Elementary School Unit (Grades 1-3)

Standards: Students will

• know and apply the arts disciplines, techniques, and processes in original or interpretive work
• reflect upon the concepts and themes and assess the merits of their own work and the work of others

Assessment: The students will complete a book (portfolio) "All About Me."

Me and My Body: Music and Science (2 days)

Science Standard: Students will recognize that component parts make up the human body systems (e.g. muscular, skeletal, circulatory, respiratory)

Music Achievement Indicators: Students will:

• sing independently, on pitch and in rhythm, with appropriate timber, diction, and posture, and maintain a steady tempo
• use appropriate terminology in explaining music and music notation

Materials:

• diagram of musical measures
  
• musical instrument to keep time
  
• poster-sized measures and cut out quarter, half and whole notes
  
• anatomy chart
  
• simple children's song

Music Preparation: Have the students explore how their heart and body have natural rhythms. Explain that the heart is a rhythmic pump keeping blood circulating through the body. Have them locate the heart on the anatomy chart. See if they can locate a pulse in their body. Ask, "How many different places on their body can they find a pulse?" Once they have identified their pulse, have them clap their hands to the rhythm of the pulse. Help them identify 3/4 and 4/4 time in their pulse.

Music Activity: Identify a 3/4 and 4/4 time signature, a measure, quarter, half, and whole notes. Have the students call out (quarter, quarter, quarter, quarter--half, half--whole).
Clap the 3/4 and 4/4 time on different parts of the body (e.g. hand to legs, shoulders, knees, etc.).
Place poster-sized measure on the floor and have the students place notes as directed on the measures to complete a 4/4 or 3/4 time signature. Have the students step this out to feel the pulse; repeat with the half notes, etc..
March out a rhythm as the teacher claps. March to the musical accompaniment.
Choose a steady rhythm and in unison clap it out.
Choose a movement to accompany the rhythm (e.g. walk, jump, hop, gallop).
Choose a simple melody to sing to the beat of their heart, keeping time clapping.

Music Preparation: Have the students locate their lungs on the anatomy chart. Have them feel the place where their ribs come together and breathe in to a count of four, breathe out to a count of four; then to eight. (Blowing up a balloon and letting the air out slowly can be a good example to help students make comparisons with the lungs.) Have them locate their vocal chords on the anatomy chart. Whisper a phrase from the song while feeling the larynx. Now have them vocalize the phrase. Ask, "What happens?"

Music Activity: Sing the song, noticing what the lungs and larynx are doing. Sing it one more time and record.

Music Assessment: Listen with the children to their tape. Help them hear when they maintained the rhythm, were on pitch, etc..

Me and My Body: Dance, Music and Science (2 days)

Science Achievement Indicator: Students will identify the basic structures and functions of human body systems

Dance Standard: Students will use appropriate terminology and demonstrate locomotor and non-locomotor/axial movement while moving to a beat and changes in tempo

Achievement Indicators: Students will:

• accurately demonstrate non-locomotor/axial movements such as bend, twist, stretch, swing
• accurately demonstrate basic locomotor movements such as walk, run, hop, jump, leap, gallop, slide, and skip while traveling forward, backward, sideways, diagonally, and turning
• demonstrate accuracy in moving to a musical beat and responding to changes in tempo
• attentively observe and accurately describe the action such as skip, gallop, etc. in a brief movement study

Materials:

• skeleton and anatomy charts
  
• drum to keep time
  
• record of simple melody in 3/4 or 4/4 time
  
• video camera

Dance Preparation: Show the students the skeleton and anatomy charts. Locate the heart inside the skeleton. Locate the big bones on their own bodies. Demonstrate leg and arm movement with the skeleton. Point out the muscles on the anatomy chart and discuss how the muscles moved the leg and arm bones.

Challenge the students to move like the skeleton. Ask, "How many ways can you move your arms? Your legs? Your back bone? Your head? How would you move if you had no bones? Move like a skeleton to 3/4 and 4/4 time." Beat the rhythm for them.
Ask, "What moves the skeleton? How do muscles move?" Demonstrate expansion and contraction. Have the students experiment with expansion and contraction.

Ask, "What happens to your skeleton and muscles when you walk?" Demonstrate walking to 4/4 and 3/4 time. Have them walk to the rhythm. Increase the tempo. Have the students feel their pulse and report what has happened.

Dance Activity: Play a simple melody in 3/4 or 4/4 time. Have the students explore different movements to the music--as if they were skeletons dancing. Help the students select four movements. Lead them to rehearse the phrase. Coach them by using words such as locomotor (walking, hopping, skipping), and axial (twisting, bending, contracting, expanding). Have the students repeat the dance and videotape it.

Dance Assessment: Observe the videotape with the students and lead them to describe when they used non-locomotor/axial movements (such as bend, twist, stretch, swing), locomotor movements (such as walk, run, hop, jump, leap, gallop, slide, and skip) traveling forward, backward, sideward, diagonally, and turning, and when they moved to the musical beat. Use the board to write the words as they discuss them. Have the students include the new vocabulary words in their portfolios.

