Lesson 4: Relationships

“You cannot teach a man anything; you can only help him find it within himself.” –Galileo

Now that I knew how to engage my students from the beginning of the lesson as well as give myself the confidence that I needed to teach smoothly, I was more than excited to teach what I was sure would be one of my favorite lessons!

I am fascinated with European history and kingdoms in general, and since we were learning about relationships, I decided to introduce my students to the topic by putting a fun twist on something that I’m passionate about: we would begin by exploring the relationship between commoners and noblemen! They responded very well to the opening activity and I was relieved to finally be comfortable teaching again!

To tie the lesson into the relevance of their own lives, we took a moment to talk about our own personal relationships and how we speak and act differently according to whom we are with. We actually skipped step 4 entirely for the sake of time, but I could tell it was unnecessary since the students seemed to understand the difference in interactions so well. The step 5 activity would be more effective and efficient, anyway.

The most recent question I’ve had about teaching is in regard to partnerships: Is it more effective to let these young students choose their own partners, or be assigned partners? If I assign partners, am I losing student ownership in my classroom? If I let students choose their own partners, will the lesson objective be reached effectively? Because of this battle, I have been a little too lenient in my classroom. I don’t want my students to feel that anything is unfair, so I suppose I should consider this in advance and choose a rule that best tailors to each lesson individually to avoid chaos in the future?

I am continuously impressed with my students’ active imaginations, clever responses, and eager attitudes. I have many students whom I can tell will be very talented actors in the future! I am very humbled to be one of the first to introduce them to the fascinating and beautiful world of performing arts.

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LESSON PLAN:

Casey Greenwood

BYU Arts Bridge

4^th Grade

Characterization Unit

Lesson 4: Relationship

LESSON EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVE: Students will demonstrate their understanding of how relationships effect characterization by performing a contentless scene for the class.

USOE 4^TH GRADE STANDARDS: 1: Playmaking, Objective 1; Standard 2, Objectives 1, 2, and 4; Standard 4, Objective 2

MATERIALS NEEDED: Printed contentless scene (1 per student), relationship cards, computer access and proper connection cables

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HOOK: Clear the room to create plenty of floorspace. Divide the class into two groups and have them stand on opposite sides of the room. Each side will take on the title of either peasants or nobility. Invite the students to discuss amongst their own group what life would be like if they were indeed living as a peasant or noble in a kingdom. Next, have them discuss how they feel about the other group. Invite the students to walk around the room and interact with each other as they imagine peasants and nobles would interact if they were all shopping in the marketplace. Choose one student from the nobles to be the “king” of the class and have him or her sit on a chair in the center of the room. Next, have the students discuss in their groups how they would act around the king. Invite the students to interact with each other once again, but this time the king will enter the scene, affecting their interactions.

Step 1

Transition: Ask the students questions such as: How did you treat each other? Why did you treat each other that way? What was different about the way you treated the king? Why did you treat the king differently?

Step 2

Discussion: Write “RELATIONSHIPS” on the white board. Have the students think about the names of 3 people that they know and what their relationship is with that person (i.e. friend, mother, cousin, etc.). Ask for a few examples, and write them on the board. Ask the students questions such as: How would you act toward your (friend)? What would it look like? What would it sound like? How would you act toward your (mother)? Etc.

Step 3

Model: Show the students a video clip with no sound that features two characters interacting. Ask the students questions such as: What do you think their relationship is? Why do you think that? Next, have the students listen to a different video clip featuring two characters. Ask the students the same questions as before.

Step 4

Group Practice: Have the students get with a partner. Give each partnership an index card with a relationship written on it. Have them discuss what that relationship might look and sound like. Have the students improvise a 1-minute scene in which one of the characters wants the other to give him/her food. Have each partnership perform for at least one other.

Step 5

Assessment: Give each partnership a contentless scene. The students will decide on a relationship that they can apply to the scene, rehearse it, and perform for the class. After each scene, discuss the relationship and the clues that the students found within the scene that hinted at the characters’ relationship.

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LESSON SUPPLEMENTS:

VIDEO CLIPS: No sound: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdQgv4Og71E (1:05-1:45), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFdfssf2MNc (1:15-1:30)

RELATIONSHIP INDEX CARDS:

FATHER/MOTHER AND DAUGHTER/SON

BEST FRIENDS

TEACHER/STUDENT

OLDER BROTHER/SISTER AND YOUNGER BROTHER/SISTER

KING/QUEEN AND SERVANT

STRANGERS

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CONTENTLESS SCENE:

CHARACTER 1: What do you think about that?

