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.