Dimon Elementary, Year One
Lawson – Jen Weisphal
Learning Objective/Exit Outcomes:
- Students will use improv skills to accurately explain the knowledge they have of visual art techniques.
- Students will listen and respond appropriately, forming complete thoughts and sentences.
- Students will collaborate to summarize the information learned about Yayoi Kusama.
- Students will appropriately sequence events in the life of Yayoi Kusama using releveant facts.
State Standards:
VA5CN.1 Investigate and discover the personal relationships of artists to community, culture, and the world through making and studying art.
- Explore and interpret ideas, themes, and events from diverse cultures of the past and present to inform one’s own work.
- Discuss how social, political, and/or cultural events inspire art.
- Recognize how art can be used to inform or change beliefs, values, or behaviors in an individual or society.
- Investigate ways in which professional artists contribute to the development of their communities (e.g., architects, painters, photographers, interior and fashion designers, educators, museum educators).
VA5.CN.3 Develop life skills through the study and production of art (e.g. collaboration, creativity, critical thinking, communication).
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.
ELAGSE5SL2 Summarize a written text read aloud or information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally.
ELAGSE5SL4 Report on a topic or text or present an opinion, sequencing ideas logically and using appropriate facts and relevant, descriptive details to support main ideas or themes; speak clearly at an understandable pace.
Integration Area/Subject:
Visual Arts and ELA
Materials/Playing Space:
Playing space in front of classroom
Description:
The PAIR Specialist asked students to share what they new about Improv. The goal answer to the question is that improv is a form of theatre arts where the content is completely made up on the spot. The improv game, Conducted Story, is a game where a group of students creates a story beginning as any good story does with “Once Upon A Time.” The ‘conductor’ of the story is the teacher. The teacher controls how long a student will add onto the story by pointing to them and when the teacher pulls her hand back, the student must stop telling their story, even if it is in the middle of a sentence!
Pointing to another student, the story continues on where the last student left off. Student 1: “Once upon a time there was a lion who was walking down” Student 2: “the street to the circus. Then he ran into a girl lion and he” Student 3:, etc, etc. The PAIR Specialist emphasized that this story would be unique and exceptionally creative because it was not being created by a single storyteller, but by many, which means that the story would be something even greater because of the collaboration. The PAIR Specialist also emphasized the importance of listening to make sure that the story stays connected and makes sense from beginning to end.
The PAIR Specialist chose five students to create a story that had never been told before and would never be told again. This story had no boundaries and was a completely improved creation.
The teacher then chose five more students to play Conducted Story, but this time added a layer of information to the story being told. This layer was to create a story about a house. Within this story, the students identified shapes that create a house.
A third round was played on the artist the class had recently learned about: Yayoi Kusama. This round was focused directly on what the students remembered about the life and art of Kusama. This round especially connects to the ELA standards for summarizing information, sequencing ideas logically, and using relevant information as a group collaborating to retell the life story of Yayoi Kusama.
Notes:
It is important when using Conducted Story to continue to encourage creative ideas around the core subject matter being used within the story. Keeping creativity within the story allows for a fully arts integrated lesson.