ARTSEDGE: Freeze Frame

This Lesson at a Glance:

Grade Band:

Integrated Subjects:
(click to view more lessons in these areas)

Materials:

For the student:

Interactive Venn Diagram

Related WebLinks:

Targeted Standards:

The National Standards For Arts Education:

Music (K-4)
Standard 8: Understanding relationships between music, the other arts, and disciplines outside the arts

Theater (K-4)
Standard 1: Script writing by planning and recording improvisations based on personal experience and heritage, imagination, literature, and history

Theater (K-4)
Standard 2: Acting by assuming roles and interacting in improvisations

Theater (K-4)
Standard 3: Designing by visualizing and arranging environments for classroom dramatizations

Theater (K-4)
Standard 4: Directing by planning classroom dramatizations

Theater (K-4)
Standard 5: Researching by finding information to support classroom dramatizations

Theater (K-4)
Standard 6: Comparing and connecting art forms by describing theatre, dramatic media (such as film, television, and electronic media), and other art forms

Theater (K-4)
Standard 7: Analyzing and explaining personal preferences and constructing meanings from classroom dramatizations and from theatre, film, television, and electronic media productions

Other National Standards:

Language Arts I (K-2) Standard 1: Uses the general skills and strategies of the writing process

Language Arts I (K-2) Standard 2: Uses the stylistic and rhetorical aspects of writing

Language Arts I (K-2) Standard 3: Uses grammatical and mechanical conventions in written compositions

Language Arts I (K-2) Standard 8: Uses listening and speaking strategies for different purposes

Icon Legend:

		= part of the current spotlight

		= opens in a new window

		= kid-friendly

		= printable

		= interactive

		= audio

		= video

		= images

Freeze Frame

Part of the Unit: The Emperor's New Clothes Unit

Lesson Overview:

Students will compare the opera The Emperor’s New Clothes with the original Hans Christian Andersen story, and with the song "The King’s New Clothes" by Frank Loesser from the musical movie Hans Christian Andersen. The students will act out tableaus of a scene from the opera and story. They will follow up with a written observation about the comparisons of the story, opera, and song.

Length of Lesson:

Two 45-minute periods

Notes:

This lesson is particularly suitable for grades 3-4.

Instructional Objectives:

Students will:

compare different versions of The Emperor’s New Clothes.
create a tableau with their bodies of a scene from the opera or story or song.
write to inform about the similarities and differences in each version of the story.

Instructional Plan:

Warm Up

Discuss with the class the characters, problems, and solutions found in the opera The Emperor’s New Clothes. These may include:

Characters: Reyalto (Chernaud’s daughter); Messienne (a gypsy); Simon (a tailor’s apprentice); Chernaud (the Emperor’s chamberlain); the Emperor.
Problems: the Emperor loves new clothes; Simon has dropped the new clothes in the mud and will lose his job; Reyalto is set to marry a stranger, but is in love with Simon.
Solutions: Messienne helps Reyalto trick the Emperor; Simon saves his job and is allowed to marry Reyalto.

List the responses on the board. Have students take notes.

Introductory Activity

Read aloud, or have students read to themselves, Hans Christian Andersen’s story, The Emperor’s New Clothes. While reading or listening, have students note the characters, problems, and solutions in this version of the story.

Listen to or watch "The King’s New Clothes" from the film musical, Hans Christian Andersen. Have students note the characters, problems, and solutions.

Guided Practice

Discuss the similarities and differences in all three versions of the story. Students should take notes. Have students organize their notes in a chart or use the interactive Venn Diagram. Have students practice using their bodies to pantomime different activities such as sewing, weaving, and dressing. Have them freeze in position for thirty seconds.

Independent Practice

Break the class into three groups. Assign either the opera, story, or song to each group. Remind the students to work together cooperatively.

Assign one student per group to serve as director. Have students create a freeze tableau of three different sections of the opera, story, or song. They may do this by:

deciding on three events to dramatize.
selecting characters to be in the tableau (people can become props too, like a loom or gypsy wagon).
casting the characters within the group.
practicing creating the tableaus (holding the freeze).
presenting the tableau to the class.
identifying the events represented in the freezes presented.

Have students write to inform about the similarities and differences of all three versions of The Emperor’s New Clothes.

Students must give at least three examples of similarities and three differences. They must also support their reasoning.

Closure

Give students four minutes to discuss with a partner which of the versions they liked best and why.

Assessment:

Assess the degree to which students meet the following criteria:

creating three different tableaus of either the opera, the story, or the song.
working cooperatively in a group to create the tableaus.
writing to inform about the similarities and differences in the three versions of The Emperor’s New Clothes.
giving at least three examples of similarities and three differences. They also provide support for their reasoning.

Extensions:

Watch the Faerie Tale Theatre’s version of The Emperor’s New Clothes. Also look for other versions available on video tape, including one starring Sid Ceaser and another with John Geilgud reading the story. Compare these to the opera, story, or song.

Read variations on the story, such as The Dinosaur’s New Clothes or The Principal’s New Clothes. Create your own version of the tale.

Watch or listen to another Hans Christian Andersen story put to music, such as Once Upon a Mattress (The Princess and the Pea) or The Steadfast Tin Soldier from Fantasia 2000. Compare them to the original source.

Sources:

Print:

Andersen, Hans Christian. The Emperor’s New Clothes. Little, Brown, and Company, 1994.
Andersen, Hans Christian. The Emperor’s New Clothes: An All Star Retelling of the Classic Fairy Tale. Starbright Foundation; Hartcourt Brace, 1998.
Brust, Beth Wagner. The Amazing Paper Cuttings of Hans Christian Andersen. Ticknor & Fields Books for Young Readers, 1994.
Burch, Joann Johansen and Liz Monson. A Fairy Tale Life: A Story About Hans Christian Andersen. Carolrhoda Books, Inc., 1994.
Jesse, Anita. The Playing Is The Thing. Wolf Creek Press, 1996.
Kelner, Leonore Blank. Drama in the Classroom. Heineman, 1993.
Kelner, Leonore Blank. A Guide for Using Creative Drama in the Classroom. InterAct, Inc., 1990.
Koehler-Pentacoff, Elizabeth. Curtain Call. Incentive Publications, Inc, 1989.
Novelly, Maria C. Theatre Games for Young Performers. Meriwether Publishing, Ltd., 1985.

Media:

Hans Christian Andersen; starring Danny Kaye; a Samuel Goldwyn Production; 1952.
The Emperor’s New Clothes; Faerie Tale Theatre; 1984.
The Emperor’s New Clothes; Happily Ever After Fairy Tales for Every Child; 1995.
Emperor’s New Clothes; Narrated by John Geilgud; Rabbit Ears; Columbia/Tristar Studios; 1997.
Emperor’s New Clothes; Starcuts; 1992.
The Emperor’s New Clothes; MGM/UA; 1987; 1993.
Hans Christian Andersen; starring Danny Kaye; words/music by Frank Loesser; MCA Records; 1952.

Authors:

Mary Beth Bauernschub, Teacher
Kingsford Elementary School
Mitchellville, MD