Brewer Elementary
Boddie-Baker – Jen Weisphal
Learning Objective/Exit Outcomes:
- Students will engage in collaborative discussion.
- Students will be able to state an opinion and defend that opinion with their knowledge of the content.
- Students will be able to recognize group movement as a form of storytelling.
- Students will learn to think critically about other opinions.
- Students will be able to recognize that all opinions are valid and should be treated respectfully even if the opinions differ from their own.
Integration Area/Subject:
ELA & Dance
State Standards:
ELAGSE5W2 Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly.
- Introduce a topic clearly, provide a general observation and focus, and group related information logically; include formatting (e.g., headings), illustrations, and multimedia when useful to aiding comprehension.
- Develop the topic with facts, definitions, concrete details, quotations, or other information and examples related to the topic.
- Link ideas within and across categories of information using words, phrases, and clauses (e.g., in contrast, especially).
- Use precise language and domain-specific vocabulary to inform about or explain the topic.
- Provide a concluding statement or section related to the information or explanation presented.
ELAGSE5SL1 Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 5 topics and texts, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly.
- Come to discussions prepared, having read or studied required material; explicitly draw on that preparation and other information known about the topic to explore ideas under discussion.
- Follow agreed-upon rules for discussions and carry out assigned roles.
- Pose and respond to specific questions by making comments that contribute to the discussion and elaborate on the remarks of others.
- Review the key ideas expressed and draw conclusions in light of information and knowledge gained from the discussions.
ESD5.CR.1 Demonstrate an understanding of the choreographic process.
- Create shapes and levels through movement.
- Create movement phrases with or without music.
- Create movement based on student generated ideas or feelings.
ESD5.CR.2 Demonstrate an understanding of dance as a form of communication.
- Use movement to tell a story.
- Use improvisation to discover and invent movement.
ESD5.PR.2 Understand and model dance etiquette as a classroom participant, performer, and observer.
- Demonstrate attentiveness, full participation, and cooperation with others in the dance learning and performance environment.
- Demonstrate focus, concentration, and self-discipline in the performance of skills.
- Apply knowledge of appropriate behaviors and skills as an audience member and dance observer.
Materials/Playing Space:
All open classroom space
Description:
Due to the spacing in the room, we played a version of Exploding Atom called Vote With Your Feet, where, instead of people moving to the center of the room to agree and to the outside of the room to disagree, we used an open space on one side of the room where students moved from wall to wall to agree or disagree.
The PAIR Specialist led the strategy, which was used to get students to express their opinions on a statement given. For instance, the teacher would give statements such as “My favorite subject is science,” “Cats are better than dogs,” and “Fall is the best season.” From the statements given by the PAIR Specialist, the students would move to the right side of the room if they agreed, the left side of the room if they disagreed, or any variance between the sides of the room depending on their level of agreement to the statement.
The PAIR Specialist encouraged students to take notice of what the movement of the class could tell them about the opinions of a group as a whole. As a movement strategy, it is important to derive meaning from the movement of the class and to create a story from that movement as a dance.
After each statement, the PAIR Specialist would ask students to share their opinion and reasoning. Should someone else’s opinion sway another student, students were encouraged to move if their opinion was challenged and changed. This encourages students to really listen to one another and think critically about their own opinions in relation to other people’s opinions and experiences. As students share their opinions, they need to give their reasoning why to make an effective argument for their stance. For instance, one student liked cats better than dogs because that student had a bad personal experience with their neighbor’s dogs. Another person said they liked dogs better because cats don’t care about their owners, but dogs are like best friends. Another player gave a counter argument about having a cat that waits at the front door for them to get home and loves to be picked up and held. As this collaborative discussion occurred, some people did change their stance on cats versus dogs.
From Vote With Your Feet, students then sat down to write an opinion piece on a topic given by the teacher. Having seen how many differing opinions exist in their own classroom and engaging in effective discussion to defend their opinion, students were then asked to write an opinion essay with as much detail as possible.