Drama and Dance!
Grades 5-6
Days 1 - 2
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: Using Symbols and Props
Lesson 1:
When telling your friend about a birthday present, you can use many different descriptive words. Your friend will try to
imagine it, but s/he may not see it exactly the way it is or the way you do. If you show your friend a picture of it, s/he will
have no doubt about its appearance.
The art of acting out or drama has he same effect as showing someone a picture. Actors can show the audience
something to make a lasting impression. Actors often use symbols or props to communicate their message more clearly.
1. A symbol: is a visible sign or representation of an idea. A tear-stained letter might represent a loss. An actor
might use gestures or arm movements, to symbolize grief or excitement.
2. A prop: is an object that one can move around as part of a production. This could be a telephone, clothes,
furniture – any object that would help make the actor’s message clearer.
3. Masks are one of the most common props used in drama. Their exaggerated facial features can both make
characters’ emotions obvious and heighten the viewer’s emotional responses to a dramatic piece. They can add
a sense of humour or fear, depending on the mood of the play.
Provide Using Symbols and \Props Worksheet (120) and have kids match the props to the correct characters.
Masks:
Masks originated from Greek drama, where one actor would play several different characters with the help of different
masks. The audience could easily see who was the villain, lover or king was through the exaggerated expressions on the
masks. Today, masks are still used in Japanese Noh theatre. The main actor wears different masks to portray the many
roles that he plays. Noh masks can be used to symbolize women, old men, children, as well as different moods and
personalities. Have kids draw a specific emotion on masks on worksheet 119.
Lesson 2: Performing in Public
The idea here is for kids to begin to describe skills needed to perform in public.
Imagine you are in front of your class doing a presentation, and a sea of eyes are looking right at you. Your throat
becomes dry, you feel faint, and when you speak, only a squeak comes out. This is nervousness. We all experience it.
How can we overcome it? First, we can start by knowing our material. If we are prepared, we’ll find it much easier to
perform in public. In addition, there are several skills you can work on to make your presentation top notch:
1. Voice: Practice speaking loudly. Use your voice to project to the very back of the room. Make a word or line stand
out by whispering or yelling it. Use pauses to give the audience a moment to digest what you’ve said. Pronounce
your words clearly and use expression!
2. Eye Contact: Include all of the audience, looking at their eyes – or foreheads. Pick someone whom you feel
comfortable with to keep looking back to. If you are speaking for a long time, pretend there are Xs on the side and
back walls, moving your eyes between them. Try to avoid focusing on the roof or floor.
3. Gestures: Use variety but be selective, keeping your hands above your waist and off your hair, face and clothes. Try
using your hands to show these types of gestures:
empathic – “This is up to YOU!”
prompting –”Let’s hear it for….”
descriptive – to clarify, create image, define measurement
suggestive – present thought, idea or emotion
Lastly, use your body to get into the role you are playing. How would the character’s face look in a particular situation? How
would s/he move across the stage? It’s your chance to be someone else for a bit… so have fun!
Provide the worksheet (123/4) have kids answer the questions about performing then try out their answers on their friends.
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).
Readers’ Theatre:
The idea is for kids to interpret and communicate the meaning of novels, scripts, legends, fables, and other material
drawn from a range of sources and cultures, using a variety of dramatic techniques.
What to do:
1. In groups, decide who will be playing each role.
2. Consider the voice and the facial expressions that each character would have.
3. Practice reading the script a few times. Remember to speak clearly and project your voices. Use expression
to bring the script to life.
4. Learn each of your lines so that you can look up from your script when it is your turn. Use your hands to
emphasize words or phrases.
5. Present your Readers’ Theatre to the class.
6. One person reads the story (narrates) while the others act out the events and speak their lines.
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: Using Symbols and Props – Greek Theatre Masks
Materials: Vaseline jelly; plastic wrap; plaster gauze strip bandages; bowl of warm water; smocks or garbage bags;
paper towels; acrylic paint, paintbrushes, mixing trays; yarn, fur and other decorations for fake hair; Crayola modeling
magic or modeling clay.
What to do:
1. Sketch a mask on paper with coloured pencils, emphasizing the smile or frown, wrinkles, cheeks and
eyebrows. Use pictures of Greek masks or a friend as a model.
2. Find a partner. Cover his/her hair with plastic wrap. Apply Vaseline to his/her face, especially around the
eyebrows, hair and nose area so that the plaster won’t stick to his/her face when it dries.
3. Dip the individual bandage strips into the water, gently remove excess mixture and apply them to your
partner’s nose. Do not cover his/her air passageways – like the nostrils! Work out from there, covering all
areas of the face (except around the eyes and mouth to about 1 cm. past the jaw line. Smooth away any
rough bandage edges or bumps with your wet fingers.
4. Once your partner’s face is covered, let it dry for about 10 minutes. Then try to remove it by carefully lifting it
off at the outer edges. Put it on a flat surface, as it continues to dry. Use plaster to smooth any roughness
around the mouth or eye openings.
5. When the mask is completely dry, sand it with sandpaper. Use pieces of Model Magic to create wrinles, sags,
bags, cheeks and chins.
6. Apply a base coat of Gesso, to keep the paint from soaking into the plaster.
7. Form a “wig” with yarn or fur by gluing it to the top. Then use paint to decorate and increase expressions.
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 you 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. (Provide centre of Gravity worksheet to follow up the concept)
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?