Interrelated Drama & Music Unit Plan - The Rainforest

Interrelated Arts Unit planner

UNIT PLANNER: The Arts

Interrelated: Drama and Music

UNIT/THEME/TOPIC: The Rainforest

BAND: Primary Years

NAME: Adriana De Cicco

Year level: 4

OVERVIEW OF THE UNIT: The students will be exploring about the rainforest through music and drama. By beginning with a stimulus of a picture, it will gain the interest of the students about the rainforest, and prepare them for the thinking and actions of the discussions and drama activities that will follow. The next stages of the unit involve analysing the human impact on the rainforest environment. This is where the drama takes the focus of the student involvement and role play situations are mainly used. One of the main activities is where the whole class is included in an interesting activity that gets them to “become the rainforest”, followed by smaller role plays and group activities.

Class Profile/prior knowledge Essential Learnings focus: ο Futures ο Identity ο Interdependence  Thinking  Communication

Key competencies focus:  collecting, analysing, organising information;

ο communicating ideas and information;

 planning and organising activities;

ο working with others in teams;

ο using mathematical ideas and techniques;

 solving problems;

 using technology.

ICTs: (e.g. camera, computer software, etc).

ο ________________________________

Strand/s:

Key Idea:

Unit Outcome(s)

2.2: Students explore representations of real

Conceptual (knowledge, understanding)

and imagined experiences. They create, plan or Arts Practice 

Arts analysis &

shape new and/or existing arts works to

Drama:

express ideas, feelings and events related to

The students will understand the idea of

personal/ social/ environmental futures in

taking on different roles and expressing

local/ global communities.

different opinions in those roles.

Response Music: Arts in Contexts

The students will hear the sounds of the

Relevant Standard Standard 2: Demonstrates knowledge and skills to each arts form. Chooses appropriate techniques and technologies to complete work specific to one arts form or combination thereof.

rainforest, and understand and know what is making these sounds.

Skills (can do) Drama: The children can work together to create a rainforest scene, and later can participate in role play situations. Music: The students can listen carefully to the pieces of rainforest sounds for a period of time.

Affective ( feel) The students will be able to gain an appreciation of the rainforest environment and feel that it is worth protecting.

Weekly outline of lessons:

Teacher references and resources

Week 1: •

•

The focus of this lesson is to introduce the feeling of the rainforest initially through music, then developing into a drama activity.

Appendix 1:Photo of a rainforest scene – taken on a trip to the rainforest in Melbourne, 2009.

To get the students interested in the lesson, show a scene of the rainforest, included as Appendix 1, to show the children some of the plants that exist – enlarge this image to A3 size as it is too small to show the whole class at once.

Questioning with the picture: • •

•

•

•

What can you see in the picture? What could be seen in the picture? • Where do you think this picture was taken? The next activity involves the CD included with the unit – “Sounds of the Rainforest” Students close their eyes and listen to the sounds of the rainforest – each track has a different sound to it, and any are appropriate for this activity While the music is playing ask questions like:  How do you feel while listening?  Any there any distinctive sounds they can hear?  Anything else that you can notice? After listening to the piece, give each child a name of an animal, and while the music is playing, each student acts out the animal. The aim of this activity is for all the same animals to find each other.  Animal names are printed on cards  Animals include:     



•

Possum Frog Parrot Spider Butterfly Snake

Once the students find each other, they each take turns to perform as a group and the class has to discuss the actions and work out what animal they are  Working in small groups allows the students to improve their communication skills and can learn from one another of how best to re-create the mannerisms of the each animal.

CD – collection of five songs called “Sounds of the Rainforest”

Appendix 2 – Animal name cards Rainforest Resources: Appleby, P., 1992 Wildside: Rainforests, BBC Books, London. Breeden, S., 1995 Paul and the Rainforest, Steve Parish Publishing, QLD, Australia. Erbacher, J. & S., 1993 Life in the Rainforest, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. Taylor, B., 1992 Look Closer: Rainforest, Harper Collins Publishers, NSW, Australia. Mackness, B. 1989 Mastering Rainforests, Dellasta Publishing, VIC, Australia.

Killen, R., 1992 Student-Centred Teaching Strategies, Second Edition, pp. 23-28, The University of Newcastle, NSW, Australia.

