5E Lesson Plan: Expressive Arts

Teacher: David Knapp

Date:
Subject/grade level: drama/language arts / grade 3
Materials:
Literature:
Donaldson, J., & Scheffler, A. (2001). Room on the
broom. New York: Dial Books for Young Readers.

Music:
Aubry, R. (2013) Room on the Broom. Magic Light Pictures (music cd)

Manipulatives:
Drama:
Readers Theater Script
Character costume/props (minimal basic character identifiers)
Adaptive materials (enlarged print or auditory script cues, etc.) as needed
Language Arts:
Writing worksheets
Drawing paper
Writing pencils/pens
Adaptive materials (pencil/crayon grips, slant boards for writing, etc.) as needed
Arts Areas:
Visual Arts: text illustrations; props/character identifiers
Drama/Theater Arts: Readers Theater
Dance: n/a
Music: part of energizer, intro. and background in narrator part, background during student writing activity
Multiples Intelligences:
Visual-Spatial text illustrations
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5E Lesson Plan: Expressive Arts

Bodily-kinesthetic gestures, movement part of Readers Theater learning activity
Musical music as part of energizer introduction and in the background during narrator part(s)
Interpersonal understanding social norm/expectations of interacting with others while working
Intrapersonal - understanding one's own interests; making text-to-self connection with Readers Theater part
Linguistic - listening to/understanding text, using words effectively in discussion
Logical -Mathematical logical sequencing of story
Naturalistic n/a
Curricular Area(s):
Language arts (listening & reading) - story retell, story elements, order of events; speaking
Dramatic arts (actors, audience, space, plot)
Lesson objective(s):
Language Arts:
Students will practice sequencing and story prediction skills based on identifying cause and effect
relationships in text (and illustrations).
Students will be able to answer comprehension questions about the story; as well as summarize and
retell the story.
Drama objectives:
Students will develop expressive use of the voice; use clear diction; use pitch, tempo, and tone quality to
create unique voice qualities
Students will develop cooperation and patience when working with others in classroom dramatizations.
Students will understand and practice appropriate audience behaviors.

Dramatic Art Standards:

http://www.aate.com/?page=nationalstandards14
Content Standard #2 (Acting): A student will cooperate, imagine and assume roles, explore personal
preferences and meanings, and interact in classroom dramatizations.
Achievement Standard:
a) Students imagine and clearly describe characters, their relationships, and their environments
b) Students use variations of locomotor and nonlocomotor movement and vocal pitch, tempo, and tone
for different characters
Content Standard #3: Designing by visualizing and arranging environments for classroom dramatizations
Achievement Standard:
a) Students visualize environments and construct designs to communicate locale and mood using visual
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5E Lesson Plan: Expressive Arts

elements
b) Students collaborate to establish playing spaces for classroom dramatizations and to select and safely
organize available materials.
Content Standard #7: Analyzing and explaining personal preferences and constructing meanings from
classroom dramatizations.
Achievement Standard:
a) Students identify and describe the visual, aural, oral, and kinetic elements of classroom dramatizations
and dramatic performances
b) Students explain how the wants and needs of characters are similar to and different from their own
c) Students articulate emotional responses to and explain personal preferences about the whole as well as
the parts of dramatic performances
d) Students analyze classroom dramatizations and, using appropriate terminology, constructively suggest
alternative ideas for dramatizing roles, arranging environments, and developing situations along with means
of improving the collaborative processes of planning, playing, responding, and evaluating.

Language Arts Standards:

Reading Literature (RL)
Key Ideas and Details
Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text.
Integration of Knowledge and Ideas
Explain how specific aspects of a text's illustrations contribute to what is conveyed by the words in a story
(e.g., create mood, emphasize aspects of a character or setting).
Craft and Structure
Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, distinguishing literal from nonliteral
language.
Refer to parts of stories, dramas, and poems when writing or speaking about a text, using terms such as
chapter, scene, and stanza; describe how each successive part builds on earlier sections.
Fluency (RF)
Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension.
Read on-level text with purpose and understanding.
Read on-level prose and poetry orally with accuracy, appropriate rate, and expression on successive
readings.
Speaking and Listening (SL)
SL.3.1
Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (oneonone, in groups, and teacherled) with
diverse partners, building on others ideas and expressing their own clearly.
a. Follow agreedupon rules for discussions (e.g., gaining the floor in respectful ways, listening to
others with care, speaking one at a time about the topics and texts under discussion).
b. Ask questions to check understanding of information presented, stay on topic, and link their
comments to the remarks of others.
c. Explain their own ideas and understanding in light of the discussion

