A METHOD OF RECORDING CHILDREN’S OVERT RESPONSES To CREATIVE DRAMATIC-S MATERIAL AND A STUDY OF THE RESULTS MICHIGAN; STATE COLLEGE Anna May‘Ciark 4' V -_11954. IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII \. This is to'acertifg that the thesis entitled A Method of Recording Children's Overt Responses to Creative Dramatics Material and a Study on the Results I presented by Anna M. Clark has been accepted towards fulfillment of the requirements for M .A . Speech degree in Major professor Date August 12, 19514 0-169 A METHOD JF RECORDING CHILDREN'S OVERT RESPJNSES T3 CREATIVE DRAKATICS HATERIAL AND A STUDY OF THE RESULTS By Anna May Clark M AN ABSTRACT Submitted to the School of Graduate Studies of Michigan State College of Agriculture and Applied Science in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER SF ARTS Department of Speech 195A Approved—M i IHE‘C‘E" jtguiagi H in. .tarnJl ' n, M1,.“ .. . .. .....[€IJ. Y .e’ . ‘5 ‘t -2 '2 '5‘” Anna Hay Clark ABSTRACT A Method of Recording Children's Overt Responses to Creative Dramatics Material And a Study of the Results The purpose of this study was twofold; (l) to devise a method of recording children's overt responses to creative dramatics material, and (2) to study the material in terms of the reaponses which it elicited. The Foreword and Chapter One present a brief description of develop- mental trends and of the techniques most frequently used by workers in the field. The technique to be used by the author for teaching the fundamentals is also set forth in this portion of the thesis. Chapter Two describes the development of the recording technique. The lesson plans, a detailed summary report of each lesson, the rating scale tables, and observations for each lesson are to be found in Chapter Three. Chapter Four presents the Conclusions. The appendix contains a copy of Stone Soup and "King John and the Abbot Canturbery", as well as the attendance chart, additional information concerning the background of the fifteen children used for the study, and samples of the interview form and response check sheet. The data for this study is based on the recorded responses of fif- teen children eleven and twelve years of age who participated in ten weekly class periods of creative dramatics activities which were con- ducted by the author. A set of rating scales, a reaponse check sheet, and a written summary record were the tools used in recording the res- ponses, of the children to the material used for the activity. The three observers used the reSponse check sheet and made notations during the class period. Following the activity period they rated the reSponses ‘n‘ £94; {3 iii; 1' (‘3‘) '- I I9. u'O a J 0". § ' \‘3? I . C. I «- >7, v... 4’.- .i I .m- 4- :d Anna May Clark of each child to each piece of material and from the notations and the data on the reSponse check sheet compiled a summary record for each of the five children for whom they were responsible. After each class period summary records and rating scale judgements were made by the author, these were checked against the records of the observers and the combined results were used to compile the data presented in Chap- ter Three. An examination of the data indicates that the recording method produced the most complete records of the responses made by the chil- dren during the playing phase of the activity. The mere classifica- tion or evaluation of the reaponses which was obtained through the reSponse check sheet and rating scale judgements proved to be of limited value without the description of the resPonse which was presented in the summary report. From the responses of these fifteen children it seems that the success of creative dramatics material for this group depended upon certain qualities present in the lesson material. Responses which indicated creative self-expression, initiative or individuality were usually elicited by material which had a flavor or mood and which was presented with just enough detail to whet the children's imaginations. The children tended to reapond with more independence when the material was flexible and allowed freedom of choice in action, dialogue or charac- terization. The success of the material also seemed to be influenced by certain factors other than material content and method of presentation. The two main factors seemed to be the child's ability to relate himself with ease to the material and to the group and the child's general personality and adjustment patterns. A YETFJL )F RECJRLING CEILIREN'S JVERT RESFJNSES T) CREATIVE IRAYATICS TATERIAL M$.ASWHY F TTIHEUM£ By Anna Hay Clark A Thesis Submitted to the School of Graduate Studies of Fichigan State College of Agriculture and Applied Science in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS Department of Speech lash AC}: N J": LED-GE}- E‘N T The author wishes to express her sincere thanks to Dr.'Wilson B. Paul, Head of the Department of Speech, for making this study pos- sible; to Professor Donald 0. Buell for his suggestions, encouragement, and