In this lesson, students will use a picture book about emotions as the basis for movement. Students will reflect on the importance of honouring someone else’s story and maintaining their dignity.

Lesson Overview

Estimated Time: 4 class periods

Guiding Questions
  • How might we represent stories about emotional experiences through movement?
  • How might we care for others’ stories?
  • How might we translate stories into movement?
  • How might dance be a form of text?
Readiness

Students should engage in some word study for the word “dignity” (see PDF #1), “abstract” (PDF #2) and “symbol” (PDF #3) prior to this lesson.

Students should have some familiarity with syllable types and with breaking words into syllables (Clapping syllables does not work for all students. Explore various strategies such as having students put their hand under their chin while they speak a word - the number of times the hand drops is the number of syllables).

Students should spend some time learning about the importance of taking care of someone else’s story (Appendix 2 Caring for Others' Stories) and creating brave spaces, recognizing their boundaries and understanding concepts of identity (Appendix 3 Preparing for Identity Work). 

Terminology
  • Elements of dance
  • Symbolism
  • Abstract
  • Dignity
  • Syllable
  • Adjectives
  • Music (Optional)
  • Speakers (Optional)
Materials
  • The Boy Who Tried to Shrink His Name by Sandhya Parappukkaran

  • A projection or chart paper with "Z i m d a l a m a s h k e r m i s h k a d a" written in the centre (must be able to add "/" marks to indicate syllables)
  • Appendix 4 List of Emotion Picture Books 
  • PDF #4 Picture Book Carousel Prompts
  • Whiteboards/whiteboard markers or chart paper/writing utensils
  • PDF #5 Anecdotal Records
  • Loose parts for the construction of personal narratives - suggested Loose Parts List
  • Scrap paper
  • PDF #6 Narrative Building Performance Observations
  • Projector
  • Black Swan performance clip

Minds On

Whole Class > Interpreting Visual Text

Read The Boy Who Tried to Shrink His Name. The first time you encounter the boy’s name, stop and practice breaking it into syllables. Z i m / d a / l a / m a s h / k e r / m i s h / k a / d a

Invite students to identify the open syllables (consonant-vowel like da, la, ka) and the closed syllables (CVC or CVCC like Zim, mash, ker, mish). Invite students to identify the digraphs that stay together in their syllable (like the sh in mash and mish).

Remind students about their word study of the word “symbol” (PDF#3). Remind them that a symbol is an object, gesture or image that represents an abstract idea. As they listen and look at the story, invite them to identify a symbol in the story.

Teacher Note: The orange string is a symbol for the name Zimdalamashkermishkada.

Whole Class > Guided Movement

Invite students to find a space in the room to move. Consider using music to guide their exploration. Remind them that they are working with someone’s story and need to maintain the dignity of that person while engaging with the story.

Imagine that you are the orange string, wrapped tight in a ball. What shape might your body be?

It is the first day at a new school, and his name gets tangled on his teacher’s tongue. He tangles you up in a ball and tries to hide you.

As you move around the room, think about how a tangled string might move. What levels might you use? What body parts and shapes might you use? What energy do your movements have? How do these movements feel in your body?

Slowly, more people learn to say his name. You slowly start to come out of your tangle as his friends add more and more syllables.

As you move around the room, think about how you might show unraveling. What levels might you use? What body parts and shapes might you use? What energy do your movements have? How do these movements feel in your body?

Finally, everyone can say his whole name! Zimdalamashkermishkada! You’re not tangled at all. You can expand like a bird taking flight.

As you move around the room, think about how you might show a string that is completely free. What levels might you use? What body parts and shapes might you use? What energy do your movements have? How do these movements feel in your body?

Teacher Prompts: 

  • How might you describe your movements when you were moving in a tangled way?
  • What emotions might the string show when it is tangled?
  • How might you describe your movements when you were moving in an unravelled way?
  • What emotions might the string show when it unravels?
  • Could we tell a story using only movements as symbols that show emotions?

Small Groups or Whole Group > Picture Book Carousel

If possible, place books or key images from books around the learning space and divide students into random groupings (up to 3 students). If you must project the images, work together as a whole group (see Differentiation for suggestions).

Prepare copies of PDF #4 Picture Book Carousel Prompts to be placed next to each book cover/picture along with whiteboards and whiteboard markers or chart paper and a writing utensil. If possible, place these on a vertical surface so students remain standing while they engage in the activity. The PDF explores the following questions.

  1. What emotion does the book focus on? Use the title and images to help you.
  2. What symbols might the illustrator and author use to show the emotion?
  3. What is the beginning, middle, and end of the story? Think about the problem and how it might be solved.

Assign groups to their first book. Their job is to collectively answer the first question on PDF #4 Picture Book Carousel Prompts.

Groups rotate to the next book, read the response from the first group, and work on the second question.

Finally, groups rotate to the next book, read the previous responses, and answer the third question.

Groups will engage with 3 books for the questions, but there can be as many books as needed for the class. (e.g., for 21 students, 7 books; for 26 students, 9 books). It is okay if one book does not get all three questions answered during the carousel.

Whole Class > Huddle Reflection

Invite students to huddle around each book’s recorded answers with you. Quickly share collective feedback about their work that you noticed while circulating (do not centre out students or groups - the praise should be general) and key ideas. As a whole class, reflect on the following questions:

Teacher Prompt:

  • Do different emotions always have the same symbol in books?
  • Why might authors use a common symbol?
  • Why might authors use a different symbol than the ones that others use?
Teacher Note

Not all stories follow a beginning, middle, and end structure, though this is a common text pattern in Western stories. You may wish to remind students of examples of non-linear stories that they have experienced in class or choose non-linear stories for a future lesson or unit.

