Moving Shapes K-1

MOVING SHAPES

MOVING SHAPES

Learning Description

These activities will allow students to discover the concepts of geometry through shape exploration and the creation of choreographic sequences.

 

Learning Targets

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

Download PDF of this Lesson

"I Can" Statements

“I Can…”

  • I can identify shapes that a dancer makes when performing movements. 
  • I can copy the movements of a dancer to make shapes using my own body. 
  • I can perform movements so that other people can see shapes in my body when I dance.

Essential Questions

  • How can I create shapes by moving my body?

 

Georgia Standards

Curriculum Standards

Kindergarten:

MGSEK.G.2 Correctly name shapes regardless of their orientations or overall size.

MGSEK.G.3 Identify shapes as two-dimensional (lying in a plane, “flat”) or three-dimensional (“solid”).

MGSEK.G.4 Analyze and compare two- and three-dimensional shapes, in different sizes and orientations, using informal language to describe their similarities, differences, parts (e.g., number of sides and vertices/“corners”) and other attributes (e.g., having sides of equal length).

MGSEK.G.5 Model shapes in the world by building shapes from components (e.g., sticks and clay balls) and drawing shapes.

Grade 1:

MGSE1.G.1 Distinguish between defining attributes (e.g., triangles are closed and three-sided) versus non-defining attributes (e.g., color, orientation, overall size); build and draw shapes to possess defining attributes.

MGSE1.G.2 Compose two-dimensional shapes (rectangles, squares, trapezoids, triangles, half-circles, and quarter-circles) or three-dimensional shapes (cubes, right rectangular prisms, right circular cones, and right circular cylinders) to create a composite shape, and compose new shapes from the composite shape. This is important for the future development of spatial relations which later connects to developing understanding of area, volume, and fractions.

Arts Standards

Kindergarten: 

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

ESDK.PR.1 Identify and demonstrate movement elements, skills, and terminology in

dance.

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

and observer.

ESDK.PR.3 Recognize the relationship between human anatomy and movement.

  1. Identify basic body parts and how they move.

Dance Georgia Standards of Excellence

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

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

Grade 1:

ESD1.CR.1 Demonstrate an understanding of the choreographic process.

ESD1.CR.2 Demonstrate an understanding of dance as a form of communication.

ESD1.PR.1 Identify and demonstrate movement elements, skills, and terminology in dance

ESD1.PR.4 Understand and apply music concepts to dance.

ESD1.RE.1 Demonstrate critical and creative thinking in dance.

 

South Carolina Standards

Curriculum Standards

Kindergarten:

K.G.2 Identify and describe a given shape and shapes of objects in everyday situations to include two-dimensional shapes (i.e., triangle, square, rectangle, hexagon, and circle) and three-dimensional shapes (i.e., cone, cube, cylinder, and sphere).

K.G.3 Classify shapes as two-dimensional/flat or three-dimensional/solid and explain the reasoning used.

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

Grade 1:

1.G.1 Distinguish between a two-dimensional shape’s defining (e.g., number of sides) and non-defining attributes (e.g., color).

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.

1.G.3 Partition two-dimensional shapes (i.e., square, rectangle, circle) into two or four equal parts.

1.G.4 Identify and name two-dimensional shapes (i.e., square, rectangle, triangle,

hexagon, rhombus, trapezoid, and circle).

Arts Standards

Anchor Standard 1: I can use movement exploration to discover and create artistic ideas and works.

Anchor Standard 2: I can choreograph a dance

Anchor Standard 3: I can perform movements using the dance elements. 

Anchor Standard 5: I can describe, analyze, and evaluate a dance.

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

 

Key Vocabulary

Content Vocabulary

Curved Shape - Shape with no angles or vertices. 

Angular Shape - Shape with one or more angles.

Two-dimensional - A flat figure or shape that does not have any thickness.

Three-dimensional - A figure or shape that has length, width, and depth.

Position - The place where something or someone is located.

Arts Vocabulary

Choreographer - A person who creates dances.

Beat - Basic unit of musical time; can be heard as a regular pulse underlying music.

