Want to see some incredible shadow puppetry? Click on the link to see what our third, fourth and fifth grade students created with the amazing Sarah Frechette and Jason Thibodeaux of Puppet Kabob. https://www.retn.org/show/shadows-shapes-shades
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During Wonder Week my group designed and created Shadow Masks! The masks transformed us into other-worldly creatures and characters through the magic of light and shadow. Our bodies had to play along too as we walked like elephants, dragons, and characters with wild eyes! It was a lot of fun!
"Grandma, what big eyes you have!" "All the better to see you with my dear." "Grandma, what big ears you have!" "All the better to hear you with my dear." "Grandma, what big teeth you have!" "All the better to EAT you with my dear!" How did Little Red Riding Hood look when she heard these words? Watch the video to find out! At Monday morning meeting on February 5th, the IAA Players - a motley crew of teachers - performed 'Shadow Show' to launch a month of shadow exploration at school.
The show told the story of an IAA student who watched a video about everyone's hopes and dreams for 2018 at Friday Town meeting. That night the student fell asleep and dreamed the hopes and dreams had came true. School was full of flying tomatoes, banana telephones, pigs, unicorns, LeBron James (!) and love and joy! When the student woke they felt horribly despondent as they realized those many fantastical things were not real. But then they decided that love and joy was something they could create! The teachers' show preceded our trip to the Flynn to see Pilobolus on February 9th and a two-week shadow puppet residency with Puppet Kabob. Susanna Olson, the Program Manager in Curriculum and Instruction from the Flynn Center for the Performing Arts in Burlington, facilitated an incredibly playful workshop at our staff meeting. We became like kids at a sleepover, playing with shadows, and telling stories of our dreams. We had so much fun and gained so many ideas of how to take shadow play back to the classroom. Thank you Susanna and the Flynn!
The Second Grade worked with Ms. Jenny to bring word problems to life! We journeyed to Wild Island (setting of “My Father’s Dragon”) and solved problems as scientists. By creating a context for word problems, the students were able to understand them better. By using drama to activate their imaginations, the students became adept enough at solving word problems that they were able to create their own.
George Leal, Second Grade Teacher This year at IAA we're integrating every arts subject - visual art, dance, music and drama - with mathematics. Wonderful, right? The trouble is that drama and math are somewhat incongruent. Not exactly the peas and carrots of school subjects or the most natural fit for arts integration. So, we’re getting creative. Or, more creative. After some head-scratching, the second grade teachers and I settled on an idea. The students had been to see My Father’s Dragon at the Flynn Center for the Performing Arts earlier in the year. They loved the show. They’d also enjoyed the book as a read-aloud. What if we adopted this story -- and the imaginary setting of Wild Island -- as the framework for our math and drama unit? The hope was that an imaginary context would increase student engagement and provide a rich background for an exploration of addition and subtraction word problems. So, inspired by the work of Dorothy Heathcote, and her Mantle of the Expert approach, we cast the students in role as the H. O. Wheeler Society of Scientists. We established these roles during a visit from Terry Tangerina (teacher-in-role) from neighboring Tangerina Island. Terry asked the scientists if they would be willing to travel to Wild Island, where they would need to study the island and solve mysterious problems. The students enthusiastically agreed to the mission. The imaginary context seemed to hook the students’ interest and they were intrigued to witness their teachers-in-role. They were also delighted to be given an official-looking pin that said they were a scientist of Wild Island. The scientists then went on a journey -- a beautiful boat ride across the sea -- until they arrived at Wild Island. They looked at maps of the island and discussed what they might encounter. To establish the playing space, they ‘built’ the different parts of the island with their bodies and created and recorded a soundscape of island sounds. The Wild Island scientists were then visited by Dr. Scratch-a-lot who informed them that there was a flea epidemic on the island. The epidemic was rapidly worsening, so the scientists had to count a lot of fleas and solve many addition problems. They then had to journey to far-flung parts of the island (in solo spots around the room) in order to give the animals medicine. Luckily, once they administered medicine, the flea epidemic improved, but the scientist had to monitor all of this and complete a lot of subtraction problems. The students engaged enthusiastically in these imaginary scenarios and we noticed they confidently solved word problems that mirrored situations they encountered in the drama. They were also able to write word problems based on scenarios they had embodied during drama work. The students also spent time reflecting on the skills they were developing. At one point, they looked at pictures of scientists working in the field, noticing their concentration, focus and teamwork, as well as their use of tools. They then created tableau to show how they used teamwork, concentration, focus and tools during their Wild Island adventure. In this way, the drama provided a framework for embodied reflection and an avenue for demonstrating burgeoning metacognitive skills. After six weeks work on Wild Island the scientists sailed home and saw an enormous blue whale on the journey! Have you ever wanted to journey in a rocket ship? Have you ever wanted to walk on the moon?
First grade used the magic of drama -- employing their imaginations, bodies and voices -- to create a trip to the moon! They put on Apollo-era space suits (complete with Snoopy Cap and LCG) and launched a rocket ship, utilizing an Apollo-style launch sequence. Next time, they will carefully land the rocket before climbing down the ladder to explore the moon. Once they arrive home, the press will be waiting, ready to interview the astronauts about their adventure! This work has been designed to enhance student engagement and excitement in the First Grade Moon Unit, which centers around the phases of the Moon and changes in the Solar System. IAA Drama Coach, Jenny Norris, was fortunate to spend after-school hours at the Flynn Center this week, participating in Red Kite, Green Mountain, a theater experience designed for young people on the autism spectrum. The project is a collaboration between the Flynn Center for the Performing Arts and Chicago Children's Theater, who have been creating multi-sensory, interactive theater for young people with autism for many years. The week culminated in a workshop style performance for a small group of young people. It was an incredibly inspiring week! Watch this space for details of a full show in Fall, 2018!
If you would like to learn more, check out this VPR interview: http://digital.vpr.net/post/flynn-center-collaborates-chicago-childrens-theater-new-show-young-people-autism#stream/0 “That is NOT a good idea!” is a subversive little tale by Mo Willems. In the story a hungry fox and a plump goose go for a walk. A dinner invitation is offered but things do not go as planned. It’s a fun tale and a good starting point for drama because it is morally ambiguous and full of suspense!
Our first graders began by focusing on the moment the fox and goose (or duck) first spied each other. The students imagined each character said “oh!” and experimented with tone of voice and expression. After that we made a list of the fox and duck’s potential thoughts and feelings during their encounter. This prepared the students for partner work in which they created tiny scenes to illustrate the moment the characters first meet. The students were then visited by the chief of police. He told them that the duck had gone missing! The students (now in role as the Pigeon Police) needed to find her, because she was wanted on suspicion of her involvement with the disappearance of Mr. Fox. Apparently, Mr. Fox had not been seen for days! The students enthusiastically made wanted posters and distributed them around the school. Where could the duck be hiding? Several students spent their recess break looking for her. Later on, the chief of police came back to the classroom, this time with a journal entry from Mr. Fox. The journal chronicled the fox’s morning on the fateful day he met the duck. As the students listened to the journal entry, they pantomimed his actions and expressed his feelings from spots around the room. In our next drama session, we’ll brainstorm questions to ask the duck. We need to be prepared in case she gets caught! You never know, perhaps she will be brought in for questioning… the Pigeon Police better be ready! |
AuthorJenny Norris, Drama Coach at the Integrated Arts Academy Archives
January 2018
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