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Props needed for Drama activities to supplement available classroom resources

Originals for handouts or prompts for activities during class or to be conducted by the Classroom Teacher(s) to deepen student learning between sessions

Additional reference materials on selected topic

Easel and large pad of paper, if available

Copies of handouts for students as needed

Copies of key reference materials/resources from the classroom for the specific content selected to help the Teaching Artist support the Classroom Teacher's approach and priorities.

Open space in classroom or multi-purpose space large enough for entire class to participate on their feet simultaneously or spread out to work in small groups.

If selecting a Sharing for the entire grade, will need a large enough space for all classes to meet together to present and view. Could be a stage, but not required. Should be scheduled for each class individually in session 4 and for the entire grade for session 5.

I can understand scientific concepts by exploring characteristics of shapes (abstract and realistic) and qualities of movement such as speed, weight and energy.

I can use size and shape to demonstrate an element, structure or organism from a particular scientific topic such as habitats.

I can use movement qualities (rate, weight, energy) to demonstrate a scientific process or procedure, such as laws of motion.

I can work with partners to use shapes/movements to create sequences that show stages of a cycle, interactions in an environment or steps in how a system works.

I can clearly describe or explain a particular scientific phenomenon that has been demonstrated using shapes and movement.

Students are often challenged by abstract scientific concepts. In the How and Why of Everything, acting and movement exercises tap into natural curiosity to effectively make the intangible, tangible; the invisible, visible; and the misunderstood, understandable. Combining facts and imagination, students go beyond writing, speaking and drawing to directly experience and effectively demonstrate observable and unobservable phenomena. By "becoming" the relevant structures, elements, forces, organisms, systems, processes and/or procedures; students gain insights, make connections, clarify sequences and improve their ability to retain information and build a sure foundation for future learning.

What students will do:

In each session students participate in personal exploration and visualization, interaction with partners, collaboration in small groups, discussion, reflection and feedback. All students are equally involved in a grade-level Sharing or other culminating project that demonstrates the scientific concepts and the acting/movement techniques learned. In a Sharing students work together combining components experienced in small groups to create an original movement based scene, adding sounds, songs, dialogue and/or narration to enhance or clarify the information presented


Imagine your students creating these examples or select your own topic to deepen their learning:

Newton"s Laws of Motion
Acting out everyday situations to show how each law works

Systems of the Body
Using movement to contrast how blood is pumped or flows in the arteries and veins or to show how parts of a cell function

The Hydrological Cycle
Transforming from small groups of water molecules into one solid molecular structure of ice

The Solar System
Demonstrating the cyclical patterns of lunar phases, eclipses of the moon or the seasons

Habitats
Creating the 4 levels of the Rainforest or the Ocean and transforming into the unique animal life each supports

Geological Time
Exploring and demonstrating changes in the earth's surface

Waves and Information
Using movement to model amplitude and wavelength

*See Additional Notes for other Topic Suggestions and Reading Connections.

1-3 are welcome, if the classroom teacher desires. They can be most helpful in the 4th and 5th sessions to facilitate preparing and implementing the grade level Share.