Building Community through Arts-Integration and Creative Dramatics (Sample Lesson)
“Arts Integration is an approach to teaching in which students construct and demonstrate understanding through an artform. Students engage in a creative process which connects an artform and another subject area and meets evolving objectives in both.” - Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
Building community within a learning environment is an invaluable experience that will engage, surprise, and inspire students. Utilizing drama/theatre strategies (pantomime and improvisation) strengthen your classroom community and is an excellent catalyst for demonstrating collaboration, effective communication, and joyful learning. The basic structure of this lesson consists of a warm up (physical/vocal), main activity (learning objective), and closing (debrief/reflection). Below is a sample lesson plan that further breaks down these components.
Begin by welcoming participants, sharing the structure of the lesson and articulating the objectives of the lesson overall.
Objective 1: Participants will be able to utilize pantomime to share one of their favorite activities.
Warmup: This part of the lesson allows participants to warm up their bodies and voices.
Ask participants to stand in a circle.
Lead participants in a physical warm up (stretch up, lean forward, neck rotations, shoulder rotations forward and backwards, shake out arms, legs, then whole body).
Ask participants to repeat tongue twisters deliberately over articulating, and over enunciating (Unique New York, New York Unique, Red Leather Yellow Leather, Yellow Leather Red Leather, etc.).
Tell participants you’re going to put on the music. When the music starts participants will walk, dance and move throughout the space. When the music stops they will find a partner and be given a prompt to answer amongst one another. When the music starts again they will walk, dance and move throughout the space, and when the music stops, students find a different partner to converse with.
Repeat the above process three times utilizing prompts ranging from more general to more specific. For example:
prompt #1 discuss with your partner an activity you enjoy.
prompt #2 discuss one positive quality you bring to a group or team.
prompt #3 discuss the value of having both similarities and differences among members of a team.
Ask participants to return to their seats.
Debrief: What happened? How did it feel? What stood out to you?
Building Knowledge: This part of the lesson allows participants to brainstorm and define terms related to community.
Write the words ‘Building Community’ on the board or chart paper and then circle.
Ask participants, ‘what comes to mind when you see or hear the words ‘Building Community’.
Record responses creating a ‘web’.
Synchronize participant responses. For example: Building a community means to construct a respectful, inclusive, and accountable environment; sharing, caring; being helpful and kind; working together towards a shared goal.
Write the word ‘pantomime’ on the board or chart paper and then circle.
Ask participants ‘what comes to mind when they see or hear the word ‘pantomime’.
Record responses creating a ‘web’.
Synchronize participant responses. For example: pantomime means to act without using words or sound; silent acting; to mime; using facial expressions and gestures
Guided Practice: This part of the lesson includes modeling activity and demonstrating the strategies taught in the lesson.
Ask participants to stand in a circle
Tell participants they are going to say their names and enact one activity they enjoy doing utilizing ‘pantomime’.
Modeling: Utilizing the prompt, ‘My name is _______ (say name) and I like to (step forward and enact activity without using words or sound, then step back and name activity) ______(cooking).
Independent Practice: This part of the lesson allows participants to utilize prompts from the Guided Practice to complete perform an activity. Each participant shares their activity using ‘pantomime’.
Debrief/reflection: What happened? How did it feel? What stood out for you? How did the activity help to build community?
Objective 2: Participants will be able to utilize improvisation to demonstrate collaboration.
Building Knowledge:
Review components of ‘building community’ web definition.
Ask participants what ‘collaboration’ means. Record responses.
Synchronize ideas, ‘collaboration means to work together to create something; to cooperate with one another’
Write ‘improvisation’ on the board or chart paper; define improvisation as spontaneous creation; to freestyle; to make it up on the spot
Ask participants to stand in a circle.
Tell participants they are going to use their voice and body to create a simple movement and sound that can be repeated four to five times
Modeling/Guided Practice: Demonstrate several sounds and movements. Ask participants to repeat your sound and movement.
Each participant will share their sound and movement; the group repeats the sound and movement.
Independent Practice: In small groups participants will collaborate to create an original machine with sound and movement.
Divide the participants into small groups.
Ask each group to find their own space in the room.
Ask participants to number themselves 1 through however members are in the group.
Ask #1 to share their sound and movement then #2, then #3, etc. repeat time permitting.
Call the groups back into a whole group.
Tell participants they are going to share their sound and movement with the whole group ‘collaborating’ to create a spontaneous machine.
Ask for group volunteers.
Ask volunteers to stand in a small circle.
Tell participants the audience will say “1,2,3, action!” and group member #1 will share their sound and movement, repeating it continuously.
Then, say “#2!”. Group member #2 then joins in with their sound, repeating it continuously at the same time as the previous group member. Continue to add sounds until all group members are enacting and repeating their sound and movement together.
Tell volunteers when they hear their number called again to stop, slowly ‘deconstructing’ the machine until participants are no longer making noise.
Ask and answer any clarifying questions.
Ask the audience to applaud for the group.
Ask for another group of volunteers and repeat this process with remaining groups if time permits.
Final Debrief/Reflection:
What happened? How did it feel? How did you demonstrate or show collaboration? What does collaboration have to do with building community?
Whip Around: Using a word, phrase or sentence, how would you describe your experience ‘Building Community’?
