Phases of the Moon Lesson

10/14/16 Drama Lesson Plan

Phases of the Moon

6^th Grade, Mrs. Geer’s class

Objective: Students will be able to describe characteristics of phases of the moon correctly by participating in a moon myth narrative mime and modeling the phases of the moon with their bodies.

Drama Work/Content Introduction: Narrative mime on moon phase myth 12 min

1.       Entire class sits in a semi-circle, and teacher narrates the Indian myth of Ganesha and how the phases of the moon came to be. As the story is told, students come up when it is their part to act out a role and they use their bodies to communicate how their character feels in the story.

STORY: Once, Ganesha (elephant head), patron of sciences and arts, god of intellect and wisdom after an exceptionally heavy dinner served to him by worshippers (2 servers for dinner), decided to go on a round. He mounted his vehicle, the mouse, and set off. It was late at night (3 night sound-makers). On the way, he passed villagers. In the light of the moon, they (2) were telling stories to each other. The children were sneaking outside to gather a few more jujube fruits for late-night snacks (3). And, for those who were returning late from a day’s work, the light of the moon was lighting their path (3). Suddenly, a snake came in their path, and the mouse panicked. Ganesha fell off, and his stomach ruptured (cue sound)! Everyone in the village saw and was surprised. Nonplussed, Ganesha simply picked up the snake and tied it around his waist like a belt!

This scene was witnessed by the moon, Chandra, who found it extremely funny and laughed aloud! Ganesha, who, till then hadn’t been bothered, was extremely angry that the moon had laughed at him. He cursed Chandra that he would lose his luster at once! The moon began to slower start on one side and get darker. It was getting harder and harder to see. Chandra realized his folly and apologized, but he kept waning. The stars (2) tried to shine extra bright to help the humans see, but to no avail. Humans who went out at night began to become lost in the darkness (3). There were no more stories told. And the hungry children (3) had to stay inside rather than sneak out for more jujube fruits. The worshippers (2) were upset at losing the moon, and were less willing to give as many offerings and gifts to their god Ganesha. And as the moon continued to wane, putting earth in jeopardy, Ganesha relented.

Lifting the moon, Ganesha placed it on his forehead, and the contact made the moon regain his luster slowly. This began the process of waxing and waning, which continues till today, reminding us not to laugh at others. This incident also gave Ganesha the name –Bhalachandra – the one with the moon on his forehead!

Content Instruction: 15 min

We will now explore whether or not the moon actually gains and loses light during a month.

1.       All lights in the room are turned off and windows are covered except for one bright lamp in the middle of the room (the sun).

2.       The teacher demonstrates what the moon does as it rotates around the earth during a month by placing a styrofoam ball (moon) on a pencil, and rotating in place. The teacher is the earth, and the ball is the moon. It will be clear to students that half of the moon is always lit and half is always dark. Therefore, the basis of the myth is false. So then, why does the moon appear to change during the month?

3.       Each child grabs a white styrofoam ball and pokes a pencil into the bottom of it. They arrange themselves in a circle around the room, with a piece of paper and a pencil.

4.       The teacher leads the children through the parts of the rotation to demonstrate new moon (moon in between child and lamp), waxing cresent, quarter moon (90 degree turn to the left), waxing gibbous, half moon (children in between moon and lamp), waning gibbous, ¾ moon, and waning crescent, ending at new moon again. At each phase, children draw a sketch of what the moon looks like, and the label for the phase.

Drama Review Game: Guess the phase 12 min

1.       8 students are seated at the front of the room facing their peers with a phase of the moon written on the board behind them.

2.       The class has to give each person, in turn, hints about what phase they are. If the person guesses their phase correctly, they can sit down.

Standards-

Theater: 6.T.P.4 Communicate meaning using the body through space, shape, energy, and gesture.

Science 6.1. Explain patterns of changes in the appearance of the moon as it orbits Earth.

1. Describe changes in the appearance of the moon during a month. 
2. Identify the pattern of change in the moon's appearance.

Science 6.2

c. Model the movement and relative positions of Earth, the moon, and the sun. 

Mars Exploration Lesson

This lesson was the best lesson all semester- the kids LOVED it!

