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CAROLMACY
The Name Game
The Name Game
Moments to Notice:
Moments to Notice:
Children are asked to say their name and to add whatever the teacher/director has asked them. “My name is Mary and I love chocolate for dessert.” It can be a simple finishing of a sentence or it can be more involved such as, “My name is Josh and I am proud of myself because I am pretty good in art.”
Children are asked to say their name and to add whatever the teacher/director has asked them. “My name is Mary and I love chocolate for dessert.” It can be a simple finishing of a sentence or it can be more involved such as, “My name is Josh and I am proud of myself because I am pretty good in art.”
The Energy Game
Moments to Notice:
Children enjoy this creative exercise in which they catch a ball of energy and turn it into something, which means they must do something with the energy. I demonstrate something large and something small so that children have an idea about possibilities.
Name and Energy Game with Deaf and Hearing Students
Moments to Notice:
What an experience it was meeting with deaf and hearing children together to create a show. One this the first day of a five day workshop that culminated in a show, children were just introducing themselves to one another.
Warm-up for Dramatizing Poetry
Moments to Notice:
What an experience it was meeting with deaf and hearing children together to create a show. One this the first day of a five day workshop that culminated in a show, children were just introducing themselves to one another.
Life Doesn't Frighten Me by Maya Angelou
Moments to Notice:
Before actors dramatized this poem, I called out words or phrases from it for actors in small groups to respond to such as “ghosts in a cloud,” “shadows on the wall.” “panthers in the park”, “kissy girls with their hair in curls”, “frogs”, “I walk on the ocean floor”, and so on. When groups have responded physically to each word or phrase, the actors then get to choose what they would like to be in the poem after listening to it read. We are ready to go. The actors improvise and the music lends support.
Dramatizing Haiku
Moments to Notice:
Of course, for the warm-up, children were given words and phrases from various poems and responded to those images first. Actors are gathered into small groups and will plan out who will be what in the different haikus.
We Are Trees
Moments to Notice:
The following clip is a good example of a poem in which children become part of the natural world. Any experience that contributes to a deeper awareness of our fragile planet is valuable. For someone lost in technology, it may give that student a sense of being connected, for just a moment, to the Earth. These students may have never considered that trees are connected at their roots, and their branches reach out to the branches of other trees.
The Adventures of Isabel by Ogden Nash
Moments to Notice:
In 1985, my sister and I trained a dozen children, in many different elementary schools, to learn a show called "On the Wings of Time." We had one hour to teach them their parts in a show about poetry from around the world. Then we performed the show for the school.The following poem is taken from The Adventures of Isabel by Ogden Nash. Students love dramatizing this piece because it shows just how ridiculously adventurous little Isabel is.
Three Prompts for Writing Poetry: Prompt #1
Moments to Notice:
The first prompt is designed to help students in grades 3rd-6th say something about themselves by painting a picture with their words. The prompt is based on the haiku by Japanese poet Issa. He wrote, " I am one who eats his breakfast gazing at the morning glories."
Three Prompts for Writing Poetry: Prompt #2
Three Prompts for Writing Poetry: Prompt #2
Moments to Notice:
Moments to Notice:
The second prompt is another that has worked well over the decades. It is about remembering a moment in time.
The youth walks up to the white horse.
To put its collar on
and the horse looks at him in silence.
They are so silent, they are in another world.
D.H. Lawrence
This is a poem about many things. It tells us about a relationship. It speaks to us about silence. I use it as a springboard to help students think about a moment in their lives when it felt as though time stood still. Perhaps it was a moment when a child met his uncle for the first time, or when someone saw a fish underwater and the fish looked right at her. I am always moved by what children write about when given this prompt. The children in this workshop seemed uninterested when I was introducing the prompts, and yet the poetry was so beautiful.
The second prompt is another that has worked well over the decades. It is about remembering a moment in time.
The youth walks up to the white horse.
To put its collar on
and the horse looks at him in silence.
They are so silent, they are in another world.
D.H. Lawrence
This is a poem about many things. It tells us about a relationship. It speaks to us about silence. I use it as a springboard to help students think about a moment in their lives when it felt as though time stood still. Perhaps it was a moment when a child met his uncle for the first time, or when someone saw a fish underwater and the fish looked right at her. I am always moved by what children write about when given this prompt. The children in this workshop seemed uninterested when I was introducing the prompts, and yet the poetry was so beautiful.
