SNEAKY SEAGULL

Focus on nasally, squeaky voice

Student Instruction: “The Sneaky Seagull loves to fly around the sky, stealing the food of other birds or that people leave unattended. And they have a squeaky squall! Their voices are loud and high and come from the nose. The sneaky seagull soars through the air and squawks ‘I’m really, really sneaky!’”

• • Invite students to repeat the phrase “I’m a sneaky seagull” in as squeaky a voice as possible. Direct students to pay attention to the air flow out of their nose when they make this squeaky voice.

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PLAYFUL ORCAS

Projecting voice from the chest

Student Instruction: “The Playful Orca travels in large pods or families throughout the ocean hunting for food and playing games with each other.

Orcas need to call out to their family members as they travel to make sure they all stay together. Their voices come from their chest and are very loud so that their family can hear them wherever they are.

Now imagine you are an Orca swimming through the ocean. Look at the vast ocean around you and call out to your pod members in a deep voice from your chest ‘Hello! Where are you?’ And call back to your pod members, ‘I am here! I am with you!’”

• • Invite students to place a hand to their chest as they bellow in a deep voice.

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GRAND WALRUS

Projecting voice from the diaphragm

Student Instruction: “The Grand Walrus is a big creature that can swim gracefully through the water, though on land he likes to just sit in the sun and not be bothered. But today, a sneaky seagull tried to bother him and steal his fish.

Now use your imagination to pretend you are the Grand Walrus being bothered by a seagull. Your voice is going to come from your belly (diaphragm). Get up from where your lying down and say in a voice from deep in your belly, ‘How dare you bother me!’”

• • Invite students to place a hand to their belly as they project their voice.

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GREAT BLUE WHALE

Sustaining/elongating voice projection

Student Instruction: “The Great Blue Whale has a beautiful underwater voice. It sings its songs loudly and its songs can be heard for miles throughout the ocean. The Great Blue Whale also swims slowly and gracefully and its song is very loud, and long and deep. Their voice comes from the depths of the ocean and it is low and loud.

Now imagine you are a Great Blue Whale swimming through the ocean. Look at the vast ocean around you and sing proudly from your chest: ‘I love my ocean! I love my pod! I love to sing!’”

• • Invite students to hold the last word “sing” for as long as possible. Extend the activity by inviting students to sing the words of the Great Blue Whale as slowly as possible, loudly as possible, etc.

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EXPERIENCE

1. Use text evidence or a dictionary to define the new term (both from the unit texts and the theater-based activities).

2. Make a sketch of the word’s meaning.

3. In pairs, students act out the meaning of the words. You may encourage students to write a mini-script for their actions in the space provided, or to silently act out the meaning of the word charades style. You may also prompt students to use the stage area to share their “Act It” sections with the whole class.

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EXTENSION

To distinguish shades of meaning among related words, students work in small groups, each taking on a different though related term, to act out. As a class, students discuss how the acting (and therefore terms) are similar and yet have nuance. This provides students with concrete examples of the small differences between meanings of terms.

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STEP ONE

From Still Image to Physical Movement

After using the Notice and Wonder Chart to analyze the painting The Great Wave off Kanagawa, begin discussing with your students elements of movement that they observe in the image.

• • Sample question: What in the painting looks as though it is moving? How can you tell?
  • Possible responses: The wave looks like it’s going up and it might crash down; the boats look like they are wading in the water and in the big wave; the clouds look like they’re moving across the sky.

Encourage students to continue making inferences about the painting.

• • Sample questions: What might be happening in the water that we can’t see? What creatures might be in the wave that we can’t see with our own eyes? What might those animals be doing in the wave? Are they hunting? Are they caught in the wave?

Extend further: If the wave is going up really high, what do you think might happen next? What do you think might happen to the boats and the people in them if the wave crashes?

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STEP TWO

Activating Imaginations

Once students have observed elements of movement in the painting and have communicated their guesses on what might happen next based on their observations and inferences, prompt them to connect their observations about the painting to their own physicality and experience.

• • Note: For this exercise, it is highly recommended to use calming instrumental background music that could be connected to the ocean. Music is a great way to encourage students to let go of their inhibitions, think openly, and move more freely.

Instruct students to begin Step 2 seated (either at their desks or somewhere on the floor). As the music plays, invite students to close their eyes and take a deep breath to clear their minds and bodies of any tension or stress.