Differentiation
  • Depending on student readiness, the teacher could model the three questions using The Boy Who Tried to Shrink His Name.
  • The teacher can include a QR code for a YouTube read aloud for the chosen books so that students can hear the whole story.
  • Each group gets one marker (each group has a different colour marker) and one writer. The group must discuss before recording their ideas.
  • If engaging as a whole group, the teacher can use a Think-Pair-Share approach to the questions.
Extensions

The teacher can add additional questions to PDF #4 to prolong the activity and engage with a greater number of picture books.

Assessment for Learning

Circulate while students work in their carousel groups and use PDF #5 to track observations about student thinking.

Action

Small Groups > Narrative Building

In new random groups of up to 3, students will work together to represent one of the stories that resonated with them using a variety of loose parts (see materials list for suggestions).

Before they begin, remind students about the importance of caring for the stories of others and maintaining dignity.

Ask them to use the loose parts to construct the beginning, middle and end of the story they chose.

Small Groups > Translating to Movement

Invite students to use adjectives to describe their loose parts creation and record their thinking on chart paper or scrap paper. For example, they might describe the quality of a material in their creation as “rough” or “smooth”. If you are working over several class periods, collect their descriptions.

The group should choose an adjective for the beginning, middle, and end of their chosen story and use their adjectives to inspire their movement. Each group member should be responsible for one of the adjectives (see Differentiation for groups of 2)

Invite students to bodystorm the group’s first adjective by moving around the space on their own. You may wish to add music.

Teacher Prompts:

  • What level might communicate your adjective? Low? Middle? High?
  • What body parts might communicate your adjective? Shoulders? Chest? Knees? Hips? Neck? Arms?
  • What body shapes? Round? Angular? Straight? Curved?
  • What energy might your adjective have? Float? Press? Slash? Flick? Dab?
  • Keep experimenting until you create a gesture that you feel shows your adjective. Repeat this gesture until it feels good.

When it seems like most students have developed a gesture, invite them to return to their groups and teach each other the gestures.

Invite the groups to rehearse until the three gestures flow smoothly together to create a beginning, middle, and end. Groups should add a beginning pose and an end pose.

Whole Class > Sharing their Symbolic Narratives

Students are encouraged to share their dance phrases in parallel - that is, multiple groups present simultaneously. If multiple groups have chosen the same story, invite them to share at the same time so that the audience can compare and contrast interpretations.

While the audience watches, encourage them to identify the emotions of the story and to see if they can interpret the story.

Reflect as a group on any of the following questions:

  • What emotions or themes did you notice in the performances?
  • Did any gestures or movements stand out to you? Why?
  • How did the groups use levels, shapes, or energy to tell their story?
  • What similarities or differences did you see between groups that interpreted the same story?
  • How did the adjectives (e.g., rough/smooth) influence your movement?
  • How did the groups honor the original story while adding their own perspective?
  • Why is it important to treat others' stories with care when retelling them?
  • If you were to add another adjective to the sequence, what would it be and why?
  • How did the beginning/end poses help clarify the narrative?
  • How might these movements change if the story were set in a different place or time?
Differentiation
  • If students need support with brainstorming for their descriptions, invite them to first write down all of the obvious ideas they can think of, and then the creative ideas, and then the most unusual ideas. Then invite students to draw lines to connect ideas that are similar and combine them.
  • If students need support with translating their loose part creations into movement, invite them to trade with another group for the process of translating, and then trade back so that they continue to work on their own story.
  • If students have access to technology, they could take an image of their creation and use editing tools to write their descriptive words directly on their image.
  • If a group has only 2 students, each student can be responsible for one of the adjectives and they can create the third adjective gesture together during the next part of the activity.
Assessment for Learning
  • Circulate while students work in their groups and use PDF #5 Anecdotal Records to track observations.
  • Engage in informal conversations to probe students’ thinking in relation to the Creative Process.
  • Use PDF #6 Narrative Building Performance Observations to record observations about student performance.
Assessment as Learning

After sharing, invite students to generate success criteria for a narrative dance performance. What helped the groups to communicate an emotion clearly? What elements of the performance were important for the audience to keep track of the story? Discussing success criteria after a formative task builds students’ capacity to recognize the purpose of success criteria in future lessons.

Consolidation

Whole Class > Interpreting Visual Text

To support student transition into analysis of a dance performance in Lesson 3, share this clip with students and indicate that the language of the song will be Korean, so they should focus on the movements and emotions:

Teacher prompts:

  • What might the lights shining up from the floor symbolize in this dance?
  • What adjectives might you use to describe the movements of the dancers?
  • What emotions might be connected to those adjectives?

Explain to students that just like the visual elements in The Boy Who Tried to Shrink His Name, choreographers can use gestures, props, lighting, and costumes as symbols in dance to support the story they want to tell.

Explain that Black Swan is a song performance about feeling disconnected from the things you once loved to do, and feeling trapped because you wish they still brought you joy.

Whole Class > Think-Pair-Share

  • Why do you think the choreographer might have chosen to use the lights in the floor as a symbol to show that meaning?
  • What connections might you make between this Black Swan dance performance and your dance exploration of the tangled string? Do you notice any similarities in the body parts, body shapes, levels, energies, etc. that you experimented with?
  • What did you learn about storytelling through movement today?
Assessment for Learning

Use PDF #5 Anecdotal Records to track observations about student thinking during the discussion.