Dance/Drama in Science

One of the greatest take aways from my Drama/Dance classes at Brock is realizing that there are so many opportunities for cross curricular learning. Below are some of the ways that dance/drama were incorporated into science.

One of the most memorable activities from class was when we were each given apart of the digestive system and asked to create a movement that would represent our part. I was the gallbladder and so I made a motion that includes swaying and collecting with my arms while making a gurgling sound to represent the bile. We all stood in a line and played out our digestive system. It was fun, funny but also extremely effective in getting us to think about how that body part would work and operate and consider what was it’s job and how could we portray that. This drama lesson not only focused on the science expectation of investigating the structure and function of the organs of the human body system but also embodies Dwyer’s (1996) Learner’s Theory about how information is absorbed, processed, and retained.

• 30% of what you see
• 50% of what you write/draw
• 70% of what you discuss
• 80% of what you do/experience
• 90% of what you teach

In another science activity we were given a poem that related to the particle theory. We had to come up with ways to illiterate our poem using different movements. We created an interceptive dance to tell the story of the state of matter. We used narrative form where our choreography followed a storyline. We were using our bodies and specific movements to explain and understand the partial theory of matter. We examined how particles would move differently if they were a solid, liquid or gas. 

In week 5, my group presented on structures and mechanisms and used dance to describe major weather events. We used call and response, mirroring and canons to demonstrate the learning. In our action we used the strategy of a canon to have students show how a major weather event such as a hurricane or tsunami could impact structures such as city buildings. We showed a video of how an earthquake impacts a city. 

We then had groups choose one weather condition or weather instance, and show, using dance, how the weather condition had changed the way the infrastructure looked before. Students would present and then have other groups guess which weather condition they were showing.

Dance: Action Pak Resource

I have never taught dance and the idea of teaching the subject felt daunting. That being said, I learned about some excellent resources in class that would make the job a lot easier. One of my favourite resources was the Action Pak Dance resource cards. They are a series of action words as well as the elements of dance on colour coded cards. They are based on the principals of movement and help to show students how their bodies can move. These cards think beyond literal steps and doing something right. They give students a chance to explore, experiment and move in different ways. Words such as expand/shrink, melt, shiver, sway and dart are just a few of the 70 cards.

The Action Pak website also has several other really useful resources such as 2 books which connect dance to the curriculum and stand alone lesson ideas. They also have an assessment and evaluation book which includes rubrics, checklists, journal reflections and report card comment samples. Finally, there is a mini pak which has the 70 creative action cards in smaller size and 4 games that you could do with your class. Having these resources available makes teacher dance feel more manageable. 

In addition, Physical and Health Education Canada has some very simple yet effective dance lesson ideas. These lessons focus on how to incorporate dance into physical education. A simple example was to give students a letter of the alphabet and have them create a movement that goes along with their letter. The movement does not have to resemble the letter but it could if they wanted (example: A = spin around, B= clap your hands ect.). Then students would show their movement to the class and you could do the alphabet with each student doing their movement. This could demonstrate a progression of movement and the unique movements that each student came up with. 

This website also talks about why it’s important to teach dance. They list 5 reasons:

1. It’s part of the curriculum!
2. Dance educates students.
3. Dance educated the entire self and provides an ideal vehicle for students to learn physically, intellectually, emotionally, and socially.
4. Dance provides opportunities for cross-curricular and integrated learning.
5. Dance education creates balance within the educational program. 

These are just a few resources I found to be extremely helpful and I would recommend referring to them if you ever need an idea or supporting material. 

Drama in Small Moments

If you had of asked me prior to my teaching blocks where I thought I would teach more drama I would have guessed my junior placement. Ironically, I taught and evaluated more drama in my grade 7 and 8 placement then in my junior grade 5 placement. Often, drama had to be found in small moments and taught when the opportunity presented itself. I want to share a few small moment drama lessons where students were able to get up out of their seat and learn by doing.