Teacher references and resources Weekly outline of lessons: Week 2:

•

The focus of the lesson for this week is to stimulate imagination about living in the rainforest and leading to the feelings if the rainforest was destroyed.  Begin the lesson by reading the story “Where the Forest Meets the Sea” Questions during the story:  Have forests existed for over a hundred million years?  Why do you think the crocodiles and kangaroos aren’t in the rainforest anymore?  Can you see any animals in the pictures? (dinosaur, bird, snake, lizard, spider, cassowary  Is there anything else you notice in the rainforest? (Aboriginal children, developments to be made – hotels)  What do you think would happen to the rainforest if those buildings do get built?  Where would the animals go?

•

Small Group Activity: Journey into the Rainforest  Students to imagine that they have followed the boy into the rainforest  Get the students to think about these questions before beginning the drama: What would they see in the rainforest? How could they survive in the rainforest? Would they meet anyone in the rainforest?  Students assign what characters they will be in the drama  Teacher guides students through the drama – beginning by explaining that they followed the boy into the rainforest, and seem to be lost.  Teacher guiding speech for the drama: “We haven’t been to this part of the rainforest before, and there isn’t anything that we can see that we recognise.” “We can see different animals and different trees around us.” “It’s beginning to get dark, we’ll need to find some food to eat and water to drink, because we won’t find our way out until the morning.” “Because we’re going to be staying the night, we need to make a safe place to sleep. We hope it doesn’t rain, and that we can keep warm through the night.” “The night wasn’t too bad – the shelter was good and strong and kept us dry.” “Should we continue to explore the forest or find a way out?”

•

The drama would then continue according to the students’ decision to stay for a bit longer in the rainforest or to find a way out. Small group discussion: How would you feel if you lived in the

Baker, J. 1987 Where the Forest Meets the Sea, Julia MacRae Books, New South Wales, Australia.

Department of Education, Queensland, 1993 Drama Makes Meaning, videorecording, 24 minutes, Unit Outlines, Year 2: Rainforest, Queensland. Young, J., 2007 100 Ideas for Teaching Drama, Idea 45: Strange Journey, pp. 72-73, Continuum International Publishing Group, London.

rainforest and it was destroyed?  develops student’s intrapersonal skills

Teacher references and resources

Detailed Lesson Plan:

Week 3: Discussions and activities in this lesson will be centred on the structure of the rainforest and how it is affected by the human processes of logging and how this impacts on every form of life in the rainforest. The activity of “Be the Rainforest” is the main part of the lesson. Begin by asking 6-8 students to volunteer being trees – including the tall canopy trees, shorter understorey trees, and forest floor shrubs. After they are in position, give each student a role of an animal that lives in the rainforest, including chimpanzees, frogs, birds, snakes, wallabies, spiders, butterflies, lizards, possums, as well as asking students what other animals live in the trees and on the ground in the rain forest. Make sure to have one or two students not playing roles as animals or the trees, and get them to be the loggers and hunters. Begin the drama by asking the students to work together to show what a healthy rainforest should look like and sound like, by making appropriate sounds and movements of the environment. Allow this to develop for a minute or so, then stop the drama and ask the loggers to now go in and begin cutting down the trees, so that they make the noises of a chainsaw, and the trees dramatically die. The questioning then develops the actions of the animals – what will happen to you without your trees? Tree-animals – where will you live? Point out one by one why each different animal cannot live without the trees, if the children have not already done so, then each animal dies in turn. It is important to explain that without the trees – not much oxygen is made, and we cannot make medicines to keep humans healthy because of the lack of plants. This causes the human to die, played by the teacher. Make a decision to act out the dying or not, as it depends on the behaviour of the children. To conclude the drama, always make sure to reconstruct the rainforest. This can be done through giving the students situations: “Let’s see what happens if loggers stop cutting down and clearing the rainforests” “What if people plant new trees?” “What if some trees grew back if not many trees are taken?” The result of these questions would be that the trees come back to life, followed by the animals as their habitat re-builds itself. An important part of this lesson is to reflect on the experiences – asking the students to think briefly about the role they played before asking them questions. “Trees, how did you feel when you were being cut down?” “Animals, how did you feel when your homes were being cleared away?”

Adapted from “Be the Rainforest” activity http://www.childdrama.com/rainforst.html Viewed on 15/06/09 Ideas for teaching added from: Dodgson, E., 1982 Exploring Social Issues, in “Drama and the Whole Curriculum”, pp. 97112, Hutchinson Group, NSW, Australia. Heathcote, D., 1981 Drama as Education, in “Children and Drama”, 2nd Ed, pp. 78-90, Longman Inc., New York. Young, J., 2007 100 Ideas for Teaching Drama, Idea 44: Looking at Both Sides, pp. 71, Continuum International Publishing Group, London.

