Crossing Borders/Breaking Boundaries
The Arts of India, 1556-1658
June 23 - July 1, 2008
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Unit of Study:            Reading/Language Arts

Lesson Title:              Rama and the Bad King

Discipline:                  Special Education

Grade Level:              3rd Grade

Author:                      Reina A. Guartico

County:                      Prince George’s County, MD

Time Period:              Three 90-minute sessions and two 60-minute sessions
(The other parts of the lesson will be done during Motor and Occupational Therapy sessions.)

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Abstract:

The students will learn the story of Prince Rama and how he was able to save Sita with the help of others. In this unit, the students will be able to use the fine arts to acquire academic and functional skills. The students will deepen their understanding of the story by incorporating the use of visual art, theater, music and dance. In addition, the students will be able to address their functional and adaptive goals. This lesson will focus on the value of helping other people.

Background:

The Ramayana is one of the most important literary works of Ancient India. It tells the story of Rama, whose wife Sita is abducted by the demon king of Lanka, Ravana. This story has become popular all over the world and is widely represented in literature, architecture, dance and theatre.
  
The original Ramayana consists of 24,000 verses in seven books and is filled with many heroic characters and enchanting scenes. To serve the needs of the students, the story will be adapted to fit their level. Highlights from the capture and return of Sita will be used. The adapted story will also make use of picture communication symbols that will help aid their understanding.

Materials:

  • Adapted storybook of Rama and the Demon King: An Ancient Tale From India by Jessica Souhami 
  • Colored papers
  • LCD projector
  • Opaque projector
  • Assistive technology (Tech Talks, Step by Step Mac, etc.)
  • Colored pencils and crayons
  • Pre-cut patterns
  • Pre-cut pictures of monkeys
  • Indian music
  • Beads, buttons, ribbons and other decorating materials
  • Pictures of scenes for the story
  • Bamboo skewers
  • Rubber bands
  • Copy paper
  • Clothes
  • Map of India
  • Tikka
  • Indian artworks/textiles

Resources:

Heinig, Ruth B. 1992. Improvisation with Favorite Tales: Integrating Drama into the Reading/Writing Classroom. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Kelner, Lenore B. 1993. The Creative Classroom: A Guide for Using Creative Drama in the Classroom, Pre-K-6. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Mckee, David. 1987. Elmer. US: HarperCollins Publishers.

Rosenberg, Helane S. 1987. Creative Drama and Imagination: Transforming Ideas into Action. NY: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston.

Souhami, Jessica. 2005. Rama and the Demon King: An Ancient Tale from  India. London: Frances Lincoln Children’s Books.

Sharma, Bubul. 2003. Ramayana for Children. NY: Penguin/Huffin.

Somajah, Rosemarie. 2006. Indian Children’s Favorite Stories. Rutland, Vermont: Tuttle Publishing.

Standards/Learner Outcomes:

Fine Arts Standards:
VISUAL ARTS (Pre-kindergarten)
1.0 Perceiving and Responding:  Aesthetic Education – Students will demonstrate the ability to perceive, interpret, and respond to ideas, experiences, and the environment through visual art.

  • Identify colors, lines, and shapes found in the environment;
  • Use colors, lines and shapes to communicate observed ideas;
  • Identify the subject matter of various works of art;
  • Use color, line, and shape to represent ideas visually from observation, memory and imagination;
  • Explore color, line, and shape in artworks;
  • Use color, line and shape to make artworks.

2.0 Historical, Cultural, and Social Context:  Students will demonstrate an understanding of visual arts as a basic aspect of history and human experience.

  • Observe works of art and identify ideas expressed by the artists;
  • Use selected works of art as inspiration to express ideas visually and verbally;
  • Describe and share personal artworks;
  • Identify the subject matter of selected artworks;
  • Categorize the subject matter of artworks as the same or different.

3.0 Creative Expression and Production:  Students will demonstrate the ability to organize knowledge and ideas for expression in the production of art. 

  • Create artworks that explore the uses of color, line, and shape to express ideas.
  • Manipulate art media, materials and tools safely;
  • Identify color, line, and shape in artworks.

4.0 Aesthetics and Criticism:  Students will demonstrate the ability to identify, analyze, and apply criteria for making visual aesthetic judgments.

  • Observe and respond to selected artworks.

THEATRE (Pre-kindergarten)

2.0 Historical, Cultural, and Social Context:  Students will demonstrate an understanding of the history, traditions, and conventions of theatre, dramatic texts, and other literature of the theatre.

