Last week I was able to be back in the classroom, and this time we were learning about multiplication and playwriting. Just a quick overview of the lesson- first the students had a few minutes to write a quick story about a topic that they choose out of a baggie. Then we learned about a way to write lines of dialogue between two characters using the structure of ADDDAD (Action, Dialogue, Dialogue, Dialogue, Action, Dialogue). We talked about conflict in a scene, or a problem that has to be solved. This is where the multiplication came in. The students had been learning to multiply 2 and 3 digit whole numbers, so we incorporated a 2 digit whole number multiplication problem as the problem that they had to solve in their scene. After practicing using the correct steps to solve the multiplication problem, we turned it into a scene between two characters together as a class. After that, the students turned back to the story they wrote at the beginning of class to help write a scene that solved another multiplication problem. To read the entire lesson plan in detail, click here: The students really took hold of this script writing concept and came up with some creative and fun characters! We had characters such as Peanut Butter Joe who collected pillows, a little boy who was trying to figure out how to get to the moon, or a girl named Kendra trying to pay for her whole family to go to a pumpkin patch. This ended up being a really fun lesson, and I think that I am going to continue using playwriting in future lessons because of how much fun the students were having! Here's a look at some of their work both in solving the math problems as well as the scripts they came up with.
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Last week, I taught a lesson integrating physicality in performance and static electricity. I wasn't sure how this lesson was going to be received, but I was pleasantly surprised with how willing and engaged the students were to try some different things than they were used to. To see the full lesson plan, click here: A really meaningful moment in this lesson happened after the students had already done the physicality exercise with the chopsticks and moving as protons and neutron. As we were gathering together to discuss what we had just learned, all of a sudden, a student got really excited and started waving his hand in the air. After I called on him, he then proceeded to tell me all about how the way that protons and neutrons moved when static electricity was present was similar in some ways to the way that they moved during nuclear reactions. He then asked if static electricity was a physical or chemical change (the class had been learning about states of matter prior to electricity), and after asking him what he thought, he said that he realized it was neither because electricity doesn't change states. He was so excited that he was able to realize this as we were physically moving and interacting with one another as the protons and neutrons. Though on the surface level this seems to be really simple, I was so excited that he was able to make that connection because he was able to get up on his feet and experiment rather than just having to think hypothetically. To me, though a simple experience, it begins to showcase the power that arts integration has to provide students with opportunities to make these sorts of connections and engage with deeper levels of thinking.
I wasn't able to get any pictures or videos because some media release forms still need to be turned in, but hopefully I will be able to get some during my next lesson! |
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