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Learning Objectives
2.0 CREATIVE EXPRESSION
- Development of Theatrical Skills
2.1 Participate in improvisational activities to explore complex ideas and universal themes in literature and life.
- Creation/Invention in Theatre
2.3 Collaborate as an actor, director, scriptwriter, or technical artist in creating formal or informal theatrical performances.
3.0 HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL CONTEXT
- Role and Cultural Significance of Theatre
- 3.2 Interpret how theatre and storytelling forms (past and present) of various cultural groups may reflect their beliefs and traditions.
English Language Arts Content Standards
Reading
2.0 Reading Comprehension (Focus on Informational Materials)
- Expository Critique
2.5 Distinguish facts, supported inferences, and opinions in text.
3.0 Literary Response and Analysis
- Narrative Analysis of Grade-Level-Appropriate Text
3.2 Identify the main problem or conflict of the plot, and explain how it is resolved.
Listening and Speaking
1.0 Listening and Speaking Strategies
- Organization and Delivery of Oral Communication
1.4 Select a focus, organizational structure, and point of view for an oral presentation.
- 1.5 Clarify and support spoken ideas with evidence and examples.
- 1.6 Engage the audience with appropriate verbal cues, facial expressions, and gestures.
2.0 Speaking Applications (Genres and Their Characteristics)
2.3 Deliver oral responses to literature:
- Summarize significant events and details.
- Articulate an understanding of several ideas or images communicated by the literary work.
- Use examples or textual evidence from the work to support conclusions.
7.0 General Student Objectives
- Students will examine feeling words and emotions.
- They will then represent the feelings of emotion in a dramatic presentation.
- Students will demonstrate and observe that a variety of feelings exist in all sorts of situations.
- Students will experience what it is like to leave something special and important to them behind; such as a family or home.
Lesson Plan
Preparation and Materials Needed
A large space or room is needed so that the students are able to move around freely. There should be no obstacles or clutter on the floor. This can be achieved by moving all the desks in the room to one side or even going outside if it is a nice day. The teacher will need the story A Movie in My Pillow by Jorge Argueta
Classroom Management Strategies
The class will be expected to be quiet and pay attention to all the leaders. From one activity to the other, the leader will do an “attention getter.” For example, the leader will say, “Clap once if you can hear my voice. Clap twice if you can hear my voice etc.” This will ensure smooth transition between activities. During the activities the students will be asked to be paired up by, for example, same size of their hands or different eye color.
Order of Lesson Plan
- Warm-up Activity
- Story A Movie in My Pillow by Jorge Argueta is read to the class while they are all sitting on the floor, “criss cross apple sauce”
- Main Drama Activities will occur (two)
- Reflection and discussion with the class
Reading Assignments/previous work and preparation in class: None
Motivating/Warm-up Activity
Each student will find a partner with different colored eyes than them. Then each student will pantomime their favorite room in their house that they grew up in. They will guide their partner through their favorite room, making sure to pay attention to detail and imagining that the items throughout the room are really there.
Presentation and Playing:
Activity 1:
Each student finds a partner with a similar sized hand. One student is Jorge and the other is his new best friend Tomas. Jorge must tell Tomas what it feels like to have him as a friend and how it felt to leave El Salvador and move to the United States. Tomas then tells Jorge all about the United States. He explains what school and the other kids are like. Tomas tells Jorge what they like to do for fun. After three to five minutes the students will switch roles.
Activity 2:
Students are paired up and reminded of Jorge sharing his favorite foods from his poems. Ask the students to remember the very first time they tasted either a favorite food or a least favorite food. Prompt the students to think of who they were with (mom and dad, friends, etc.), where they were (at home, in a restaurant, on the beach, etc.), what time of year it was (special holiday, summer, winter, spring, etc.), and how the food was introduced (served at a fancy restaurant, on a cafeteria tray, at a BBQ, etc.) Challenge them to think of as many details as possible. Let them know you’ll be asking them to pantomime as many details as they can to their partner. Allow the students one full minute to gather their thoughts. As they share with their partner, the partner continues to guess as many details as possible. After a few minutes, the students reverse roles.
Reflection and Discussion:
-Students will either be sat down and reflect and discuss as a group with the teacher leading.
-If time permits the students will play “Wagon Wheel” (The class splits into two groups as an inner and outer circle. The teacher asks reflection questions. The students answer to each other. The circles then move around and around each other. The students tell another student what they learned from the previous student.) It goes on as long as time, questions, and focus of the students permit.
Questions:
What did it feel like to be in a new place? How did Jorge feel when he moved? If you had a new student come into your classroom, how would you treat him? How would you feel if you just picked up and left your home and family without warning? How would it feel to not say goodbye to the people and things that you love?
Evaluation:
The teacher will evaluate the students by how they responded to the discussion and reflection questions. The teacher will also evaluate the students on their responses and participation in the activities presented in the lesson.
Follow up Activities:
Jorge had just entered our fifth grade classroom. He is brand new to the United States, our school, and fifth grade. He is very scared and intimidated because he doesn’t know much about the United States and he doesn’t have any friends yet.
The students will be asked to write Jorge a letter telling him about their everyday life and the fun things they like to do. They will describe school, social, and family life to Jorge. Then they will take time to ask Jorge questions about his life back home. This is a great opportunity for students to share about their life at home while learning about someone else’s culture and way of life.
Source: California State University, Fresno; D.O.O.R. website (Drama Online Outreach Resource)
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