Introduce Yourself: On my first day teaching grade 5 my associate teacher had his class sit in a big circle. Instead of introducing themselves using only words he had them tell me their name, stand in the middle of the circle and act out (using only their body) something that represented them. It could be something that they liked to do, a sport they played, or anything that they felt would describe or represent them. I was then given the task of guessing what they were doing and they would tell me a little bit about it. Students were giddy and excited for their turn. One of the learning goals was to really exaggerate their motions so that the audience could see each detail. It was also suggested that they act out their chosen topic in more then one way to give the audience several clues. My associate told them to think about their face and the emotions they could portray. Each student stepped into the middle and no two actions were the same. One student pretended to stick handle a puck, deke a goalie and score throwing his hands into the air! Another student sat cross legged, pulled out some tools and began painting her nails, pretending to blow on them to dry when she was done. A student stood in front of me, pretended to pull goggles over her eyes and then dove into the pool doing the front stroke. This activity lasted 15-20 minutes but was an excellent opportunity to integrate drama into the day. It was a small yet effective moment. My favourite part was getting to really know the students right away by engaging in an activity that was active, creative and fun! You could tell which students were more comfortable then others and which students pushed their comfort zone. It was a very effective drama mini activity.

The Invisible Box: In grade 5 my students needed bod

y breaks from their work. I taught in a portable and so the space was small and our entire day was spent away from the rest of the school. As a body break strategy we gathered the students on the carpet in a circle. The first student was handed an invisible box. I held my hands out pretending to hold this box and as I put it down in front of the first student I had my face squint as if to show it was heavy. We would give the class a theme and each student had to pull something out of the box that related to the theme. It was all done through mime so no words were used, only actions. On one occasion the theme was tools you would use around the house. A student would pretend to reach their arm deep into the box and struggle to pull something out. Then they would begin to act out using a hammer. Once they were done, they would pretend to pass the box to the next person. Again, this activity promoted a lot of laughter, choice in what the student was going to act out and the use of their bodies. Some students chose to remain seats and use their arms and face while others stood up, used their whole bodies and acted out an entire scene with their tool. Again this activity lasted 15-20 minutes but brought drama into our portable. You could make this more specific by making the theme match your learning. For example, if you started a science unit you might ask the students to pull their science equipment out of the box like a microscope, goggles ect.

Slow Motion: When I arrived at my grade 5 block I was tasked with teaching descriptive writing in language. A writing strategy that I introduced was slow motion writing which is where students pick a moment in time and write about it frame by frame to create the image of something happening in slow motion. Students are trying to create suspense and excitement while describing in extreme detail the moment. This was a difficult concept for students to grasp because they wanted to retell a sequence of events instead of slowing down one moment. I turned to drama to help me teach this writing strategy. The first group assignment was to describe the moment when you’re playing tag and the person who is ‘It” is about to catch you. I asked students to act out this moment in slow motion considering what they’d see, hear, smell and feel. Many of them used a face of surprise when they slowly turned their head over their shoulder to see they were being chased. They chose actions such as wiping sweat off of their forehead or slipping after trying to turn away quickly. Most of them included a person saying very slowly you “You’re ittttttt!”. By acting it out and having a group to collaborate with, students were able to really understand all the details they could describe in a single moment. By creating tension or excitement with their bodies they could then go back and write about it. This activity was a great way to use drama to support and teach another subject such as language. 

Final Week: Math Post Week 6

This week is the final week of first semester. It has gone by very fast as it was compacted into only 6 weeks. This is very different then the first year format as we have attended each subject twice weekly and have been given far more independent learning. It has been a challenging but very valuable experience. In math, we have covered a different theme each week and combined that with online modules that support the topic and allow students to explore further and reflecting using online forum posts. We’ve also been writing weekly blog posts about our experiences and things we’ve taken away from the lessons.

This week in class we discussed assessment in math. Class started with a video called Mr. D which is a short comedy skit which looks at how we assess students. Our professor used this video to give us some important tips.

1) Trim the Fat

2) Skip It

3) Grades Create Anxiety

4) Focus on Comments

Trim the fat means focus on one thing at a time. Overloading students with tests and quizzes that evaluate too much will not benefit the students or the educator so attempt to focus on one standard at a time. Skip it means to focus on things that will further the learning. Sometimes we can get caught up with doing activities just for the sake of it but as educators we have to be constantly asking the question what purpose will this serve? Don’t waste time filling a page but make sure what you are evaluating is relevant. This is also important in time management for a teacher because if we are focusing on what is relevant we will make sure our workload is effective and reasonable. The third point is the fact that grades do create anxiety but inaccurate grades can also create anxiety. This means grade with purpose and ensure you have the time to mark properly. The final tip is focus on comments! Grades are just a number and this will not help students improve their work. Detailed comments on student work will allow students to see what they did well and where they can improve so that their future work can be better. I think these tips are good reminders for teachers about what assessment is supposed to be about and where to focus our energy.