guidance in the writing of the thesis; to Mr. Jed Davis and Miss Margaret Paton for their understanding cooperation and assistance in conducting this study; to Dr. Max Nelson and Miss Elsie Edwards for their interest and advice in the writing of the thesis. Special acknowledgement is also given to the parents and to the observers for their cooperation and assistance; to the children for their enthusiasm; and to Mrs. Isabel Burger who initiated and inepired the author's work in the field of creative dramatics. TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEHENT . . . . . . . . . . . FOREWARL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION . . . . . . CHAPTER II: PROCELURE AhD METHJLS . Organization of the Class . . . Physical surroundings. . . Length of class period and week e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e'e e e e e e number of meetings per Total number of class periods. . . . . . Basic outline for class work . Size or the Class 0 e e e e e e e e e e Th0 SUijCts e e e e e e e e e e e e e Procedures Used in Obtaining Data . . . . . Data for the background studies. . . . Selection, training and qualifications of the ObSGFVGrB e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e Tools used for recording reSponse data . . . Response check sheet . . . . . . . . . . . . The rating 8031. e e e e e e e e e e e e e 0 Summary record e e e e e e e.e e e e e e e e CHAPTER III 3 THE RECORD 3F CHILDREN'S JVERT RESPJNSES TO CREATIVE DRAMATICS MATERIAL. . . . . e . . . . . . . . . Boys Eleven Years Of AECe e e e e e e e e e e e e e e Girls Eleven Years Of Age 0 e e e e e e e e e e e e e Boys Twelv. Years Of Age 0 e e e e e e e e e e e e e 0 Girls Twelve Years Of Age e e e e e e e e e e e e e 0 PAGE 10 10 10 10 11 12 13 1h 1b 114 16 17 18 20 22 23 23 2h 26 26 TABLE 3F CONTENTS (Continued) LESSONS UTILIZING PANTJMIME MATERIAL Lesson I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Explanation of the choice of material . Lesson plan, lesson I . . . . . . . . . Summary record of lesson I. . . . . . . Observations for lesson I e e e e e e 0 Lesson II e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e Explanation of choice of material. . . . . . . . . lesson plan, lesson IIe e e e e e e e e e e e e 0 Summary record Of lesson II e e e e e e e e e e 0 Observation for lesson II, activity pantomime . . Lesson III . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Explanation of choice of materials. . . lesson plan, lesson III . . . . . . . . Summary record of lesson III. . . . . . Observations for lesson III . . . . . . General Observations Concerning Pantomime. . LESSONS UTILIZING TRANSITION MATERIAL Lesson IV 0 e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e Explanation of choice of material . . . . . . . . IBSSOD plan, lesson IV 0 e e e e e e e e e e e e e Summary report Of lesson IV e e e e e e e e e e e Observations for lesson IV . . . . . . . . . . . . PAGE 29 29 29 22 61 63 63 63 71 7h 75 75 76 78 89 TABLE OF CONTENTS (Continued) Lesson Ve e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e Explanation of the choice of material . Lesson plan, lesson V . . . . . . . . . Summary report for lesson V . . . . . . Observations for lesson V . . . . . . . General Observations Concerning Mood and Change-of—Nood. LESSONS UTILIZING SITUATION AND STORY MATERIAL Lesson VI e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e Explanation of choice of material. . . . Lesson Plan, lesson VI 0 e e e e e e e 0 Summary report of lesson VI. . . . . . Observations for lesson VI . . . . . . Lesson VII e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e Explanation of the choice of material . . . . Lesson plan, lesson VII e e e e e e e e e e e Summary record for lesson VII . . . . . . . . Observations for lesson VII . . . . . . . . . Lesson VIII e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e Explanation of the choice of material . . . . Lesson plan, lesson VIII . . . . . . . . . . Summary record for lasson VIII 0 e e e e e e Observations Of lesson VIII e e e e e e e e e Lesson Ix e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e Explanation of the choice of material . . . . . PAGE 93 95 93 96 107 108 109 109 109 111. 125 126 126 126 128 158 158 128 138 1146 lbs 1146 TABLE RF CONTENTS (Continued) PAGE Lesson plan, lesson IX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . lbé Summary report of lesson IX . . . . . . . . . . . 1b? Observations for lesson IX . . . . . . . . . . . . 156 lesson X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156 Explanation of the choice of material . . . . . . 156 Lesson plan, lesson X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156 Summary report of lesson X . . . . . . . . . . . . 158 Observations for lesson.X . . . . . . . . . . . . . L69 General Observations Concerning Story or Situation Dramatizationooo00000000000000... 170 CHAPTERIVX CJNCUISIQNSQQQO00000000000000 171 BIBLImRAEYooooooo00000000000000... 