For example, instead of saying, “the wind,” describe “the loud, rushing wind”, “the fierce cry of an eagle,” or the “steep, snowy mountainside.”
    • Even though the pictures are black and white, encourage students to feel free to use color in their descriptive phrases.  Have the students write down their phrases on a note card or piece of paper.  Ask them how they can expand or add to their phrases to make them more descriptive – suggest including texture, color, size, shape, temperature, or other qualities or details.
  • Have students practice using their descriptive phrases in sentences to describe their settings.  Instruct them to speak as if they are in the setting (e.g., “I am standing with my feet on the edge of the babbling stream.  The water is as cold as ice and shiny like a mirror.  I see silvery fish swimming by with lightning speed.”)  Coach and assist students as needed.
  • Ask student volunteers to come up and present, imagining themselves in the setting in the photograph.  They should use their voices and bodies to express the feelings and elements in their writing.

 

Bringing the Photograph to Life 

  • Select a student and guide them to cast three classmates as elements in their setting. The student should announce the element and then choose a classmate to portray it. (E.g., “Someone will be the grass blowing in the wind.”)  Once chosen, the classmate should come to the front and view the photograph.
  • Guide the student to direct the elements, telling each classmate where they will be in the live picture, how they will stand or move, and what sounds they will make.
  • Once the setting is established, have the student walk/hike/swim into their environment, take their place, use their body and voice to inhabit the setting (e.g., shivering for a cold setting, speaking loud for a distant setting, walking carefully over sharp stones, using a hand to block out the bright sun) and then describe their setting using their descriptive phrases.
  • Show the photograph around the room, and solicit comments from the class on how the students brought the setting to life.
  • Have additional students volunteer to cast, enter, and describe.

 

Narrative writing

  • Using the setting students created as a starting point, students will write a fictional narrative.
  • Ask them to go back to the place where they are imagining that they are in the setting. Ask them to think about how they got there, why they are there, where they are going, and what obstacles they might face.
  • In their writing they should use transitional language, imagery, precise words, and sensory details to bring their narrative to life for the reader.
  • Students can engage in a peer review process to revise and edit their work.

 

Closing Reflection

  • Reflect on the process with students using the following questions:
    • How did we get ideas of what to act from the photos?
    • How did we use our voices and bodies to become elements of the different settings in the photos?
    • How did the setting become a starting point for your narrative?

 

 

Assessments

Formative

  • Students created and used three descriptive phrases.
  • Students effectively communicated their ideas.
  • Students responded appropriately to the Adams images.

 

Summative

  • Students can cast and direct their scenes effectively.
  • Students can enact their roles in the scenes effectively.
  • Students’ written phrases use imagery and sensory details.
  • Students’ narratives meet criteria of grade level standards.

 

DIFFERENTIATION 

Acceleration:

  • Have students write out their ideas in full paragraph format.
  • Allow students who are playing elements of the setting to speak from the viewpoints of those elements:  “How does the tree feel?  What is the lake thinking?”

Remediation: Use a single photograph with the entire class, and model the process all together.  Cast a small group as elements in the setting, and then model being the person entering and inhabiting the setting. Repeat the process with a second photo, drafting a student to be the person entering the setting. You may want to use a photo and have the entire class become elements in the photo, allowing multiple students to be the same thing: mountains, rocks, trees, clouds.

 

 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 and updated by: Susie Spear Purcell, Barry Stewart Mann and Katy Betts.

Revised and copyright: June 2023 @ ArtsNOW

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Explore the Solar System with Theater 3-5

Description

This lesson helps build upon prior knowledge of the nine planets in the solar system by allowing students to become aliens living on the planets. By creating an imaginary alien who lives on a planet, students embody the planet and its characteristics, thereby increasing their understanding of the planets. Sharing their work with each other allows students to develop presentation skills and comfort when speaking their own thoughts and ideas.

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Explore Writing Through Painting 4-5

EXPLORE WRITING THROUGH PAINTING

EXPLORE WRITING THROUGH PAINTING

Learning Description

Discover the possibilities of visual expression with your students by allowing them to create a landscape or cityscape artwork illustrating their dream vacation spot! Students will work collaboratively in small groups to write a narrative that incorporates each artwork’s location.

