Lesson #4: Persuasive Essays

On November 18, I switched gears and taught about writing! I was excited for a completely new topic. We created movement based on writing persuasive essays. At the start, I had them raise their right hand to the square and promise to be focused today because it was a bit of a tougher lesson to understand and I wanted them to get it. We warmed up by “writing” our names with our bodies. I let them move around the room and write their bodies however they wanted, on the floor with a finger, in the air with an elbow or a foot, by making the shape of the letter with their body, anything! After they had figured out how they wanted to write their names, I split the class in half and had them watch each other and say something they saw and liked. 

Last lesson the class had been a bit chatty and I didn't want them to think that they could get away with that, so I told myself I would be more patient in waiting for them to be quiet before I continued. I have also been working on moving around the room and among the students when I speak instead of always at the front of the room. As I focused on this, their attention was better and I had less chatting. I am planning on continuing this in my future teaching. I also used proximity to quiet a talkative student. I continued to speak, but came close to this student until they got the idea and were quiet. I also had been studying their names a bit more so I was able to use a few names during class, but I am still working on it! It is amazing how much using a name really helps! One particularly chatty boy was focused the rest of class after I used his name when asking him to focus. 

I mentioned how movement is a lot like writing. We have moves that represent words, multiple moves to represent phrases and sentences, and a whole dance to represent a whole story. We then talked about the format and organization of a persuasive essay. Mrs. Washburn had told me that she teaches them this using the acronym OREO, spelling the cookie. It stands for Opinion, Reason, Example, and back to Opinion. She hadn't gone over it yet in class, so hopefully it gave them a precursor of what they are going to learn about. I likened this format to how choreography is created. I showed them and we then tried a move to represent each letter of A, B, C, and D and how the order of these letters is infinite. I found that they got a bit confused using both A, B, C, D and OREO. I should have just stuck with the OREO letters. However, they eventually understood what I meant. I had them split into groups and come up with their own moves for each letter, just like how we had done as a class. After a few minutes, we again split the class in half and watched each other.

Next, we discussed the writing process, which goes from prewriting to drafting, drafting to revision, revision to editing, and editing to publishing. I told them we would use the phrases they had drafted and were now going to revise, edit, and publish them. For revision, they got with their groups and made their movement more interesting by using levels, changing tempo, or body parts. After they did this, their next step was to edit. Just like editing in writing often includes the feedback of others, they got with another group, showed each other their movement, and the other group helped them make their movement more interesting. They could choose to either take the feedback or not. Lastly, when they were ready, we “published” their movement by performing it for each other. I was very impressed by the creativity and originality of their performances! My hope is that they will connect this process to everything and realize there is always room for improvement in whatever it may be: writing or dancing. 

We had bit of extra time, so I quickly went over some energy qualities of moving such as sustained, percussive, vibratory, heavy, etc. Since they are 5^th graders, I let them guess what they thought the quality was and most of the time they were right. I don't want to always just give them the answer. I then told them to individually create an A, B, C, D pattern that convinces me on the “best” way to move, or their favorite energy quality. They were to persuade us that it was the best way to move. They first danced the quality, then gave us a reason why, next an example of something that moves this way, and last they repeated their opinion. We didn't have time for everyone to show, so I chose 4 volunteers who danced as well as talked out loud their persuasive dance. Wish we would have had more time for this, but they had fun with it. 

In the end, I reminded them that the process we went through of prewriting, drafting, revision, editing, and publishing is a never-ending cycle. There is always something more to write about and there is always something more to dance about!

Lesson #2: Animal Adaptations

We started out our second lesson reviewing rules, our three body shapes, and heredity terms. We continued to talk about heredity, but focused on animals and their adaptations. Warmed up by doing axial (staying in one place) and locomotor (moving around the room) movement. I then gave them criteria: axial and low and fast or locomotor, high, slow, etc. I tried lots of combinations and tried my best to just keep them moving so they would not get bored. Older kids get bored quicker, so it is important to keep the activities going. I then related it back to animals by asking them if they could give me an example of an animal that moves in this way. They were quick to respond. I found out during this lesson, how much they love sound effects! No matter what combination of movement I gave them, they found some animal or sound effect that would go with it. I will have to try implementing these more into my lessons to let them use their voices more. We discussed animals, their adaptations, their environments, and what those adaptations help them to do.

