PAIR

Professional Arts Integration Resource

 

Kindergarten

Kindergarten: Shapes, Kinetic Drawing

Dimon Elementary, Year One

Johnson/White – Meagan Cascone

Learning Objective/Exit Outcomes: 

  • Students will be able to identify shapes.
  • Students will be able to create shapes within a bigger drawing.
  • Students will work together for a common go.
  • Students will work on leading and following in equal parts.

State Standards:

MGSEK.G.2 Correctly name shapes regardless of their orientations or overall size.

VAK.CR.3 Understand and apply media, techniques, and processes of two-dimensional art. 

  1. Develop manual dexterity to develop fine motor skills.

VAK.RE.1 Discuss personal works of art and the artwork of others to enhance visual literacy. 

  1. Use a variety of strategies for art criticism. 
  2. Discuss works of art using art vocabulary with an emphasis on the elements of art.

Integration Area/Subject:

Math & Visual Art

Materials/Playing Space: 

  • Sheets of paper with a line drawn across the middle of the page
  • Crayons

Description: 

The students partnered with the person sitting directly across from them. Each pair received one piece of paper to use for their kinetic drawing. This piece of paper had a black line down the middle, dividing the sheet of paper.

The teacher then instructed the students to mirror each other’s drawing, making random lines, curves, and points. We had the students switch off being the leader and the follower. After a few minutes of doing this, we had the students put the crayons away. 

The PAIR specialist then asked the teacher to pick one of the pieces of paper. As a class, we looked at the picture and picked out the different shapes that we saw. We did this for a couple pieces of paper. 

We then had the pairs of students look at their own drawings. We had them point to different shapes that we called out. Some students didn’t have those shapes on their piece of paper and that was okay. It was all about being able to identify the shapes that they did have.

Notes: 

You could expand this into a game of ‘Shape Bingo’, seeing what pairs of students can find six shapes that are called out by the teacher first in their drawing. For this, have students use a different color crayon to trace the outline of the shape they have found. This game will also encourage counting. Count to as few or as many as you like. This is also a great introduction to addition, having students notice that when there are three shapes traced out on each side of the black line, that means there are six total shapes.

Kindergarten: Weather, Conducted Story

Brewer Elementary, Year One

DiPietro – Meagan Cascone

Learning Objective/Exit Outcomes: 

  • Students will be able to describe bad weather.
  • Students will be able to list the precautions they should take when dealing with bad weather.
  • Students will be able to put different types of weather into the context of their lives.
  • Students will demonstrate the ability to focus, concentrate, and use imagination.
  • Students will be able to be respectful and courteous in an ensemble.

State Standards:

S1E1. Obtain, evaluate, and communicate weather data to identify weather patterns. 

  1. Represent data in tables and/or graphs to identify and describe different types of weather and the characteristics of each type. 
  2. Ask questions to identify forms of precipitation such as rain, snow, sleet, and hailstones as either solid (ice) or liquid (water).

TAK.CR.1 Organize, design, and refine theatrical works. 

  1. Use imagination to create, revise, and/or add to ideas. 
  2. Demonstrate skills of the mind (e.g. imagination, focus, concentration). 
  3. Follow directions for and contribute in planning theatre experiences. 
  4. Listen to others with respect and courtesy in an ensemble.

Integration Area/Subject:

Science & Theatre Arts

Materials/Playing Space: 

We used the front of the room as our playing space

Description: 

The teacher sat the students in the front of the classroom and pulled up four students at a time. The teacher explained to the students that she would start the story and when she pointed to them, they would need to continue the story. If she wasn’t pointing to them, then it wasn’t their turn to add to the story. The strategy of Conducted Story encourages the students playing to listen to each other and focus on the ensemble to know when it is time to participate and when it is time to wait for their next turn.

The teacher told the students that they were going to talk about ‘weather.’ She would start her stories by saying something like, “The weatherman said we were going to have a big snowstorm today, so that means…” or “One day when all of the students were playing outside, the sky grew dark and big clouds started to form. Then…” The students would then fill in the blanks, either describing the weather or saying what they do when bad weather happens to complete the story. 

If a student was having trouble, the teacher would ask if they would like help from another student playing Conducted Story with them. This relieves the pressure of not knowing in the moment and allows the student to see another student as a helper, encouraging the idea that the group is an ensemble that works together to achieve the goal of telling the story.

Notes: 

Below are some additional theatre arts standards you could add in to the Conducted Story strategy. For instance, rather than just having students recite their knowledge through Conducted Story, have them show with their bodies and voice what if feels like to be in the kind of weather they are talking about. It is also very easy to teach students that, when they are sitting in their seats, that is the audience space, and when they are standing in front of the class, that is their playing space, thus connecting the technical elements of theatre to the classroom.

TAK.PR.1 Act by communicating and sustaining roles in formal and informal environments. 

  1. Use voice to communicate emotions. 
  2. Use body to communicate emotions. 

TAK.PR.2 Execute artistic and technical elements of theatre. 