 

Learning Targets

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

Download PDF of this Lesson

"I Can" Statements

“I Can…”

  • I can create a landscape/cityscape artwork that has a background, middle ground, and foreground.
  • I can effectively write about my artwork using sensory and descriptive language.
  • I can contribute to writing a well-organized collaborative narrative.

Essential Questions

  • How can art-making become a catalyst for the writing process?

 

Georgia Standards

Curriculum Standards

Grade 4: 

ELAGSE4W3 Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences. a. Orient the reader by establishing a situation and introducing a narrator and/or characters; organize an event sequence that unfolds naturally. b. Use dialogue and description to develop experiences and events or show the responses of characters to situations. c. Use a variety of transitional words and phrases to manage the sequence of events. d. Use concrete words and phrases and sensory details to convey experiences and events precisely. e. Provide a conclusion that follows from the narrated experiences or events.

 

Grade 5: 

ELAGSE5W3 Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences. a. Orient the reader by establishing a situation and introducing a narrator and/or characters; organize an event sequence that unfolds naturally. b. Use narrative techniques, such as dialogue, description, and pacing, to develop experiences and events or show the responses of characters to situations. c. Use a variety of transitional words, phrases, and clauses to manage the sequence of events. d. Use concrete words and phrases and sensory details to convey experiences and events precisely. e. Provide a conclusion that follows from the narrated experiences or events.

Arts Standards

Grade 4: 

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

VA4.CN.2 Integrate information from other disciplines to enhance the understanding and production of works of art.

 

Grade 5: 

VA5.CR.1 Engage in the creative process to generate and visualize ideas by using subject matter and symbols to communicate meaning.

VA5.CR.2 Create works of art based on selected themes.

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

VA5.CN.2 Integrate information from other disciplines to enhance the understanding and production of works of art.

 

South Carolina Standards

Curriculum Standards

Grade 4: 

ELA.4.C.3.1 Write narratives developing real or imagined experiences. When writing: a. establish a situation and setting; b. introduce a narrator and/or characters; c. organize a plot structure; d. use narrative techniques such as dialogue, descriptive language, and sensory details to develop events, setting, and characters; e. use a variety of transitional words and phrases to sequence events; and f. provide an ending that follows from the narrated experiences or events.

 

Grade 5: 

ELA.5.C.3.1 Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences. When writing: a. establish a situation and setting; b. introduce a narrator and characters; c. establish a plot structure; d. use narrative techniques such as dialogue, precise words, descriptive language, and sensory details to develop events, setting, and characters; e. use a variety of transitional words and phrases to sequence the events; and f. provide an ending that follows logically from the narrated experiences or events.

Arts Standards

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

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

 

Key Vocabulary

Content Vocabulary

  • Narrative - A story or sequence of events and experiences
  • Setting - Where a story takes place
  • Characters - Individuals, animals, or entities that take part in the action of a story, play, novel, movie, or any other narrative form
  • Descriptive details - Vivid and specific pieces of information that paint a clear picture in the reader's mind
  • Sensory language - Words and descriptions that appeal to the five senses: sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch

Arts Vocabulary

  • Landscape - A depiction of a large area of natural scenery, typically encompassing various elements such as mountains, hills, valleys, rivers, forests, and fields
  • Cityscape - A depiction of an urban area, featuring buildings, streets, and other structures typically found in a city
  • Background - The part of a landscape that is farthest from the viewer
  • Middle ground - The part of a landscape that is between the background and foreground
  • Foreground - The part of a landscape that is closest from the viewer

 

Materials

  • Mixed-media paper
  • Drawing materials of choice - colored pencils, markers, pastels, etc.
  • Pencils
  • Destination/location categories written or printed on paper to be posted around the room (e.g., beach, city, mountains, etc.)
  • Poster paper and markers
  • Optional: Watercolor paints, paint brushes, water buckets, small water cups, paper towels, and craft roll paper or newspaper to cover desks/work area and tape to secure

 

Instructional Design

Opening/Activating Strategy

Pre-work: Post location spot categories along with large poster paper around the classroom. 