Teacher references and resources

Detailed Lesson Plan:

Week 4: To pick up from last week’s lesson, the students will use what they discovered when they made the rainforest, and demonstrate the different perspectives held about clearing rainforest areas. Get the children into small groups, four students to a group, and assign roles to each student using fruits rather than numbers or letters:  Apple = tree of the rainforest  Orange = rainforest animal of choice  Banana = logger  Strawberry = rainforest animal of choice (different to orange) The purpose of this discussion is for the each student to see different standpoints on rainforest clearing.

Assigning roles using fruits: Phillips, G., 2009 Workshop Week 13, UniSA Magill.

Adapted from: “No, You Can’t Take Me!” http://www.childdrama.com/lpno.html - viewed on 14/06/09.

The logger begins by presenting their case for cutting down trees of the rainforest, and each of the other students in turn reply with why they need the rainforest trees, or why they are important for the environment and world. This develops their views on the issue, as well as the way that they present their reasons to help the logger to see what they are doing is harming them. These reasons need to be why they are important and what would happen if they weren’t there anymore. The language can be simplified that the logger asks “I’ll take this older tree away” so that the older tree can reply “No, you can’t take me!” then give their reasons why. Let the discussions develop until each character is given the opportunity to give their opinions. Once each character has spoken, give the children perspectives by getting them to change roles for the next discussion. This is so that each child not only hears each perspective, but also experiences and reflects about them. After each child has taken on each of the roles, conclude the lesson by having each student write down what they thought the strongest points for and against logging were throughout the discussions that were held. These notes will become a valuable resource for the next lesson in the unit. Structure this by asking questions like “What did the logger say that you thought was a really important reason for cutting down the trees?” or “Was there a significant point that was brought up by a rainforest animal?” Change these questions according to each of the roles, and make sure that each child records at least two points; one on each side of the issue.

Phillips, G., 2009 Tutorial Week 11, UniSA, Magill.

Teacher references and resources

Weekly outline of lessons:

Week 5: Using the previous discussions, the class will be involved in an activity that shows how it gets harder for animals to survive when the land is being cleared of their habitat. •

• • • • •

• • • •

• • •

Activity adapted from: Cleland Wildlife Park – Education officer activity 10 x Sports Hoops

Links to Health and P.E. – this lesson is active Majority of the children go to one side of the room These students are to be the animals in this activity Begin with having ten hoops in the middle of the room Choose two students to be the loggers. The hoops represent the safe areas of the rainforest where the animals can live happily. The animals work together to fit into the hoops completely. Allow 2-3 minutes for each round After this time, the loggers take away one hoop each, and the animals have to re-arrange so they are all still safe. Repeat until there are only two hoops left – animals realising that they cannot all be safe anymore Result: animals die and the children can see that as the habitat is disappearing. End off the activity by changing the loggers into tree planters This lets the children see what would happen if we help to rebuild and preserve the rainforests.

Ending this lesson and unit involves reflection on the issues brought up about the rainforest, as well as the activities that the students were involved with. • How did you feel at the beginning of the activities? • How do you feel about the Rainforests now? • Have your opinions changed from the beginning of the activities to now? • What do you think changed your ideas? • What do you know about rainforests that you didn’t know at the beginning of the unit? Following these verbal questions, get the students to reflect on their own by using the student self assessment proforma.

Appendix 4 – Self Assessment Proforma

Assessment strategies The main things that are being assessed through completing this unit are the students’ idea development about the rainforest, beginning with listening to sounds of the rainforest and communicating what they feel about the music, demonstrating animal mannerisms, and developing into role playing by showing the ability to stay in character and express the views held by that character. The assessment will take place through self assessment and observations. The students will reflect on what activities they have done by discussing and recording how they felt while doing them. To assess the technical elements of the dramatic skills being demonstrated, the teacher will use a rubric to record how each student is developing their skills, how well they work with others, and if they can convey the emotions through the views of their roles. Also, informal peer assessment will occur through seeing if the students can express the mannerisms of an animal successfully, by identifying what animal they were.

Are the assessment methods appropriate to the processes , skills & concepts which are being assessed? These assessment methods are appropriate because they assess how the students portray each character they take on, their feelings about the rainforests while doing the activities, through listening to the sound recordings of the rainforests, as well as how they work together with each other in small groups as well as a whole class. They will accurately record how the students move through the lessons and develop their skills.

