One of my biggest frustrations is trying to keep my 4 different classes in a grade level- on the same lesson each week. I'm constantly searching for 45 minute lessons that I can teach singularly during these times, or during January when we have snow threats weekly :)
I stumbled upon the lesson Season Fairies Get Sacked from A to Z Teacher Stuff. I had extra posterboard laying around, and boxes of crayons/markers. I announced that I was "Mother Nature" and because of budget cuts I was going to have to eliminate a season. The students were grouped into seasons by their birthdays. They had to create a persuasive poster to justify their season. I asked them "What holidays does your season have? What's the weather like? Why is it special to you? What makes your season unique and important?" I was really pleased with the students excitement and involvement in the lesson. Every student had something to offer. I sent the posters back to the classroom teachers so that they could use it as a brainstorming reference for the Seasonal Poetry/Writing component.
1) Click on THIS WEBSITE
2) Put your headphones on
3) Stay at your computer, working independently through the activities.
4) Raise your hand if you need help.
5) PRINT the assessment
The specialists and the First Grade team are collaborating on WNC Cherokee this nine weeks! I was a little nervous about how to hit the subject in my drama classroom, but now I can't seem to stop finding great ideas for lessons!
Two weeks ago I read aloud "The First Strawberries" a Cherokee story explaining the existence of the strawberry. Did you know that strawberries are pictured in a Cherokee home to remind the family to enjoy each other and not to fight? Last week students recalled what they remembered about the sequence of events, characters, and setting of the tale- by drawing the Beginning, Middle, and End of the story. (The BME!)
This week students are going to watch the Cherokee story: "Grandmother Spider Brings The Sun". Then we are going to discuss the importance of storytelling to their culture as well as what she did as an actor to successfully tell the story.
Over the next two weeks, the PE teacher and I are going to co-teach a 45 minute lesson on Cherokee Festivals/Dancing/Stickball. I'm hoping to BAKE 80 corn muffins for the occasion, for the kiddos. (A typical food eaten during the Green Corn Ceremony!)
5th Graders lined up and walked through graduation this morning, end of the year field trips came to a close, and parents littered the hallways of our school enjoying their son/daughters end of year celebration. I have really enjoyed my second year at Claxton. I'll miss working with my 3rd grade students as they move up to 4th grade. I know they will work hard and still say "Hi!" to me in the hallway as they take one step farther in their education.
At this time in the year, teacher's are filling their calendars with professional development trainings, conferences, and summer vacations. I'm very excited to be able to attend a conference this summer. The American Alliance of Theater Education is having their annual conference in Chicago this year. Last week I joined the group, and registered for the conference for the last week in July!
The last few weeks of the school year are flying by as classroom teachers are preparing for the End of Grade Tests, and us Specialists prepare for
shortened classes
change of schedules
relocation of classroom
exhausted and frustrated students
I wonder if public schools will ever get rid of standardized assessments, or at least shorten them and supplement them with some sort of artistic assessment. Imagine walking into my drama classroom watching a group of students acting out their history exam.
ONE DAY soon I hope ;)
(Photo credit by GETTY at THE TELEGRAPH, April 28th 2011. http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01379/frustrated_teacher_1379554c.jpg)
I am often asked, "WHY CREATIVE DRAMA? WHAT CAN YOU DO WITH K-3 STUDENTS?" This article does a great job of explaining some of the benefits of a youth program, and what it may look like at the elementary level. -Ms.M
Creative Drama and Young Children:
The Dramatic Learning Connection
PATRICIA PINCIOTTI
Creative drama is like a chameleon, poking its head in and out of various curriculum areas and looking more like literature or social studies than the art form rooted in theatre. As it sweeps its tail through the lives of young children, creative drama activities are often not differentiated from the spontaneous, imaginative play of childhood. In the same way that play falls in and out of favor, depending on the psychological, social, and educational climate of the day, perceptions of creative drama are influenced by the educational backdrop of the time. To survive in the schools, the art form of creative drama has often looked like creative teaching rather than an artistic medium with the potential to enhance and change how one thinks and acts in relation to oneself and others.
Creative drama is an encompassing learning medium, emerging from the spontaneous play of young children and utilizing the art of theatre to build and enhance the participants' artistic sensitivity, awareness of self, others, and the world and develop each child's dramatic imagination. Creative drama is a specific type of dramatic learning activity that is guided by a leader and allows the participants to imagine, enact, and reflect upon human experiences, real or imagined. The creative drama process integrates mental and physical activity, engaging the whole child in improvisational and process oriented experiences. These dramatic learning activities nurture and develop both individual and group skills and enhance the participants' abilities to communicate their ideas, images, and feelings in concert with others through dramatic action. The instrument of drama is oneself: the medium manipulated is self in relation to others. This fine tuning of young children's sense of self in relation to the world is considered important in life, but it is undervalued in our schools. And yet creative drama has survived. In its many forms, disguised and hidden in teacher planning or relegated to the fifteen minutes of playtime in the schoolyard, the essential aspects of creative drama and dramatic learning continue to be refined, rehearsed, and resolved as participants try on life. This backdoor approach, however, is too haphazard and irresponsible. The goal of creative drama is to build the dramatic imagination in a social context and to develop the ability of children to connect imagination to action, not just in a drama, but for every day. Participants can become partners in an adventure of shared meanings as they travel through time and place to discover themselves in other worlds, though always relating to the here and now. Under adult guidance, creative drama activities overtly build and enhance knowledge, skills, dispositions, and feelings through interaction and collaboration with others. Gradually, these qualities become integrated into private thought, covert behaviors, and a shared consciousness. Creative drama becomes a partner in the development of abstract thought. The long-term benefits of creative drama -- benefits like thinking on one's feet, problem solving and collaboration skills, a sense of presence, empathy, the ability to delay gratification, and the ability to put creative ideas into action -- are often held up as essential qualities for success in the world. They are equally important in the board room, on the assembly line, or in the home. But it is a long path from a child's playing at life, to the transformation of life during creative drama, to an adult's life work. How, then, does one move from the imaginative play of young children, who plan and play under blankets draped across chairs, to the art form of creative drama? Should creative drama exist as a separate discipline or merely as an artistic learning tool? What educational decisions or policy commitments must be addressed if we want to ensure creative drama's rightful place in the lives of children?