Pathway - Patterns created in the air or on the floor by the body or body parts, as a dancer moves in and through space. 

Locomotor - Movements that travel through space. 

Non-locomotor - A movement that does not travel through space.

 

Materials

  • Music recordings
  • Method of playing the recordings including speaker, Bluetooth, HDMI, mp3 
  • Printed images of shapes 
  • Projector (to show images of shapes if they are not printed)

 

Instructional Design

Opening/Activating Strategy

  • Project a selection of dance photos, and ask students to name shapes that they see in the photos.
  • Warm-up with students for approximately three minutes.
  • During dance warm-up, use movements that convey shapes that can be identified using mathematical vocabulary, i.e., circle, square, curved, angular.
  • Use a handle question to prompt students to look for shapes as they dance and then name them when the warm up is completed.

 

Work Session

PROCESS

  • Discuss and explore the concepts of curved and angular shapes, as well as pathways. 
  • Identify shapes like circle, square, oval, or triangle as curved or angular. 
  • Divide students into groups and have them create “shape dances” in which the pathways traveled and shapes created correspond to an assigned shape. Students will then perform their “shape dances” for the class. 
  • During the performances, the audience will identify shapes presented with a rationale to substantiate their answers.

 

Closing Reflection

  • Ask students to name the body parts they used to create shapes.
  • Ask students why they chose the shapes that they selected to show with movement.
  • Ask students to describe the connection between math and dance that they experienced in this lesson.
  • Ask students to describe what a choreographer does.
  • Ask students to explain how they worked as choreographers during this lesson.

 

Assessments

Formative

  • Students perform/move to a steady beat. 
  • Students’ dances match shape criteria appropriately. 
  • Students identify the shapes being performed.

 

Summative

  • Students identify shapes that dancers, including their peers, make when moving their bodies.
  • Students create shapes using their own movements, including pathways.
  • Students create and remember a short choreography.
  • Students perform choreography clearly showing shapes in movement.
  • Students move to the beat of a musical rhythm.

 

Differentiation

Acceleration: 

  • Ask students to dance to a different song with a different or faster/slower beat. 
  • Ask students to turn 2D shapes into 3D shapes or visa-versa. 
  • Ask students to create shapes in pairs of students, by using pathways, levels, and partner relationships. 
  • Ask students to partition two-dimensional shapes into two or four equal parts and then modify their dances accordingly to reflect the partitions. 

Remediation: Ask students to name, describe, and demonstrate their shapes.

 ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Classroom Tips:  Clear desks to have an open space and be tolerant of noise and excitement- it is “working noise!” 

*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: Melissa Dittmar-Joy and Julie Galle Baggenstoss

 Revised and copyright:  August 2022 @ ArtsNOW

Back to Modules

Using Drama to Explore Story Elements K-1

USING DRAMA TO EXPLORE STORY ELEMENTS

USING DRAMA TO EXPLORE STORY ELEMENTS

Learning Description

Students will use drama to explore the story elements of the text, “The Tortoise and the Hare”. This will be achieved through tableau, pantomime and story-telling during a read-aloud of the text. This role-playing exercise will aid in students’ articulation of the story’s problem and solution.

 

Learning Targets

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

Download PDF of this Lesson

"I Can" Statements

“I Can…”

  • I can identify the beginning, middle, and end of “The Tortoise and the Hare”.
  • I can identify and use theatre techniques such as tableau and pantomime to demonstrate the emotions of the Tortoise throughout the story.
  • I can use tableau to retell the story.

Essential Questions

  • How can theatre techniques help us understand the elements of a story and gain insight into the experiences of the characters in the story?

 

Georgia Standards

Curriculum Standards

Kindergarten: 

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

 

Grade 1: 

ELAGSE1RL2 Retell stories, including key details, and demonstrate understanding of their central message or lesson. ELAGSE1RL3 Describe characters, settings, and major events in a story, using key details.

Arts Standards

Kindergarten:

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

TAK.CR.2 Develop scripts through theatrical techniques.