Once students are still and quiet, use prompting questions to help them connect the image of the painting and its different elements to their bodies.

• • Examples of questions to help students connect their physical experience to the painting:
  • Envision the painting in your mind. What elements of movement do you remember seeing in the painting?
  • Use your imagination and imagine that you are in one of the boats in the painting. How might you feel? How does it physically feel in your body to be in the rocking boat and seeing the large wave above you?
  • How does the water feel on your body, your face and your clothes as the boat continues to rock in the water? Is it warm? Is it cold? Can you taste the water? Is it salty?
  • Can you imagine that you are the big wave crashing in the ocean?

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STEP THREE

Stand Up and Move

From their seated position, prompt students to slowly stand up in place. If they are still at their desks, you can ask your students to find a place in your designated staging and movement area. Remind them to do so quietly, with voices off and to keep their focus on the image of the painting in their minds.

• • Note: If your room is small for the number of students you have, you can have your students do this part of the activity one small group at a time.

Once students are standing, instruct them to close their eyes again to bring their focus back in. Invite them to take another deep breath to re-center them mentally, physically, and emotionally.

Instruct your students to open their eyes and first move their bodies like water in place. Moving in place will help students stay grounded and feel less self-conscious in the choices that they make. Next, expand on the questions you asked in Step 2 to help students further connect the painting to their imagination and then put what they imagine into their bodies.

Examples of expanded questions and prompts:

• • Remember what elements of movement you observed in the painting – the wave rising about to crash, the boats rocking in the water, the people in the boat trying to keep their balance and the boat from tipping over.
  • Move your body as if you are a person in one of the boats. Feel the boat rock in the ocean. How does that physically make you feel? Do you enjoy it? Are you seasick? Do you have good balance?
  • Can you change the expression of your face to show how you are feeling on this boat?
  • Use your imagination to pretend you are the wave that is rising out of the ocean and about to crash back down. How can you show with your bodies how a wave moves? How can you move your bodies as if you are large? How does water move in the ocean during a storm? How can you show that with your bodies and your faces?
  • Use your imagination to pretend as if you are an animal in the ocean during the storm. People can’t see you, but you are there. How does this animal move in the wave? How does it act around the boats that are in the ocean?

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STEP FOUR

Explore the Space

Now that your students are feeling more comfortable connecting their imaginations to their bodies, you can begin to prompt them to explore movement throughout the space.

Before students begin moving through the space, prompt them to bring their focus and energy back in first to ensure that they are listening fully to your instructions. Always remind them to be safe with their bodies and to be mindful of others as they move.

• • Sample prompt: When I say “Action,” move through the space as if you are an element of this painting. You can choose to be a person on one of the boats in the ocean. You can choose to move as if you are the wave itself causing the boats to rock back and forth. Maybe you’re an animal in the water that we can’t see in the painting. Think about how you will move through the space and feel that movement in your body.

As students move through the space, make positive narration observations of the choices you see.

Example: I see several big waves crashing on boats. I see people rocking back and forth on the boats trying to keep steady and from falling out. I also see some ocean animals swimming around the boats and in the wave.

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STEP FIVE

Strike a Pose!

As your students are moving through the space, instruct your students to strike a pose representing an element of the painting. You may count down on the beat of the music, stating “1 – 2 – 3 – Pose!”

• • Sample phrasing: I am going to count the beat of the music for you. When I say “Pose”, freeze your bodies in place, as if the water in the painting has frozen with you in it. We’re going to create a snapshot of the painting with our bodies. And we’re going to do this three times in a row – Ready? We’re going to pose in 1-2-3- POSE! 1-2-3 Find another pose! 1-2-3-Find another pose! And release back into the ocean. Move through the ocean again.

You can have them strike a pose several times until they are able to do it quickly, without thinking. The goal is to empower students to trust their instincts when making creative choices.

Remind them throughout this part of the activity that there are no wrong choices.

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STEP SIX

Wrap-Up

Begin prompting your students that the activity is coming to an end. Tie the closing to the image in the artwork.

• • Sample phrasing: And now the storm is passing and the ocean is starting to calm down. The boats are slowly becoming more steady and they stop rocking. The creatures in the sea are wading in the water and relaxing after the storm has ended. Find a space to stand calmly and quietly and bring your focus back in.

