Next: acting! Finally!

I am soooooo excited...our next unit is pantomime; possibly my favorite unit of the year outside of improvisation.

What I love about improv is that, besides being the last unit we cover, a lot of kids who before were still in their shell finally crack out and really shine. Seeing these folks suddenly "come out of their shell" is an awesome bookend to the class. The kids really notice it too, which is what matters most, of course.

But pantomime! If only I could pantomime this entire blog entry I would!!!

What I love about pantomime is WHERE the kids have to go to communicate their story. Finally, after all the game playing we've been doing in class, being a goofball and exaggerating their bodies, minds and faces starts to PAY OFF.

Part I is ok: the kids work in groups of 1, 2 or 3 and choose one of a handful of scenes I have available to them. Then, they create a beginning, middle and end to their scene with a conflict and resolution. I think that's fun for them, but a lot of times they have a hard time figuring out what their conflict is. Needless to say, I'm often the resource for that! Maybe I'll come up with an alternative this year.

Part II rocks: The kids listen to 5 different selections of music then they choose one to create a story, just like in Part I, but the story and the music have to go together. Now, if I had my way and were in a wealthier school district with lots of resources, I'd give each group a cd player and a cd of the music and they could choreograph it perfectly. Not so in Boston. So, I do the best I can. Often music is streaming all class long.

My song choices I haven't totally decided on for these groups. Maybe Carmina Burana, maybe something from a cartoon like the Road Runner, with lots of action. There's a Vitamin Quartet version of Bleeding Love that could be great or a dud.

It's all a work in progress! Someday, I'll look back at my fourth year of teaching and say, thank goodness I'm not a fourth year teacher anymore, but right now, I feel like I'm starting to hit my groove.