At the Ark at Eight

Post-Show Lesson Plan

 

"Arctic Recall"

 

Topic: At the Ark at Eight

Target Age Group: 2nd/3rd grade (with variations for 4th/5th grade)

Goal: To test student recall in order to better understand the show

Objectives: The students will either creatively re-design or exactly re-enact the chosen scenes from the play.

Materials: Penguin costumes and props (optional), a big sheet of paper, art materials (i.e. colored pencil, crayons, or oil pastels)

 

Warm-up/Introduction: How much of the play do you remember?

 The instructor starts by asking general questions about the play:

  - "What characters did you see in the play? Who was your favorite?"

            - "Do you remember any songs from the play?"

  - "What was your favorite scene in the play? Why?"

 

Tableaux Activity (Now, let's become the characters!)

*Frozen Picture*

1. Divide the students into groups (4-6 groups depending on the number of students, 3-5 students per group).

 

2. Assign different scenes for each group, giving them 5 min. to prepare within their group. Each group will make a "Frozen Picture" (tableau) of

    a crucial moment of the play. The students can chose to become one of the characters, a piece of scenery, a prop, or anything else they can    

    defend as being part of the scene.

 

The assigned scenes might include:

1) The three penguins with the butterfly.

2) The two penguins find the third penguin with an umbrella and put her in a trunk.

3) The penguins try to hide one penguin from the dove.

4) The dove hears the voice of "god" in the chest.

5) The dove finds out that there are three penguins.

6) The dove and the three penguins get off the ark.

 

3. The instructor brings the groups back together and asks them to figure out which order their scenes are in. (What do you see here?" "What

     do you think she/he is presenting here?" “Is this how you remember the show?")

 

4.  The instructor will also insert group tableaux for the ark and departing back into the arctic at

      the end of the play.

 

Variation:  Heighten the difficulty by asking each group to add one word to their tableau that encapsulates the theme of their scenes.  How do you capture an entire thesis in one word? 

 

  Bridge: "Moving Scenes" (Now, let's make the pictures move!)

 

1. Each team works on the same scene, but this time, adds in dialogue. Students should choose to either reenact what happened in the        

     show exactly consciously decide to alter the scene according to their own imagination.

 

2. Each group presents their scene according to the order of the story.

 

3. After each team's performance, the instructor spotlights: "Was it different or same from the show? What was different from the show? What    

    did the group do well in their scene?" "Who acted which character?"

 

Variation: To add difficulty, students can choose to freeze the performance and change a decision of one of the characters.  After identifying the new choice, they must enter the scene and improve the new direction.  (For example, if a student decides the Third Penguin should have been left on the ice, they can choose to step in for First Penguin or Second Penguin and lead the other penguin into leaving the Third Penguin on the beach)

 

Reflection:

1. Assign different scenes for each group from the acting activity (in other words, let them draw the scenes acted by another group), and asking them to draw the most interesting moment of the scene on the paper. (The instructor can give them one big paper to work on together, or give them separate pieces of paper and collect them at the end).

2. Gather the works together, and spotlight the drawings.

 

Variation: Ask the students to create a visual representation of one of the main themes of the play.  How do you capture questions of faith, friendship, or love in a piece of art?  Is it simply entertainment or is there a lesson to be learned from the piece?  If there is a lesson, what may it be?