Richards Middle School
Hodge – Jen Weisphal
Learning Objective/Exit Outcomes:
- Students will be able to correctly explain the differences in the three types of rocks.
- Students will be able to use communication skills to listen carefully to their peers.
- Students will be able to work together to create a cohesive sentence about subject matter.
- Students will be able to demonstrate effective verbal communication by projecting their voice and using diction when speaking.
- Students will be able to practice appropriate behavior as an audience member.
Integration Area/Subject:
Science & Theatre
State Standards:
S6E5. Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information to show how Earth’s surface is formed.
- Plan and carry out an investigation of the characteristics of minerals and how minerals contribute to rock composition.
- Construct an explanation of how to classify rocks by their formation and how rocks change through geologic processes in the rock cycle.
ELAGSE6SL1 Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 6 topics, texts, and issues, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly.
- Come to discussions prepared, having read or studied required material; explicitly draw on that preparation by referring to evidence on the topic, text, or issue to probe and reflect on ideas under discussion.
- Follow rules for collegial discussions, set specific goals and deadlines, and define individual roles as needed.
- Pose and respond to specific questions with elaboration and detail by making comments that contribute to the topic, text, or issue under discussion.
TA6.PR.1 Act by communicating and sustaining roles in formal and informal environments.
- Demonstrate effective verbal and non-verbal communication skills (e.g. rate, pitch, volume, inflection, posture, facial expression, physical movement).
TA6.RE.1 Engage actively and appropriately as an audience member.
- Identify the role of the audience in different environments.
- Analyze the relationship between an audience and a performer.
- Create guidelines for behaviors appropriate to a theatre experience.
- Model appropriate audience behaviors.
Materials/Playing Space:
Open space at the front of the classroom
Description:
The PAIR Specialist asked the teacher to pick a couple of volunteers to come up to the front of the class with him. The teacher played along for the first round to aid in guiding the students with how to perform Three-Headed Expert. The PAIR Specialist asked the group of three people (the teacher and two students) to tell the class what happens at lunch on any given day, however, they must answer the question as though they are one person, one ‘three-headed’ expert that will only say one word at a time from each ‘head’.
The class had a practice round to understand the flow of the game, both for the people playing and the people participating as audience members:
Student 1: “We”
Student 2: “walk”
Teacher: “to”
Student 1: “the”
Student 2: “cafeteria”
Teacher: “for”
Student 1: “lunch”, etc…
The PAIR Specialist then asked the class to raise their hand and share a type of rock. A student suggested Sedimentary, so the PAIR Specialist asked the Three-Headed Expert to now explain the identifiers of a Sedimentary rock. The PAIR Specialist then had the teacher choose another set of students for the following rock types.
The teacher then took over and asked a new Three-Headed Expert how a sedimentary rock becomes a metamorphic rock. As the ‘expert’ answered this question, one student in the group of three made a stop to ask what happens if the expert was explaining the wrong thing. This was a great learning moment for working together and fixing the problem. The PAIR Specialist suggested that the student who knew the answer was becoming incorrect should give a sudden exclamation such as “Wait!” or “No!” to clue in the rest of the expert to the problem and try to redirect the answer as best he could. The teacher then asked the audience to raise their hands for the correct information, thus giving the Three-Headed Expert a little extra support.
Notes:
It’s helpful to talk to the class about what an audience needs to do with respect to the performers. Students generally know from previous experience, but having a reminder before the game starts helps the audience start on the right foot with them.
Making sure students know that projection and diction are part of theatre performance will aid in their success when speaking in a large group. Not only do they need the other two players to hear their word, but the audience needs to be able to hear as well to raise their hands to help should things begin to go off course.