Stamford PYP Specialists Unit Plan

Grade 2 Drama
Unit 1: Mime and Movement
Date: 17th August- 21st September

Department: Drama

Weeks: 6

What are the possible ways of assessing students

Transdisciplinary Theme:
understanding of the Central idea?
An inquiry into the ways in which we
discover and express ideas, feelings, nature, Pre-Assessment: Performance: Skill
culture, beliefs and values; the ways in which Demonstration: Imagining Settings Students walk
we reflect on, extend and enjoy our
through different kinds of environments (the woods, a river, a haunted
creativity; our appreciation of the aesthetic. house) this is done in 2 halves, half at one side of the room, half at the
other. Discuss with the students exactly how they were showing the
changing environments. The room didnt change but through
movement, gesture and expression the environment changed.

Formative: Performance: Dramatization:

Communicating Setting
In groups of 4 the teacher will give the students a location that they
create using movement, gesture and expression but no dialogue, the
rest of the class have to try to guess where they are.

Summative: Performance: Dramatization:

Communicating Meaning Students should create an
improvisation which combines a place/setting with an object. In groups
of 2-3 the students will choose a place that they will be enter and
establish and they will find something in the space that they will have
a reaction to. The audience need to be given clues as to what the
place is and what the item is that is found.

PURPOSE
Central Idea: People

communicate ideas,
feelings and
experiences through
the arts

LINES OF INQUIRY
Form: Interactions can be
improvised (Improvisation)
What is improvisation (C)
What is improvisation? (F)
Function: Gesture and movement as a form of
expression (Non Verbal Communication) What is
gesture? (F)
How are gesture and movement forms of
expression? (C)

TRANS-DISCIPLINARY
SKILLS
Social Skills
Cooperating: working
cooperatively in a group;
being courteous to others
sharing materials; taking
turns.

Communication Skills
Non-verbal communication:
recognizing the meaning of
visual and kinesthetic
communication

Function: Communication of feelings and

emotions (Improvisation)
How do we communicate emotions? (C)
What types of emotions do you know of? (F)
ATTITUDES
Enthusiasm

LEARNER PROFILE
ATTRIBUTES
Communicators
Risk-takers

CONCEPTS
Form
Function
Related Concepts:
Improvisation
Non Verbal Communication

Skills:
Improvisation
Mime
Gesture
Facial Expression
Movement

Lesson 1

Vocabulary:
Improvisation
Mime
Gesture
Facial Expression
Movement

Form: Interactions can be improvised (Improvisation)

Learner Profile: Communicators
TD Skills (Communication): Non-verbal communication: recognizing the meaning of visual and
kinesthetic communication

Objective: To use imagination to create an environment that is clearly

communicated.
WARM UP: Random Walk (using bell) Explain how it works and practice stopping and starting
o
Fast, Slow, Normal, Sumo Wrestler, Ballet, Stuck in Mud, Tourist/ Businessman, Model on
Runway, Royalty, Red Carpet Celebrity, Paparazzi
Discuss this warm up and how it relates to drama, mime and creating an environment. Unpack the
Unit

Pre-Assessment: Performance: Skill Demonstration: Imagining Settings

Students walk through different kinds of environments.
o
The woods, busy street, a river, a haunted house, library, secret agents with lasers
Discuss with the students exactly how they were showing the changing environments.
o
The room didnt change but through movement, gesture and expression the environment
changed.
In pairs the students imagine they are going to open a door that leads into a place they have never
been before.
o
Alice down the rabbit hole experience: using dialogue, movement, gesture and expression
the students show us what is on the other side of the door

Lesson 2

Function: Gesture and movement as a form of expression (Non Verbal

Communication)
Attitudes: Enthusiasm
Objective: To use gesture and movement effectively to convey change in
environment.
Teacher suggests a place where the students might be such as the beach:
One student is invited to go into the place and establish the place through movement, gesture and
expression.
The other students are invited to guess what the place is using individual white boards to record their
answers, teacher moves around class to see if students guesses are correct, and if they guess
correctly they can enter the space and also work in it imaginatively.
Continue until at least half the students are involved then ask the remaining students where they think
the place is.
Repeat the same exercise with more locations
o
The garden, supermarket, wedding, haunted house, hospital, office, playground, library,
circus, yoga studio etc.
Discussion: The room in which they created these places was always a classroom, however because of
the clear movements, gesture and expression, the audience was able to interpret where they were.

Lesson 3

Form: Interactions can be improvised (Improvisation)

TD Skills (Social): Cooperating: working cooperatively in a group; taking turns.
4.2 Visualize environments and arrange the physical playing space to communicate
mood, time, and locale
Objective: Work cooperatively to create an environment in which interesting
things happen.
WARM UP: Using Bell, quickly explore variety of different environments.

Formative: Performance: Dramatization: Communicating Setting

In groups of 3-4 the teacher will give the students a location that they create using movement,
gesture and expression but no dialogue.
o
A sail boat, a lift, a taxi, a shop, a cave, a forest, a haunted house, a prison, a kitchen, a
zoo, a living room
Students will perform short improvisations for the class. The class will then guess where each group is
located using individual white boards to write down their location ideas.
Formative assessment
o
Students worked cooperatively, Students conveyed their given environment successfully.

Lesson 4

Function: Communication of feelings and emotions (Improvisation)

1.4 Create characters through physical movement, gesture, sound and/or speech, and
facial expression
Objective: Work cooperatively to create an environment in which interesting
things happen.

WARM UP: Using Bell, quickly explore variety of different environments.

Continue developing the scenes from last week so that they include dramatic conflict
o
Encourage them to still create the environment imaginatively while thinking about their
dramatic conflict.
Present the scenes to the group.
Self assessment and Evaluation
o
Did they manage to sustain the environment or did the idea of dramatic conflict take over?

Lesson 5

Function: Gesture and movement as a form of expression (Non Verbal

Communication)
Learner Profile: Risk Takers
3.1 In creating and rehearsing informal classroom dramatizations, experiment with and
make decisions about the visual configuration of the acting space (e.g., actors' exits,
entrances, placement of set pieces, and the location of the audience)
Objective: To convey an imagined object through mime.
WARM UP: Using Bell, quickly explore variety of different environments. In each environment a change
will happen and students will need to react to the change. (Weather, animals invading, etc)
In Preparing for Summative Assessment:
In groups of 2-3 the students will enter a room and see something in the room that has an effect on
them.
o
A kitchen with a big chocolate cake in it
o
The garden with a tiger in it
o
The classroom with a big snake in it
o
A cupboard with a big box of treasure in it
o
An office with lots of spiders in it
Students Present to Class

Lesson 6
Objective: To create an environment and an object through mime, gesture
and expression.
WARM UP: Using Bell, quickly explore variety of different environments. In each environment a change
will happen and students will need to react to the change. (Weather, animals invading, etc)

Summative: Performance: Dramatization: Communicating Meaning

Students should create an improvisation that combines a place/setting with an object.
In groups of 2-3 the students will:
o
Choose a place that they will be enter
o
Establish and they will find something in the space that they will have a reaction to.
o
The audience needs to be given clues as to what the place is and what the item is that is
found.
Students rehearse scene in groups.
Students present to class.
Summative Assessment
o
Were the students able to create an environment and object clearly through movement,
gesture and expression?