  • Listen to and imitate sounds in the environment;
  • Sing and move to a variety of traditional children’s songs;
  • Retell familiar stories and create accompaniment using natural and human made sounds.

3.0 Creative Expression and Production:  Students will demonstrate the ability to apply theatrical knowledge, principles, and practices to collaborative theatre presentations.

  • Observe and identify what characters do in a variety of settings;
  • Imitate the actions of observed characters and objects.

MUSIC (Pre-kindergarten)

3.0 Creative Expression and Production:  Students will demonstrate the ability to organize musical ideas and sounds creatively.

  • Use the voice to improvise animal and environmental sounds.

DANCE (Pre-kindergarten)
                   
2.0 Historical, Cultural, and Social Context:  Students will demonstrate an understanding of dance as an essential aspect of history and human experience.

  • Create movements that express specific moods.

3.0 Creative Expression and Production:  Students will demonstrate the ability to create and perform dance.

  • Use dance movement to tell narrative stories;
  • Complete dances from beginning to end.

Content Standards (Reading/Language Arts):

Demonstrate an understanding of concepts of print to determine how print is organized and read:

  • Understand that speech can be written and read;
  • Understand that print conveys meaning;
  • Identify the title of a book;
  • Demonstrate that text is read from left to right and top to bottom;
  • Identify pictures, shapes, letters, and numerals.

Use strategies to prepare for reading:

  • Make connections to the text using illustrations/photographs from prior knowledge;
  • Make predictions by examining the title, cover, illustrations/photographs, and familiar author or topic;
  • Help set a purpose for reading.

Use strategies to make meaning from text (during reading):

  • Use illustrations to construct meaning;
  • Make and confirm predictions.

Demonstrate understanding of text (after reading):

  • Recall information from text;
  • Respond orally to questions;
  • Respond to text in a variety of ways:
    - Retell
    - Dramatize
    - Draw
  • Review the purpose for reading;
  • Retell a story as though reading a book.

Identify the beginning and end of a story;
Identify the characters of a story;
Recall the story by sequencing the main events.

Objectives/Skills:

Fine Arts Objectives:

  • The students will create movements that will narrate the story of Prince Rama;
  • The students will create and decorate monkey masks that will be used for the masks and the tableaux;
  • The students will use their bodies to make tableaux of different scenes from the story.

Content Standards Objectives:

  • The students will use illustrations when reading in order to demonstrate comprehension of the text by answering yes/no questions about the story;
  • The students will use comprehend and analyze what is heard in order to increase comprehension by answering ‘wh’ questions;
  • The students will use new vocabulary in order to increase knowledge of word meanings by identifying vocabulary words upon request;
  • The students will listen to a story in order to answer questions about the text by identifying requested picture communication symbols (PCS)/words from the text.

Keywords/Vocabulary:

  1. Tableau 
  2. India
  3. Monkey 
  4. Sad
  5. Beautiful 
  6. Help
  7. Angry

Motivation:

  1. The teacher will be putting up various artwork/textiles and a map of India around the classroom. She will also wear a sari and put a tikka on herself and the students. The teacher will teach the students the traditional Indian greeting of Namaste.
  1. Daily Message: “Today is _____________.
  1. Today we will read a story about a prince who had his brother and a group of monkeys help him. The story is called Ra,a and the Bad King.  This story will tell us why it is important to help one another and the importance of why we need to be always good.
  1. Learn the story’s Magic Words. The Magic Words are the key words in the story. The students will be asked to create movements that describe the key words. (For example: for the word monkey, the students can act like a monkey and make monkey sounds. For the word prince, the students can make movement of putting a crown on their heads.)

Scope and Sequence:

DAY ONE:

Teacher Directed:

  1. The teacher will read the title of the story to the students. The students’ answers will be recorded on sentence strips.

What do you think the story is about?
Who is the story about?                              

  1. The teacher will do a picture walk of the story.

What do you think is happening in this picture?
Do you think in this picture the same thing is happening or is it different?
What sound do monkeys make?

Guided Practice (The activities are divided into ‘centers’ namely: Reading Center, Arts Center and the Functional Skills Center):

For the Reading Center:

  1. The students will read the adapted storybook with the teacher.
  1. With the help of picture symbols or communication books and assistive technology, the students will answer questions about the story. Some of the questions to be asked are:
  • How do you think Rama felt when Sita was gone?
  • How do you think Sita felt when Ravana would not let her go home?
  • How do you feel when somebody helps you?
  • How do you feel when somebody does not help you?
  • What would you tell Ravana?