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

 

Grade 1:

TA1.CR.1 Organize, design, and refine theatrical work.

TA1.CR.2 Develop scripts through theatrical techniques.

TA1.PR.1 Act by communicating and sustaining roles in formal and informal environments.

 

South Carolina Standards

Curriculum Standards

Kindergarten: 

ELA.K.AOR.1.1 Identify and describe the main character(s), setting, and events that move the plot forward.

ELA.K.AOR.6.1 Retell a text orally to enhance comprehension: a. include main character(s), setting, and important events for a story.

 

Grade 1: 

ELA.1.AOR.1.1 Identify and describe the main story elements, such as character(s), setting, and events that move the plot forward.

ELA.1.AOR.2.1 Retell a story using main story elements and identify a lesson in a literary text.

ELA.1.AOR.6.1 Retell a text orally and in writing to enhance comprehension: a. include main story elements at the beginning, middle, and end for a literary text.

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.

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

 

Key Vocabulary

Content Vocabulary

  • Narration - The act of telling a story
  • Character - A person, an animal or other figure assuming human qualities, in a story
  • Setting - The time and place in which a story takes place
  • Plot - The events that happen in a story
  • Cause - The reason something happened
  • Effect - What happens because of the cause

Arts Vocabulary

  • Theater - Dramatic literature or its performance; drama
  • Storytelling - Conveying events in words and images, often by improvisation or embellishment
  • Character - A personality or role an actor/actress recreates
  • Pantomime - Acting without words through facial expression, gesture, and movement
  • Tableau -  A “living picture” in which actors pose and freeze in the manner of a picture or photograph
  • “Rainbow of Desire” Tableau - A technique developed by Augusto Boal as part of his Theatre of the Oppressed methodology. It is used to explore the internal desires and conflicts of a protagonist through a series of theatrical exercises and visual representations. A "Rainbow of Desire" tableau is a visual and physical representation of these internal states, where participants create a series of frozen images (tableaux) to illustrate the various emotions, desires, and conflicts within a character.

 

Materials

    • “The Tortoise and the Hare” by Aesop
    • Markers/crayons
    • Pencils
    • Story Map with characters, setting, and the parts of a plot
    • Smart board/white board
  • Optional - Sock puppet
  • Optional extension - iPad with Sock Puppets app

 

Instructional Design

Opening/Activating Strategy

Classroom Tips: Use cueing methods when directing tableau in your classroom: “3-2-1- Freeze”. 

 

  • 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

    • Begin the lesson by reading the text “The Tortoise and the Hare” by Aesop as a whole class.
  • Option: Use a sock to make a simple “sock puppet”. Tell students that the sock puppet will ask some questions throughout the story.
    • Stop the story right before the race. using your sock puppet, say, “The Hare was not very nice to the Tortoise. He kept teasing the Tortoise and calling him mean names like ‘slow poke’. How do you think this made the Tortoise feel?”. Allow time for students to share.
    • Demonstrate how to role-play by stepping into character as the Tortoise. Express in the first person that he/you feels sad and discouraged because of the Hare’s teasing. Ask students to pantomime how the Tortoise feels.
    • Ask students to give the Tortoise/you advice on whether or not he should still complete the race.
  • Finish reading the story.
    • Stop periodically as the Tortoise experiences new emotions. Ask students to pantomime how the Tortoise feels at each pause in the story.
  • After the story, discuss how the Tortoise changed from the beginning to the end with a “Rainbow of Desire” tableau.
    • Explain the concept of the "Rainbow of Desire" and its purpose in exploring internal conflicts and desires.
    • Identify the Tortoise as the protagonist.
    • As the Tortoise, the teacher should express his main desire or conflict. Ask students to help you determine what this is.
    • Ask students to help you identify what emotions the Tortoise had throughout the story while trying to achieve his/your main desire. Record them on the board in sequential order.
    • Divide students into small groups. Assign each group an emotion that the Tortoise experienced. Students should form a frozen image (tableau) that represents that emotion. Remind students to show the emotion through their bodies and faces using pantomime.
    • Have students arrange themselves sequentially to represent the emotions that the Tortoise experiences throughout the story. Tell them that on the count of three, they should freeze in their tableaux: ”3-2-1-Freeze”.
    • The teacher will move around the tableaux in-role as the Tortoise, observing and interacting with each representation to gain insight into their own internal state.
    • After the tableau is created and explored, facilitate a discussion about what was revealed through the images.
  • Have students return to their seats and create story maps for the story about the Tortoise.
    • Students should include the main characters, the Tortoise and the Hare, the setting, and the parts of the plot. Depending on student levels, have students illustrate and describe in sentence-form the beginning, middle, and end of the story.