 

Classroom Tips: If using watercolors, cover students’ work area. Have students share paint and water supply in the work area. Fill two buckets with water–empty one by filling student water cups 1/3 full, then use it to dump dirty water in; the second bucket will be your fresh water supply as needed.

 

  • Project images of different places around the world that people like to visit. Have students silently observe for at least 30 seconds.
  • Then, ask them to close their eyes for a minute and imagine their dream vacation spots… places they might visit if they could travel anywhere in the world!
  • Have students open their eyes. Tell them that posted around the room are names of places (keep them generic so that if students select a specific place like Cancun, they can identify with the larger category of “beach”). Tell students to move to the location category that their destination best fits in.
    • Have students group themselves at their locations into groups of 3-4.
    • In their groups, students should generate a list of adjectives and descriptive phrases describing the location. Have students record their adjectives on poster paper located at the location spot.
    • Provide time for students to share.

 

Work Session

  • Tell students that they will be creating a landscape/cityscape of their location. Students can use school devices to look up images for reference.
  • Show students a diagram of a landscape artwork. Identify the background, middleground, and foreground.
    • Discuss how things that are supposed to be farthest away appear smaller than things are supposed to be closest to the viewer. This is called perspective in art.
  • Pass out mixed-media paper to students. Have them fold it into fourths (fold hotdog style and then fold again hotdog style). The top fourth will be the sky, the next fourth will be the background, the next fourth will be the middle ground, and the bottom fourth will be the foreground.
  • Direct students to lightly sketch an image that illustrates their dream destination onto their paper using the sections for the background, middle ground, and foreground.
  • Have students add color to their artwork to bring it to life.
    • Students can use any medium–colored pencils, pastels, markers, watercolor, tempera paint, etc.
    • If watercolors are available to students, have students watercolor the sky and use drawing tools, such as colored pencils, for the land. Watercolors can be blended easily to create a sunset/sunrise effect that students will love incorporating into their art!
      Teacher tip: If using watercolors, allow students to practice on scratch paper before painting on their artwork. 
  • Once students have completed their artwork, they will use descriptive and sensory language to write about their location; remind them of the adjectives that they generated at the beginning of the lesson.
  • Assign students to work in collaborative groups of 3-4. Each student in the group should have created their artwork about a different location.
  • Have students work collaboratively to write a narrative about a character(s) who travels to each location.
    • Discuss the components of a narrative, including setting, plot, and characters.
    • Students should share their descriptive writing with each other to bring the locations to life.
    • Once students have created a general outline of the narrative including all plot points, including a conclusion to the story, have students work independently to write a full narrative based on what the group generated.
    • Have students engage in peer review in their groups and revise their work.

 

Closing Reflection

  • Provide time for students to share narratives and artwork. Discuss the similarities and differences between the stories.
  • Have students reflect on the process by identifying one personal grow and one personal glow.

 

Assessments

Formative

Teachers will assess students’ understanding of the content throughout the lesson by observing students’ participation in the activator, use of descriptive language, discussion of the components of a landscape, participation in artmaking process, and conferencing with students during the writing process.

 

Summative

CHECKLIST

  • Students can create a landscape/cityscape artwork that has a background, middle ground, and foreground.
  • Students can effectively write about their artwork using sensory and descriptive language.
  • Students can write a well-organized collaborative narrative that incorporates the location of each group member’s artwork.

 

DIFFERENTIATION 

Acceleration: 

  • Have students research and create a presentation on their location of choice.
  • Have students research and create a presentation on a famous landscape artist (Paul Cezanne, Edward Mitchell Bannister, Georgia O’Keefe, Van Gogh, Robert S. Duncanson, etc.). Or, create a landscape in the artist’s style.

Remediation: 

  • Allow groups to work collaboratively to write one single narrative rather than individual narratives.
  • Provide a graphic organizer to help students structure their writing.

 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: Darby Jones. Updated by: Katy Betts.

Revised and copyright: August 2024 @ 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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