If possible, include still pictures from the video in their portfolio. Have the students write the kind of movement their picture demonstrates.

Me and My Body: Music, Drama and Science (2 days)

Science Standard: Students will recognize that component parts make up the human body systems (e.g. muscular, skeletal, circulatory, respiratory)

Music/Drama Standard: Students will differentiate and use appropriately the singing and speaking voice.

Drama Standard: Students will use natural language patterns with familiar phrases to improvise dramatic moments with the teacher in role.

Materials:

• anatomy chart
  
• simple children's song

Preparations: Identify the diaphragm, lungs, larynx, mouth and nose on the anatomy chart for the students.

Music Activity: Have the students place their hand on the soft spot below their ribs to feel their diaphragm work by saying a coughing 'hah.'

Review deep breathing by having them identify their lungs by breathing in all the way (full capacity)--just until it begins to hurt a bit--and then letting the air out. (Blow up a balloon and let the air out slowly as an example of how the lungs work.)
Have the students breathe in, to a count of four, breathe out to a count of four; breathe in, to a count of eight (twice as long), breathe out to a count of eight. Summarize by explaining that the diaphragm is the muscle that responds to breathing for singing and speaking.

Have the students identify their larynx by gently placing their fingers on their voice box (larynx), say their name, and feel what happens. Have them describe what they feel.

Introduce vocal exercises. "Feel the difference between a relaxed and tense vocal mechanism. Open your mouth in a relaxed fashion, drop your jaw and sing 'ah' on two notes (e.g. cdc); smile with a tight mouth like a Cheshire Cat and sing a disconnected 'ee' sound on two notes (e.g. cdc); with a tight mouth make a staccato coughing "ha" sound on two notes (e.g. ccc, ddd, ccc)."

Remind the students to use full capacity breathing. Sing a melodic phrase for the students; have them repeat the phrase in unison. Repeat with a different phrase. Sing a familiar song.

Drama Activity: Decide on two characters--one an adult and one a child--and a question to be answered (e.g. Policeman: What have you got in your pocket? Child: Only a piece of candy. Policeman: Where did you get it? etc.--the police officer was suspecting shoplifting!) With the teacher in role as either the adult or the child, carry on a dialogue with children who volunteer. Remind them to use full capacity breathing.
Choose another situation with two characters who have a problem. Pair the children and have them stand several feet from their partner. Have number 1s be one character, number 2s the other. "As your character, talk with your partner and try to solve the problem." Discuss who could be heard and understood. Tell the students they just created a "dialogue."

Make a list on the board of what the students did when they sang the song and when they had the dialogue.

When I sing I
breathe
use words
have a melody

When I speak I
breathe
use words
have a story

Discuss the similarities between singing and speaking and the need for full capacity breathing in each. Have the students put their lists in their portfolio.

Me and My Emotions: Drama/Language Arts/Visual Arts (3/4 days)

Science Standard: Students will recognize that the mind and emotions are a part of the human body systems

Indicator of Achievement: Students will be able to name several emotions and describe how they feel

Language Arts Standards: Students will

• make predictions based on the title, cover, illustrations, of a text
• identify cause and effect relationships
• explain how the events in a story relate to real life
• write a story about a personal incident and a poem about themselves

Drama Standard: Students will create and sustain a pretend scene, using appropriate language or movement

Indicator of Achievement: Students will:

• working within a group, use selected characters, environment, movement and language to improvise a dramatic problem
• sustain concentration throughout a scene

Visual Arts Standards: Students will:

• identify visual arts as one way to tell a story
• describe the "story" a painting tells
• draw a portrait

Materials:

• ALEXANDER AND THE TERRIBLE, HORRIBLE, NO GOOD, VERY BAD DAY, Judith Viorst. NY, NY: Aladdin Paperbacks, 1992 (or another story with the characters having strong "playable" emotions, WHEN SOPHIE GETS ANGRY--REALLY,REALLY ANGRY, Molly Bang. NY,NY: The Blue Sky Press, 1999 is another possible choice)
  
• tape measures for each pair of students
  
• paper, paint or crayons
  
• prints of portraits (or check www.nga.gov search "The Collection, Subject Search, Portraits" or try www.artcyclopedia.com/index.html search "By Subject")

Vocabulary:

• character
  
• story/problem
  
• environment
  
• dialogue
  
• concentration

Drama Preparation: Have the students name emotions (e.g. happy, sad, excited, angry, bored, scared, surprised, etc.) and list them on the board. Ask, "What makes you feel this way?"