The final thing we did this week was a webinar on reporting. This was an extremely useful webinar as I’ve never written any marks or comments for report cards. The biggest take away for me was to be specific and give examples of student work. It was also mentioned that writing in a clear manner was essential to ensure both student and parent understand what is being written. There were some excellent resources provided and I really valued getting an opportunity to distinguish between an effective comment and an ineffective comment. 

Language Learning Object

This is my language learning object for grade 5 students.

Integrated Learning: Math Post Week 5

©Counton. 2016. 

During class in week 5 we explored online mathematical resources and blended learning. Blended learning is where students learn from in person instruction and digital and online media. We started class by playing an online game called Count On. This game allows students to pick a level of difficulty and attempt to solve math problems using the numbers provided. Playing this game gave me time to explore working with numbers and allowed me to make as many mistakes as I needed to figure out the correct answer. In previous weeks we have talked about allowing students a platform to make mistakes and develop their brains. Online games are an excellent resource where students can actively participate, feel no pressure or embarrassment for their results and try different pathways to an answer.

A really useful teacher resource we learned about was the SAMR Model. SAMR stands for substitution, augmentation, modification and redefinition. This model breaks down the different ways we can integrate technology into our classrooms. Substitution is the idea that technology performs the same task or activity you would do in your classroom without it. This would be like printing a worksheet out and completing it. In this case there is no change in the way the students would learn and the way in which they would display their abilities. Augmentation is described as technology that performs common tasks such as completing a google form instead of a hardcopy quiz. The function of learning and assessment in the same but technology serves a minimal purpose such as saving paper. Modification is where technology is going beyond everyday tasks and actually changes the learning. An example of this would be allowing the students multiple ways to display their learning such as an audio recording or a piece of music. Technology assists the learning and changes the way it can be assessed. Redefinition is when technology allows for tasks that were previously inconceivable such as creating a documentary on a specific topic and Skyping with resources around the world. Without technology something like this would be impossible and we would be confined to resources that we have in our classroom.

©SAMR Model. Edudemic. 2013.

This above wheel is an excellent resource that we were introduced to in class. This is a SAMR wheel which shows which type of technology can be used for the different options. This wheel is a great teacher resource because it provides technology options and how those options fit into the classroom. It’s important that as educators we integrate the right technology for the right reasons. We want to make sure technology is effective and forwarding the learning in the class. It must serve a purpose. This wheel helps teacher establish what technology will be useful for different situations. This week showed me that there are many ways we can integrate technology into math. I would not have previous thought technology served a huge purpose in math class but after experiencing it I can see that it could forward the learning and expand possibilities. 

Webinar Week: Math Post Week 4

©Patricia McEachren 2016. Rich Task. 

This week in class we discussed differentiated instruction. This was the perfect topic for class as it was my week to do my webinar. The resources from class were very beneficial as we were able to use them in our presentation. In our webinar we discussed the importance to knowing student readiness through assessment for learning with diagnostic and formative assessment. Then, we explained that once we knew student readiness we could determine which tasks to use in our classroom based on student’s needs. We wanted to make sure that our group members understood that there are many different learning preferences and using activities based on the types of learners in your classroom was very important. On our handout we listed a variety of options for differentiating learning such as group work, use of technology, varied directions, modelling among many others. We also gave lists on how to differentiate the product, content and environment. 

The three major ways we demonstrated differentiation in math specifically were parallel tasks, open-ended questions and rich tasks. We made sure to discuss the characteristics of each activity and how they were inclusive of all students. I think the examples we used were very helpful and after each example we made sure to discuss it with the group and identify the different strategies that were used. To close our webinar we provided the group a simple question and asked them to make it into a rich task. This gave us a chance to see if our group members were able to apply what we had just taught them and we seemed to be successful. We also had them do a google form as an exit ticket. We wanted to get feedback from the group and the exit ticket acted as that feedback. Finally, we provided them resources we felt were really informative so they could reference them in the future. 

This week we also watched the above video which talked about collaboration in math. The video talks about a study that showed students in Berkley math were failing when they worked alone. The students that were successful were students who went to study groups, discussed math and collaborated on their homework. Creating a support network in class is very important. We encourage collaboration in so many other subjects and I think it should be encouraged more in math. Often, the perception is that math is a solo subject when in fact students do better when they have each other to work with. Talking about math also means students will share their ideas and discuss their reasoning for choosing a specific pathway. Reasoning was also discussed in a video this week as an important skill for students to have.