Archive for September, 2007

Co-operation Drama Game – A Family Portrait

Monday, September 24th, 2007

Organisation:

This game is suitable for most ages. No equipment is needed. The teacher just has to organise to children in groups of five. This game is suitable to be played in space where groups are not touching and interfering with each other.

  • The idea is to get the students to act out and be in a family portrait. This portrait however is not a ‘normal’ family portrait. It is a portrait of a ‘theme’ that the teacher suggests. For example it could be a portrait of cats. The teacher calls out ‘a family of cats’ and every group has to freeze in their positions.
  • Each group has only 30 seconds to a minute to form their final portrait of the chosen theme.
  • Try giving each group of five an envelop with a family they have to act out for the rest of the class. Ideas could include fish, royal families, sports players, super heroes.
  • Each group has a practice then the other groups in the class have to see if they can guess what the other group is a family of.

Try:

Send one group out of the classroom, while the other groups take a pose of something. Each group has a go at going out of the room and then coming back to guess.

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Walk of Life – Drama Teaching Game

Monday, September 24th, 2007

The purpose of this game is to provide the opportunity for children to use their imagination and to break down any barriers and to have fun. It is appropriate for all year levels and ages.

Set the scene for this activity by discussing the different ways people and animals move. For example, a soldier walks upright with arms and legs straight, a snakes slithers across the ground.

Teaching Sequence:

The class makes two even parallel lines that face each other. Whisper a type of walk into a child’s ear. They start at the beggining of the two lines and ‘walk’ between them to the end. The rest of the class try to guess the walker’s identity.

Some ideas:

  • A bride walking down the aisle
  • Someone walking through some thick mud
  • A proud lion
  • Someone who has sore feet from walking in high heels
  • A spy
  • Someone who is walking into cold water at the beach

Once children have played this game for a while, encourage children to create their own ‘walking roles’

Reference:

Energizers and Other Great Co-operative Activities for All Ages. Quest Books: Written and compiled by Carol Apacki

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Anything Fabric – Game Idea for Teaching Drama

Monday, September 24th, 2007

This game can be played with children 5+ and the only resource needed is a large piece of fabric. The purpose of the game is to stimulate children’s imagination by encouraging multiple answers for the same question.

Teaching Sequence:

The class stand in a big circle. The teacher shows the fabric to the class saying "What could this piece of fabric be? We’re going to pass it around the circle and each of you will show us something it could become." The teacher models, turning the fabric into something (for examples see the list below) and children have to guess what it is.

The fabric is passed from one person to another or the child who guesses the correct answer acts with the fabric next. If an idea is repeated, such as ‘hat’, the teacher asks the child to be more specific, (e.g. a turban or bonnet), thereby making the child to come up with their own idea.

If the pace of the game is moving slowly, organise the children into half or smaller groups. A variation of the game is to limit the ideas to a category such as clothing, or things that are the colour of the fabric.

Possible Ideas:

  • Superman cape
  • Nappy
  • Flag
  • Wig
  • Magic carpet
  • Picnic blanket

Reference:

http://www.creativedrama.com/theatre.htm

The ‘Selling Game’ – Primary School Teaching

Monday, September 24th, 2007

The purpose of this game is to develop creativity in children and to give children a chance to express themselves. It also encourages children to ‘think outside the square’ and think of non-verbal ways to communicate to others. It is a great game as no resources are needed.

There is one person (shopper) acting in front of the audience/class (they are the shop assistants). The shopper is trying to buy something but cannot speak the same language as the shop assistants. The shopper has to use body language, sounds, and actions to let the shop assistants (class) know what they want to buy.

When a class member gusses what the correct item is, it is their chance to perofmr. They don’t have to if they dont want to and they can choose someone else.

Possible items to act out:

  • Sunglasses
  • Stapler
  • Spaghetti
  • Roller Skates
  • Lipstick
  • Chainsaw

If there children who do not have the confidence to perform infront of the whole class, this game can be played with the class divided into two or in groups.

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Drama Beginning and Individual Activities

Sunday, September 23rd, 2007

Beginning Activities

  • Instruct the children to move slowly out into an area quietly and find an individual space. The children will know this in their spot because they wont be able to touch anyone else.
  • The children stretch up as high as they can in their space.
  • Crouch down as low as they can in their space.
  • Become as wide as they can in their space. Explore other ways of using space such as being as round or being skinny.

Individual Drama Activities

Read these instructions to the children. Roam children and praise their efforts and remember to enforce the no talking rule!