12/2/16 Drama Lesson Plan

Mars Exploration Lesson

6^th Grade, Mrs. Geer’s class

Objective: Students will present possible solutions to progress in the exploration of Mars in group skits using the correct vocabulary of space exploration vehicles.

Materials:

·         Space technology role assignments- 24

·         Space exploration vehicles chart- write on board

·         Elon Musk video emailed to Mrs. Geer

Content Introduction: Introduce Elon Musk- 5 min

Narration—Elon Musk’s story is introduced- Explain they will go to Mars in 10 years and NASA vs Spacex.

Watch video- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IRwUsQdzx4

Hot-seating—Students question teacher as Elon Musk to discover additional information about the plan.

Space Exploration Vehicles:- 3 min

Go through types of space exploration vehicles with chart.

	Manned	Unmanned
Flies through space	Crew capsule	Probe
Orbits	Orbital vehicle Space station	Satellite Orbiter
Lands	Landing module	Lander Rover

Drama Warm up/Content Review: A Big Wind Blows- 5 min.

Preparations: Have students all put chairs in a circle around you. (so there is one less chair then there are people including you)

Description: One person standing in the middle raises their hand and says, "a big wind blows ______" and they fill in the blank with something they have done or something they like. Then everyone who applies to that, if they have done it or like that thing as well stand up and switch chairs. For example, if they say, " a big wind blows to everyone who likes camping" then everyone who likes camping stands up and switches chairs. The person stuck in the middle then changes the sentence and so on.

Play the game, but first pass out small pieces of paper with one of the 6 types of space exploration vehicles on it. Say, "A big wind blows for____", and give a clue about one or several of the types of space exploration vehicles. If the clue applies to a students' vehicle in their hand, they must switch seats.

Clues: 

Flies through space

Orbits

Lands

Manned

Unmanned

What they landed on the moon with

The international space station

The mars rover

Satellite tv

Student Task: Exploration solutions to Mars- 15 min

Mantle of the Expert—Students are asked to take on the role of Spacex engineer employees who need to make progress on the 10 year plan to go to Mars, discovering how to actually colonize the planet.

(Objective- review proper names of space exploration vehicles, to decide what the major issues are with colonizing mars and come up with solutions to begin the exploration)

Explore possible ways to set up a civilization.

Requirements:1-2 minutes long, groups of 4?

Consideration of things humans need to successfully travel to, colonize, and survive on Mars. (1 problem that needs a solution).

Problems to consider: sources of power (chemically, solar panels), timing (takes 6-8 months to get to mars)- how long of a trip, the objective of your trip, humans needs for survival (food, water, etc), fuel, staying healthy along the way, air to breath once you’re on Mars, extremely cold at night, food for the journey, food production on Mars, water production on Mars, cost

Present your plan to begin exploring a solution. Not the answer- how you are going to start. Ex: If I don’t know how I am going to make a fire in the woods, the solution is find firewood and a match, but if I didn’t know that and just needed to begin exploration, I would present that I would experiment with what does and doesn’t light on fire with materials around me, and then I would walk around looking for fuel.

Use of at least one space exploration vehicles in their proper context.

Include a plan to explore possible solutions. You don’t need the answer- you just need to know a problem and have a plan to make progress on the problem through the use of technology. That’s how real science and engineering works. If they had all the answers, we’d be on mars now.

Drama guidelines: identify problems and solutions in first 3 min. Last 10 minutes to work on a skit. Characters: engineers, people running the spacecraft (astronauts if manned)

Context: engineering meeting considering possibilities, then start working on ways to test it

Example: Air for breathing: Meeting with crew, rover, setting up a big bubble thing/building that’s airtight. Put oxygen tanks inside and some plants that use the sunlight, see if the plant survives, then see if a mouse could survive the trip

Presentation of Skits- 10 min

Standards-

Theater: 6.T.CR.4 Define roles, identify responsibilities, and participate in group decision making.

Drama 6.T.P.2 Perform as a productive and responsible member of an acting ensemble in both rehearsal and performance situations.

Drama 6.T.CO.3 Investigate universal or common social issues and express them through a drama/theatre work.

