Metamorphosis
My last lesson. I've loved seeing these students grow from little caterpillars into wonderful drama butterflies. And speaking of which...
My classroom teacher wanted me to finish up by assessing the students knowledge of life cycles since they had studied them already. I thought this was a great idea for students to explore a character moving through time and changing. So, after we had read the book we all became caterpillars and I narrated the students through a day in the life of a changing caterpillar. So many choices were made about what the caterpillars liked to eat, what it liked to do for fun, and what it's cocoon looked like. The students were shouting out the different stages and terms like larva and pupa without me having to prompt them. When they finally emerged as butterflies and everyone was flapping around happily I was sad that I would be leaving, but happy that they had grown to love drama and playing so much.
We finished off the day with a group exercise where I supplied the students with different stages of the life cycles of a pumpkin, an ant, a bee, or a sunflower, and the students created a tableau with their bodies showing the life cycle of that plant or animal. Not going to lie, there was some difficulty in getting groups together and getting the students to be together in one space, but finally it was all done. Most of the groups worked incredibly well together. They calmly assigned parts of the cycle and started rehearsing their parts. It was amazing, they knew what to do and did it with only minimal prompting. I did side-coach them, helping them think about their choices and how they can show the stages with their bodies. There was one group that was having trouble working together. So, I sat down with them while my classroom teacher helped manage the other groups. I told them that it looked like they were having trouble working together and choosing parts, so I was going to allow students who were behaving and not shouting or grabbing to choose a part. We went down the line, and the last student to choose (who was the student causing problems) was not happy with his choice. He started to throw a fit, and I calmly told him that it was o.k. He didn't have to participate if he didn't want to. If he couldn't work with a group, then he didn't have to participate. He chose not to.
The student groups then presented their work to the rest of the class in a stage and audience style as we went through the different life cycles. I could see the pride in the students eyes as they got to perform for the rest of the class and showcase their work.
All in all, a fairly successful last class in my opinion. The students were very sad when the teacher told them that I wouldn't be coming back. It warmed my heart that they had come to love drama and enjoy me coming to teach them. To leave off, here's some great pictures of the students' work.
My classroom teacher wanted me to finish up by assessing the students knowledge of life cycles since they had studied them already. I thought this was a great idea for students to explore a character moving through time and changing. So, after we had read the book we all became caterpillars and I narrated the students through a day in the life of a changing caterpillar. So many choices were made about what the caterpillars liked to eat, what it liked to do for fun, and what it's cocoon looked like. The students were shouting out the different stages and terms like larva and pupa without me having to prompt them. When they finally emerged as butterflies and everyone was flapping around happily I was sad that I would be leaving, but happy that they had grown to love drama and playing so much.
We finished off the day with a group exercise where I supplied the students with different stages of the life cycles of a pumpkin, an ant, a bee, or a sunflower, and the students created a tableau with their bodies showing the life cycle of that plant or animal. Not going to lie, there was some difficulty in getting groups together and getting the students to be together in one space, but finally it was all done. Most of the groups worked incredibly well together. They calmly assigned parts of the cycle and started rehearsing their parts. It was amazing, they knew what to do and did it with only minimal prompting. I did side-coach them, helping them think about their choices and how they can show the stages with their bodies. There was one group that was having trouble working together. So, I sat down with them while my classroom teacher helped manage the other groups. I told them that it looked like they were having trouble working together and choosing parts, so I was going to allow students who were behaving and not shouting or grabbing to choose a part. We went down the line, and the last student to choose (who was the student causing problems) was not happy with his choice. He started to throw a fit, and I calmly told him that it was o.k. He didn't have to participate if he didn't want to. If he couldn't work with a group, then he didn't have to participate. He chose not to.
The student groups then presented their work to the rest of the class in a stage and audience style as we went through the different life cycles. I could see the pride in the students eyes as they got to perform for the rest of the class and showcase their work.
All in all, a fairly successful last class in my opinion. The students were very sad when the teacher told them that I wouldn't be coming back. It warmed my heart that they had come to love drama and enjoy me coming to teach them. To leave off, here's some great pictures of the students' work.
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