Yesterday we reviewed the parts of a story and the three ways actors add information to a scene (verbally, emotionally, and space work) before I read our nonfiction book, "On a Beam of Light, a Story of Albert Einstein" click HERE for review. I wanted them to listen for the different emotions and to pay attention to the different tempos I would use when reading the book. So we had a chance to talk about tempo and after reading the book also about imagination. We also talked about lasers and space travel.


After the class Becky Wallin, Cathy Douglas and I talked about getting clear on what our long term goals for the next 10 visits would be. Because next Thursday is Halloween, we will use next week for getting more specific lesson plans mapped out.  Speaking of maps, I was all over the map with the things we covered yesterday. I lacked focus but was excited about the nonfiction book I brought to share. Things were taught but for what purpose?

For our next lesson, I think we will write a story to act out using these new vocabulary words:

Appearance 
The way something looks

Axis 
A straight line about which something turns

Model 
A small copy of something

Moon 
A large object that revolves around Earth

Orbit 
The path followed by an object going around another

Revolution 
To move in an orbit while rotating around an object

Rotation 
To turn around a center point or axis (spinning)

Sphere 
A space figure that has the shape of a round ball

Memory games and paying attention.

We started with reviewing the elements of story - Characters, Setting and Plot.  

I had them get out a sheet of paper to write down each element as we read through the story "Empty Pot" by Henry Holt.   Here is a link to a review of the book.

After the class, Ms. Douglas suggested using a Graphic Organizer for next time. She also suggested using some non-fiction stories too. I'm excited. Today I found a handful of books that might work and they are on hold right now as I write this. A year ago I read a great story with an over arching metaphor for Jackie Robinson and his heroic struggle to be the first black professional baseball player called "Testing the Ice" written by his daughter. This is one of the books on hold and I'm looking forward to revisiting the book and to see if it will work for our class. 

I continued to use "One Second Party" - OH YEAH! and they remembered. 

Another suggesting Cathy recommended was at the top of my class time, ask the students to clear their desks. This will work great as a cue that it's time to begin. In the words of Jack Lemmon, "It's magic time." Cathy noticed that although at the top of the lesson, the kids were a bit noisy - "they were with you".

After we reviewed how The Empty Pot had two main characters and what each of their different "problems" were. We also looked at how all the children of the kingdom, as a group could be considered a 'character' in the story and that their problem/goal was to be the successor to the emperor. We analysed the plot and also talked about we the author's theme or message could be. We talked about honesty and always doing your best.

We then played two memory games. I tied the importance of memory to how an actor will have to remember their lines. We had 12 items on a small table and they had to look (or hear) at all the objects. (some of the kids went out of the room to just listen to us name the objects to make it more difficult)  I then taught them about "chunking" as a memory technique. 

http://lifehacker.com/5946606/improve-your-memory-with-the-chunking-technique

For our last game, I had 5 kids get up and stand in line. I gave them numbers 1 -5 in order. Then they went out and when they came back in - they were all mixed up. The rest of the class had to put them back in order. We played the game two more times with 8 students and then 11! The other kids got it right both times. I was amazed. 

I also taught the kids Meisner's technique how the only two things that effect an actor in a scene is what is going on emotionally with the scene partner (happy, sad, fearful, angry or loving) and the imaginary circumstance.  That's what I remembered at least from studying with David Kagen in L.A.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meisner_technique

Elements of Stories and establishing some feedback mechanics.

Friday morning, Oct. 4th 2013 was my first visit to Elk Meadows.

To get an idea of what I taught these wonderful 3rd graders, check this out.

I used many of the techniques found in this video that I only just watched myself the first time for my IP&T class less than a week prior to my visit.

Not only did I teach that CHARACTERS are people and sometimes animals, SETTING includes where and when, and PLOT is a problem, events, and solution... but we also set up some feedback mechanics that I'll cover later.

We then read "Thunder Cake" by Patricia Polacco so we could practice identifying the characters, setting(s) and the elements of the plot. They did awesome. I told them I had only skimmed the book but because Ms. Douglas said it was a good book, I would like to read it with them. They said they had read the book the year before and were excited to hear it again. They asked if they could flicker the lights when there was lightning - they already knew who the light monitor was and he jumped up and was poised ready at the light switches. I also suggested they pound their fists on their desks to make the thunder sound. We had to do a quick science lesson about how light travels at 186,000 miles per second and that sound travels slower (at only 340 miles per second). They caught on real quick and we were into the story having fun. I did a great "old grandma" voice but my Russian accent was horrible and I ended up just dropping it. At the end of the story we wrote identified the different parts of the story and I was impressed that Cash even identified the "Thunder" as a character in the story.

The Feedback Mechanics
I also established that they must say "OH YEAH!" when I say "One second party!". I also told them when I ask a questions when my hand is up, I want them to raise their hand if they know the answer. If I put my hands out and say "everyone" at the end of a question, I want them to all call out the answer together. (Sometimes I put my hands out and stop short of finishing a sentence, and they know to also finish the sentence now too.) So, we've got some ways to unify the group and get good feedback if they are following along now.

In closing we practiced with one more book that I brought called, "The Bug Cemetery" by Frances Hill, Author, Vera Rosenberry, Illustrator.

Before I read the story, I shared a quick lesson about how stories are made up of information. I told them I have done improvisation comedy for over 20 years and that it is my strong suite. I told them there are three main ways to add information to a scene: 1. Verbally 2. Emotionally and 3. Space work. I then wrote the 5 main emotions on the board: happy, sad, fear, anger, loving. I shared this with them because I knew there were some sad parts of the story.

I'm excited to go back next week and review what we learned. We will also begin to write our own stories and after we develop a story with a few different characters, we'll actually get up and act out a story! This will probably not all happen during our 2nd visit but we'll see!

Here are a couple pictures from my morning:

The morning drop off hustle and bustle.



First time at Elk Meadows. 

Meeting face to face and sharing ideas.

So today was the kick-off meeting/luncheon.

After a flurry of emails back and forth these last few weeks, we got to finally meet face to face and share ideas. I was also happy that Cathy suggested we bring pictures of our kids (in her case, some grand kids - 5 grand daughters all born within 9 months of each other, which includes a set of twins!)

To say "we are all very excited for the students in both classes" would be an understatement!

I knew from an email from Cathy Douglas, that she has 23 students but only today learned how many 6th graders Jeff Loreen has...<drum roll please>... 32!!! That's a great number!  32 can be two big groups of 16, and groups with 4 or 8 and 16 pairs. Fun!

For Cathy Douglas's 3rd grade class, a couple of the things I remember most about what she would like to co-create is to aid them in tapping into the power of their imaginations. I LOVE IT! And she wants to allow her self to personally to learn how to be more flexible.  This is going to be fun!

For Jeff Loreen, what I'm excited about is to assist with productions he's been doing on an annual basis already. He said there's a program at the end of the school year as well as this Dec. I will just be an audience member for their first show - which is in a few weeks to celebrate Halloween. There were quite a few things that he shared with me about his students that are very exciting. I have a strong feeling that his 6th graders are quite extraordinary and his expectations he holds for them, have been allowing them to flourish. I believe that our only limitation for our group will be our own imaginations. I initially thought I would wait until just before Thanksgiving to meet them but when I found out about their show coming up, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to see them in action.

I will be meeting Cathy Douglas's 3rd graders - tomorrow early in the morning. I'm so excited I can hardly sleep!

Jeff Loreen & Dave Shipp 

Cathy Douglas & Dave Shipp