Science: 6.S.3.2 a Relate science's understanding of the solar system to the technology used to investigate it. 

Science 6.S.3.2 b Find and report on ways technology has been and is being used to investigate the solar system. 

Greek Theater Lesson Plan

9/30/16 Drama Lesson Plan

Elements of Greek Theatre

6^th Grade, Mrs. Geer’s class

Objective: Students will demonstrate using their voice and body as a dramatic tool by creating and performing in a 1-2 minute short skit in a group of 5 based on a myth in the context of ancient Greek theater.

Warm up: Here Comes Charlie! 10 min

Source: https://www.dramanotebook.com/

Purpose of the game: Helping students to think about using their bodies and voices.

Description: Three people stand onstage waiting for Charlie, each person describes one of the traits he has. The first person says what Charlie sounds like (example: an old man), the next says what he moves like (example: an octopus), and the third says what he looks like (a physical characteristic, example: he has HUGE eyes!) The off-stage actor playing Charlie enters the stage displaying those traits!

Content Introduction 3 min

Explain to the group components of theater in Ancient Greece: 

•  No more than 3 actors, chorus of 15 men- larges gestures, 
• Playwright competition- Thespis one of the most famous
• At foot of hill, in an amphitheater, Centered in Athens
•  Terms: orchestra, skene, and mechane
• Comedy versus tragedy- work with tragedy today.

Put on a short play:

1.       Popsicle sticks- Groups of 4-5

2.       In your group, you need 2 actors and the rest will be chorus members. Chorus members will be narrating the story using their voice as a tool to convey the story. Actors will be using their bodies and gestures as a tool to convey the story. All participants will use their mind. Decide on roles and show me a sign when you know who you are.

3.       As a class, we are going to be putting on the play of Daedalus and Icarus, but each group is going to do one scene of the story, or one chapter- so to speak. I will tell you what your part is. This is going to end up being 1 minute long when you perform it- so not very long. I will hand out the scenes. Read it together as a group and make sure everyone understands the story.

4.       Now start designing your play. Remember it will be 1 minute total. You will be using your clothing you are already wearing, which the Greeks often did. Masks were only used when depicting women or animals, typically. The actors need to know what their bodies should do- where they should walk, what they should do, and the chorus needs to know and decide what they need to say to depict the story. You can decide whether you want to narrate at the same time or one at a time. Make sure to work together so you create a myth play that goes together. 10 min.

5.       With what you have already, improve it. If you are an actor- what can your body do that will really help express the story? What will your facial expressions be? Will you move slowly or quickly, and why? Are you going to be standing in one spot, or walking around? Try to take what you already have, and then make it more meaningful by using your body in more meaningful ways. For the chorus, you will be saying words, but how can you use your voice as a tool to express what is really going on? Know what your voices will do- will there be loud parts, will there be soft parts, will there be times when you speak fast or slowly. How can you express emotion in your voice during different times? 3 more minutes to practice using your new tools. 5 min.

6.       Gather to watch each other’s plays. Explain the terms orchestra and skene in the context of greek theater. At the end of each play, comment on how they used their voices and bodies to express the story. 10 min

Standards-

Theater: 6.T.P.4 Communicate meaning using the body through space, shape, energy, and gesture.

Social Studies: 6.SS.1.4: Analyze how the earliest civilizations created technologies and systems to meet community and personal needs.

                c. Identify cultural expressions that reflect these systems (e.g. architecture, artistic

                    expression, medicine, philosophy, drama, literature). 

Acknowledging Patience

Last week I learned a valuable lesson about acknowledging patience and effort in students.

I taught a lesson about the myth of Daedalus and Icarus. The class was split into groups and each group was tasked with creating a one minute skit depicting one scene of the story. Groups needed to work together to decide on two actors, two narrators, and how they would use their bodies and voices to share the story.

Every group worked together so differently. Some had themselves organized into well-oiled rehearsal machines, while others struggled to make decisions and understand each other. One particular group I noticed especially was struggling to agree and move forward in plans. One student in particular was right on the verge of bursting out in frustration. They managed to hold it together and instead came to me, stuttering and shaking because they were so frustrated with their team, desperate for help and guidance from me. I helped a little, and then tried to back off and let them figure more out by themselves.

