Key Elementary Year One
Register/Szabo- Austin Sargent
Learning Objective/Exit Outcomes:
- Students will brainstorm the many uses of peanuts.
- Students will identify products that could be made using peanuts.
- Students will use improv to brainstorm their own peanut-ventions.
- Students will listen to the ideas of their class and build upon them.
Standards:
SS1H1 Read about and describe the life of historical figures in American history.
- Identify the contributions made by these figures: Benjamin Franklin (inventor/author/ statesman), Thomas Jefferson (Declaration of Independence), Meriwether Lewis and William Clark with Sacagawea (exploration), Theodore Roosevelt (National Parks and the environment), George Washington Carver (science), and Ruby Bridges (civil rights).
- Describe how everyday life of these historical figures is similar to and different from everyday life in the present (for example: food, clothing, homes, transportation, communication, recreation, etc.).
TA1.CR.1 Organize, design, and refine theatrical work.
- Use imagination to create, revise, and/or add to ideas.
- Demonstrate skills of the mind (e.g. imagination, focus, concentration).
- Listen to others with respect and courtesy in an ensemble.
- Identify basic theatre vocabulary (setting, character, problem, resolution, plot, beginning, middle, end).
TAK.RE.1 Engage actively and appropriately as an audience member.
- Participate as audience.
- Identify the basic elements of theatre etiquette.
Integration Area/Subject:
Social Studies/ Theatre
Materials/Playing Space:
Any carpeted space. Students can either sit in a circle or sit in their “spots”
Description:
This activity was used as an introduction to a topic that the students were unfamiliar with. Think of it as a big brainstorming session that can be guided/adjusted to fit whatever you want students to draw connections to. Some important elements of Improv to mention:
- “Improv is a skill that requires you to think fast and say the first thing that comes to your mind”
- “We have to listen to our friends so that we aren’t all saying the same idea.
- “When I point to you, your job is to tell me something you can make out of peanuts. If I point to you again I want a different idea.”
George Washington Carver was introduced as an inventor who used peanuts in his many inventions. Some examples of his creations were given to students as examples; shampoo, sunscreen, etc. As students were selected they were prompted to think of a “peanut-vention” and describe how that thing would be created/used. Other students could also add to the ideas presented by their peers by thinking of “what else you could do with it!”
The ultimate goal was to highlight how incredible of a thinker & inventor George Washington Carver was. Students should be able to identify character traits like creativity, determination, and resilience. You could also ask students about times in their life when they’ve had to be creative, determined, or resilient and transition into a writing activity.
Notes:
- Students will get very silly while brainstorming all of these ideas. Try to keep them reigned in by repeating an Improv standard of “Yes, And”. You could use it as an attention grabber, or a signal to move onto the next peanut-centric idea.