176 APPENIR O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O 178 TABLE II. III. IV. VI. VII. VIII. LIST OF TABLES PAGE Rating of Children's Overt Responses to Exercise Material Used in Lesson I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . LE Rating of Children's Overt Responses to Exercise Material Used In Lesson II . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 Rating of Children's Overt Responses to Exercise Material Used in Lesson III . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 Rating of Children's Overt Responses to Exercise Material Used in Lesson IV . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92 Rating of Children's Overt Beeponses to Exercise material Used in Lesson V . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10h Rating of Children's Overt Responses to Exercise material Used in Lesson VI . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120 Rating of Children's Overt Responses to Exercise Material Used in lesson VII . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138 Rating of Children's Overt Responses to Exercise Material Used in lesson VIII . . . . . . . . . . . . 152 Rating of Children's Overt Responses to Exercise Material Used in lesson IX . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153 Rating of Children's Overt ReSponses to Exercise HatOrIalUSGdinIflSSODXQeoeeeeeeeeeeo 167 I FJREHJRD Any study concerned with creative dramatics means more if the author's concept of this activity is stated and defined. Therefore, the purpose of this foreword must be twofold: (l) to present the def— inition and brief outline of basic technique advocated by Isabel B. Burger, Winifred Ward, Ruth Lease, and Geraldine Siks, who are author- ities in the field; and (2) to state the definition and technique used for this study. Terms which are important to the understanding of the problem or given Special interpretation in this study also will be defined. The aim or purpose behind creative dramatics must be considered to clearly understand a definition of the activity. Lease and Siks point out that: Creative dramatics is not concerned with training children to become actors, nor in creating plays for an audience. It is aimed toward the development of the whole child, socially, emotionally, intellectually, physically and Spiritually.1 In light of these aims, Lease and Siks define creative dramatics as, " ... a group activity in which meaningful experience is acted out by the participants as they create their own dialogue and action."2 Winifred Ward uses creative dramatics and playmaking interchange- ably as general terms, ” ... meaning the activity in which informal 1 Ruth Lease and Geraldine Brain Siks, Creative Iramatics in Home, School and Community. (New York: Harper Brothers, 1952}, pT‘Q. 2 LOG. Cite 2. drama is created by the players."3 She states that: Story dramatization is tte activity most often implied by the terms playmaking and creative dramatics. When a group of children make a story come alive by playing it spontaneously, whether it is original or taken from liter- ature or histogy, they are having an experience in story dramatization. The following descriptive paragraph presents a definition of crea- tive dramatics advocated by hrs. Isabel Burger: Schools and play centers the country over have found, in the practice of creative dramatics, a means to broaden the scope of education. Creative dramatics is the direct counterpart of formal ‘exhibitional' dramatics. The crea- tive scene as presented by children for their colleagues is developed by those taking part. 'Whether it is based on a familiar story, a life situation or a plot originated by the children themselves, is of no consequence. The dialogue and action, through which the plot and characters are revealed, is of the young actors' making, spontaneously voiced in their own vocabulary. No adult-made lines are memorized from the printed page and repeated verbatim. To summarize: a scene played creatively is the eXpression of thought and feeling in the child's own terms, through action, the Spoken word, or both.5 In a similar viewPoint to the authorities quoted in the previous paragraphs, this author considers creative dramatics as an activity designed to aid in the physical, social, intellectual, and ethical deveIOpment of the participant. The contributions to development in these four areas are made as the children use and pool their ideas in pantomime and dramatization of incidents, situations and stories. 3 Winifred Ward, Playmaking with Children, (New York: D. Appelton Century Company, 19u77; p. IO. h Loc. cit. 5 Isabel Burger, Creative Play Acting, New York: Harper and Brothers, 1950), p. 2. 