Day 4 - February 11, 2015

Ready for curtain!

We started off the day doing a name game using syllables.  You would have to clap out the syllables in a persons name while saying it.  Eventually we had to do it without saying names.  It got tricky but it was very fun.  I can see this being a great get to know you activity for a class that has never met as well as a class that has known each other for years.

Next up was the presentations for the day, and unfortunately this was also a very heavy topic.  HOWEVER this was a topic that made sense (MLK and the 60's equality struggle) to me because it was Black History Month AND the movie about MLK's peace march was recently released in theatres and was nominated for a few Oscars.  So even though it was heavy, this made sense to me.

The first strategy we used was voices in the head again.  After this we did Draw/Pass where someone writes/draws something and passes it on so the next person can draw/write something.  We made a speech about equality that we had to present to our classmates (which was fun because even though it was short, I got to be a character!!).  After this we did an activity called gibberish where one person will do something and speak gibberish while the other interprets.  This was funny becasue Dominika was speaking gibberish but I was pretty sure she was just speaking another language.  When i asked her about it she said that she was in fact speaking Polish.

Dominika Speaking gibberish (Polish) and Ashley interpreting

The last strategy was called Alter-Ego and its basically where you have to be the devil or angel on someones shoulders.  Jen and I were the alter ego's (I was devil, she was angel) of Rosa Parks (Alissa) as she was asked to leave the bus.  I enjoyed this activity because I got to play a character, even though it was for a short time.

Alter-Ego

 I think this could be a great activity to use because all kids understand the good/evil dichotomy from tv shows and moves.  I think all student could relate to this AND like the activity from a previous class (hot seat) this is a great activity to explore differing perspectives of people.

Next we talked about Multiple Intelligence Theory and the Creative Process.  I wont talk much about these here as these have been discussed in other classes.

Lastly we incorporated science into drama by learning about different insects.  We did a choral reading again but this time using boom whackers.  I am a big fan of music and hitting things, so a boom whacker is basically a perfect storm of fun for me.  For that reasons I will ALWAYS be careful using things like this in class.  I'm tempted to play with this stuff and i'm 25, what will a 7 year old do?  This was a fun activity though, any time choral reading is done well it can be a very profound and beautiful auditory experience.