I Ain't Afraid of No Ghost
I had a month off of teaching because I was performing in one show and running rehearsals in another. Let me tell you, quite a business. The last Friday in October was the day I came back to teach so of course I had to do a Halloween lesson. We were still on our language arts unit, working on speaking and listening skills as the students describe setting and how that affects character. What better way than to accomplish that with a little scary? The Little Old Lady Who Wasn't Afraid of Anything is the perfect interactive book to accomplish all those things.
Apparently, when you take a month off though, the students forget the procedures and expectations. So, a one day lesson turned into a two day lesson because the first day was taken up by re-establishing procedures and reading the book. As we read though, the students got to practice the sounds and actions that the parts of the scarecrow make as we went along with the little old lady. And again, I was pumping those kids with questions about beginning, middle, and end, setting and characters. They're getting pretty good. At the end of the first day we had just enough time to create an orchestra of sounds. It took a little time to get everyone to choose a part of the scarecrow because we simply couldn't have 20 pumpkin heads. That took some finagling, but my classroom teacher and I got it sorted out. With the orchestra, they got to do their assigned sound and action as long as I was pointing at them. They enjoyed the game, even if some students didn't have their first choice for their part.
The second day I went right into it. The desks were already pushed back so I went for it. I had planned a guided tour, so the students could engage with the environment in character and see how it affects them. I first gave them a tour of my apartment to give them practice at a guided tour. They loved it. Getting to imagine a college kids apartment seemed like a dream come true to them. Then, I had them put on a red dress, a an apron and a bonnet and poof, they were little old ladies. We exited our cottage and walked into the forest, looking for herbs. It was quite the sight.
As we went along, occasionally I would call out a part of the scarecrow and see how the students reacted to it. The shoes and pants were no problem. But when we got to the hat they started to get a little nervous. When we saw the pumpkin some students full on screamed they were so in character. We picked up the pace and finally got back just in time to yell at the parts and make them a scarecrow. We then created a tableau of our finished scarecrow with the students as the parts.
My favorite part of this lesson happened to be an accident. I was trying to create obstacles and conflicts for the students to overcome as I narrated them through this guided tour. We gathered firewood and made a fire because of a students suggestion. But, when I brought them to a cliff, they reacted beautifully. Immediately, half the class flattened themselves against the wall as if the carpet was open air, and they one by one filed across the cliff. They created that themselves. I was thinking the cliff was in the middle of the room but the kids knew better. And the consistency was spot on. When we returned the students knew right where the cliff was and single filed it across, even though we were being chased by a pumpkin. Outstanding.
Apparently, when you take a month off though, the students forget the procedures and expectations. So, a one day lesson turned into a two day lesson because the first day was taken up by re-establishing procedures and reading the book. As we read though, the students got to practice the sounds and actions that the parts of the scarecrow make as we went along with the little old lady. And again, I was pumping those kids with questions about beginning, middle, and end, setting and characters. They're getting pretty good. At the end of the first day we had just enough time to create an orchestra of sounds. It took a little time to get everyone to choose a part of the scarecrow because we simply couldn't have 20 pumpkin heads. That took some finagling, but my classroom teacher and I got it sorted out. With the orchestra, they got to do their assigned sound and action as long as I was pointing at them. They enjoyed the game, even if some students didn't have their first choice for their part.
The second day I went right into it. The desks were already pushed back so I went for it. I had planned a guided tour, so the students could engage with the environment in character and see how it affects them. I first gave them a tour of my apartment to give them practice at a guided tour. They loved it. Getting to imagine a college kids apartment seemed like a dream come true to them. Then, I had them put on a red dress, a an apron and a bonnet and poof, they were little old ladies. We exited our cottage and walked into the forest, looking for herbs. It was quite the sight.
As we went along, occasionally I would call out a part of the scarecrow and see how the students reacted to it. The shoes and pants were no problem. But when we got to the hat they started to get a little nervous. When we saw the pumpkin some students full on screamed they were so in character. We picked up the pace and finally got back just in time to yell at the parts and make them a scarecrow. We then created a tableau of our finished scarecrow with the students as the parts.
My favorite part of this lesson happened to be an accident. I was trying to create obstacles and conflicts for the students to overcome as I narrated them through this guided tour. We gathered firewood and made a fire because of a students suggestion. But, when I brought them to a cliff, they reacted beautifully. Immediately, half the class flattened themselves against the wall as if the carpet was open air, and they one by one filed across the cliff. They created that themselves. I was thinking the cliff was in the middle of the room but the kids knew better. And the consistency was spot on. When we returned the students knew right where the cliff was and single filed it across, even though we were being chased by a pumpkin. Outstanding.
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