In Kindergarten, we have been working on using simple dialogue to act out stories from the Mrs. Wishy Washy series. Since the books are short and the wording is simple, it is easy for us to remember what the characters do and say. We have been focusing on using a loud, expressive voice to show how our characters feel. We also are beginning to work on Public Speaking in Kindergarten. We will practice standing up in front of a group and introducing ourselves as well as learning about volume and eye contact. Students study Public Speaking at every grade level at Whittemore, and Kindergarten is where it all begins! Check out the above photos showing Kindergarten students in action as they practice beginning public speaking skills while identifying character and setting in the pictures they made using the computer program Kidpix! Whenever we practice public speaking, we also have to practice being a good audience too!
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In First Grade we have just finished working on an interview project that connects to Waltham's Public Speaking Curriculum. Each student chose an adult in the school that they would like to learn more about. They came up with 3 or more questions that they would like to ask that person and then conducted their interview. After the interview, each student wrote a speech sharing one interesting thing that they learned about the person they interviewed. We used these speeches to practice our public speaking skills. Everyone did a great job with Volume, Posture and Beginning Eye Contact! Be sure to ask a first grader all about these important skills.
Above: Pictures from our in-role drama where we met Mother Goose and Detective Guy Smiley to solve the mystery of Who Pushed Humpty Dumpty??! In second grade we have been very busy! We practiced being good public speakers reading about our wild things that we created. We used our bodies to practice telling time (check out our pictures!). We worked on teamwork and created scenes about Jack and the Beanstalk with a partner. Recently, we have been working on symmetry! We used our bodies to practice making symmetrical pictures and then we did an in-role drama where we pretended to be planners hired to create two playgrounds that were symmetrical. Next we are going to start a unit on bullying. No matter what though, we always begin class with our warmups. We have gotten really good at stretching and balancing and it helps us focus for our drama assignments! Check out how much we're learning!!
Fourth Graders participated in an intensive in-role re-enactment experience about Immigration in the early 1900's as a tie-in to their social studies curriculum. During drama class they created characters for themselves, divided into families, came up with reasons for their family to be emigrating during the time period and made passports to carry on their journey. Along the journey they traveled in steerage on a boat to America, passed through Immigration and Health at Ellis Island, sought employment and housing, registered their children for school and participated in a re-enactment of a classroom experience from the early 1900's. At the end of the 6 week unit, students created "graffiti walls" where they shared their experiences with each other. Now, they are working on writing and presenting monologues written as their character about their experience. They will present their monologues for their peers and on tape so that they can begin working on critical analysis of their public speaking techniques.
We've been really busy in drama class since school started, and I can't believe we are already almost half way through our drama year! As is evidenced by the slide show, First Grade has been busy acting out stories in a variety of ways. So far we have made puppets for the story of Little Red Riding Hood, talked about setting with The Old Lady who Swallowed the Trout and The Mitten, practiced math and counting by creating our own addition and subtraction plays and acting out the book, One Was Johnny, practiced stealth and sneaking so we could be better ninjas than, Wink, The Ninja Who Wanted to be Noticed and created characters from The Three Billy Goats Gruff! Reading books can be a lot of fun, but acting out the adventures the characters have is even more fun! Many of these books are available in our school library. Maybe you want to check them out and let your first grader show you how to "dive into" a good story!
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Mrs. CharlesMrs. Charles has been teaching drama for 17 years in the Waltham Public School system. She holds a Bachelors Degree from Hofstra University with a major in Drama and a minor in Russian, and a Masters Degree in Theatre Education from Emerson College. She is also dual certified in Performing Arts K-12 and Elementary Education. Mrs. Charles has worked as both an actor and theatre technician for local and regional theatre companies in New York, Virginia and Massachusetts. Archives
October 2016
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