  • Use a drill and a screw driver to screw your name plate on your front gate. Make sure you get it straight. Remember to stand back and admire your work.
  • Become an elephant in a circus. Show how enormous and heavy you are by walking around. Now climb onto your stool and raise you trunk.
  • Make and eat your breakfast. What kitchen utensils and food do you use? Where do you go to find it? Sit down and enjoy it, remember to use your table manners!! Tidy your things away.
  • Climb carefully up a tall tree to the top branches. They get thinner as you climb higher so e careful. When you get to the top enjoy the wonderful view. A breeze comes along and the tree begins a sway so be careful. Climb carefully towards the ground. When you reach the ground show that relieved.
  • Pretend you are a mountain climber moving very carefully along a long narrow edge. Try not to look down. You accidentally look down and realise you are very high up. Try to climb carefully back down.
  • Walk across a pond on some stepping stones. Be careful not to slip. Your next step has some slimy moss.
  • Become a swan swimming gracefully on a still peaceful lake. Now become a frog jumping over water lilly pads in the pond.
  • Scramble up a steep sand hill at the beach. Now tumble down the sand hill to the bottom. Remember to brush the sand off.
  • Try to find your way through a think bush. Now do the same but this time it is during the night.
  • You and your sheep dog try to herd a flock of sheep through a paddock gate.

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Sheet of Music (OHT)

Sunday, September 23rd, 2007

C: Competency

S: Satifsfactory

D: Still needs development

Beat

     
Can explain what beat is C S D
Can echo a beat from the teacher C S D
Can play a beat to a song C S D
Can find a beat in a song C S D
Can use the beat circles to play the beat C S D

Rhythm

Can explain what a beat is C S D
Can echo a rhythm from the teacher C S D
Can play a rhythm from a rhythm card C S D
Can play a rhythm to a song C S D
Can find a rhythm in a song C S D

Pitch

Can echo a note after the teacher C S D
Breathes correctly C S D
Can sing the scale C G C S D
Can jump notes in the scale C S D
Can sing a whole song using the correct pitch C S D

More Games for the Classroom

Tuesday, September 18th, 2007

The Laughing Game

Divide the class into two teams and two lines. Instruct the children to stand shoulder to shoulder facing a person on the other team. Stand the children about a metre apart. Choose one child from each team to walk past each person in the row of the opposite team. The people on the team try to make the person chosen from the other team laugh or smile as he/she walks by. No touching is allowed. If the person walking down the aisle makes it to the other end straight-faced they join their team again. If they laugh/smile they must join the other team.

The Weather Game

The whole class stands in a large circle facing the middle. All the children face the middle, close their eyes and pause until there is complete silence. Remind the children that in order for the activity to work they need to be totally silent so they can hear what is happening around them, specifically the person to the right of them. As the children keep their eyes closed, one child (the leader) starts the ‘rainstorm’ by rubbing their hands together. The person on the left joins them and so on until the complete circle is rubbing their hands. When the leader hears the rain from the child to the right of them he/she starts clicking their fingers. When the whole circle is clicking the leader changes to clapping, thigh slapping, and finally stamping feet. After everyone is stomping their feet and leader starts reversing all the actions, one by one. When everyone is at the beginning at rubbing their hands, the leader stops rubbing their hand and holds the hand of the child on their left. Each person follows until there is complete silence.

Classmate Changes

This game can be played as a small group or as a whole class. Choose a class volunteer. Instruct the children to look at the volunteer very carefully and remember as much as they can about their appearace. The volunteer leaves the rooms, changes three noticable things about them and re-enters the room. If your going to play this game as a whole class, try choosing 3-5 volunteers. This game can also be played in pairs but instead of leaving the room the pairs moves back to back.

Wink (Murderer)

The children sit in a large circle with their eyes closed. The teacher chooses the winker. Everyone opens their eyes again. If a child is winked at, they must pause and then make a scene to show others that they are out of the game. The purpose of the game is to catch the winker before everyone is out. If someone thinks they can guess the winker they must say "I have an accusation". There must be two accusers to stop the game. Once two accusers have called out they count together to three and point at the winker (without discussing it). If they point to someone who isn’t the winker or to different people they are out of the game. If the point to the correct winker the game is over.

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Planning to Meet the Needs to EAL Learners

Tuesday, September 18th, 2007

This short essay refers to an Art Unit I taught with Year 6 children. During a Multicultural and Language studies I reflected on the barriers for an EAL student (English as a second language). Click the link above to see an example of the unit outline.

The Analysis

A major barrier in my unit is the New Zealand cultural content in my unit ‘Kowhaiwhai patterns’, aimed at Year 6children. As part of the introduction I showed the children different kowhaiwhai patterns and the children replied with places they had seen them so it related to their experiences. If an EAL child had never visited a marae or sighted these patterns they would find it hard to relate to. For example, they might have no understanding of the significance of a ‘koru’ and other patterns. The unit had a bicultural focus, so it did not include a multicultural perspective and not include an EAL learners cultural background.

