ARTS IMPACT INSTITUTE LESSON PLAN



ARTS IMPACT INSTITUTE LESSON PLAN - Core Program Year 2 Art-Infused

THEATER LESSON – How Characters Get What They Want

Arts-Infused Disciplines: Theater/Reading Arts-Infused Concept: Character, Objective

Artist-Mentor: Dave Quicksall Grade Levels: Kindergarten – Fifth Grade

Examples:

Enduring Understandings

Pursuing an objective can determine the primary force that drives a character’s actions.

Target: Understands and shows that actions can be communicated through body and voice.

Criteria: Makes physical and vocal choices simultaneously.

Target: Identifies and demonstrates the concept of character objective.

Criteria: Utilizes strong actions to obtain a specific goal.

Target: Applies both actions and objectives to a character.

Criteria: Identifies character’s goal and selects 2-3 actions needed to obtain that intention.

Target: Understands how to apply action, objective and text to a performance/presentation.

Criteria: Refines, rehearses and presents a nursery rhyme, displaying a specific goal and 2-3 actions.

Teaching and Learning Strategies

Suggested warm-up and introduction to playing actions is the MODIFY MY ACTION lesson (see separate lesson plan)

1. Defines objective and action: the objective is what the character wants, the action is what he/she does to get it. Gets a few examples of “objectives” from the group. Presents instructions for an exercise called Can You Tell Me What Time It Is?, which focuses on clearly presenting actions. (For this the teacher should refer to the list of verbs at the end of this lesson for examples of strong, active verbs). Prompts: Who can give me an example of something you wanted and what you did to get it? Now we are going to practice acting out an action. In the same way actors memorize lines, we are going to memorize the line “Can you tell me what time it is?” Repeat it after me. Now, let’s get into a circle. I will be in the middle and I will go around the circle and, one by one, I want you to simply ask me the question, “Can you tell me what time it is?” (Students will do so.) Now, I will go around the circle again and you will ask “Can you tell me what time it is?” This time I will assign a specific verb for you to act; these verbs are very active verbs, meaning they can be “played.” Example: if I give you the word “beg”, you would ask “Can you tell me what time it is ” while begging. Pay attention to how the action changes your body and voice.

Student: Portrays an action while simultaneously saying the line “Can you tell me what time it is?”

Embedded Assessment: Criteria-based teacher checklist

2. Presents instructions for a new exercise (Three on a Bench) that focuses on pursuing objectives. Chooses three students to sit on three chairs put together like a bench. Oversees the exercise until all the students have had a turn. Reminds students about going after their objective. Prompts: Now that you have all gotten to practice creating an action to fulfill an objective, everyone’s going to get to try creating several different actions to fulfill an objective. The two people on the outside have the objective of having to get the FULL attention of the person in the middle. You all MUST fulfill your objective, so you will need to be as focused on your goal as much as possible, and do whatever you can to get that person in the middle to look at YOU. The only rules are you CANNOT harm yourself, you CANNOT touch or harm the person in the middle, and you CAN make sounds with your voice, but you CANNOT talk. Also the bench must stay intact—no moving chairs! Middle person, your objective is to give your attention to the person who warrants it; however you have to watch one of the two people on either side of you—you CANNOT close your eyes or stare straight ahead. You will have 2-3 minutes to fulfill your objective and then we will switch seats so the middle person will have a chance to be on the outside and vice versa. Now that all of you have had a turn, can you tell me what you saw other students doing that you thought was an effective way to get someone’s attention? Why do you think that got the middle person’s attention?

Student: Pursues objectives by trying to find ways to get and keep the FULL attention of the person in the middle. Gives attention to the most “watchable” person when in the middle.

Embedded Assessment: Criteria-based checklist; peer to peer reflection

3. Uses a nursery rhyme as a model for students on how to brainstorm for the purpose of identifying objectives and actions. Divides the class into groups of 3-4, assigning each group their own nursery rhyme, and tells them to identify the objectives and actions with the purpose of performing them for the class. Prompts: We are going to look at Old Mother Hubbard to see if we can find out together what the objectives and actions of the characters are. What does Old Mother Hubbard want? Does she have any bones for the dog? What does she need to do to get her dog a bone?

Student: Contributes ideas with teacher on discovering objectives and actions for a pre-selected nursery rhyme. In a small group setting, collaborates with other students on determining objectives and action for a new nursery rhyme to be performed for the class.

Embedded Assessment: Criteria-based checklist

4. Oversees each group’s performance of their assigned nursery rhyme. Moderates short feedback session with audience after each performance to determine if the group was successful in making clear the objectives and the actions taken to achieve them. Prompts: Please take about five minutes to determine what your objective is in this nursery rhyme and 2-3 actions your group could take to meet this objective. Take a few minutes to practice what you will perform for the class. What was the objective(s) in this group’s nursery rhyme? What did you see the actors doing to show you that? What actions did the actors present to try to fulfill their objective? Actors, were there any objectives or actions that you were playing that the audience did not mention? How can you be more clear and specific about your actions or objectives if the audience can’t identify them?

Student: Performs a role in an assigned nursery rhyme, making as clear as possible the objective and actions to achieve it. As audience, determines what the actors showed (re: objective and action).