 

Closing Reflection

  • Select a few students to share their story maps with the class.
  • Select a few students from the class to stand and create tableaux for each major event as they are read aloud.
  • Ask students if the Tortoise changed from the beginning of our story to the end. How?
  • Ask students how tableau helped them understand the Tortoise’s feelings.
  • Ask students whether drama helped them retell the story’s beginning, middle and end.

 

Assessments

Formative

Teachers will assess students’ understanding of the content throughout the lesson by observing students’ participation in the activator, discussion of “The Tortoise and the Hare”, participation in Rainbow of Desire tableaux, and conferencing with students during their creation of story maps.

 

Summative

CHECKLIST

  • Students can identify the beginning, middle, and end of “The Tortoise and the Hare”.
  • Students can identify and use theatre techniques such as tableau and pantomime to demonstrate the emotions of the Tortoise throughout the story.
  • Students can use tableau to retell the story.

 

DIFFERENTIATION 

Acceleration: 

  • Have students create a scene between the Tortoise and the Hare that would occur right after the last scene in the story. Students can write out the scene using dialogue or act it out for the class.
  • Technology extension: Using iPads, demonstrate to students how to use Sock Puppets, a digital storytelling app that children will use to create a presentation. Working in small groups, students practice retelling the story with puppets. Students can create a new story ending using digital puppets and compare/contrast their ending to the original story.

Remediation: 

  • Assign groups the beginning, middle, or end of the story. In their groups, students should create a scene acting out their part of the story. Then, put three groups together to act out the beginning, middle, and end of the story. After acting out the story, have students complete their story maps.

*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: Jessica Rosa Espinoza. Updated by: Katy Betts.

Revised and copyright: July 2024 @ ArtsNOW

 

Back to Modules

Weather Moves K-1

WEATHER MOVES

WEATHER MOVES

Learning Description

In this lesson, students will explore how movement can represent different types of weather. Students will then choreograph a brief movement phrase that uses energy qualities to demonstrate one of the types of weather.

 

Learning Targets

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

Download PDF of this Lesson

"I Can" Statements

“I Can…”

  • I can identify the characteristics that make each type of weather unique.
  • I can represent the characteristics of each type of weather through appropriate movement qualities.

Essential Questions

  • What are the characteristics of different types of weather?
  • How can you use movement and tempo to represent the characteristics of different types of weather?

 

Georgia Standards

Curriculum Standards

Grade 1:

S1E1. Obtain, evaluate, and communicate weather data to identify weather patterns.

  1. Ask questions to identify forms of precipitation such as rain, snow, sleet, and hailstones as either solid (ice) or liquid (water).

Arts Standards

Grade 1:

ESD1.CR.1 Demonstrate an understanding of the choreographic process.

 

ESD1.CR.2 Demonstrate an understanding of dance as a form of communication.

 

ESD1.PR.1 Identify and demonstrate movement elements, skills, and terminology in dance

 

ESD1.RE.1 Demonstrate critical and creative thinking in dance.

 

South Carolina Standards

Curriculum Standards

Kindergarten: 

K-ESS2-1. Use and share observations of local weather conditions to describe patterns over time.

Arts Standards

Anchor Standard 1: I can use movement exploration to discover and create artistic ideas and works.

Anchor Standard 2: I can choreograph a dance.

Anchor Standard 3: I can perform movements using the dance elements.