Three Prompts for Writing Poetry: Prompt #3
Moments to Notice:
The third prompt, which students enjoy, involves asking your poets to imagine they are something other than themselves. “Describe who you are. Tell us about yourself. Use colors, add descriptive words that paint pictures.”
Writing Poetry about Current Events that Impact You
Moments to Notice:
Months after Hurricane Maria, I reached out to Masis School in Puerto Rico and found an administrator who was excited to involve students in writing poetry about their experiences during and after Hurricane Maria. Children in Connecticut dramatized many of the poems. Sound effects as well as music add to the dramatization of poetry. Notice the waves and wind sound during the poem “Sleep Between the Waves.” While practicing “I Let the Sun Enter,” a student showed me how they open windows in Puerto Rico. He had grown up there and lived in Connecticut at the time, only to return to his country. Another poet wrote that he realized that the moon exists and the stars were lampposts that lit their way.
Learning About Other Cultures
Moments to Notice:
The first prompt is designed to help students in grades 3rd-6th say something about themselves by painting a picture with their words. The prompt is based on the haiku by Japanese poet Issa. He wrote, " I am one who eats his breakfast gazing at the morning glories."
The Where Exercise
Moments to Notice:
During an interview in 1984 with Darlene Gould Davies, clinic coordinator in speech and language pathology at San Diego State University, I shared the process of leading deaf children and hearing children together in a theater workshop series. In the following clip, a sixth grader who was reluctant to be involved in this workshop when she arrived got involved in the “where” exercise within the first hour and began to relax.
Narration, Improvisation, and Music: Dramatizing Juan Bobo and the Stolen Necklace
Moments to Notice:
One never knows if a child will continue to be comfortable in front of an audience or whether they will lose some of their confidence. As a result of sudden shyness, an actor may need more prompting than usual, which was the case when dramatizing the folk tale Juan Bobo and the Stolen Necklace. The young actor playing Juan was taken aback by the theater lights shining on this fancy stage, but the narration, the music, and the appreciative audience brought him to life. The child playing his mother had been present and alive in rehearsals, but quieted down considerably when an audience was present.
The Bear Prince
Moments to Notice:
In the following clip from a Mexican folk tale called The Bear Prince, an actor playing the father of three daughters is changing into a costume right off the area in the cafeteria that was the stage. Two of the father’s daughters were teasing their older sister. Unexpectedly, the boy playing the father reprimands his daughters from offstage. This is the joy of improvisation. We never know what actors will do when there is no script. As the narrator, I improvised a little, hoping for more from this actor. I said, "But the sisters got even louder! They kept teasing their sister!" And sure enough, this prompted even more spontaneity from the boy changing his shirt. Improvisation on the part of all of us resulted in the highlight of the show for the audience.
Because of Winn Dixie
Moments to Notice:
In the following clips, 3rd-6th graders are dramatizing scenes from Because of Winn-Dixie. Different actors share the narration with me. I establish myself as one of the narrators in the event that I need to jump in. Narrators are giving the actors the cues they need to improvise both their actions as well as dialogue with others.
The Snow Queen
Moments to Notice:
The Snow Queen by Hans Christian Andersen includes rich narration and has so many scenes that can be dramatized in the classroom. In the following clips, homeschoolers are improvising a scene while they listen to the narrative from the author. Simple costume pieces are added and some silver snowflakes added to give the queen's guards a little magic. Music creates the support the children need.
Telling the Story of Bread and Confidence 1985
Moments to Notice:
Children in 3rd grade are gathering to be actors in the creation of a show. I ask the actors to tell us their names and something they like. In these two clips, children listen to the story and then the narrator tells it, and the children improvise based on the narrator's cues. Darlene Gould Davies, head of the speech and pathology clinic, is interviewing me.
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Finding a Message in a Story 1985
Moments to Notice:
Here I am sharing how important it is to emphasize a positive theme in a story. In this case, it is the theme of believing in yourself.
Closing a Workshop with Sign Language
Moments to Notice:
I strongly suggest that you learn a few phrases in sign language that can close a theater workshop or the end of your school day with your children. YouTube will teach you whatever you want to say. Learn how to sign “Thank you for your work today. I enjoyed watching you perform.” Sign, "I enjoyed being with you today." Ask your students to sign with you. Signed English follows the sentence structure found in English. American Sign Language does not follow our sentence structure. For example, if you were to sign, “Have you eaten yet?” you would sign each word. If using American Sign Language, however, you would sign, “Eat you yet?” Your students will be thrilled to learn even a little bit of sign language. Watch how focused your active children will become when it is introduced!
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