Embedded Assessment: Criteria-based checklist; peer to peer reflection; self-reflection

POSSIBLE FOLLOW-UP ACTIVITY: Tries doing #4 with Little Miss Muffet (or another well-known short story—maybe from curriculum) where the objective may not be so clear. Guides students to identify various possible objectives and actions and then perform them.

|Vocabulary |Materials and Community Resource |WA Essential Learnings & Frameworks |

|Arts Infused: Theater and |Performances: |Essential Learnings |

|Reading: |Broadway Center for the Performing Arts, Tacoma, WA |AEL 1.1 concepts: action, character, objective |

|character, objective, text | |AEL 2.3 applies a responding process to an arts |

| |Seattle Children’s Theater, Seattle, WA |presentation |

|Theater: | |AEL 3.2 for a purpose: meeting an objective |

|action, |Performance Materials: | |

| |selected nursery rhymes |REL 2.2.3 understand story elements |

| | | |

| | |Arts State Frameworks |

| | |Kindergarten: identifies main character |

| | |Grade 3: identifies character objective |

| | |Grade 4: identifies an describes probable actions |

| | | |

| | |Reading State Frameworks |

| | |Grade 2: Describe characters and tell how they act |

| | |Grade 3: Describe the problem faced by a character and |

| | |how he/she/it solves the problem. |

| | |Grade 4: uses knowledge of the characters’ actions, |

| | |motivation |

ARTS IMPACT INSTITUTE LESSON PLAN— Core Program Year 2 Art-Infused

THEATER LESSON – How Characters Get What They Want

ASSESSMENT WORKSHEET

| |Action |Character Objective |Performance Process |Total |

|Students | | | |Points |

| | | | |4 |

| |THEATER |THEATER |READING |THEATER |

| |Makes physical and |Utilizes strong actions to obtain a specific goal |Identifies character’s |Refines, |

| |vocal choices | |goal and relates actions |rehearses |

| |simultaneously | |needed to obtain that |and |

| | | |intention |presents |

| |Makes physical and |Utilizes strong actions to|Identifies character’s goal and |Refines, rehearses and | |

| |vocal choices |obtain a specific goal |relates actions needed to obtain |presents | |

| |simultaneously | |that intention | | |

| | |What was your goal? |What was the character’s goal? | | |

| | | | | | |

| | | | | | |

| | | |What was your action? | | |

| | |What was your action? | | | |

| | | | | | |

| | | | | | |

Criteria-based Reflection Questions:

Self-Reflection: How can you be more clear and specific about your actions or objectives if the audience can’t identify them?

Peer to Peer: What actions did the actors present to try to fulfill their objective?

How Characters Get What They Want

List of Strong Actions for Can You Tell Me What Time It Is

(If you run out of words and still have more students that need a turn, you can repeat words from the list that you’ve already used. This list is not all there is, feel free to come up with your own as well.)

INSTRUCT

BEG and/or GROVEL

COWER

ATTACK

PREACH

TEASE

INSPIRE

CONDESCEND (talk down to…)

PRAY

PUNISH

DISMISS

HYPNOTIZE

COMMAND

ENTERTAIN

FLATTER

How Characters Get What They Want

NURSERY RHYMES FOR HOW CHARACTERS GET WHAT THEY WANT LESSON

(Teacher resource only; if making copies to hand out to students, make sure objectives are not included.)

OLD MOTHER HUBBARD

Old Mother Hubbard

Went to the cupboard (Objective: To get a bone for her

To get her poor dog a bone, dog.)

But when she got there

The cupboard was bare

And so the poor dog had none.

JACK AND JILL

Jack and Jill went up the hill

To fetch a pail of water; (Objective: To get up the hill and/or

Jack fell down and get a pail of water.)

Broke his crown

And Jill came tumbling after.

LITTLE BO PEEP

Little Bo Peep has lost her sheep

And doesn’t know where to find them;

Leave them alone, and they’ll come home

Bringing their tails behind them.

(Even though the advice is to leave the sheep alone and do nothing, students can be creative on this one and still devise 2-3 actions for Bo Peep to take to get her sheep.)

SIMPLE SIMON

Simple Simon met a pieman

Going to the fair, (Objectives: Simon—To get pie.

Says Simple Simon to the pieman, Pieman—To get money.)

“Let me taste your ware.”

Says the pieman to Simple Simon,

“Show me first your penny.”

Says Simple Simon to the pieman,

“Indeed I have not any.”

LITTLE SHEEP

Little Sheep couldn’t sleep,

Not a wink, not a peep! (Objective: To fall asleep.)

Tossing, turning,

All night through,

What was poor Little Sheep to do?

ARTS IMPACT FAMILY LETTER

THEATER LESSON – How Characters Get What They Want

Dear Family:

Today your child participated in a theatre arts lesson….

• We recreated an action using physical and vocal choices (like jumping, flattering, entertaining) while using our bodies and saying “Can you tell me what time it is?”

• We learned about character objective (what a character wants in a scene); we utilized quick thinking and dynamic physical choices to practice achieving our objective.

• We performed a nursery rhyme, dramatizing our objective and playing actions to achieve them.

At home you could practice doing specific actions to get each other’s attention without talking or touching.

OR

Look at any of your favorite books and guess what the character’s objective is and what he/she does to fulfill it.

Enduring Understanding

Pursuing an objective can determine the primary force that drives a character’s actions.

-----------------------

[pic]

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download