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

 

Key Vocabulary

Content Vocabulary

  • Weather - The atmospheric conditions at a specific place and time, including factors such as temperature, humidity, precipitation, wind speed, and visibility. It can change rapidly and is influenced by various factors such as geographic location, time of year, and local topography; often described in terms of conditions like sunny, rainy, cloudy, stormy, or snowy

Arts Vocabulary

  • Movement phrase - A series of movements linked together to make a distinctive pattern
  • Choreography - The art of composing dances and planning and arranging the movements, steps, and patterns of dancers
  • Choreographer - A person who creates dances
  • Non-locomotor - This refers to a movement that does not travel through space
  • Locomotor - This refers to a movement that travels through space
  • Level - One of the aspects of the movement element space; in dance, there are three basic levels: high, middle, and low
  • Tempo - The pace or speed of movement

 

Energy qualities:

  • Swinging - Established by a fall of gravity, a gain in momentum, a loss of momentum, and the repeated cycle of fall and recovery, like that of a pendulum
  • Sustained - Smooth and unaccented; there is not apparent start or stop, only a continuity of energy
  • Percussive - The quality of movement characterized by sharp starts and stops; staccato jabs of energy
  • Vibratory - Quality of movement characterized by rapidly repeated bursts of percussive movements like “a jitter”
  • Suspended - Occurs in a moment of resistance to gravity, such as the instant in which a dancer hangs in space at the top of a leap
  • Collapsing - A quality of movement showing a release of tension, which can be performed at a fast or slow tempo. A slow collapse can be described as a melting or oozing motion.

 

Materials

  • Pictures that show different types of weather including sunny, rainy, thunderstorm, tornado, snowy, windy, foggy, etc.
  • Music to portray the feeling of different weather types
  • Weather riddles (one per group/pair)

 

Instructional Design

Opening/Activating Strategy

  • Begin by engaging students in movement that introduces students to the Elements of Dance: Body, action, space, time and energy.
    • Have students arrange themselves in the classroom with enough personal space to move freely without touching a neighbor.
    • Turn on instrumental music with a steady beat.
    • Element of Body - First, have students bring awareness to their bodies by leading them through gentle stretches starting from the head and moving to the toes (e.g., head circles, shoulder shrugs, toe touches, etc.).
    • Element of Energy - Now, direct students to explore energy variations with different movement qualities such as sharp movements–quick, precise actions like punches or snaps, and smooth movements–slow, flowing actions like waves or circles with arms.
    • Element of Space - Levels: Bring students’ attention to levels (high, middle, low) with movements such as stretching up high and moving on tiptoes, crouching in a small ball close to the floor, and bouncing in place at a middle level.
    • Element of Action - Locomotor/non-locomotor: Tell students that these movements they just performed were non-locomotor, meaning that they didn’t move to a new location. Direct students to perform a movement that requires moving from one place to another, such as step-together, step-together moving side to side.
    • Have students practice what they just learned by saying words such as “locomotor” and have students create a spontaneous locomotor movement.
    • Have students return to their seats or the carpet.

 

Work Session

  • Display a picture that depicts sunny weather.
  • Discuss with the students the type of weather shown and how they are able to determine the weather even though they aren’t physically there.
    • For example, what type of clothes are people wearing? What can we see in the sky?
  • Introduce students to different types of energy or movement qualities, such as sustained, percussive, suspended, swinging, collapsing and vibratory.
    • Model different movements and have students copy them. Say an energy word, such as collapsing, and have students create spontaneous movements that demonstrate this energy quality.
  • Next, introduce students to different tempos: Fast, moderate, slow.
    • Ask a student to demonstrate a movement.
    • As a class, practice the movement with a fast, moderate, and slow tempo.
  • Turn on upbeat music. Brainstorm ways to demonstrate sunny weather with movement. For example, upbeat, sustained energy, gestures that reflect rays of sunshine.
    • Ask students to volunteer to show examples of what sunny weather might look like to them. Facilitate an informal discussion about how the student’s movement demonstrated sunny weather after they perform their movement.
  • Repeat the process with other weather words:
    • Rain - Fast tempo, vibratory/percussive
    • Thunder/lightning - Moderate tempo, sustained movements interrupted by huge explosive jumps, angular shapes to show lightning
    • Tornado - Fast tempo, sustained energy utilizing the transverse plane (lots of turns at different levels, maybe stationary but low spins on bottom building up to high level turns-try turning in the air)
    • Snow - Sustained and/or vibratory energy, fluffy snow (graceful and slow) versus ice (angular and fast)
    • Wind - Sustained and moderate with occasional fast tempo to transport from one point to the next
    • Fog - Slow, sustained "blanketing the space" in long horizontal tableaux
  • Divide students into groups or partners. Each partner will receive a weather riddle.
    • Students will determine what type of weather is being described and create a three movement phrase to demonstrate that type of weather.
      • Students should use what they learned in the lesson about movement and dance to effectively communicate their type of weather through movement.