3. Lialogue and pantomime or action used in such dramatization must be created by boys and girls participating in the activity. Creative dramatics as used in this study does not refer to the process of crea- tively developing a play for presentation to an audience. An understanding of the definition of creative dramatics is help- ful, but also, a knowledge of the basic techniques used for teaching the fundamentals of story dramatization is needed. Basic steps in approaching story dramatization as advocated by Ward, Burger, Lease and Siks are presented in the following summary: lst 2nd 3rd hth 5th 6th 7th Basic Techniques Used for Teaching Fundamental Skills Ward Large action panto- mime of activities in tteir own person Large action panto- mime as another character Improvization with dialogue (one or more characters) Situations with many characters Characterization based on old folk tale Story dramatization Lease and Siks Large action pantomime in their own person Small action pantomime in own person Characterization Characterization situation Dialogue Conversation in situa- tions Story dramatization Burger Large action pan- tomime in their own person (Acti- vity Pantomime) Small action panto- mime and rhythms in own person Mood pantomime Change of mood pantomime Dialogue Brief situations or bits of stories created by the lea- der with emphasis on real~life mater- ial and experiences Story dramatizationé 6 This summary is a condensation of the basic approach to proce- dure of teaching the fundamentals as described in, Playmaking'With Children, Creative Dramatics in Home, School and Community, and Creative Play Kcting. h. The method for teaching basic techniques for this study is based on the steps outlined by Mrs. Burger because it approaches the develop- ment of fundamental skills in a thorough step by step manner which has proven particularly successful in the author's past work with eleven and twelve-year-olds. The basic concepts of this study will be further clarified by the following definitions of the key terms involved: Children's. As used in this study, "children's" refers to the fifteen eleven and twelve-year-old boys and girls who participated in the crea- tive dramatics class conducted by the author. Overt Responses. Overt reSponses are reactions which are "open to view" or can be seen, heard, and recorded by observers on the response check sheet, or noted and reported through the summary record or rating scale. (The reactions to which this refers are those diSplayed by the children in response to material used for dramatization.) Creative Dramatics Material. Creative dramatics material refers to ideas, stories, or poetry used by the author to stimulate the children to create action for pantomime or to create informal drama. Activity Pantomime. Activity pantomime is action without words which does not involve emotion or feeling. Example: Carrying a bucket of water. Mood Pantomime. Mood pantomime is action without words which expresses an emotional feeling related to an activity. Example: Look for a lost wallet. Change of Mood Pantomime. Change of Mood pantomime refers to action without words which moves from the eXpression of one feeling or emotion to another within the framework of the incident being dramatized. 50 Situation. "Situation" means an incident or portion of an incident which contains or suggests elements of plot and has a beginning, middle and conclusion. Story Dramatization. Story dramatization is the informal dramatization developed in a creative dramatics class which is based on a complete story taken from literature and told or read by the leader. Imagination. As used in the rating scales and through this study the term "imagination" refers to the visualization or the formation of a mental image by the children which is based on memory or fantasy and is revealed through playing or comments. Originality. As used in the rating scales and throughout this study the term "originality" refers to ideas and actions which are not capied but which are developed by a child from class activities, and help the dra- matization of a situation or story move forward, or add to its richness. CHAPTER I INTRJLUCTION A brief explanation of creative dramatics and the definition of important terms has been presented, but some idea of the growing use of this technique is also needed for an understanding of the nature and purpose of this study. The first portion of this chapter will present a brief review of the general nature of reports on creative dramatics since 1930, and the latter section of this chapter will state the problem of this study which has been drawn from these general reports. In 1930 Miss'Winifred Ward wrote: As educators in general accept the new idea of indivi- dual instead of mass education they realize the importance of the arts. Not every child is an artist; but they are coming to see that almost every child can, if given even a little encouragement and help, express himself well enough to make his life richer and happier.1 Since 1930, music, art, formal drama and creative dramatics have become a part of the curriculum in many schools. Parents, recreation workers, and youth organizations are becoming aware of the potential values in social and intellectual development offered by participation in creative dramatics activities. Each year a few more colleges have added courses in creative dra- matics to their speech departments and a few make it a requirement for the recreation or elementary education najors. According to the 1953 report of the College Curriculum Survey Committee, approximately fifty college in the United States offer courses in creative dramatics. 