Drama and Dance!
Grades 3-4
Days 3 - 4
Music: CD/Music from a number of popular plays and movies: Star Wars; Wizard of Oz; Skyfall; Star Trek; Cats etc.
Books: Short Familiar storybooks The Three Pigs; The Tortoise and the Hare; Goldilocks; Red Riding Hood etc.
Homework: Each child research a character of their choice to briefly act out for the following day
Computer: www.IXL.com; mathandmovement.com; www.childdrama.com
Food: Popcorn is typically associated with watching movies/drama and stories. Have some to reward performances.
Cooperative Activities: The Elements of Drama
Lesson 1:
Lesson 2: Communicate Meaning
The idea here is for kids to begin to demonstrate concentration while in role and control of movement by using techniques.
There are many different ways to communicate meaning. Talking is the most obvious way to communicate, although
gestures can emphasize a point and are just as effective. You will be able to get your message across far better if you
practice controlling your movements. Try these teacher-led activities to help improve your focus and movement skills:
The Sculpture and the Sculptor: The sculptor “sculpts” his or her partner into a statue of an animal by moving the
partner’s body into a position. The sculptor pays careful attention to all of the details, and “shapes” the facial
expression. When the ”sculpture” is finished, the student freezes. The others guess the animal that the sculptor has
created. The partners switch roles.
Tableau: Put students into groups of four to six to create a photo – a frozen moment in time. Each student should be
aware of where the “photographer” (teacher) is and face that direction. Encourage the students to use their whole
bodies to act out an animal. Have each student play a different animal to create a zoo or animal habitat, one group at a
time. This can carry on for 15 seconds until the photographer says “Snap”. At this point everyone must freeze and hold
their poses creating a tableau. Have the other students guess the animals. The same technique can be used to show
people waiting at a bus stop, at a circus etc.
Provide the worksheet (127) have kids look at the pictures and guess what animals they’re pretending to be.
Lesson 2: Reading
Provide storybooks at appropriate levels of known/familiar tales such as Goldilocks and the Three Bears; The Tortoise and
the Hare; The Three Little Pigs; Little Red Riding Hood. Let the Kids read silently. Then provide the worksheet (120) and
have them write details describing the setting, conflict and structure of the story.
Lesson 3: Acting Out
The idea here is for kids to begin to demonstrate an understanding of voice and audience and the control of voice and
movement by using appropriate techniques. How can you get someone to recognize you as a pioneer from Upper Canada? How
would this pioneer talk, act or dress?
The first thing you must do to play a role is research the character. Read books, look on the internet and find out about
your character’s way of life and try to imagine what it would be like to meet someone like this.
To be believable, you must act, dress and talk like this character. What words would this character use? Would s/he talk
in a slow saddened voice or a cheerful voice?
Use your body to “act out” what the character would do by using gestures/ movements to make certain words stand out.
Your audience has to be able to hear you from the back of the room, so speak loudly and clearly. Make your words come
from your stomach area (diaphragm) and your voice will go farther. Make sure you look at your audience, moving your
eyes around the room.
Step out of your shoes and into your character’s so that your audience will feel as though they are actually meeting your
character.
Demonstrate and let kids provide/act out their own examples for each of these points. For homework, suggest each child
research a favourite character for tomorrow. Provide the Acting Out (124) and Volume worksheets (123) and complete in class.
Language and Literacy:
Vocabulary:
research character setting role volume audience lines place time
structure voice excitement sadness cheerfulness delighted delirious
conflict suspense plot
angry furious confused
Writing: Acting Out: In this activity the idea is to demonstrate voice and audience and to represent /interpret main
characters by speaking and writing in role. Model what a historical diary page might look like. Talk about
presentation skills such as eye contact, voice projection, focus and expression. Demonstrate how NOT to do these by
starting off a lesson looking at the floor and quietly mumbling directions in a monotonous voice.
Diary: After showing kids an example, have kids write a lost diary page from the past. They can decide what character
they want to write as (eg: pioneer; medieval knight or lady; pirate or a famous person etc.)
1. Kids will need to research the character taking particular note of his/her dress, language, activities or actions.
2. Write a diary entry detailing an event (a pioneer might be working in a field or a knight taking part in a joust).
Have kids write it in the first person (using “I”, “me”, and “my”).
3. Then kids practice reading their page with expression. Using a loud and clear voice. Think of what the
character would do with his/her hands or body movements.
4. Present it to the class. (Frame and post the completed diaries).
French Plays and Movies:
During the daily period of 20 minutes daily designated to “French only immersion” in which teachers use French –
with many gestures – to engage kids and increase interest, have kids watch a simple play (puppet or otherwise) that is
performed in French. Ask them to interpret the gestures (as well as any words they may know). Who are the
characters? What do they think they are doing? What is the setting (time, place)? What do they think the conflict (plot)
is about? What happens next? How is it settled? How does it end? What words/expressions do they remember? Why?
Fine Motor Skills and Construction Activities:
Have a table with a variety of Lego characters and building activities and suggest that kids create a scene that can be
acted out by the characters. Eventually we can use a stop-action camera to film these segments and display them on
our website.
