How Do Plants Grow?

Using Tableau, Pantomime and Interpretive Dance,

to Show What We Know and Are Able to Do.

Developed by
Candace Sturdevant
For
Mrs. Nishidas First Grade Students
at
Lihikai Elementary School















Overview
This unit was developed for first grade students and introduces the use of tableaus,
pantomime and interpretive dance as art forms we can use to demonstrate what we
know about how plants grow. The students will learn how to express themselves with
motions, emotions, and voice. They will learn what plants need to grow and how plants
grow. Most of our work on this unit will take place in a large area such as the space we
use for morning circle during morning calendar. Students will first learn how to use their
bodies for interpretive dance. They will then learn different ways they can utilize their
bodies, such as making particular shapes with their bodies. They will learn the
importance of using facial expression. Then they will learn how to use their imaginations
to have their bodies create pictures- moving pictures and still pictures. Lastly, they will
use their newly skills and teamwork to create a play for a story that will be read to them.
This lesson is to provide the students with new ways to express themselves using
positive behaviors, teamwork, and knowledge to enhance their ability to use their bodies
and faces to represent an event.

In the first lesson students will participate in the process of interpreting the poem. The
students will learn how to use their bodies as nonverbal communication and practice
interpreting the poem with teacher-created interpretations. Then they will have a chance
to create their own motions to another poem and present their ideas to the class. The
second lesson is to help give the students more ideas about how they can move their
bodies and to get them more comfortable with creating emotions by using their bodies
and using facial expressions. We will thoroughly go over the importance of using facial
expressions. The third lesson focuses on practicing their newfound forms and gives
them a more abstract and faster paced imagination. They will create pictures with their
bodies for a story that is read to them and compare the shapes they make with their
bodies and with the pictures of the plants in the book. The final lesson is the
presentation of the combined learner outcomes. They will use what they have learned
and act out a story read to them about a seed using the knowledge they now have
about plants and their creativity using their bodies and faces.

Essential Understanding
The essential understanding I want for the students is to explore how plants grow
through the arts.
Hawaii Teacher Performance Standard

Standard #3: Learning Environments
The teacher works with others to create environments that support individual and
collaborative learning, and that encourage positive social interaction, active
engagement in learning, and self-motivation.

3(d) The teacher manages the learning environment to actively and equitably engage
learners by organizing, allocating, and coordinating the resources of time, space, and
learners attention.
3(e) The teacher uses a variety of methods to engage learners in evaluating the
learning environment and collaborates with learners to make appropriate adjustments.
3(i) The teacher understands the relationship between motivation and engagement and
knows how to design learning experiences using strategies that build learner self-
direction and ownership of learning.
3(j) The teacher knows how to help learners work productively and cooperatively with
each other to achieve learning goals.
3(k) The teacher knows how to collaborate with learners to establish and monitor
elements of a safe and productive learning environment including norms, expectations,
routines, and organizational structures.

I am meeting this standard and these benchmarks throughout each lesson by having
the students work in different groups, while creating a safe space for active individual
and collaborative participation to use our bodies to demonstrate a shared understanding
of how plants grow through motivation and engagement.

General Learning Outcomes
GLO 2: Community Contributor
The understanding that it is essential for human beings to work together
2.1 Respects peoples feelings, ideas, abilities and cultural diversity
2.2 Cooperates with and helps and encourages others in group situations
2.3 Understands and follows rules of conduct
2.4 Analyzes conflict and applies methods of cooperative resolution
2.5 Demonstrates responsible and ethical

The students will learn how to act out emotions and express themselves throughout the
performing arts unit on How Plants Grow. They will work with partners to combine
knowledge about how plants grow and work cooperatively on agreeing how to
demonstrate what they know about how plants grow.

Hawaii Content and Performance Standards and Benchmarks
in the Fine Arts

The students will demonstrate meeting the following standards and benchmarks in the
performing arts through their work in this unit

Strand Drama and Theatre
Standard 3: DRAMA AND THEATRE: Understand and apply the skills of acting, design,
and technical theatre and understand the role of drama in various cultures throughout
history
Standard 1: VISUAL ARTS: Understand and apply art materials, techniques, and
processes in the creation of works of art and understand how the visual arts
communicate a variety of ideas, feelings, and experiences
Topic How the Arts are Organized
Benchmark FA.1.3.2 Adapt and dramatize a familiar story
Strand Dance
Standard 4: DANCE: Understand and apply elements of dance, appreciate how
dance communicates meaning, and recognize its role across cultures and
throughout history

