Arts Bridge Visit #4 - October 26th

For my fourth visit, I did a lesson on pantomiming and personifying a character using the children's book Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus. Here is the lesson plan I used.

Objective: Students will be able to use body, face, gestures and movement to recreate the story in Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus by pantomiming the role of pigeon and giving pigeon advice from their own perspective.

Warm-up:

Sitting on the reading rug, ask students to practice using their faces to express a variety of emotions:

·       Happy

·       Sad

·       Scared

·       Worried

Ask students to show a variety of faces for each emotion, and then ask when they might feel some of those emotions? Ask them to pay attention to when any of these emotions, or other emotions, appear in the book we are about to read together.

Read Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus, by Mo Willems.  After finishing the book, ask students for observations, “What were some of the emotions the pigeon felt in the book?”  Allow several to be shared.
 

Ask the students to stand up from the story circle and find their own space in the cleared room.  

----We may take a little time to practice finding their own places into the room so they can get it down and understand what this means ----

·       Make sure you have enough space around you to stand on both feet, stretch your arms and not bump into your neighbors.

·       You will each work on your own, focus on yourself and your own choices. Can everyone please face forward in my direction?
 

We are about to begin a pantomime activity, but I would like us to do a “practice round” first so everyone understands the directions.  

I will read lines from the book and then you will react to those lines, pretending to be the pigeon. One of the first times the pigeon asks to drive the bus he says, “Please, I’ll be careful.”

·       When I say 1-2-3-freeze you’ll each freeze in a frozen picture of ‘Please, I’ll be careful.’ Okay? 1-2-3-freeze!  

·       Make sure you don’t move outside of your own space.  React with both your body and your face.  

Levels: I see some of you are making shapes with your bodies up high, some are down low, and others at a middle level.  

·       Let’s all try something at a low level--you don’t need to do the exact same things your classmates are doing, but it’s okay if it’s similar.  

·       Go with the first idea that comes into your mind. On the count of 3 make a shape down low, of what you might do if you were the pigeon, on the line, ‘Please, I’ll be careful’. 1-2-3-freeze!”
 

Thought Track: What an excellent bunch of pigeons we have--as you pretend to be the pigeon, I want you to imagine what he’s thinking right now.  When I walk by and tap you on the shoulder, please share one word that might describe what the pigeon is thinking or feeling at this moment.

·       Why do you think the pigeon might feel this way right now?

·       When have you felt that way?

Pair Share: All of those examples involve you making a choice--just like you have to choose, the pigeon has to choose if he’s going to keep asking to drive the bus.  Even though he’s already been told “no.”

·       Silently think of times when you’ve been told no, but you keep asking and pleading anyhow.

After students have had a minute to think, ask them to choose a neighbor nearby to be their partner, grab their hand, share their examples and then raise their held hands high in the air when they are done. Students then shared their responses with the entire class.

Let’s do one more line from the book--on the count of 3 I want you to freeze to the line, ‘No fair!’ The students begin a similar process as before.

·       Freeze on count of 3

·       Explore levels

Discussion: When have any of you said or heard someone else say “No Fair”?

·       Did you respond like the pigeon and yell and scream?  Or are there other choices? 

·       The pigeon had a choice in how he responded when he was told he couldn’t drive the bus.  Why did he respond the way he did?  Did he show personal responsibility for his choices?  How might he?

Advice Alley:

·       Let’s give some advice to the pigeon. Ask them what they might say to him if they were to meet him in order to help him make decisions.  Let them share a few ideas first.

·       Ask the students to give some advice to the pigeon; ask them what they might say to him if they were to meet him in order to help him make better choices.  

o   Will each of you create a piece of advice you would give the pigeon if he were to visit us today?

·       Give them a few seconds as students whisper a line of dialogue to their thumb, then direct the students in the room to get on their feet and stand in two rows facing each other, leaving enough room for “the pigeon” to walk down the aisle they’ve created.

o   I will walk down the aisle, playing the role of the pigeon.  I will walk slowly and listen carefully as you give the pigeon advice on how to respond when told no.

o   Repeat what you heard, ask others to repeat what they heard.

·       What have we learned about responsibility?

The kids responded really well to this lesson. They thought the story and more specifically, the pigeon, was hilarious and they were all very engaged. The students did really great in pantomiming and portraying their own versions of the pigeon, however it seemed that they couldn't quite grasp the concept of responsibility and proving you are responsible in order to get what you want. I wonder if I could have done something different to help them understand this or if they are possibly just a little young for the topic.