Science – Facial Fun!:
Human beings are capable of more changes of expression than any other animal on Earth. Anger, disappointment,
grief, happiness, excitement are only a few of the emotions that our facial muscles help us to display. The human face
is laced with dozens of small muscles. All muscles are made up of long, slender units called “muscle fibres”. Groups
of fibres are wrapped in bundles by thin, connective tissue, and are well-supplied with blood vessels and nerves. If
you don’t exercise certain muscles, they become useless (e.g. most people have lost the ability to use their earwiggling muscles). Let’s try some facial fun….
Did you know that it takes 34 muscles to frown (really frown) and only 13 to smile? Have kids try to exercise their
facial muscles with these expressions (worksheet 76): Pull your scalp back; pull your scalp down; pull your ears back;
lift your ears; open your nostrils; close your nostrils; open one eye – then the other; open your mouth wide; pull your
top lip down; make a big frown and then a big smile. Have kids look at the facial muscle chart and try the exercises
again. Which muscles do they use in each exercise?
Art Activities:
Elements of Drama: Making Puppets
Materials: sock in character’s colour; red or pink felt; cardboard; scissors; glue gun; needle and thread; yarn, felt,
eyes... .
Kids can create and decorate a puppet to demonstrate an understanding of voice and audience by speaking as
characters in a story.
What to do:
1. Cut out a symmetrical, oval shape approximately 1.5 cm. smaller than the width of the sock from both the
cardboard and the red/pink felt. Fold the cardboard in half, making it the inside of the mouth. For some
animals, kids could make a diamond-shaped, pointy mouth instead.
2. Insert the cardboard into the toe of the sock. Tuck the sock into the fold of the cardboard. Make a stitch in
the sock and the centre of the cardboard piece to keep them together.
3. Use the pink or red felt to cover the edges of the mouth. Cut out a tongue and glue it in place.
4. Have kids put their hand in the puppet to see the shape, and glue on ears, eyes, teeth, hair and other features.
Use yarn or felt for hair, cutting long pieces and tying them in the centre with a shorter piece.
Follow up: Have kids rehearse and present their short puppet theatre based on their pre-assigned or chosen story,
poem or play.
Mathematics:
Skip counting reinforces the concept of counting by more than one number at a time. Students learn to
count by higher numbers using a whisper/loud technique that emphasizes the underlying number
pattern. For example, when counting by threes, the student whispers, “One, two” and then says (or
shouts!) ,“Three!” When combined with cross-body movements, this activity helps the student learn the
basics of number grouping that forms the basis of multiplication and division. Please see handout for details.
For a video that gives live examples, please see Math and Movement.com
Skip counting and multiplication/division (Touchmath) and word problems according to individual levels.
Go to ww.IXL.com on the computer or whiteboard; sign in: Username: mindwerx4kids Password: mindwerx4kids and
Select grade and Multiplication and Division Skill Builders. Choose table and have each student complete one unit.
Gross Motor Skills and Outdoor Playground Activities:
When you think about it, keeping your body balanced as you walk upright on those two sticks you call legs, is pretty
amazing. Your eyes and ears help you balance. Try balancing on one leg with your eyes closed – count the seconds. Now
see how many seconds you can balance with your eyes open. Any conclusions? Try these balancing challenges…
Body Balancing Challenges:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Hopper: Put your feet together, bend over and grab hold of your toes with both hands. Can you hop forward? In
order to hop, you have to lean forward to shift your centre of gravity ahead of your feet – but you can’t do this
because you are hanging onto your toes!
Stand Up: Sit in a chair with your back straight, feet flat on the ground and arms straight at your sides. Now try to
stand up using no hands and without leaning forward. It’s not possible. Your centre of gravity is over the chair; to
shift your centre of gravity over your feet - which you need to do to get up – you have to lean forward!
Coin Sniff: Kneel on the floor with your knees together. Put your arms on the floor in front of you with your elbows
against your knees. Put a coin on the floor at your outstretched fingertips. Kneel upright. While holding your hands
behind your back, try to touch the coin with your nose. If you have a low centre of gravity, it should be easier for you
to touch the coin.
Leg Up: Put your right arm and foot against a wall. Try to lift up your left leg. You won’t be able to do it. To balance
on your right foot, you have to shift your centre of gravity directly over that foot, which means leaning I that
direction. Since you can’t lean through a wall, you need your left foot on the ground to keep your balance.
Extension: Can you lift a chair by the bottom of one leg? Why is it so difficult?
Explain to kids that your “centre of gravity” is the point around which your body weight is centred. All objects have a
centre of gravity. To stay balanced as you walk, you generally have yo keep your centre of gravity over your feet (your
body’s support). Adult women’s centre of gravity is usually in the hip area and their hips are wider than men’s. Adult
men’s centre of gravity is usually in the upper torso.
Evaluation: What did kids remember about the elements of drama (character, setting, time, suspense, plot conflict, structure)?
What activities did they like best? Completion of worksheets, writing, art as well as participation in other activities
should be both noted and actively supported. Make note of each child’s responses to the book used and character
they researched. Were they interested? Ask questions? Understand the ideas? Did they enjoy the art – and making
puppets? Could they link body awareness/movement to the idea of drama? Are they looking forward to more?