Topic How the Arts are Organized
Benchmark FA.1.4.1
Create a dance that consists of a
beginning, middle, and end

Topic How the Arts are Organized
Benchmark FA.1.4.2
Apply the element of space (e.g., place,
size, level, direction) to create simple
movement sequences
Topic How the Arts Communicate
Benchmark FA.1.4.5
Describe how an idea is communicated
through dance


Performance Assessment Indicators
Students will use their new knowledge of shapes, emotions, and movements to tell a
story using their bodies.
Students will create an interpretive dance with a partner that reflects how a plant grows
using the poetry from Patricia Garner and Dick Wilmes.
Students will participate in active movements demonstrated by the teacher on different
ways we can move to express our emotions.
Students will know how to communicate through dance after experiencing different
ways to express an idea, story, or emotion throughout this unit.
Additional Objectives
Students will be able to:
Engage in activities by moving their bodies throughout the space provided.
Learn multiple ways to express themselves non-verbally.
Become more confident in their actions.
Be aware of others feelings and emotions by their bodies and facial expressions.
Interpret meanings of words using their own body.



Assessment Tasks
Students will:
Participate in activities by following instructions and engaging themselves.
Work with partners and groups to collaborate tableaus and interpretive dance.
Use their imaginations to create feelings and emotions throughout the stories
they act.
Express their feelings with creativity of how they choose to use their unique body
forms and facial expressions for the multiple activities.
Assessment Tools
How Plants Grow Assessment Rubric
Needs Improvement Meets Exceeds
Uses facial
expressions
and
exaggerated
movements to
tell a story

Created an
interpretive
dance for a
story with a
beginning,
middle, and
end.

Uses a
variation of
movements
such as level,
shape, and
space.

Can explain
how to use
dance for
communication


Lesson Plan
Lesson One
The students will explore ways to manipulate their body to express words. We will learn
together how to do interpretive dance using what makes a garden grow. We will read
the poem, What Makes a Garden Grow, Grow. Students will then make up their own
motions for interpreting this poem.

What Makes a Garden Grow, Grow, Grow
by Patricia Elizabeth Garner
What makes a garden grow, grow, grow?
Lots of work with a rake and hoe,
Seeds gently planted in a row --
That makes a garden grow, grow, grow.
What brings the seedlings up from the ground?
Rain from the sky coming down, down, down
Bright yellow sunbeams shining round.
Help bring the seedlings up from the ground.
Next, students will work in pairs to explore their own way to interpret the following poem.
Put the words on the board and tell the students, "In your groups, you will work with
your partner and create motions to the following poem. Work together and use both of
your ideas. When you are finished, sit down and raise your hand."
Planting
by Dick Wilmes
I took a little seed one day
About a month ago.
I put it in a pot of dirt,
In hopes that it would grow.
I poured a little water
To make the soil right.
I set the pot upon the sill,
Where the sun would give it light.
I checked the pot most every day,
And turned it once or twice.
With a little care and water
I helped it grow so nice.
After the students complete the interpretation of the poem, have them
present it to the class as a encouragement and support for the group
that presents.


Lesson Two
This lesson will incorporate body movement related to how plants grow. The students
will learn about snapshots and tableaus and go over four basic body shapes.
Main points and techniques to focus on:
1. Focal point
-Having one main focus for everyone in tableau.
2. Levels-High, medium, low
-Using body to fill up space by having each student in tableau be at a different
position, such as standing for high, squatting for medium, and lying down for low.
3. Four basic body shapes- pin shape, ball, wall, twist
-Pin shape: skinny and tall, but can be lying on floor or pointing ceiling.
-Ball shape: rolled up tightly or a created circle shape.
-Wall shape: stretched out and flat, as if up against a wall on a tiny edge.
-Twist shape: fingers crossed, arms intertwined, arm twisted around torso.
4. Expression of face and body
-Main expressions: happy, sad, excited, scared, mad, serious, silly

The students will
Practice using body shapes, learn specific techniques in a tableau, and perform
different snapshots and tableaus. Depending on time restraint, all snapshot ideas
may not be used. Tell the students they will use the body shapes, focal point,
levels, and face expressions to act out a word. Tell them when you want them to
focus back on you for the next activity, you will snap your fingers and call out,
"One, two, three focus on me".
seed sun
sprout rain
flower farmer
Some tableau ideas are (groups of 4):
flower growing
teacher instructing students of their homework
kids at the beach
After each tableau, discuss the groups and what they chose and how each person
contributes to each tableau. The narrator of the group will answer the question by the
teacher. Some tableaus might be asked to try again using different body shapes and
expressions to enhance learning experiences of the variety of body expression.
The teacher will:
Explain expressions, emphasize teamwork, give one minute for planning each
tableau. Guide groups during this process and when all groups have an idea of what
they are going to do, tell them "Show me your tableaus in 5,4,3,2,1" The first time is a
practice run, have them try again. Discuss what they found out and learned about
snapshots, tableaus, and body and face expression.