  1. Identify playing space and audience space.

Kindergarten: Number Recognition, Snowball

Dimon Elementary, Year One

Johnson/White – Meagan Cascone

Learning Objective/Exit Outcomes: 

  • Students will be able to recognize numbers 1-9.
  • Students will be able to write numbers 1-9.
  • Students will be able to draw a representation of numbers 1-9.
  • Students will be able to develop their manual dexterity to develop fine motor skills.

State Standards:

MGSEK.CC.2 Count forward beginning from a given number within the known sequence (instead of having to begin at 1). 

MGSEK.CC.3 Write numbers from 0 to 20. Represent a number of objects with a written numeral 0-20 (with 0 representing a count of no objects).

MGSEK.CC.4 Understand the relationship between numbers and quantities; connect counting to cardinality.

VAK.CR.3 Understand and apply media, techniques, and processes of two-dimensional art. 

  1. Develop manual dexterity to develop fine motor skills.

Integration Area/Subject:

Math & Visual Art

Materials/Playing Space: 

This activity looked different in each classroom. In one classroom, the students remained at their desks while writing on the snowballs and then threw them onto different parts of the rug. While the other class had students up and moving the whole time. 

Description 1: 

In one class, the students were given a number by the teacher and they had to write that number down on a piece of paper. They did this a few times. Then they were given a different number and had to draw that many circles on their paper. 

For a challenge, the students drew three circles on their paper and balled it up. The teacher and PAIR Specialist went around and moved snowballs from table to table, so everyone received a new snowball. On the new snowball, they were told to make those three circles into five circles. Some students understood that they were just adding two more circles to the sheet of paper, however, some students put their own five circles on the paper. This extra challenge helped the teacher see where each student was in the critical thinking phase of math.

Description 2:

In the other class, the teacher gave each student something different to put on their paper. By the end of the finished tasks, nine pieces of paper had a number 1 through 9 written on them and nine pieces of paper had one through nine circles drawn on them. The students then crumpled their sheets of paper and moved to the carpet. The teacher told the students the could have a “snowball fight” until the teacher said “Freeze!” 

At this time, the students would each pick up one snowball and have to find their partner. The person with the number 4 on their paper had to find the person with the paper that had the four circles on it. Once all students have found their partner, the teacher had them get into numerical order, 1 through 9. They did this same process three times so that students were hopefully getting different numbers each time. 

Notes: 

Both classes were learning the same things, the activity was simply adapted to what would best suit the class and the teacher.

Kindergarten: Citizenship, Poster Dialogue

Brewer Elementary, Year One

Cooks/DiPietro – Meagan Cascone

Learning Objective/Exit Outcomes: 

  • Students will be able to define the rules.
  • Students will be able to differentiate between following and not following the rules.
  • Students will be able to act out how to follow rules properly.
  • Students will be able to engage appropriately as audience members.

State Standards:

SSKCG1 Demonstrate an understanding of good citizenship. 

  1. Explain how rules are made and why. 
  2. Explain why rules should be followed.

TAK.CR.2 Develop scripts through theatrical techniques. 

  1. Retell stories. 
  2. Sequence plot events for dramatizations. 
  3. Generate original ideas for dramatizations.

TAK.RE.1 Engage actively and appropriately as an audience member. 

  1. Participate as audience. 
  2. Identify the basic elements of theatre etiquette.

Integration Area/Subject:

Social Studies and Theatre

Materials/Playing Space: 

The students were at their desks for the activity. Both classes used pictures of following/not following the rules and one used paper with smiles and frowns and another used sticky notes and stickers.

Description: 

The teachers introduced the lesson. In one class, the students at each table worked with one another to decide whether the picture showed following or not following the rules. Once decided, they taped a smiley face or a frown on the picture. Once each group was finished, they came up to the front of the class and presented their picture and rule. The teacher asked them questions about what the picture showed and also what following that rule looks like.

At this point, the PAIR Specialist explained that, just like rules in school that we follow for our safety and to be kind to others, there are rules that are followed as audience members in a theatre. The PAIR Specialist then asked the students to show the proper way to follow a rule, also engaging the students still at their tables to act as they think audience members should act when watching other people perform.

In the other class, there were still pictures at each table showing the same things, but the students rotated from one table to the other putting frowny face sticky notes or smiley face stickers on each picture. After everyone rotated, the teacher reviewed the pictures and rules with the class, having students volunteer to come up to the front of the class to be actors and show how to follow each rule properly.

Notes: 

Both were great approaches to the material, it just depends on what works best with your class. One way to combine both methods would be for the students to stay in their seats and the teacher and PAIR specialist rotate the pictures around.

Kindergarten: Word Families, Body Percussion

Wesley Heights, Year One

Johnson/White/Oliver – Meagan Cascone

Learning Objective/Exit Outcomes: 

  • Students will be able to identify the word family a word belongs in.
  • Students will be able to recognize the “ot, at, and it” word families.
  • Students will be able to come up with words that fit in each word family.
  • Students will use body percussion to assess retention of core subject knowledge.