Drama Activity: Have the students pantomime an activity that makes them feel happy, sad, surprised. Sidecoach "Without words, in pantomime, eat an ice cream cone; pet a friendly puppy. How did you feel? What would be a scary thing to do?" (Choose one that will be easy and safe to pantomime.) "Pantomime that activity. How did you feel?" Repeat with an angry activity, an excited activity. "Describe how your body (muscles and heart) reacted--were you bent in, stretched open, was your face scrunched in or open, etc.? Was your heart beating faster? What can you do to resolve the conflict that made you angry? Let's add dialogue, words, and try out what we might say. Who would like to play their situation out with me?" Demonstrate, in role, several of the situations, with a student as your partner. (e.g. an argument over the use of a toy; who gets to go first, etc.).

Preparation: Discuss that emotions affect the whole body. They can make the muscles feel tense or relaxed, the heart beat fast or slow. Feeling tense is not good for the body. Discuss full capacity breathing as a way to relax. Show the students one or two pictures from ALEXANDER AND THE TERRIBLE, HORRIBLE, NO GOOD DAY (or a story that deals with strong "playable" emotions). "From the title, what emotions do you think Alexander, the main character, will have? From the pictures, why do you suppose he is feeling this way?" Read the story. Ask, "What was the story about? Why did Alexander feel that way? Has anything like this ever happened to you or someone you know? When?"

Drama Activity: Warm up the students with a shake and freeze. Have them shake out and then move as if they were at the breakfast table with Alexander, in the car pool, etc.
Discuss a possible "bad day" thing that could happen on this day. Help the students select one that involves only two people. Divide them in pairs and have them enact the scene in pantomime and then repeat it adding dialogue. Allow volunteers to share.
Discuss what the audience saw the "characters" doing that they could believe. Review the vocabulary. Have the students place the list in their portfolio.

Assessment: Have the students write a story (using their "emergent" writing skills) about when they felt happy, or sad, or excited, or scared, etc. Put vocabulary words the children suggest as they write on the board to help with spelling. (Questions to help the students think about when they felt this way may help them begin.) Keep the stories for their book of "All About Me" along with your comments about the good ideas they've included.

Visual Arts Preparation: Show the student some exemplary portraits by several artists. "Who is in this picture? What are the colors in the picture? What is the person wearing? Where is he or she? What else is in the picture? What do their faces and bodies tell us about him or her and his or her feelings? What does the setting, and the objects they have tell us about him or her? You're going to make your portrait; what images (objects) would you put in your portrait to tell us about you? What colors will you use to suggest your feelings?"
Introduce techniques for drawing the face. "Your face is divided into four parts. With a partner, use a tape measure to see where your eyes are in relation to the top of your head and your chin. Measure from ear to ear to see the relationship of your nose to the sides of your head. Using available art materials (e.g. crayons, paint, etc.) create your portrait. Start with lightly sketching in the oval of your face. Divide the oval with a line in the middle from top to bottom and in the middle from side to side. Add your eyes, nose, mouth, ears, and body, etc.. Include objects that will tell us about you, and choose colors that will tell us about how you feel."

Assessment: Post the portraits and have the students discuss the colors used and objects included in the pictures and what they tell about the person portrayed. Keep the portraits for the book "All About Me."

Write "unique" on the board and share how each student is different and special.

Language Arts Activity: Have students write a poem to share their unique qualities.

Complete a series of phrases to create a poem.

I am _______________ and _______________
I am _______________ and _______________

or

I like _______________ and _______________
And _______________ and _______________
Best of all I like _________________________

Have a partner proof read their poem for spelling; or have the students take them home to have someone proof read it with them.

Have the students read their poem to the class; then put it in their portfolio.

Visual Arts Preparation: Discuss with the class that they are visual artists. They made a portrait of themselves--a story about themselves. They can also decorate things. Discuss patterns, use of color, shape, size, direction, orientation.

Visual Arts Activity: Have the students create a pattern for the cover of their book, "All About Me." (They might even create the pattern on the computer.)

Portfolio

The Portfolio should include:

1. a cover with a colored pattern
2. the dance vocabulary
3. pictures of the students' skeleton dance and their description
   of the movements they used (optional)
4. singing and speaking lists
5. the theater vocabulary
6. the story about a time they felt happy, sad, etc.
7. their portrait
8. the poem about their unique qualities

Extensions:

Family roles and responsibilities. Read a story about family roles and responsibilities. (IT'S MINE! by Leo Leonni is an interesting book.) Enact scenes--play out scenes dealing with an argument and its resolution. Write out the dialogue.

Discuss the responsibilities that must be shared in a family in real life.

Art in the community. Discuss what communities they belong to (family, school, church, city/town). Discuss what may be considered as art in their communities. With a polaroid camera, have the students record some of the art in their world. This can include drama, music, dance as well as visual art.

Summarize by having the students create a collage of themselves, their family, and their community. Include the polaroid photos, colored paper, etc.. Create a silhouette and mount it on top of a collage that describes their community. Have the students share their collage with the class and explain what they have included in the work.

Based on ideas from the Carmel Charter School faculty, Chandler, AZ