5E Lesson Plan: Expressive Arts

Writing (W)
W.3.4
With guidance and support from adults, produce writing in which the development and organization are
appropriate to task and purpose.
Differentiation strategies to meet diverse learner needs:
Readers Theater Parts assigned with consideration of special needs/learning styles/reading levels; auditory
support provided as needed, special cuing if needed
Pencil grips, slant boards for writing, etc. as needed
Anticipatory Set/Energizer/ENGAGEMENT
Line Up Energizer (Cornett, 2011, p. 231): Lets warm up by getting up. We are going to change tables as
we listen to the story today. To determine where you will be sitting we are first going to line up IN ORDER
OF OUR BIRTHDAYS; quietly and quickly find out where you will belong in our birthday line. Ill help
you get started: Anyone with a January birthday come to the front of the line (Wait as those students
make their way to the front). Okay now how do we decide who should be first (whose birthday day comes
first in January, then next etc). You will obviously need to talk to one another try to remember the
birthday of at least three other people as you find your place in line
Once students are in line, place them at new tables, rug, desks etc... depending on classroom arrangement
(the objective is to have them working with different peers than they usually are sitting with).
EXPLORATION
Read the story aloud. As you go through the story there are many opportunities for students to make
predictions When they hear a roar that was scary and loud. When the mud beast says to the dragon
Buzz off! Thats my witch! When the witch mutters her spell Then out rose Also, once they begin
to see the pattern when the witch is flying and the stormy wind blew, they can make predictions about what
the witch will lose the next time.
Look at the cover of the book. What do you predict the story will be about? What can you tell about the
witch from the illustration?
As you read the story with students also stop and discuss opportunities to identify cause and effect
relationships. Discuss the order of events/story action (sequence) while reading.
What caused the dragon to fly away? Cite evidence from the book.
How was the new broom different from the first one? What does this tell you about the character of the
witch?
In what order did the animals join the witch on the broom?
To teach about plot (in order to develop summarization and retelling skills) have the students identify
the most important events in the story, the problems, and which part of the story was the most exciting.
What was your favorite part of the story? Why?
Why do you think the animals wanted to join the witch on the broom?
What was the authors purpose in writing this story?
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5E Lesson Plan: Expressive Arts

EXPLANATION
Story Vocabulary:
wailed:(to have made a high-pitched noise) - synonyms: cried, howled, bawled
keen: (quick to understand things) - synonyms: perceptive, smart, clever
clambered: (to climb quickly but clumsily) - synonyms: climbed, scrambled, mounted
fluttered: (to move by flapping the wings) = synonyms: waved, flapped, flew
clutched: (to hold something tightly) - synonyms: grasped, seized, clenched
Drama terms: character, voice (clarity, tone, pitch and tempo)
Story Summarization/Retelling Activity:
Have the students work in small groups or partners to retell the story they may draw key elements, record a
verbal retelling or write their responses.
**Transition students from retelling the story to next performing the story in Readers Theater.
ELABORATION/APPLY
Readers Theater
The purpose of Readers Theater is to practice reading fluency, putting on a short play based on a story the
students are familiar with, where students read from a script.
Preparation:
1. Find or write a script. **Highlight, ahead of time, the lines for each character on each script.
2. Read the selected book to your students.
3. Show the script to students so they get a sense of how long the play will be.
4. Assign or choose roles for students.
5. Students highlight their lines in their scripts.
Practice:
1. Teacher reads the entire play to show how to use expression when reading. Students follow along.
2. Teacher reads the entire play again but this time the characters read along.
3. Same characters meet to rehearse lines together, working on expression and possibly gestures.
4. Each play (usually 3, so all kids are included) meets to rehearse for the big performance.
Performance:
1. One play at a time performs for the rest of the class. - Remind actors that they need to: read loud enough,
keep their script down (not in front of their face), and change their voices (expression) to make the play
interesting. Discuss appropriate audience behavior while each group of students performs.
2. At the end of each play discuss/review the activity with the students.
EVALUATION
Teacher Observation: student participation in identifying key details in read aloud text;
students performance re: Readers Theater; student participation
Assessment Rubrics (self and teacher)
CLOSURE
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5E Lesson Plan: Expressive Arts

What did you learn from the experience of being part of a Readers Theater?
How is acting/dramatic reading different from reading the story directly from the text?
Learning how to get up in front of other people, read fluently, speak clearly and act with other people to
tell a story are skills you will use many times for fun and for becoming better learners.
Give yourselves a round of applause.