 

Closing Reflection

  • Students will perform their dances for their classmates. Discuss appropriate audience participation and etiquette prior to performances.
  • After each performance, the audience will determine what type of weather the performers are representing based on their movement phrase.

 

Assessments

Formative

Teachers will assess students’ understanding of the content throughout the lesson by observing students’ participation in the activator, discussion of the types of weather and energy qualities that would be associated with that type of weather, ability to decipher their riddles, and ability to collaborate with their partner/group to create a movement phrase representing their type of weather.

 

Summative

CHECKLIST

  • Students can identify the characteristics that make each type of weather unique.
  • Students can represent the characteristics of each type of weather through appropriate movement qualities.

 

DIFFERENTIATION 

Acceleration: Challenge students to create a logical weather sequence, such as sunny weather that turns cloudy and then rainy. Students should choreograph a dance that demonstrates this sequence using what they learned about dance.

Remediation: 

  • Reduce the number of movements students are required to include in their choreography from three to one.
  • Read riddles as a whole class; the whole class will respond to each riddle with a movement that they think matches the type of weather described.

*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: Whitney Jones. Updated by Katy Betts.

Revised and copyright:  June 2024 @ ArtsNOW

 

Back to Modules

You Can’t Take Me K-1

YOU CAN’T TAKE ME

YOU CAN’T TAKE ME

Learning Description

In this lesson, students will use their bodies to represent numbers in the game, “You Can’t Take Me”, and will be able to articulate the relationship between numbers in a fact family.

 

Learning Targets

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

Download PDF of this Lesson

"I Can" Statements

“I Can…”

  • I can use my body to create mathematical addition and subtraction equations using fact families. 

  • I can recognize the inverse relationship between subtraction and addition and use this inverse relationship to solve problems.

  • I can explain the relationship between numbers in a fact family using addition and subtraction.

Essential Questions

  • How can we use theatrical techniques to help us understand fact families?

 

Georgia Standards

Curriculum Standards

Grade 1: 

1.NR.2.1 Use a variety of strategies to solve addition and subtraction problems within 20.

 

1.NR.2.3 Recognize the inverse relationship between subtraction and addition within 20 and use this inverse relationship to solve authentic problems.

 

1.NR.2.5 Use the meaning of the equal sign to determine whether equations involving addition and subtraction are true or false.

Arts Standards

Grade 1:TA1.PR.1 Act by communicating and sustaining roles in formal and informal environments.

 

South Carolina Standards

Curriculum Standards

Grade 1: 

1.ATO.1 Solve real-world/story problems using addition (as a joining action and as a part-part-whole action) and subtraction (as a separation action, finding parts of the whole, and as a comparison) through 20 with unknowns in all positions.

 

1.ATO.2 Solve real-world/story problems that include three whole number addends whose sum is less than or equal to 20.

 

1.ATO.4 Understand subtraction as an unknown addend problem. 

 

1.ATO.7 Understand the meaning of the equal sign as a relationship between two quantities (sameness) and determine if equations involving addition and subtraction are true.

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

  • Fact family - A group of related mathematical facts or equations involving the same set of numbers. In addition and subtraction fact families, the numbers can be arranged to show how they are interconnected through these operations.

