Lesson Overview:
In this lesson, students practice using their bodies to communicate through movement, improvisation, and pantomime games. Groups then read an assigned Grimm Brothers’ fairy tale and interpret it through movement.
Length of Lesson:
Two 45-minute periods
Instructional Objectives:
Students will:
- practice simple pantomime skills.
- practice more sophisticated pantomime and movement by adding a character element such as age.
- read a Grimm’s Fairy Tale.
- recreate the Grimm Brothers’ tale using only movement in cooperative groups.
- present their Grimm Brothers’ tale to the class in cooperative groups.
Supplies:
- A set of index cards with the title of a following Grimm Brothers’ tale written on each:
A) Red Riding Hood*
B) Rapunzel*
C) Ashenputtel* (Cinderella in some lists)
D) Brehman Town Musicians
E) Snow White
F) Rumpelstiltskin
G) Hansel and Gretel
H) The Twelve Dancing Princesses
I) The Elves and the Shoemaker
J) The Frog Prince
K) The Golden Goose
L) Briar Rose (Sleeping Beauty)
- A box of simple costume props, such as kerchiefs, aprons, caps, scarves, etc.
- Pencils and paper or notebook/journal
- A recording of classical music (optional)
- Sound system (optional)
Instructional Plan:
Warm Up
Move the furniture to the sides of the room so that there is space to move in the classroom.
Identify guidelines for movement in the classroom such as:
- Cooperation – Students listen to directions and demonstrate respect for other students.
- Concentration – Students keep focused on the task at hand.
- Control – Students practice physical self control. They plan out actions and do not hurt others physically or verbally.
- Creativity – Students take risks by trying new things and solving problems in different ways.
Discuss these guidelines as a class, and the penalties for not adhering to them. These could include: removal from activity for a short or long period of time; removal from the cooperative group; or non-participation in the final presentation.
Begin with a simple cooperative movement game. Have all students follow you as you lead a series of warm up activities. Move slowly and deliberately. Slow, calming music or sounds like waves or birds in a rainforest can be used. This should take no more than three to five minutes.
- Head – Slowly turn the head to the right, then left. Repeat. Tilt the head to the right and left. Repeat.
- Shoulders – Shrug the shoulders four times. Roll in gentle forward circles four times, then backward four times.
- Back – Take hands and lock the fingers together in front of the chest. Push them out and curve the back in the opposite direction.
- Chest – Take hands and lock the fingers together in back of the body. Push the shoulders down and arch the chest up.
- Sides – Take both arms and stretch to the right. Now bend the right leg a little for a deeper stretch. Repeat on the left.
- Legs – Face right and bend the right leg while the left leg is straight. Repeat on the left side.
- Breath – Take a deep breath in, raising arms to the sky as the breath comes in and lowering them as air is released. Repeat once.
Introductory Activity
Tell students: Pantomime is an important tool used by actors and dancers to help tell a story. It is a way to communicate without words. We use movement to convey information all the time. A wave says “Hi.” A finger to the lips indicates "Be quiet." A shoulder shrug can mean “I don’t know.” Take a moment to think of some of the everyday ways we use movement to communicate with others.
After a moment, elicit responses from the class. Write these ideas on the board.
Partner the students. They will be playing the game “Mirror.”
Use a student as your partner as you model the following steps:
- Partners face each other and maintain eye contact. (The movement can be completed without the eyes following; use peripheral vision.)
- Decide who will be the leader. The other person will mimic his or her movement.
- Move slowly and deliberately.
- Use all levels — high, middle, and low — as you move.
After about a minute, call out “Switch Leaders!” The other person will now lead. End the game after about five minutes. Discuss with students whether the activity was challenging, and if so, why.
Guided Practice
Students become more specific in their movement by adding size and weight.
- Have students form a circle and instruct them that they will be tossing around an imaginary ball.
- Lead the students at first, modeling how you would adapt your movement according to the size and weight of the ball.
- Pretend to use a tennis ball at first. Bounce it, squeeze it, and toss it in the air. Have students copy these actions.
- Now switch to a golf ball, a basketball, a bowling ball, a beach ball, etc., adapting your movement accordingly. Have the class follow your actions, or elicit student volunteers to lead the different movement. Do this for about five minutes.
