Fourth Grade Drama Curriculum

Standard A:  A student should be able to create and perform in the arts.

A student who meets the content standard should:

  1. Participate in dance, drama, music, visual arts, and creative writing;
  2. Refine artistic skills and develop self-discipline through rehearsal, participation, and revision;
  3. Appropriately use new and traditional materials, tools, techniques, and processes in the arts;
  4. Demonstrate the creativity and imagination necessary for innovative thinking and problem solving.
  5. Collaborate with others to create and perform works of art’
  6. Integrate two or more art forms to create a work of art; and
  7. Investigate careers in art production.

ACTIVITIES

·        Improvise dialogue from stories through role-play.

·        Imagine and describe characters, their relationships, and their environments.

·        Retell/perform stories, poems, songs, and tales.

·        Develop expression using the body, voice, and gestures.

·         Practice classroom performance skills (e.g. oral interpretation, improvisation, children’s theatre, role playing, mime, etc.).

·        Design scenes and props using visual art elements.

·        Collaborate to design a set for a class performance.

·        Develop Characterization (gestures, vocal expression, body).

·        Role-play from literature.

·        Create dialogue through role-play to convey a specific message.

·        Retell/perform stories, poems, songs, legends, tales, (literature drawn from social studies/science).

·        Practice classroom performance skills.

·        Develop a sense of audience.

·        Work with performing artists in a variety of capacities.

·        Perform Reader’s Theatre.

 

 

ASSESSMENT:

·        Student performance

·        Rubric/checklists

·        Teacher observation

 

 

 

 

 

 

Standard B: A student should be able to understand the historical and contemporary role of the arts in Alaska, the nation, and the world.

A student who meets the content standard should:

  1. Recognize Alaska Native cultures and their arts;
  2. Recognize United States and world cultures and their arts;
  3. Recognize the role of tradition and ritual in the arts;
  4. Investigate the relationships among the arts and the individual, the society, and the environment;
  5. Recognize universal themes in the arts such as love, war, childhood, and community;
  6. Recognize specific works of art created by artists from diverse backgrounds;
  7. Explore similarities and differences in the arts of world cultures;
  8. Respect differences in personal and cultural perspectives; and
  9. Investigate careers relating to arts history and culture.

 

ACTIVITIES

·        Identify and compare similar characters and situations in stories and dramas from and about various cultures.

·        Discuss how theatre reflects life with classroom dramatizations.

·        Discuss Alaskan Native dance/drama.

·        Demonstrate proper rehearsal, performance, and audience etiquette.

·        Communicate information about events, time, and place of classroom dramatizations (e.g. posters, tickets, and invitations).

·        Interview and record the artistic/creative experiences of an older community elder.

·        Explore cultural and environmental context of a performance (before and after viewing).

 

 

 

ASSESSMENT:

·        Student performance

·        Teacher observation

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Standard C: A Student should be able to critique the student’s art and the art of others.

A student who meets the content standard should:

  1. Know the criteria used to evaluate the arts; these may include craftsmanship, function, organization, originality, technique, and theme.
  2. Examine historical and contemporary works of art, the works of peers, and the student’s own works as follows:
    1. Identify the piece;
    2. Describe the use of basic elements;
    3. Analyze the use of basic principles;
    4. Interpret meaning and artist’s intent;
    5. Express and defend an informed opinion;
  3. Accept and offer constructive criticism;
  4. Recognize and consider an individual’s artistic expression;
  5. Exhibit appropriate audience skills; and
  6. Investigate careers relating to arts criticism.

 

ACTIVITIES

·        Identify the elements that make a good performance.

·        Read a children’s/family movie review and compare it with own opinions.

·        Critique a performance or movie using appropriate vocabulary.

·        Select movement, music, and/or visual elements to enhance the mood of a classroom dramatization.

·        Videotape own performance for self-evaluation.

·        Practice constructive criticism of personal performance and the performance of others.

·        Discuss and practice appropriate audience skills.

 

 

 

ASSESSMENT:

·        Student performance

·        Teacher observation

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Standard D: A student should be able to recognize beauty and meaning through the arts in the student’s life.

A student who meets the content standard should:

  1. Make statements about the significance of the arts and beauty in the student’s life;
  2. Discuss what makes an object or performance a work of art;
  3. Recognize that people tend to devalue what they do not understand;
  4. Listen to another individual’s beliefs about a work of art and consider the individual’s reason for holding those beliefs;
  5. Consider other culture’s beliefs about works of art;
  6. Recognize that people connect many aspects of life through the arts;
  7. Make artistic choices in everyday living; and
  8. Investigate careers related to the search for beauty and meaning, which is aesthetics.

 

ACTIVITIES

·         Invite other students, classrooms, or schools to visit and perform.

·         Invite classes and/or community to watch class performances.

·         Analyze the elements (visual/aural, oral, and kinetic) of classroom dramatizations.

·         Distinguish between reality and theatre performance of conflicts, characterizations, and verbal interaction.

·         Discuss what makes a performance a work of art.

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ASSESSMENT

·        Student performance

·        Teacher observation