By the time each group was ready to present, most groups were ready and did well. However, this particular group awkwardly presented a scene to the class that was difficult to understand because they all had different ideas in their heads about what the plan for acting and narrating was. At the end, I noticed the kid who had come to me frustrated early looked especially disappointed in themself and their team. The team had not presented what the student thought they were capable of, the student's ideas were unheard and overlooked, and as a result, the student had stood in place at the front of the class, unsure of what to do because the cues they were expecting for their acting never came. They had been embarrassed in front of peers. The team sat back down at their desks, and I noticed the child was shaking.

I immediately felt very guilty. As the teacher, I knew was responsible for the group's failure. I should have provided more scaffolding to bridge the gap between what they were able to individually and what they were capable of as a team. I should have guided them through the decision-making process more clearly. I shouldn't have let a child become so frustrated that they sat back down at their desk, shaking from embarrassment. In a last-ditch effort to apologize, I approached the student after class and told them I had noticed it was difficult for them to work in a group, but I was impressed by their effort to be patient and try their best even when it was very hard. I left class that day feeling very guilty for the failure I had caused the student and the social/emotional tragedy it had appeared to be for them.

The next week, I spent extra time preparing a lesson where I knew all students would be successful because team decisions were much more guided by me. As I was walking to the classroom to begin setting up for my lesson, I passed all my students on the playground. The child who had been so frustrated the week before saw me. I thought, "Oh good. This is their time to relax and prepare for what they are afraid will happen in drama class again." But to my surprise, the student did a double-take, looked at me again, and then threw the basketball back to their friends and stopped playing their game while they turned to face me. They looked straight at me, walked towards me and smiled, nervously. "Hello Mrs. Buttars" they said pleasantly. In their tone of voice and facial expression, I could tell they were very excited to see me. They almost felt a special connection to me, and they knew I valued them. I was shocked. Why would they be excited to see a teacher who set them up for failure?

That's when I realized the value in acknowledging when students try. Even though last week did not go as planned, I had acknowledged the child's effort and patience, which communicated I was proud of them, rather than disappointed. And the child had remembered.

Students may not remember every lesson, but they do remember how we as teachers make them feel.

Pandora's Box Lesson Plan

9/30/16 Drama Lesson Plan

Pandora’s Box

6^th Grade, Mrs. Geer’s class

Objective: Students will create possible solutions to the problem of hopelessness in real-world problems in the context of Greek civilization by listening and participating in dramatic activities depicting the myth of Pandora’s Box.

Warm up- Sculptor (8 min)

1.       Clear away desks

2.       Toe to toe

3.       Look across the room and go toe to toe with someone you haven’t worked with before for the dance or the drama group last week

4.       One of you kneel down, one stands up.

5.       Person standing, you are the clay. You are frozen in place because clay can’t move itself until the sculptor molds you. Person kneeling, you are the sculptor who is going to be molding your friend. Sculpture begins by standing in a neutral position; the sculptor slowly moves their body into a new position according to the theme that is being explored. Ideally this is done without talking so that all communication is through body-language. Facial expressions can be shown by the sculptor for the statue to copy.

6.       Give them no more than 30-60 seconds per pose.

7.       You may like to give the sculptors paper and pen so that they can write a title or caption for their masterpiece and put it in front of the statue.

8.       Depict Zeus, misery, hope

9.       Come sit on carpet.

Storytelling

1.       Notice how I use my body and voice- next week we’ll do some theater and I’ll want you to use your bodies and voices.

2.       Zeus was very very angry- why was he angry with Prometheus?

In your Zeus voice, tell me why you are so angry with Prometheus

He stole fire from Hephestos, the blacksmith and gave it back to the humans.

To get revenge, he forged a plan to doom the rest of humanity forever.

3.       Making of Pandora

Zeus made Pandora. Athena gave her life. Aphrodite made her beautiful. Hermes made her charming and deceitful.