Beforehand, I had created notecards with a different environment written on each card. I showed them to the students and had them say them out loud and then placed them on the stairs where they students could see. I had also created cards with an animal written on each so that there were 5 animals that went into each environment category. The students helped me organize the animals to their correct environment. Mrs. Washburn and I passed out an animal card to each student. I told them that each corner of the room represented a different environment. They got in a long line, and one by one, to the beat of my drum, they ran to their designated corner and created a shape. If they got to a corner with a person already there, they had to create a shape with the people there. They could not create their own shape, but a group shape. They all made a lot of line shapes, all connected by arms or legs. I think I will incorporate some new ways to balance and weight bear in my next lessons so they can start to think more creatively in their group shapes. 

Next, I had the students listen to a sound effect I had found beforehand that represented each environment. I had them go across the floor like the animal that was written on their notecard only when they heard the correct sound. I wanted them to have to pay attention and decipher when they could cross the floor without me just telling them to help with listening skills. They did a pretty good job. 

Last, was their performance and creative portion. They got into groups of 4, chose an animal, figured out it's environment, and then came up with movement to show the animal first, and then it's environment. I urged them to not just act out the animal but to think about what it does or its qualities. Then they were to show us the environment by what's in it or by how it might make you feel. Their performances were quite good! Again, I am going to try to implement more focus on abstraction in future lessons, but with the directions I gave them, they did a good job! It was a really fun lesson today!

Lesson #3: Life Cycles

Had my third lesson on November 11th. We started out reviewing what we went over last week. Then we continued to talk about animals, but focused on life cycles for this lesson. We discussed how some animals, such as mammals, look the same from birth to adulthood. Other than getting larger, they have the same body shape. We also discussed animals that look different from birth to adulthood, such as a frog who starts as an egg, grows to a tadpole, and then becomes a frog. We played with low, medium, and high levels and used these levels to represent the period of life an animal was in: low for a baby, middle for a “teenager”, and high for an adult. They shadowed and copied each other, one on the ground as the baby animal, and one standing as the adult to represent an animal that looks the same from birth to adulthood. We then went across the floor showing animals who look different in each stage of life. For example, for the first 1/3 of the floor, we went across like an egg. The next 1/3 like a tadpole, and the last 1/3 like a frog. For the creating portion, they got into groups of 3 and chose two animals, one that looks the same throughout their life, and one that changes. They used levels to show what each animal looked like during different stages. They did a pretty good job on their performances. 

Next time, I hope to be more clear on my directions. Some groups really got the directions, and others were confused. I also want to help them focus on the qualities of an animal rather than just acting out an animal. I was hoping to get to discussing it this time, but I ran out of time. By the time they leave my class, I want them to realize that dance is not just “acting out” or pretending to be an animal or something you're not. Role playing is great but is not always dance. I want to boost their creativity as well as their understanding of their core curriculum.

Lesson #1!... Heredity

On Monday, October 28, I had my first lesson for ArtsBridge! I was a bit nervous, but it went pretty well! I have a class of about 25 fifth graders. I am lucky enough to get to use the gym and have a whole hour for my lessons! We went over rules first, and I told them why I was here. I told them that we were going to learn their curriculum through movement. Though it sounded weird, I was going to show them how. I showed them my drum and how I will use it in class. I then began my lesson I had planned on heredity. I used what the teacher I work with, Mrs. Washburn, suggested, as well as the Utah core curriculum for fifth graders on the UEN website. They had never had a dance class before so I started with the very basics. They were hesitant to move at first, but they loved it by the end!

We warmed up by moving all of our body parts in as many ways as we could think of: slow, fast, high, low, etc. Then we talked about shapes. And not circle, triangle, square shapes, but body shapes. We discussed three different kinds of shapes: curved, angular, and twisted. We then used shapes to show how genes are passed down from parent to offspring. We soon began moving the shapes around the room to get them moving more. We then helped each other change our shapes, as we don't inherit every characteristic from our parents. We tried a long chain as a class and “passed down” the trait through generations using a shape through all the students. As always, I have a performance or creative part of my lesson near the end. They got in groups and showed how traits are passed down. They asked to use the stage for their performances, so I let them, and they seemed to really enjoy showing their peers what they had come up with. I think I will continue to use the stage as long as it is available. In the end, we reviewed what we had learned. I hope that they walked out with even a little better understanding of heredity than they walked in with. 

They are a great class, very eager to move! They are also very chatty so it is good for me to learn how to deal with this in the quickest and most efficient way possible. I hope to get their names down as soon as possible as well, as this helps with management. Mrs. Washburn, their teacher, is wonderful to work with! She is always there, engaged, and has taken lots of pictures for me! I hope she is learning as much as I am with this project! I already have some ideas for the next few weeks and I am excited for what they can bring!