Drama and Language Arts

Derek Munson (2000). Enemy Pie [Picture Book]. Retrieved from
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/103814.Enemy_Pie

My peers presented a series of really great strategies this week regarding how we can incorporate drama and language arts. They used the picture book "Enemy Pie", which I think is an incredibly great and effective book in helping students think critically about how they treat those that they consider their enemies. Although my peers shared some really great activities, the activities that resonated with me the most were the flash forward and flash back activities because I really feel like they are very strong and effective activities to integrate with language arts. These activities require students to utilize comprehension strategies of making predictions, reading between the lines, and questioning, but they provide a fun and engaging way for students to make such connections. This book and these strategies are definitely something that I can see myself implementing into my future classrooms.

Another activity that we did in class this week was a role play activity, where we were grouped into different roles and we were tasked with creating a budget plan for how to solve an issue with polar bears in role of our characters. This activity required us to research polar bears by reading books and I found the role play to be an effective way to give meaning to our research and to promote motivation. I believe that students will be more likely to engage with learning and reading if it is given purpose and meaning and this activity does such that. In addition, I appreciate how this activity incorporates not only drama and language arts, but also math, social studies, and science. Integrated lessons like this can be a great way for students to learn the various subjects and understand how they interact with one another.

Polar Bear [Clipart]. Retrieved from http://www.nextreflexdc.com/polar-bear-
clip-art/polar-bear-clip-art-art-polar-bear-clipart-clipart-kid-clipartix-templates/

Drama and Health

Natalie McMillan (February 13, 2018). Peer Pressure Slow motion [Photograph] 

In class this week the focus was on the integration of drama in the health curriculum. An activity that resonated with me this week was the "what if?" activity in relation to peer pressures. This activity was presented by my peers and I felt like it was a really effective way to encourage students to research and consider the different perspectives and outcomes of responding to peer pressure. When if comes to discussing situations relating to bullying, alcohol, smoking and drugs, it is most effective to allow students the opportunity to consider the different outcomes that may happen if they choose to engage in such activities. Another activity presented by my peers was the use of slow motion to giver certain characters the opportunities to share their inner thoughts during different social situations, such as bullying and peer pressure, which was another great way for students to engage with the situations and issues on a deeper and more personal level.

We also did a role playing activity this week, where we each took on the role of a different component of a mannequin making company. This activity required us to consider the role of advertisement and media can play in how people see themselves and their self-esteem. It also had us considering how we, as a marketing company, could make mannequins that are more relatable to our customers. Role playing is a great way to have students engage in issues and to think of other perspectives, which is a necessary strategy when thinking about self efficacy and body image issues. I can see how an activity like this can be used to encourage students to think critically about what they could do if they had the power to make changes such as this. Not only does this build their critical thinking skills, but is also empowers them to think about how they can make a difference in the world.

José Alonso (2017). Do Mannequins have Anorexia? [Online Image]. Retrieved from
 https://mappingignorance.org/2017/05/31/do-mannequins-have-anorexia/

Drama and Social Studies

In this week's session, we participated in a lot of great activities and strategies that incorporate both drama and social studies. The following strategies are the ones that stood out the most to me as effective and enjoyable.

Hot Seat: 

Kari-Lynn Winters (2012). Gift Days (Picture Book).

While reading the story Gift Days by Kari-Lynn Winters, we used the strategy "Hot seat", where at certain parts of the story, someone would sit in the middle of circle acting in the role of one of the characters. The rest of the class asks the student questions as they try to answer the questions in role. This activity can really help students to learn perspective taking, especially because it goes beyond just thinking about what the character did in the story, but it requires them to consider other scenarios and think critically to answer them as they think the character would. My only hesitation regarding this activity is how it puts students on the spot. This is definitely an activity where the right to pass needs to be available because there are definitely some students who may be uncomfortable with such an activity. Another option would be to do this activity in smaller groups, so that the activity is less risky and overwhelming for students.

Overheard Conversations

Can you hear me (clipart). Retrieved from
http://laoblogger.com/heard-clipart.html

This was a strategy presented by my peers in class. For this strategy, groups were given different situations and two people were required to discuss the topic, where the other two people have to "overhear" and react to that conversation. This was a very interesting strategy and it was really effective at making us think critically about things and to consider other perspectives. I think that an activity like this could really benefit from allowing students the chance to research their topic in order to inform their presentation. 

Drama and Science

Godkin, Celia (1993). Ladybug Garden (Picture Book). 

This week, we learned about and participated in strategies for combining drama and science. This week was my presentation day and I shared some specifics about my presentation on a different post. One of the activities that we did in class, that I found extremely useful, was the "Insect Garden" activity. This activity incorporated the strategies of choral reading and soundscapes. For choral reading, each group was given a different insect and a paragraph that correlates with our insect. Then, as we read "Lady Bug Garden", we would each read our paragraph using the elements of choral reading to create a dramatic reading of our paragraph. In addition, we also incorporated soundscapes, where we made insect sounds to supplement the story. This was a unique and interactive way to learn about different insects and the story really provided a great perspective on how all insects have a role to play in the ecosystem. As a university, I learned a lot with this activity and I had a lot of fun participating in it, thus I am sure that students would enjoy it as well.

Drama and Math

This week, we participated in a few activities that incorporated drama and math. One activity from this week that I particularly enjoyed was the "living shapes" activity, where we used our bodies to form different shapes and then also had to show movements like rotations, reflections, and slides with our bodies. This was a great way to learn about different shapes in a way that was interactive and cooperative and it really requires students to think more deeply about what each movement word means and how they can represent it with their bodies. I can see students really enjoying this activity because it allows them to move around and be active, which they may not often get the chance to do in a subject like math, especially for students who are kinesthetic learners.

Position Mapping

Position Mapping is a simple activity where students position themselves in proximity to a chair (or other item) in correspondence with how comfortable they feel with a certain topic and then additionally, students create a tableaux to represent how they feel about that concept. In our class, we did this activity relating to how we feel about teaching drama. It was very interesting to see the variety of feelings and confidence levels present in our class. Some people (like myself) were close to the chair and excited, whereas others were almost out the door. I think an activity like this could be extremely beneficial as a diagnostic activity for any subject because it provides a quick visual of where your students stand before even beginning a lesson/unit. It could also be interesting to do this activity both before and after a lesson/unit to see how students' positions change. When participating in this activity, I really appreciated how we were asked whether we were comfortable to share and that we were given a heads up before being asked to share. I think this is incredibly important because we want our students to feel safe and comfortable in our class, so given them the right to pass if they are uncomfortable with something is essential.

[January 23, 2018] Position Mapping [Photograph]