In todays integrated arts input, myself and my group were given the opportunity to plan a ‘lesson’ for drama. This approach is called    microteaching. Prior to this session we decided to plan our lesson around the book giraffes can’t dance. Giraffes can’t dance is a booked aimed at children from 3 – 6 years old, which follows Gerald a friendly giraffe which unfortunately cannot dance. The book allows the children to go along with Gerald on his journey to learn how to dance at the party with his animal friends.

Here is an animation of the book, which could be shown in class along with reading the book:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZjsLK5vwNU

(Malik,2019)

This book teaches children that it is good to do brave things and to step outside your comfort zone. It also shows them that it is okay to ask for help.

We decided to use three drama conventions in our lesson: Teacher in role, Monologue and thought tunnel. One of my peers took on the role of Gerald in teacher in role and we asked our section to gather round and ask Gerald questions about how he feels and what they can do to help. We then moved on to thought tunnel, where the individual walking through the middle was Gerald and the others were the animal friends, this was to highlight some of the other characters feelings towards Gerald and to show which direction they wanted to go in with the rest of the story. We finally split the section into groups and each group created a still image and one character stepped out and spoke their thoughts. We felt this lesson went extremely well, however, when given feedback we realised the importance of mingling with each of the groups to make sure they are all doing okay and understanding the task in hand. This is something I will work on when planning and implementing drama lessons in the future.

After our group completed our microteaching, we were given the opportunity to take part in another two groups lessons. The next two groups happened to choose the same book (We’re going on a bear hunt), at first this seemed like it could be an issue, with both lessons possibly being very similar. However, each focused on different aspects of the story and the groups had chosen to focus on different drama conventions which made both fresh and enjoyable. This is something I will be mindful off in the classroom, as completing the same story after it has already been done may lead to the children being under stimulated.

After Drama, we moved to Art. This seminar followed last weeks art work of the Scottish Highlands. We were given the brief to write upon our pictures with words, phrases and songs which we associate with the highlands or simply feel from the picture. We were given a variety of utensils such as chalk, pencils, pens and pastels to write upon our picture. This was my picture:

I chose to write on the green parts of the trees vertically to show the many different ways of growth the trees can take, I wrote horizontally on the truck to show the strength of the tree. For one tree (the left), I wrote words that I associate with trees such as Air, Blossom and Evergreen. For the second tree I found a poem which I really liked which stated:

“Allow natures peace to flow into you as sunshine flows through trees”

This poem made me think about standing on top of a grassy hill, with the sun beaming down on me, appreciating the beauty of my surroundings, feeling truly content.

I then moved on to writing on top of the mountains. For this I decided to follow the up and down pattern of the mountains peaks, I decided that Robert Burns poem ‘ My heart is in the highlands’ was perfect. The poem goes:

“Farewell to the Highlands, farewell to the North,
The birth-place of Valour, the country of Worth;
Wherever I wander, wherever I rove,
The hills of the Highlands for ever I love.

My heart’s in the Highlands, my heart is not here;
My heart’s in the Highlands a-chasing the deer;
A-chasing the wild-deer, and following the roe,
My heart’s in the Highlands wherever I go.

Farewell to the mountains high covered with snow;
Farewell to the straths and green valleys below;
Farewell to the forests and wild-hanging woods;
Farewell to the torrents and loud-pouring floods.

My heart’s in the Highlands, my heart is not here;
My heart’s in the Highlands a-chasing the deer;
A-chasing the wild-deer, and following the roe,
My heart’s in the Highlands wherever I go.”

(Burns, 1789)

Finally, I decided to write words around my clouds in the sky. For this, I wanted my words to follow a circular pattern around the outside of the cloud. I found a poem called ‘’ which I particularly loved and I selected snippets of it to write round my clouds. The poem goes:

“Clouded skies bring hope for some;
The hope of rain, new life to come.
to lay and watch the clouds pass by –
They paint fresh pictures in the sky.

Children play look and see games;
Place cloudy shapes in picture frames.
A dragon spreads its wings in flight;
Two awesome beasts prepare to fight.
The nebulous figures soon disappear.
An azure canvas – naked and clear.
The sun comes out to shine anew,
until new paintings come to view.”

I loved this poem as it spoke to the inner child in me, it reminded me of lying on the grass staring up into the sky and seeing an infinite number of different images in the clouds. This gave me a feeling of sheer happiness and I loved the idea of these images being paintings in the sky.

Here are some experiences and outcomes which could be covered by this art lesson :

• I have the freedom to discover and choose ways to create images and objects using a variety of materials. EXA 0-02a
• I can respond to the work of artists and designers by discussing my thoughts and feelings. I can give and accept constructive comment on my own and others’ work. EXA 0-07a / EXA 1-07a / EXA 2-07a / EXA 3-07a

(Scottish Government, 2008)

Both of these activities highlighted to me further the importance of including the arts in the curriculum, as a stand along subject and integrated in others such as literacy. Such a simple task of writing some quotes on a picture took me to a whole other place in my imagination and allowed me to be creative. This is something I would love to instate within my classroom and I can think of endless amounts of opportunities to do so.

References 

Burns, R. (1789) My heart is in the highlands [Online] Available : http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/robertburns/works/my_hearts_in_the_highlands/ [Accessed 3/10/19]

Malik, S. (2019). Giraffe’s Can’t Dance Animation Movie [Online] Available : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZjsLK5vwNU [Accessed 3/10/19]

Scottish Government. (2008). Expressive Arts Experiences and Outcomes [Online] Available : https://education.gov.scot/Documents/expressive-arts-eo.pdf [Accessed 3/10/19]