Invite students to take another deep breath to help calm their bodies and minds.

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STEP SEVEN

Reflection

Once students are back at their seats, ask them to reflect on their experience either aloud via class/paired discussion or independently in their journals focusing primarily on how movement helped them to further understand the painting. Additionally, they can add the information to their Notice and Wonder Charts.

Many students may begin to naturally make more abstract connections and observations (for example: “I think the edges of the waves look like fingers or hands”). Encourage this divergent thinking with further probing questions.

Before closing the activity, ensure to ask students to review the details they gathered about the artwork to name the central message, or what this text is mainly about. Use this moment as a formative assessment for a central idea.

• • Note: This will also help students prepare for Focusing Question Task 1.

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EXTENSION

Prewriting Activity for Focusing Question Task 1

Focusing Question Task 1 asks students to write a paragraph explaining how art reveals important characteristics of the sea. Students are prompted to choose one of the texts from the module thus far and explain how the artist, poet, or author used details to express a central message about the sea.

Build upon the “Strike a Pose!” activity by providing students with the graphic organizer on the following page. Here students can clarify the central message of the text and gather the details they will use to craft their paragraph.

You may decide to separate your students into groups depending on the text they chose to analyze for the FQT. After naming the central idea, students can create a tableau using supporting details from the text and share their tableaus with the rest of the class on the main stage if desired.

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STEP ONE

Help students learn about scripts

What are scripts?

Explain that scripts are stories written in the way people talk. Rather than seeing long paragraphs with descriptions of the characters as they speak, a script shows the reader and the actor what each character is saying.

Example:

Share the following example visually with your students:

Explain, instead of seeing the following as you would in a book:

John said to his mother, “I’m very tired and wish I could take a nap.”

“You can take a nap when you get home, but you must be ready for your sister’s birthday party at 4 o’clock,” his mother replied.

You’ll see,

John: I’m very tired and wish I could take a nap.

Mother: You can take a nap when you get home, but you must be ready for your sister’s birthday party at 4 o’clock.

Ask your students:

• • What similarities do you see between the paragraph and the script?
  • What differences do you notice?

What is a Dialogue?

Next, explain that a dialogue is a conversation between two or more people. In a dialogue, you’ll see characters taking turns speaking, responding and reacting to one another.

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STEP TWO

Read a sample script

Present students with the following script inspired by the character voices activity on the board. Assign four students to take on the roles of Seagull, Orca, Grand Walrus, and Great Blue Whale. Then, instruct students to read their lines to the class.

Script Title: A Day at Sea

Seagull: I am sneaky and quick! I am always looking for food and ways to steal food from someone else. How about you, Orca?

Orca: I am playful and energetic. I always want to play a game! Do you want to play a game, Grand Walrus?

Grand Walrus: I am large and grumpy, I don’t feel like playing a game. I also do not like it when sneaky birds steal my food. Is that the Great Blue Whale I hear?

Great Blue Whale: Yes! I am the largest animal in the ocean and you can hear my voice from miles away. I am very old and very wise.

Facilitate reflecting on the script with students by asking:

• • How many characters are in this script?
  • Who are the characters? Can you describe them?
  • How do you know this is a script and not just a story?
    • Note: Here it can be reinforced that there is only dialogue and the words come after the characters’ names.

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STEP THREE

Introduce the assignment and practice writing dialogue

Explain to students that today, they will become playwrights by writing their own script with a partner about a Knowledgeable Scientist and a Curious Student. Name that the role of the Scientist will be to explain why and how scientists explore the sea, and the Student will ask questions to help deepen their understanding.

Explain that students will get their information from the two texts they have been studying in class: Ocean Sunlight: How Tiny Plants Feed the Seas and The Fantastic Undersea Life of Jacques Cousteau.

Before your students dive into writing a script independently, practice as a class how to turn the content in your texts into a dialogue between two characters using part 1 of the graphic organizer titled “Let’s Practice Script Writing Together.”