  • Addition - A basic mathematical operation that involves combining two or more numbers to get a total or sum
  • Subtraction - A basic mathematical operation that involves taking one number away from another

Arts Vocabulary

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

  • Tableau -  A “living picture” in which actors pose and freeze in the manner of a picture or photograph

 

Materials

  • Sets of fact family numbers (enough numbers for each student) 
  • Addition, Subtraction, and Equals signs for each group of three students

 

Instructional Design

Opening/Activating Strategy

  • 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.
  • Begin the lesson with a tableau warm-up. Tell students that when you say a word, they should try to make that word using their bodies; then, they should freeze in that pose.
    • Ask students to make a frozen picture of the following:
      • Tree  
      • Bird  
      • Butterfly  
      • Chair  
      • Table 
  • Tell students that in this lesson, they will be using their bodies just like in the activator.

 

Work Session

You Can’t Take Me Game Warm Up  

  • Tell students to imagine that the classroom has become a house.
    • Ask students to brainstorm the types of rooms there are in a house–bedrooms, kitchen, living room, bathroom, etc.
  • Divide students into groups of three.  
  • Assign each group a room in the house. Ask students to think of different things they would see in their assigned room. Ask a few students to share. 
  • Next, tell students to make themselves into something in their assigned room.
  • Once all students have created something for their room, the teacher should approach a student and say, “I am going to get rid of this”. The student will respond with, “You can’t take me.”  Teacher should reply, “Why not?”. The student should reply “Because _________________” (giving some reason that the object is important). 
  • Move around the room until all students have participated. 

 

You Can’t Take Me Game  

  • Tell students that they will now play the same game, but with fact families.
    • Review what “+, –, and =” mean mathematically.
  • Give each group a “+” and “=” sign, and give each student in the group a number that is part of the same fact family.
  • In their groups, ask the students to line themselves up to make an addition equation. 
  • Remind students to put the addition and equals sign in the correct place for their equation.
    • Example: If a group had the numbers 3, 5 and 8, they should create the equation 3 + 5 = 8. 
  • Now, tell students to change the numbers to make the equation look different, but still be true: 5 + 3 = 8.  
  • Tell students that when you come around the room to get rid of their number, they should tell you why they are important. For example, “You can’t take me because without me, 5 can’t make 8” (if you are a three and the other people in the group are a 5 and a 3).  
  • Next, give each group a “–” sign.  
  • Ask students to make a subtraction equation with the same numbers that they used in their addition equation.  
  • Tell students that when you come around the room to get rid of their number, they should tell you why they are important. 
  • Let everyone have a turn. Make sure that each student is given the chance to calculate a solution and explain their reasoning.

 

Closing Reflection

  • Write three numbers on the board that are all part of the same fact family.
  • Ask students to arrange the numbers so that they make an addition equation and a subtraction equation. Then ask students to rearrange the numbers in both equations so that they look different but are still true. 
  • Students will submit this for assessment.
  • Students can work individually or in their groups.

 

Assessments

Formative

Teachers will assess students’ understanding of the content throughout the lesson by observing students’ participation in the activator, collaboration and participation in the “You Can’t Take Me” warm-up and game, and written equations in the closing activity.

 

Summative

CHECKLIST

  • Students can use their bodies to create mathematical addition and subtraction equations using fact families.  
  • Students can recognize the inverse relationship between subtraction and addition and use this inverse relationship to solve problems.
  • Students can explain the relationship between numbers in a fact family using addition and subtraction.

DIFFERENTIATION 

Acceleration: 

  • Give students two out of three of the numbers in a fact family and have students determine the missing number.
  • Have students create their own fact family and equations. 

Remediation: 

  • Scaffold the lesson by modeling how to create an addition and subtraction equation and reasoning why each number is necessary in “You Can’t Take Me” before assigning fact families to groups. 
  • Focus on addition in one session and subtraction in a separate session.

 

*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: Mary Gagliardi. Updated by Katy Betts.

Revised and copyright: July 2024 @ ArtsNOW

 

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