End the game after about five minutes. Discuss with students how they adapted their movement each time the shape and weight of the ball changed. Discuss whether the activity was challenging, and if so, why.
Have students continue to practice the skill of pantomime with objects and actions that they use in everyday life. As they pantomime, students should follow the imaginary object/action with their eyes and show what happens when they are finished with the object/action.
Some good everyday objects/actions for this activity include:
- Peeling a banana.
- Eating a pizza with lots of cheese.
- Sipping a drink through a straw.
- Picking up a coin.
End the game after about five minutes. Discuss what students observed about their own movements and those of others. What was interesting? What was challenging?
Add character to the everyday actions just completed. Call out the action and the character. Have students repeat all the above actions as if they are:
- Three years old;
- An old person;
- An angry person;
- A person who is out on a sweltering day;
- A suspicious person; and
- A person in a hurry.
Students should identify what changed as they completed each movement.
Allow students to move around the room personifying the different characters. Divide students into groups labeled A, B, C, D, E, and F. You may wish to have one group move at a time, two or three together, or all groups at once.
Imagine that the classroom space is the woods, like the setting for Into the Woods, Jr. Have students cross the space without touching or making sounds.
Assign a character to each group:
- All A’s are three years old.
- All B’s are old.
- All C’s are angry.
- All D’s are very hot.
- All E’s are suspicious.
- All F’s are in a hurry.
Have each person decide why they are going into the woods. The reason should be relevant to the character the student is protraying. Are they going to get a treat? Are they on an adventure? Is someone special waiting on the other side? Are they being chased?
Independent Practice
Keep the class divided in groups A through F. Tell students that they will be creating a pantomime based on a Grimm Brothers' fairy tale. Distribute an index card with the name of one of the following tales to each group:
- Red Riding Hood
- The Brehman Town Musicians
- Snow White
- Rapunzel
- Rumpelstilskin
- Hansel and Gretel
- The Twelve Dancing Princesses
- The Elves and the Shoemaker
- The Frog Prince
- The Golden Goose
- Ashenputtel (Cinderella)
- Briar Rose (Sleeping Beauty)
- *Jack and the Beanstalk* (Not a Grimm’s fairy tale, but in Into the
Woods, Jr.)
Share the rubrics that will determine the grade for this lesson. Discuss what is expected in the areas of Performance, Storytelling, Movement, and Cooperation. Assign someone in the group to be the director. This person will be responsible for keeping the group on track and focused on the final presentation.
Each group should find a space to read the assigned tale, either in book form or online at the Grimm Brothers’ Homepage.
After reading the tale, students should identify six events that can be told in pantomime and movement. They cast themselves in these scenes. Several people can be the same character at different points in the story. Students can also become inanimate objects, such as doors, houses, trees, etc., to help clarify the action in the scene. Only costume props may be used.
Give the class 30-45 minutes to read, discuss, and practice pantomiming their tale.
Closure
All groups present the tales to the class. (The final tales should be able to be told in under three minutes each!)
The class identifies which tale is being told and records The their favorite part of the tale their group told. What was a challenge that was overcome? They also write what they liked about the group’s work.
Assessment:
Use the Moving Tales Rubric to evaluate group presentations.
Sources:
Print:
- Grimm, Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm. The Complete Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm. Jack Zipes (transl.). John B. Gruelle (ill.). New York: Bantam Books, 1992.
- Novelly, Maria C. Theatre Games for Young Performers. Colorado Springs, CO: Meriwether Publishing, Ltd., 1985.
- Johansen, Mila. 101 Theatre Games. Nevada City, California: Classics with a Twist/Players Press, 1994.
- Sondheim, Stephen, and James Lapine. Into the Woods. New York: Music Theatre International, 1988.
- Sondheim, Stephen, and James Lapine. Into the Woods Junior. New York: The Broadway Junior Collection, 1988.
- Spolin, Viola. Theatre Games for the Classroom. Chicago: Northwestern University Press, 1986.
Web:
Authors:
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Mary Beth Bauernschub, Teacher
Kingsford Elementary School
Mitchellville, MD