• • Start with the two characters that will be in all of their scripts: the scientist and the student.
  • Focus on the opening pages of one of the texts. As an example, we’ll use Ocean Sunlight: How Tiny Plants Feed the Seas
  • Read the first two pages together:
    • “Dive into the sea. Now flip over slowly and look up. The water is shimmering with light – my light. I am your sun, your golden star. All ocean life depends on me; so does all life on land.”
  • Create a list of questions with your students that the character of the Student might ask the Scientist based on just these two pages:
    • If a student was learning about the sun and the ocean, what is a question that they might ask the scientist? Example Response: Where does ocean life come from?
    • What is a question the student could ask the scientist about the sun? Example Response: Why is the sun important to the ocean?
    • Are there any questions that the student could ask about life on land and the sun? Example response: Is the sun important to life on land? Why?
  • Model writing two of the questions in the Student dialogue sections on part 1 of the graphic organizer. Have students do the same.

Once you’ve created a small list of questions that the character of the Student could ask, write with your students the answers that the Scientist would give based on the text in the Scientist dialogue sections.

• • What answer would the Scientist give to the student when they ask where ocean life comes from? Example Response: Ocean life comes from the sun.

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STEP FOUR

Independent Practice

If time allows and you want to prepare further, guide students in creating collaborative character descriptions of the Scientist and Student. What are they like? Just like with the sea animals, how can those character traits be conveyed in the scripts?

Use the following prompts to create the character descriptions with your students:

• • What grade is the curious student in?
  • Does this student have any hobbies or interests other than the ocean?
  • Does the knowledgeable scientist have any hobbies or interests outside of their work studying the ocean?
  • What is the scientist’s favorite ocean creature?
  • What is the student’s favorite ocean creature?

Group your students into pairs to work together.

• • Direct them to the part 2, “My Script,” section of the graphic organizer. Instruct students to use the text to develop 3 additional questions the character of the Student can ask the Scientist, and 3 scientist responses based on the text.
  • Note: It may be helpful to assign specific sections of the text/or specific topics to teams.

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STEP FIVE

Presenting

Once students have completed their scripts, you can give them the option of presenting in front of the class on the classroom stage with one student acting as the role of the Scientist, and the other acting in the role of the Student. Additionally, you may choose to provide a props and costumes box to enhance the performance.

Before teams perform, review with your Community of Actors norms and agreements. You may wish to follow the performances with the Community Applause routine.

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STEP ONE

Review with your students

1. Prepare & Review:

• • Students work independently or in pairs to complete graphic organizers with facts about sharks and squids from the module texts Shark Attack! and Giant Squid: Searching for a Sea Monster.
  • Have students cut out their graphic organizer segments to create separate Fact Cards.
  • Gather all Fact Cards in a bucket.

2. Create Teams: Split students into teams for gameplay (you may wish to divide the class in half or create smaller teams). Have teams select a sea creature-themed name.

3. Explain the Game:

• • Members of each team will take turns acting out a fact on a Fact Card. Students have 60 seconds to act out their fact and for their team to guess the animal (shark, squid, or both) and characteristic. Students get a point for 1) a correctly guessed characteristic, and 2) the correctly named animal.
    • Note: All students are encouraged to act a fact, however it is recommended this is to be an invitation and not a mandate.
    • Note: You may wish to assign a student who does not desire to act the role of timekeeper or scorekeeper.
  • Model acting out the facts: Explain that, for example, one fact is “Sharks have a good sense of smell.” Ask students, “How can you show that with your actor tools/bodies?”

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EXTENSIONS

• • Have students take notes on the facts to prepare for FQT3 (use additional organizer)
  • Add a prop box for students to select from.
  • Create a tie breaker card in case your teams end up with the same number of points.
  • Add dialogue to the traditionally silent form of charades.

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STEP ONE

Learn about monologues

First, share with your students that a monologue is similar to a speech and is spoken by one character. A monologue usually has 5 or more sentences spoken by one character while others listen. The character might be speaking to themself or to one or more other characters in the story. A character might also recite a monologue to the audience.

Compare this definition with the meaning of dialogue.

Next, provide the following example of a monologue. As you read the monologue aloud, ask the students to collect Notice & Wonder notes about the piece:

Abby at the Beach

By Alyssa K (age 13, California, USA)

Hello, my name is Abby and I’m a part of the Klapper family. Every day of my life is basically the same. Wake up. Eat breakfast. Watch the family leave. Lie in the sunshine and chase squirrels. Family comes home. Get some tummy rubs and treats. Eat dinner and go to bed.

But one day, I heard them talking about driving to something called the beach… I didn’t know what that was, but then they said three words that made my ears perk up, “Let’s bring Abby.” I was so excited! I wasn’t going to be alone all day again.