CHARACTER 2: I think it could be better.

CHARACTER 1: I kinda like it the way it is.

CHARACTER 2: Whatever you say.

Lesson 3: Emotional Recall

“Teaching kids to count is fine, but teaching them what counts is best.” –Bob Talbert

To redeem myself from the rather awkward Voice lesson, I decided once again to begin my lesson with a traditional classroom setup. However, my lesson would soon turn to less traditional techniques, so I tried not to let this setup intimidate me.

Unfortunately, I was rather nervous because of my failed lesson from the previous week, so I still felt that I was pretty rough around the edges in my delivery. I felt that my transitions were forced and once in awhile I would skip steps and have to back track when necessary. I tried to justify my backtracking, but I still felt unnatural. I know that I am a better teacher than that, so I was ashamed to have two poor lessons in a row.

My greatest confidence was found in the fact that my students were engaged. They loved getting to read the scripts with friends, and many went above and beyond so much as to memorize their lines! I walked around the classroom and asked each partnership what changes they could make to their voice or bodies to tell a different story by portraying different emotions. They showed off their abilities with bright smiles and giggly voices. A few of the groups consistently beckoned for me to come over and watch them practice. I even had more than one group ask to perform first!

In the end, although I didn’t feel completely confident at the beginning, I felt that the lesson ended very well. Every student seemed to enjoy his or herself at least a little during the lesson! I was very proud of my students and how eager they were to learn more!

The biggest challenge for me up to this point was knowing what my students needed to be able to learn effectively. Through trial and error, I finally was beginning to see how to help my students to be eager to learn.

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LESSON PLAN:

Casey Greenwood

BYU Arts Bridge

4^th Grade

LESSON 3: Emotional Recall

EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVE: Students will demonstrate their ability to apply emotion into scripts by writing and performing a short scene with a partner.

MATERIALS NEEDED: Short scenes, paper

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HOOK: Have the students write on a sheet of paper an emotion that they have felt recently. Next, have them write down what happened that made them feel that way. Invite a few students to share what they wrote, and ask them to show the class what that emotion could look like. After a few students have shared, have everyone recreate the emotion that he or she wrote down all together.

Step 1:

Transition: Receiving examples from the students’ emotions, ask questions such as: What emotions do you enjoy feeling? What emotions do you not like to feel? What makes you feel scared/excited/angry, etc.?

Step 2:

Guided Practice: Have the students close their eyes. Invite them to imagine that they are just getting home from school and begin their usual post-school fun activities. Suddenly, their mom or dad comes in and announces that they have to stop whatever they are doing and do the dishes right now.

Step 3:

Discussion: Ask the students questions such as: How would you feel in this situation? How would you feel if, instead of asking you to do the dishes, your mom or dad came home with your favorite treat?

Step 4:

Checking for Understanding: Have each student write another event on a sheet of paper that made him or her feel an emotion. Gather the papers and have the students get with a partner. Give two papers to each partnership, and invite them to discuss how this event could make them feel. Next, invite the students to show each other what that emotion might look like using their bodies, and invite them to come up with something that someone might say in that situation to show how he or she is feeling.

Step 5:

Group Practice: Give each partnership a simple, short script. Have the students decide who will read for which character, and after reading through the scene, have them discuss how each character might be feeling. Have them read the scene aloud, incorporating these newfound emotions into their voices and body language throughout the scene.

Step 6:

Assessment: Have each partnership write a short scene based on emotions from events in their own lives. Each partnership will perform their scene for the class.

Step 7:

Conclusion: Ask students questions such as: Why is it important to learn about our emotions? Answers may include: So that we can recognize, understand, and control them, etc. How can learning about our own emotions help us in our relationships with others? Answers may include: So that we can understand others and help them if they are feeling a certain way, etc.

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LESSON SUPPLEMENTS:

Scene 1:

A: Oh, no!

B: What happened?

A: I ripped a page in my mom’s favorite book! She’s gonna be so mad…

B: Don’t worry. It’ll be all right.

Scene 2:

A: No way!

B: I can’t believe it!

A: I’ve been looking for this video game forever!!

B: Now I’m going to have to wait another month to get a copy! No fair!

Scene 3:

A: What is that?

B: It’s my new pet!

A: That is not a pet.

B: I like it.