For the Arts Center:

  1. The teacher will show the students different monkey masks that have already been decorated. The teacher will also show a book called Elmer. It is a book about a patchwork elephant. This book will give the students ideas on how to decorate their monkey masks.
  1. The teacher will provide templates of monkey masks. A variety of decorating materials will be provided (such as beads, buttons, ribbons, glitter, etc.)
  1. The students will be given time to play with their masks.

For the Functional Skills Center:

  1. The students will be reminded on the importance of helping. They will be reminded that it is also very important to help around their own homes.
  1. In this center, the students will be taught how to fold clothes.

Independent Practice:

  1. To address the fine motor objectives in their Individualized Education Plan (IEP), the students will be given minimal assistance in cutting and pasting.
  1. With verbal prompts, the students will complete teacher-made worksheets asking them to identify characters in the story.
  1. The students will practice folding clothes on their own.

DAY TWO:

Teacher Directed:

  1. The teacher will review the previous day’s lessons.
  • What was the story that we read yesterday about?
  • What were our Magic Words? (Have the students explore the Magic Words physically and vocally. Have the students engage their bodies to present each word.)
  • Who was the story about?
  • How did the story end?
  1. The students will watch a video called The Monkey Song. They will be taught the song and will be asked to sing along.

Guided Practice (The activities are divided into ‘centers’ namely: Reading Center, Arts Center and the Functional Skills Center):

For the Reading Center:

  1. The students will make their own Rama and the Bad King book.
  1. The students will be shown how to make their own books with the use of bamboo skewers, folded paper, hole puncher, and a rubber band.
  1. Pictures of scenes (at least 5) from the story will be provided and students will put it in sequence.
  1. Students will be asked to paste the pictures in the pages of the book. They will be allowed to decorate the pages of their book.

For the Functional Skills Center:

  1. The students will be reminded on the importance of helping. They will again be reminded that it is also very important to help around their own homes.
  1. In this center, the students will be taught how to fold clothes.

For the Arts Center: (can be done during Motor Class)

  1. The students will be given five key scenes from the story.

Rama’s stepmother ordering the king to send Rama to the forest;
Rama fighting with the bad people in the forest;
Rama asking Hanuman for help;
Hanuman helping Sita;
Rama and Sita crossing a bridge made by the monkeys.  

  1. The students will be asked to create tableaux of each scene. They will be shown how to do a tableau.

Independent Practice:

The students will be asked to perform the tableaux on their own.  

DAY THREE:

Teacher Directed:

The teacher will review the previous day’s lessons.

What was the story that we read yesterday about?
What were our Magic Words? (Have the students explore the Magic Words physically and vocally. Have the students engage their bodies to present each word.)

Guided Practice (The activities are divided into ‘centers’ namely: Reading Center, Arts Center and the Functional Skills Center):

For the Reading Center:

  1. The students will be asked to retell the story with the use of the book they had created.
  1. They will be asked to show the tableaux they had made.

For the Functional Skills Center:

  1. The students will be reminded on the importance of helping. They will again be reminded that it is also very important to help around their own homes.
  1. In this center, the students will be taught how to fold clothes.

For the Arts Center: (can be done during Motor Class)

  1. Students will re-enact scenes from the story through dance. They will be asked to create movements to show key scenes in the story.

Rama’s stepmother ordering the king to send Rama to the forest;
Rama fighting with the bad people in the forest;
Rama asking Hanuman for help;
Hanuman helping Sita;
Rama and Sita crossing a bridge made by the monkeys.

  1. They can use what they had done for their tableaux and make it a dance. Indian music will be used for the dance.

Independent Practice:

  1. Teacher-made handwriting worksheet with the Magic Words and have the students trace those words with a pencil.
  1. Another kind of handwriting worksheet will be used for those who are unable to write. A puffy painted handwriting worksheet with the Magic Words will be used. The students will trace words with their finger.

DAYS FOUR AND FIVE:

These days will be devoted to review and reinforcement of skills learned. The teacher will look at areas the students have had difficulty in the previous days and will provide more time to practice skills. These days can be used to review the dance and the tableaux, review the Magic Words, tell the story by using the book they made, and others.
                 
Assessment:

Teacher-made worksheets

A rubric will be used to assess the students’ output for the following:

  1. Performance of a dance
  2. Performance of various tableaux
  3. Creation of monkey masks

Closure/Reflection:

Looking at their monkey masks and photos/videos of their tableaux and dance, the students will be asked as a review:

  1. Why is it more important to be like Rama and not be like Ravana?
  2. Why do we help people?
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