1 'Winifred Ward, Creative Dramatics, (New York: Appelton Century Company, 1930), p. 3. 7. Twenty-four of these colleges require a course in creative dramatics for a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Speech or for an elementary teaching certificate.2 Periodicals listed in the Readers Guide and the Education Index reflect the wide use of creative dramatics activities in recreation, camping, social group work, church activities, and public school speech education. Published material dealing with this activity includes reports of the use, discussions of methods, lists of stories, poems and other mater- ial, as well as theories concerning the education and theraputic values. Through the work and writings of Isabel Burger, Ruth Lease, Geraldine Siks and Winifred'Ward, a foundation knowledge has been established of Inethods, philosophy and materials which is useful to teachers of creative drenetics. Many published reports also deal with the successful results of creative dramatics. These writingss usually describe in glowing terms the contributions made to the development of the child, or the children's <:ontributions or accomplishments in the development of a creative produc- tion. 2 Children's Theatre Division, American Educational Theatre Association "Report of the College Curriculum Survey Committee," "Sum- mary of the Results," August 28, 1953, p. l. 3 Examples of such writing are: Francis C. Bowen, "Educational Theatre," The John Hopkins Magazine, IV, A January, 1953. myrtle Craddook, ”Creative Dramatics for 9, 10, and 11 year Olds," Childhood Education, XXIX, 5, 230-23h, January 1953. Agnes Haagas, "Creative Dramatics in the Recreation Program," Recreation, XIV, 2, p. 77-80. Gertrude Hortman and Ann Schumaker, Editors, Creative Expres- sion, (New York: The John Day Company Inc. 1932), pp. 259-EHI. 8. h The work done in creative dramatics in the early 1900's and even through the 1930‘s has placed the major emphasis on the deve10phent of a creative play for presentation to an audience. Gradually the empha- sis has shifted and at present is placed mainly on the growth of the participant, although some reports indicate a mixture of emphasis and some still show emphasis on play develOpment. As indicated in the previous paragraphs, methods and techniques for creative dramatics work with children of different age levels have been well thought out, documented by experience, and made available. The adaptation of this activity to many different frameworks and situ- ations is being explored. Published material indicated that workers and teachers in the field have logically supported and to some extent subjectively documented their theories concerning the values and poten- tials of this activity. There is also evidence which indicates the growth in acceptance of creative dramatics as an educational tool. Therefore, at this tine the author feels that investigations should show as objectively as possible the relationships between the children's responses to creative dramatics activities and materials and the recog- nized values of creative dramatics. The following are the most generally accepted values for creative dramatics: the development of controlled and balanced emotion, inner security, fine attitudes and appreciations; and the stimulation of social development, creative self-expression, initiative and h Isabel Burger, Creative Play Acting, (New York: A. S. Barnes and Company, 1950), p. ix. u ..e .A‘whfixt. L illuwpfiv 9. individuality.5 The values of creative self-expression, initiative and individuality have been chosen for examination in this study. An attempt has been made to study these three goals through chil- dren's overt reSponses to creative dramatics material. Comments and suggestions of the children and their originality in dialogue and pan- tomime were selected as an index to creative expression. Similarities and differences in children's overt reSponses to the same material give some indication of individuality. Initiative is viewed through ratings and records of the eagerness of the children to participate in the activity. Such an investigation needs to have research techniques developed. This study is offered as an effort to devise a method of recording chil- dren's overt responses to material, and to make an examination of these recorded responses in the light of the child's background and interest. The response data will also be used to see what is reflected in terms of imagination, originality, and individual differences in response to 'the same piece of material. The responses of fifteen eleven and twelve- :year-old boys and girls participating in a creative dramatics class <3onducted by the author formed the basis of the data used in this study. In an attempt to objectify the recording of the data, three observers ‘Were used, and a response check sheet and rating scales were deveIOped to supplement and serve as checks on data reported in a summary record kept by the leader and the observers. 