An offer was made to Epimetheus for Pandora to be his wife. Prometheus discouraged him because this was Zeus’s way to make up for his loneliness away from Prometheus. (5 min)

4.       Wedding- Tableau with thought tracking

Have children make a frozen image of the wedding.

Assign roles: Zeus, Pandora, Epimetheus, Prometheus, Hymen?, Hephestos, Humanity, other gods

Use your bodies to show me what your character feels like here. 15 seconds- then frozen. (10 min)

Thought tracking- Go around with a microphone and ask the characters what they are feeling at the moment in the story.

5.       Gift

            Zeus gave a box to Pandora as a wedding gift, but gave the key to Epimetheus and told

            Pandora never to open it.

6.       Pandora’s curiosity made her attempt to open the box 3 times. Each time she decided against it

            at the last minute.

7.       Decision Alley- Should Pandora open the box or not?

a.       Review sides- What’s the decision?

b.       Persuasion- What does Pandora want? Does she even care about humanity? How could you come up with a reason for why it would be better for Pandora if she didn’t open the box?

c.       Review the elements of persuasion- the reasoning must be attractive from the point of view of the person deciding.

d.       Try decision alley again. (10 min)

8.       The box is opened and all evil escapes.

a.       The world is very sad and hopeless.

b.       Hope remains inside the box.

9.       Town meeting

Teams create ways to use hope in badness of world. What might it might mean to the Greeks and what would they discuss in a city/state town meeting? Teacher acts as a director of the assembly of Athens on the hill of Pnyx. “Welcome males 18 yrs old and older who are wealthy. Jobs to do: organize food, discuss our upcoming military protection. Sparta is totally outranking us. But first- we need to find a way to inspire our people. In committees, discuss possible solutions to the following problems:

                Disease/sickness

                Death

                Poverty

                Depression

                Hatred

                Jealousy”. (40 min)

Standards-

6.T.CO.3: Investigate universal or common social issues and express them through a drama/theatre work.

6.T.R.1 Demonstrate audience skills of observing attentively and responding appropriately in classroom presentations, rehearsals, and live performance settings.

6.T.P.4  Communicate meaning using the body through space, shape, energy, and gesture.

Meet Mrs. Buttars

Hello there! My name is Mrs. Buttars. I am an elementary education major at Brigham Young University who is scheduled to graduate in December 2017.

I really could say I have always wanted to be a teacher. As the oldest of six children from a small town in Washington state, I had plenty of opportunities to teach. I enjoyed mentoring gifted and talented middle school students in the national History Day competition every year. I also volunteered for a preschool in my church where I taught lessons and singing to children ages two and three. As a teen I volunteered to direct and teach teenage girls in small musicals, and I enjoyed teaching piano to five elementary school students on a one-on-one basis over four years. My favorite youth experience was teaching ballet to a class of second grade girls.

As an elementary education major at BYU, my experience in teaching has expanded. I interned in Romania as a kindergarten English teacher and orphanage caretaker for three months. I was the sole designer and developer of units, curriculum, and individual kindergarten lessons to four different classes of young children ages three to six. At the orphanage, I worked with one and two-year-old orphans on developmental milestones. I also traveled to Peru where I again created and taught English, Spanish literacy, and dance lessons to a fifth grade class, sixth grade class, and to 60 children at an after-school program. I designed all the after-school center policies, library, and discipline system. In Peru I spoke fluent conversational Spanish to parents, teachers, and community members. I also have a TELL minor and teaching endorsement. I am fluent in conversational Spanish.

I was introduced to the idea of Arts Bridge by Teresa Love, the faculty facilitator for drama in Arts Bridge, and my Drama in the Elementary Education classroom teacher. She recommended I apply, and I am so glad I did! My interests include music, dance, and theater. I have a contemporary dance minor from BYU and volunteered with BYU’s Kinnect dance program teaching core-curriculum subjects to classes of varying ages through a creative dance medium. Having the opportunity to continue my interest in drama and the arts in a 6th grade classroom is such a priviledge.

This opportunity is granted to me on the generosity of many BYU Arts Bridge donors, the schools of education and fine arts at BYU, and of course, the patience of my mentor teacher, Mrs. Geer. I am so excited to get started!