I believe that learning is more meaningful when the child has had some prior knowledge or experience with the content. Unless a EAL child had taken notice kowhaiwhai patterns or visited a marae they would have no understanding of the content. They have may have noticed kowhaiwhai patterns in everyday life but not realised the cultural significance of them in New Zealand. The unit did not include symbols of their culture, so perhaps that was a barrier that did not reinforce how symbols could be used in art to represent an idea. Because the topic did not include the EAL child’s cultural background they may feel alienated and not inclusive.

Because the children’s responses were verbally given an EAL learner would not have the confidence to speak out infront of the class. As well as the children’s responses my questions and responses we also verbally given. By so much verbal communication with the teacher and children, an EAL may find it hard to listen and take in so much information, especially when they have no prior knowledge of the content. In the unit, the children watched as I commentated how to draw a kowhaiwhai pattern on the whiteboard and the children tried it out themselves into their scrap books. This is another verbal barrier in my unit. An EAL learner has difficulty following a series of instructions and has a short concentration span, especially if the topic is unfamiliar.

As well as being new to the children, Maori vocabulary will be very difficult to read and pronounce. These words include:koru, mangopare, rauru and puhoro. The vowels in the words sound different to English words, for example ‘o’ is pronounced ‘or’. An EAL learner will have trouble distinguishing certain sounds. These words will be very new to them and because they are words that are not used regularly will be hard to master. They may find it hard to correspond a new word, to a new kowhaiwhai pattern. Unlike the language of the playground, the language associated with school learning takes longer to develop – it is frequently quit abstract, and there are fewer concrete visual clues to support meaning. It is not only Maori vocabulary that may be difficult to EAL learners. Only art related vocabulary might be a barrier, such as pastels and. medium

The initial discussions were done as a whole class when the children were actually designing and drawing their artworks it was done individually. As I mentioned previously an EAL child would not feel confident to speak out infront of the whole class especially if everyone in the class has had some prior knowledge. In a couple previous placements I have seen EAL that do not seek help if they need it, especially if they are working independently.

In my unit, the children used different kowhaiwhai patterns to represent characteristics in the form of a family portrait, for example, mangopare means strong, so a child may draw a big magopare to represent their father. An EAL might find it hard to express an idea (family member) in the form of a symbol (kowhaiwhai) which was the big understanding of my unit. They may also find it hard to understand how colours might represent different moods, for example red could represent love, or green might represent a love for the garden. The teacher should be aware that colours in another culture could represent different ideas in another culture. For example red could mean love in New Zealand, but it could represent war in another culture.

The children expressed the ideas of their kowhaiwhai family portrait in an annotated draft of their drawing. An EAL may find not have the language structure to describe what is in their picture, for example, “My mum is yellow because she is happy”. He/she might have to to be given some language structures to use to repeat throughout the picture. An EAL usually makes mistakes with basic sentence structure if they are not given, for example, “you told me where is it” (Gibbons 2000). As an annotated draft was marked, it is crucial that an EAL learner knew how to express their ideas with the right sentence structures. The child may make grammatical errors not typical of a native speaker, for example in word order, word endings, tense or prepositions. By giving children certain sentence structures, they will find it easier to report back to the teacher and other members in the class.

My Emerging Teaching Philosophy

Tuesday, September 18th, 2007

Over the last three years of my tertiary education I have observed many different teaching styles and beliefs. Here is my teaching philosophy that is personal to me. As I continue with my education and teaching in the classroom my philosophy could be subject to change 🙂

My aim is to:

  • Create a positive classroom environment that encourages children to take risks and know that their culture, values, and ideas are respected and celebrated by their peers and the teacher.
  • Give children choices in order for them to make informed/responsible decisions and know that they have consequences.
  • Plan, implement and assess to programmes to relate to the children in an aunthentic context so it is relevant and meaningful.
  • Incorporate problem-solving approaches in the classroom and set up experiences for them to transfer their new skills to similar but different situations, particularly in my specialty areas in maths and ICT.
  • Use a range of range of teaching approaches such as co-operative learning, inquiry and other methods to foster student growth, encourage the inquisitive mind and the pursuit of knowledge.
  • Integrate ICT into curriculum areas where applicable and ensure that there is sequential development of these skills and experiences over the year, as well as continuing with my own development in this area.
  • Allow space in my programmes for students to reflect upon what they have learned, even if the reflection occurs in less formal ways.
  • Use the ‘Sports Education Model’ to foster team spirit, fair play in the classroom as well as integrating it into other curriculum areas.

Grouping Ideas for a Variety of Age Groups

Tuesday, September 18th, 2007

This is a great idea for grouping children at random. It is appropriate for all age levels and the energy level is moderate. It is a great idea to be played at the beginning of the year as children get to know each other, or as a quick drama game.

Tell the children to find someone who has the same or different..

  • Pets
  • Favourite T.V. show
  • Favourite sport
  • Number of brothers and sisters
  • First initial
  • Birthday month
  • Colour hair

These are only several ideas – the possibilities are endless! A variation of the game is to get the class to complete this activity without using their voices