I got in the car and jumped into Alysa’s lap, ready to go on an adventure. As we were driving there was a powerful fan outside the car window with a lot of smells.

Finally, we get to the thing called the beach. Why haven’t they taken me to this before?! The dirt here is soft and warm, and so easy to dig in. There are birds everywhere to chase and chase (huffing and puffing). Alysa is in a big pool of water that looks like it has no end. She’s calling me, and suddenly my paws are wet, but it feels so good! Oh no, a big moving wall of water is coming. What will happen if it gets me? I try to run away, but it’s too late, and it’s all over me. I’m soaking wet. I run back to the dry sand where my family is and shake and shake and shake and shake. Why are they yelling? They must think this is as fun as I do! The day at the beach was the best day ever!

On the way home, I heard them talking about another adventure, called “the veterinarian.” I can’t wait to see what that is like!

Use the following questions to help students analyze the piece:

• • Who is giving this monologue (who is speaking)? How do you know?
  • What do we learn about the character through this monologue?
  • How does this monologue compare and contrast to the Scientist and Student dialogue scripts we previously created?

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STEP TWO

Introduce the assignment

Explain that writing monologues can feel very similar to writing a paragraph. The biggest difference is that monologues are to be performed (beyond just being read aloud). Introduce the assignment to your students and explain that once they are finished writing their monologues will have the opportunity to deliver their monologues to the class in character.

To start, give your students the basic ingredients to include in their monologues:

• • Character: Scientist or Artist
  • Topic: Why I love to explore the ocean
  • Guiding questions: What do I love most about the ocean? How do I use creativity to explore the ocean as a scientist or an artist?

Performance (optional): Select one prop or costume to use when sharing your monologue with the class.

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STEP THREE

Learn about Scientists and Artists

Explain to students that one characteristic that scientists and artists both have in common is their ability to think creatively and outside of the box. Scientists must be willing to use their imaginations to find solutions to problems or answers to difficult, answerable questions. Artists, in turn, use their imaginations to create new worlds, characters and communicate ideas and perspectives that others may not have considered previously.

By exploring with your students how scientists and artists use creative thinking to communicate and solve problems, you empower them to consider themselves as both rather than either or. Many people are encouraged to believe that they are either artists or scientists; creatives or mathematicians. The reality is that individuals can be and are often both. In fact, some of the greatest and most famous artists were also scientists. Think of Leonardo DaVinci, or Maria Sibylla Merian who was a 17th century naturist, botanist and artist who painted beautiful images of the plants and insects she studied.

Share with your students some examples of the works of artists who were also well-known scientists or mathematicians. As students grow older, some may choose to pursue serious careers in the arts and discover that the arts are naturally connected to math and science. Music, for instance, is often considered as math that you can hear as the structures used to write, play, create and analyze music are all rooted in mathematical equations and concepts. Architects who create beautiful buildings must rely on math and science to ensure that the structures that they build are safe and sound for people to live in.

Have students draw a simple Venn diagram graphic organizer in their notebooks to chart the differences and similarities between scientists and artists. Doing this with your students will make the process of independent writing smoother for them. You may find after discussing the similarities of artists and scientists that your students will write monologues that express their desire to be both.

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STEP FOUR

Write your monologues!

Now that students have learned about monologues, explored the differences and similarities between scientists and artists, and also learned about historical individuals who were both, it’s time to write their monologues!

• • First, model writing a monologue from the perspective of one of the scientists or artists previously studied in the unit.
  • Next, allow your students to choose which character they would like to write as: the Scientist or Artist. Give them a 5 sentence minimum length for their piece since these are to be performed, and provide ample time to draft their pieces (use the graphic organizer on the following page).
  • Once your students have written their monologues and you have reviewed them for grammatical and punctuation, give them some time to rehearse and select a prop or costume to use. The use of props and costumes should be optional as we don’t want them to turn into a distraction. Again, the focus is on the performance and delivery of the monologue itself.

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STEP FIVE

Performance, reflection, and review

• • Prior to students’ monologue performances, review the Community of Actors norms.
  • After your students have performed, engage them in the Community Applause feedback routine. Ask them to share one thing about someone else’s performance that they liked and why. If you’d like for this to be more anonymous, you can ask your students to write about one performance that they liked and then also write a reflection of their own experiences as a writer and performer.

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