Lesson Three
This lesson will help the students develop the ability to express their emotions with
movement to describe a story that is read to them.
The students will listen to the story The Tiny Seed by Eric Carle. Without seeing the
pictures, they will move their bodies to create "action pictures" for the story. The teacher
will emphasize that not all words or phrases need to be interpretive, as long as the
whole message is getting across.
Read the story page by page. After the page is read, tell the students to show you what
the picture might look like.
The students will then get to see the pictures after the story is read and discuss how
they felt about acting out the story compared to looking at the pictures.
Lesson Four
ln this lesson the students will use all three previous lessons to combine a student
performance showing how plants change as they grow and the necessities of a plant
without using words.
The teacher will
read a passage about a flower and what plants need to grow.
assign the students to 5 groups
explain to the students that their group has to come up with an act/interpretation
for each word they are given.
The groups are color coded by their table colors so we dont waste time grouping.
1. seed-roots-sprout-bloom-flower
2. sun-shine-cloudy
3. soil-wet-dry
4. water-rain
5. air-windy-no wind
The students will have 5 minutes to figure out how their group will make their element
using their bodies. They may use noises, not words.
We will then have each group show us their element using their bodies. Then, we will
combine all the groups to make a performance.
Every time I say the element word: water, sun, soil, air, seed/sprout/bloom/flower, the
students will act out their part.
After a couple practice rounds, we will then perform for my camera, which my teacher
will view.
The overall idea is to have the students be able to read their cues and dramatize the
story to create a performance that demonstrates the story.

The Story of the Seeds
One hot sunny day there was a handful of little seeds. Each seed was blown by the
wind and fell into a mound of soil. The soil was dry and the sun was hot. Each little
seed waited and waited. Finally, the day got cloudy and the rain came down. It was
very windy, but the soil was wet and the little seed started to plant its roots into the
ground. After a few days, the sun came out and the wind and rain stopped. Each little
seed started to sprout and grow leaves. The seeds were so happy to have sprouted,
but wished for water. The sun went away and the rain came and granted the little
sprouted seeds their wish. The sprouted seeds drank all the nutrients from the soil and
grew bigger and bigger. The wind started to blow and the little plants thanked the wind.
As the sun came out, the little plants smiled because they now had flower petals
growing. The plant grew bigger and bigger as the sun shined bright, as the rain poured
hard, as the wind blew strong, and as the soil gave it the nutrients it needed. Each little
seed grew into a big beautiful sunflower. The end
Recap remember-
1. There is no wrong way to use interpretive dance!
2. You can use drama in just about anything!
3. You can do drama all by yourself!
Lesson Five
During this lesson we will read the book Making Faces by Nick Butterworth.
The students will:
take what they've learned over the unit and use it with this very interactive book.
Each student will interpret the book their own personal way. Remind the students
that there is no noise or talking for this activity, just facial expression and frozen
movements.
create the mirror to be you, the teacher, and enjoy as every time the book says
"look into the mirror and show your ____ face" all the students show you their
impression of that face, whether it is a silly face or a sad face. This book helps
you as the teacher to see how far the students progressed and how exaggerated
they can be.
Materials
Large paper
Story: The Tiny Seed
Markers
Large space
Poems
Camera
Story Making Faces
Resources
Cornett, Claudia E.. Creating meaning through literature and the arts: arts integration for classroom
teachers. 4th ed. Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon/Pearson, 2011. Print.
"Hawaii Content & Performance Standards Database III :: Hawaii Department of Education." Hawaii
Content & Performance Standards Database III :: Hawaii Department of Education. Hawaii State
Department of Education, 1 Jan. 2005. Web. 12 May 2014. <http://165.248.30.40/hcpsv3/>.
Butterworth, Nick. Making faces. Cambridge, Mass.: Candlewick Press, 1993. Print.