Reference:

Cornett, C. (2011). Creating meaning through literature and the arts: Arts integration for classroom teachers (4th
ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon/Pearson.

5E Lesson Plan: Expressive Arts

Readers Theater Assessment Rubric (Teacher)

Room on the
Broom

Improvement
Needed (1-2 points)

Excellent (5 points)

Good (3-4 points)

Consistently reads with

appropriate expression and
conveys emotion.
Demonstrates a variety in
volume, tone, and pitch.

Usually read reads with

expression. Occasionally
demonstrates a variety in
volume, tone, or pitch to
convey a variety of
expression.

Reads with little or no

expression, voice is often
in monotone.

Oral Delivery:
Clarity

Speaks clearly and

distinctly throughout.
Presentation is easily
understood.

Speaks clearly and

distinctly most of the
time. Mispronounces no
more than 2 words.

Often mumbles and

cannot be easily
understood, or
mispronounces more
than 4 words

Oral Delivery:
Volume

Consistently speaks loudly

enough for audience to
hear

Usually speaks loudly

enough for audience to
hear

Speaks to softly for

audience to hear, or
shouts so that audience is
uncomfortable

Oral Delivery:
Reads in turn

Takes turns accurately on a

consistent basis.

Takes turns accurately

on a somewhat
consistent basis.

Takes turns on a
sporadic basis.

Awareness of
Text:

Consistently pauses at
commas and periods, raises
voice at question marks,
and changes voice
appropriately at
exclamation marks.

Usually pauses at
commas and periods,
raises voice at question
marks, and changes
voice appropriately at
exclamation marks.

Difficulty pausing at
commas and periods,
raising voice at question
marks, and changing
voice appropriately at
exclamation marks.

Cooperation with
group:

Consistently works well

with others.

Sometimes works well

with others.

Difficulty in working
well with others.

Audience
participation

Was very polite and

showed a lot of respect for
those on stage. Encouraged
others with specific
positive feedback.

Was polite and showed

respect for those on stage

Demonstrated little
respect for those on
stage.

Oral Delivery:
Reads with
expression

Score

Comments

Student Name:

Total (35 possible)

5E Lesson Plan: Expressive Arts

Readers Theater Assessment Rubric (Student)
Name: ___________________
10 Points

8 Points

Readers Theater: Room on the Broom

6 Points

4 Points

I talked loud enough for

others to hear me.

Most of the people in The people near the

the room could hear
front could hear me.
me.

No one could hear me.

I worked hard and

stayed on task all week
during practice.

I was mostly on task

during the week
when practicing.

I talked more about

other stuff than the
story.

I only practiced a few

times.

I did not hide behind

my script and I made
little motions that the
script told me to.

I hid behind the

script only a few
times and still made
most of the motions
that the script said.

I hid behind my script

most of the time and
did not do any of the
actions the script said.

I hid behind the script

the whole time and did
none of the actions I
was supposed to do.

I used emotion in my
voice and did not sound
like a robot.

I used some emotion

in my voice and did
not sound like a
robot.

I paid attention to
I sounded like a robot
punctuation but used a and did not pay
monotone.
attention to
punctuation.

I talked at a normal
speed.

I was a little fast or a

little slow.

I was fast but people

still knew what I was
saying.

I was so fast others

could not understand
me.

I was paying attention

and never late for my
cue.

I paid attention most

of the time but did
need to be reminded
once or twice

I did not pay attention

at all and was
reminded of my lines
most of the time.

I did not pay attention

and people were
always waiting on me.

I was a good listener

(audience member)
when others were
performing

I was a fairly good

listener for the other
performers but was
doing other things.

I wasnt listening
when the others were
performing and drew
attention away.

I disrupted the class

during other
performances.

My Final Score: ________________________________ (70 points possible)

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5E Lesson Plan: Expressive Arts

Appendix:

Readers Theater Script Room on the Broom

Readers Theater Script from:

Locke_Jaime@asdk12.org