State Standards:

ELAGSEKRF2 Demonstrate understanding of spoken words, syllables, and sounds (phonemes). 

  1. Recognize and produce rhyming words.

ELAGSEKRF3 Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words. 

  1. Demonstrate basic knowledge of one to one letter-sound correspondences for each consonant. 
  2. Demonstrate basic knowledge of long and short sounds for the given major vowels. 
  3. Distinguish between similarly spelled words by identifying the sounds of the letters that differ.

ESGMK.CR.1 Improvise melodies, variations, and accompaniments. 

  1. Improvise simple body percussion patterns. 
  2. Improvise soundscapes (e.g. weather, animals, other sound effects). 
  3. Improvise using various sound sources (e.g. electronic sounds, found sounds, body percussion, classroom instruments). 

Integration Area/Subject:

ELA/ Music

Materials/Playing Space: 

The students remained in their desks for this activity.

Description: 

The four types of body percussion we focused on during this activity were clapping, stomping, chest drumming, and hand swiping. When the PAIR specialist set up the activity, she had a discussion with the class about different music terms that could be used to describe the different percussive sounds, such as volume, tempo, rhythm, and quality.

The PAIR specialist told the students that each word family would have their own body percussion sound. The “at” family would be hand swipes, the “ot” family would be chest drums, and the “it” family would be claps.

The teacher and the PAIR specialist would then call out different words from these families and the students would have to show, with their body percussion, what family the word belonged to. For example, if the word said was “mat,” then the students would do hand swipes. If the word was “sit,” the students would clap.

After several rounds of this, the teacher or PAIR Specialist would then call on a student. This student would have to show them one form of the body percussion. They would then have to come up with a word that fit in that family. For example, if the student that the teacher called on was using chest drums, the student would then have to say a word in the “ot” family, like “hot.” This allowed the students to determine both the family and the words that belonged in that family.

Notes: 

To more deeply integrate this lesson, have students give different words from the word families learned and write them on the board, in groups of four like a measure of 4/4 notes. Then challenge the class to “play” the word family music across the board. It is important to give the class a tempo to keep across the measures of word “music.” Then, play with volume, telling students to “play” the “ot” family words louder than the other words, etc.

Kindergarten: Rhyming Words, Bibbity Bibbity Bop

Brewer, Year One

DiPietro/Cooks – Meagan Cascone

Learning Objective/Exit Outcomes: 

  • Students will be able to identify the word family a word belongs in.
  • Students will be able to recognize the “ot, at, and it” word families.
  • Students will be able to come up with words that fit in each word family.
  • Students will use their bodies to creatively identify words in a word family.
  • Students will work on participating as an audience member while other students are performing during the arts strategy.
  • Students will work in small groups to successfully create an image of a word.

State Standards:

ELAGSEKRF2 Demonstrate understanding of spoken words, syllables, and sounds (phonemes). 

  1. Recognize and produce rhyming words.

ELAGSEKRF3 Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words. 

  1. Demonstrate basic knowledge of one to one letter-sound correspondences for each consonant. 
  2. Demonstrate basic knowledge of long and short sounds for the given major vowels. 
  3. Distinguish between similarly spelled words by identifying the sounds of the letters that differ. 

TAK.CR.1 Organize, design, and refine theatrical works. 

  1. Use imagination to create, revise, and/or add to ideas. 
  2. Demonstrate skills of the mind (e.g. imagination, focus, concentration).
  3. Follow directions for and contribute in planning theatre experiences. 
  4. Listen to others with respect and courtesy in an ensemble.

TAK.RE.1 Engage actively and appropriately as an audience member. 

  1. Participate as audience. 
  2. Identify the basic elements of theatre etiquette.

Integration Area/Subject:

ELA/Theatre

Materials/Playing Space: 

The students sat in a circle on the carpet for this activity.

Description: 

The teacher explained to the students that they would be using the word family “at” to begin with. When the teacher said, “Bippity, Bippity…” and pointed at a student, their response would be a word that ended in “at.” For example, cat, rat, sat, mat, etc. The teacher did this several times, until the students got the hang of it. 

The teacher then chose 3 students and helped them create a visual representation with their bodies of one of the “at” words. For example, if they chose the word rat, the person in the middle might make rat teeth, while the people on either side might use their hands to make ears on the person in the middle. She explained to the students that they need to remember this picture because if she comes around and says “rat” when she points at them, that this is the picture they must create. The teacher then pulled up three different kids and created a different picture with different motions for each. 

They now had a couple of choices for their responses. If the teacher said, “Bippity, Bippity” the response would be any word that ends in “at.” If the teacher said rat or cat or bat or one of the words they created a visual representation for the three students pointed at would have to create the visual representation. 

They then had created the basis for the game. From there, they could move onto doing the same thing for another word family.

Notes: 

For this age group, it might take a little bit more reminding or helping, but they really responded well to this game. As the students became more familiar with the rules, you could increase the speed or challenge them to create their own visual representation without the aid of the teacher.