“Actions Speak Louder Than Words”
WHAT’S ON FOR TODAY AND WHY:
Today, students will be performing a silent scene based on chapters eight and nine that they have read for homework. Students will be able to bring words and sentences alive with their motions. They will use their actions to show emotion and mood while exploring family relationships. By using only actions, students will need to understand that they cannot portray anything vocally; all has to be done visually. Performance will give the opportunity for all the visually inclined learners to approach the novel and understand these chapters. Students will be exploring the family relationship during grief. Students will also be introduced to Photostory and shown an example of what the project should look like. Students creating a Photostory will aid in the close reading of the text and allow them to synthesize all the information they have learned from and about the novel up to this point.
WHAT TO DO:
Students will be creating a silent scene based on passages that the teacher has selected for them. The students should have read these chapters for homework, but in order to be able to perform a silent scene, students must reread the passage that is assigned to them. The first passage is the one that begins top of page 155, when the parents and Nico are having dinner. This passage explores family relationships and what is occurring to their life during grief. The second passage is on top of page 127 to the bottom of 129. This passage is of Elaine aiding in Nico’s plan in seeing Aaron, behind her parents back. Students will be asked to silently read these passages and then with their group members discuss how they might be able to convey this dialogue between the characters without using words. I will explain to the students that they first must pick a narrator, someone that will read what is happening in this scene, the director will stage, and others will act out based on what the director tells them to do. The groups of five that have been selected in the beginning of the unit will work on this for most of the class, and then towards the end of class, the groups will be required to perform their scenes. After their performances, the remainder of the class will be dedicated to quickly show students how to use Windows Movie Maker. This will be a glance at the tool, students will be encouraged to play around with the tool and discover how to utilize it on their own, since they are probably much more technologically savvy than the teacher.
For homework, students will be asked to read chapters ten and eleven. They will also be reminded how in the beginning of the year they were required to download audacity and make a soundscape. For this novel, we will expand the use of that tool. We will combine audacity and windows movie maker, or imovie, to create a Photostory. For this weekend’s homework, students will be asked to pick a passage of their choice depicting how Nico is changing. Students will be asked to consider everything they have learned about subtext, inflection, staging, and tableaux vivants. They will be asked to evoke images with words. Students will be asked to insert images, sound effects, and a song in the background that best fits the mood of the particular passage they have selected. The Photostory must be no longer than 4 minutes. The teacher will also give students a hand out with a couple of websites where they may be able to download the song and the sound effects.The teacher will then give out the assignment sheet for the Photostory and go over it with the class. The teacher will also play an example of one (I will play my Photostory from So I Aint No Good Girl). They will be told to think of it as a sound produced with their own voice based on a written text of an author’s story. By making a soundscape, students will interpret a passage from the text; add emotion, mood, and meaning. In the remaining five minutes, the teacher will ask the students to turn to page 1, and read the following sentence as a class “When I think of that time, I picture the four of us wading in the shallows, admiring our reflections in the glassy, motionless lake.” Then I show students how I might put a very calming music in the background, maybe something classical. I would add an image of four family members looking at their reflections. How when I record my voice and the word time, I would insert a sound effect for the ticking clock, maybe use inflection on the word “that,” and so on. The students will also be asked to convert the file and post on youtube. com, so that we may be able to view all their projects in class on Monday. They will be asked to post a link to their youtube video on the class website.
HOW DID IT GO?
Were the students able to synthesize all they have learned from these and previous chapters in order to act out the scene? Did the students convey the appropriate mood and emotion of the scene? Were the students able to act without saying a word? Did the students form an understanding of the family relationships during grief? Are they beginning to see how Nico is maturing, changing, and developing?
Photostory Assignment
Assignment: As you are half way done with Goldengrove, you will notice that there are many changes that Nico is experiencing. She is struggling with physical and emotional changes. Nico is experiencing what an average adolescent experiences, while coping with grief at the same time. Your goal is to catch those changes in this assignment. The changes could reflect her coming of age, coping with grief, or relying on family for support. You will pick a passage of your choice that depicts change. You will be recording your voice on audacity, using a background song, and sound effects. To enhance the meaning, you will upload images that you have been culminating in the past week. These photos should be added to your sound on Windows Movie Maker, Imovie, or Photostory. These photo stories should be posted on the class website by Sunday and they will be presented in class on Monday. I will be giving a detailed tutorial of how to use Windows Movie Maker in class, so feel free to take notes and ask questions.
Criteria:
Your final assignment should:
Include a photo story that contains your recorded passage depicting change in Nico
Incorporate at least ten images that enhance the meaning of your passage
Use transitions while applying photographs
Include background music and at least three to four sound effects
Convey enthusiasm (don’t just simply read your passage in a monotone voice)
Do not forget to post your assignment on to Youtube and the class website.
They will be presented in class on Monday!
Be Creative and Have Fun!
