Phase: | During/Explore/Explain |
Activity: | Four chairs will be set up to represent a car. The teacher will choose a driver of the car. The driver will pantomime a steering wheel and other items in a car: the window, the gas, and breaks, the radio, sunroof, etc. The teacher will have the student establish where they are going; to work, to get fast food, to the beach, etc. The teacher will choose students to enter the car one at a time. Each selected student will personify a character trait. Therein, they will be experimenting with physical and vocal choices through improvisation. Each student will get into the car by hitchhiking. The driver must pretend to pick up each student as they enter the performance space. The driver pretends to stop the car. The student with the character trait enters the car. The character trait is contagious and affects the driver. The teacher sends in a new student and character trait. That character trait is also contagious. The trait goes to everyone in the car, the driver and the first passenger. Lastly, the teacher sends in one more character trait. This character trait is contagious to all and all are experimenting physically and vocally with the character trait. The teacher can wrap up the session after all of the participants have caught the final trait. |
Assessment Strategies: | After each carload of students has performed, the teacher will stop the improvisation. The teacher then will go through each student that entered the car and ask, "What character trait did (name of student) have?" The audience's reaction is the informal assessment. How well was the trait acted out physically and vocally? Was the audience able to accurately guess each student's trait that they carried into the car? The teacher can ask the audience of students, "What physical and vocal choices did the student make that helped you decipher his/her character trait?"
|
Advanced Preparation: | The teacher needs to have a list of character traits. The students can draw them out of a cup or hat or the teacher can assign the traits as the students are chosen. |
Variation Tips (optional): | When teaching a novel or story, the teacher can use traits from the characters in the story to illustrate fully the traits and bring them to life. |
Notes or Recommendations (optional): | Keep a roster of students and check them off as they participate. This will ensure that everyone has a turn. |
Keywords and Search Tags: |