Evaluation of unit outcomes :indicators; These relate to the unit outcomes of conceptual, skills & affective etc….. These are related to the conceptual, skill and affective outcomes in earlier outcome column ie Students will know what animals exist in the rainforest, and how we has humans are impacting on them and the environment. Students will understand how to take on different roles and express the opinions that they would have about the conservation of rainforests. Students will be able to work individually, in small groups, and as a class to explain the situation with the rainforests and how the animals, trees and loggers would view it. Students will have gained a better appreciation for the rainforest environment and consider each view in a unbiased manner, which results in improving their perceptions of the world.

REFERENCES Appleby, P., 1992 Wildside: Rainforests, BBC Books, London. “Be the Rainforest” activity : http://www.childdrama.com/rainforst.html, Viewed on 15/06/09 Breeden, S., 1995 Paul and the Rainforest, Steve Parish Publishing, QLD, Australia. Dodgson, E., 1982 Exploring Social Issues, in “Drama and the Whole Curriculum”, pp. 97-112, Hutchinson Group, NSW, Australia. Erbacher, J. & S., 1993 Life in the Rainforest, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. Heathcote, D., 1981 Drama as Education, in “Children and Drama”, 2nd Ed, pp. 78-90, Longman Inc., New York. Killen, R., 1992 Student-Centred Teaching Strategies, Second Edition, pp. 23-28, The University of Newcastle, NSW, Australia. Phillips, G., 2009 Tutorial Week 11, UniSA, Magill. Phillips, G., 2009 Workshop Week 13, UniSA Magill. Taylor, B., 1992 Look Closer: Rainforest, Harper Collins Publishers, NSW, Australia. Mackness, B. 1989 Mastering Rainforests, Dellasta Publishing, VIC, Australia. “No, You Can’t Take Me!” : http://www.childdrama.com/lpno.html, Viewed on 14/06/09. Young, J., 2007 100 Ideas for Teaching Drama, Idea 44: Looking at Both Sides, pp. 71, Continuum International Publishing Group, London.

Appendix 1: Photo of a Rainforest Scene

Appendix 2: Animal Name Cards

Animal Name Cards Possum

Possum

Possum

Possum

Possum

Frog

Frog

Frog

Frog

Frog

Parrot

Parrot

Parrot

Parrot

Parrot

Spider

Spider

Spider

Spider

Spider

Butterfly

Butterfly

Butterfly

Butterfly

Butterfly

Snake

Snake

Snake

Snake

Snake

Appendix 3: Mind-Map Connections to Learning Areas

Design and Technology: Creating a rainforest diorama Making puppets of rainforest animals to tell a story English: Story – “Where the Forest Meets the Sea” by Jeannie Baker Words associated with the rainforest used for spelling Writing a poem about the rainforest

Ra inf or est Society and Environment: Rainforest area decreasing Global effects of logging and land clearing

Music: Sounds of the rainforest Animals Weather Play music piece of the rainforest – how does it make you feel?

Drama: Movements like rainforest animals: Tiger Monkey Birds Snake Role play – what if all the rainforests of the world were gone?

Extinct species that lived in the rainforest Science: Food chain Different types of rainforests – how they are different to each other as well as different to other environments

Maths: Numbers of animals decreasing Graphing data Temperatures of the rainforest in comparison to suburbia

Appendix 4: Self-Assessment Sheet

Self-Assessment Proforma Did you enjoy doing these activities on the Rainforest?







Yes

Unsure

No

Why did / didn’t you enjoy them?

______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ How did you think you went when doing the activities?

 Very Well

 Okay

 Not Too Well

What was the most interesting part of the activities?

______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ Did you enjoy doing these activities on the Rainforest?







Yes

Unsure

No

Why did / didn’t you enjoy them?

______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ How did you think you went when doing the activities?

 Very Well

 Okay

 Not Too Well

What was the most interesting part of the activities?

______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________

______________________________________________

Appendix 5: Teacher Observation Proforma

Observation of Students – “The Rainforest” Unit Student A

Student B

Rainforest Sounds: Expressed feelings while listening Identifies distinctive sounds Drama: Acting out animal mannerisms Discussed if rainforest destroyed Role-play in being the rainforest Demonstrated different perspectives Reflected on activities and issues Attitude: Worked well with peers Stayed engaged throughout task Developed rainforest appreciation

(More student columns can be added as needed)

Student C