5 Ward, Burger, Lease and Siks generally agree that these are the major areas of value for the educational development of children. CHAPTER II PROCELURE AND METHODS Since one of the major aims of this problem was the development of some type of objective method to study reactions of children to materials, and since these methods have not been already established some experimentation in devising such a program was in order. Before proceeding to a discussion of the plans in operation, a short survey of what was done in making the preliminary preparations will make the later evaluations more understandable. The first steps included deter— mining the size, time, and place of the class, with the choice of mater- ials coming next. Organization of the Class Physical surroundings. No special stage equipment was required for creative dramatics. However, Space should be available so that at least half of the class may move about with a reasonable amount of freedom while the remaining portion sits and watches. For the purpose of this study, the room also needed to be large enough for three observers to watch and record the children's responses without drawing attention from the class activities. Room 125 in the Auditorium, a double classroom, seemed to meet the requirements. The class work was done in one section of the room and the observers watched from a convenient position in the opposite section. The room was an ordinary college classroom and comparable in size to regular grade school classrooms when the desks have been placed against the walls. Length of class period and number of meetings per week. Factors which influenced the length of the class period and number of meetings 11. per week of the class used for this study were the recommendations 0f major authorsl, Lansing and East Lansing school dismissal time, after school activities, schedules of the subjects, evening meal time for the subjects and observers, the author's class and work schedule, and the availability of Room 125. Classes for eleven and twelve-year-olds at the Children's Experi- mental Theatre in Baltimore, Maryland, meet once a week for a flexible period of an hour to an hour and a half. This theatre is under the direction of Mrs. Isabel B. Burger. Ruth Lease and Geraldine Siks suggest that this age group should meet for sixty minutes two or three times each week. The class on which this study was based met each week on Monday afternoon from four to five P.M. Many of the children's activities and after school lesson schedules allowed them only one or two free evenings a week. Therefore, more than one weekly meeting was neither possible nor desirable. Monday was selected because the children would be less likely to be tired and bored from other activities, and because it fitted most conveniently into the schedules of all those involved. School dismissal times, college housing and family meal time were fur- ther factors which limited the length of the class to one hours. Total number of class periods. A ten week program in creative dramatics was planned to coincide approximately with the length and type of creative dramatics experience which might be offered by some communities as a part of a short arts program for children or as a weekly activity during the camp and playground season. The total 1 Isabel B. Burger, Ruth Lease, Geraldine Brain Siks, and Winifred ward. 12. number of class meetings also was influenced by the twelve week quarter system at Michigan State College which governed the schedules of the three qualified college studrnts who were to observe and record the res- ponses of the children. After considering the former factors and the time required to teach the fundamentals a ten week program seemed to meet most successfully the needs of this study. Basic outline for class work. The basic outline of work was designed for a beginning group in creative dramatics. Therefore, since Burger's techniques2 were to be used, at least six class periods were required for teaching fundamentals. Two of these periods were needed for work with activity pantomime, and one each for mood pantomime, change-of- mood pantomime, dialogue, and dramatization of a brief situation. This minimum of work with fundamentals left four class periods to be used for story dramatization or further work with fundamentals as dictated by the progress of the children. Generally the material used for teaching fundamentals must be created for a particular group by the leader and the temperament, environment, previous experience, and particular mood of any group must be considered when lesson plans are being made. Following are some of the general characteristics of good material for dramatization in creative dramatics classes: 1. A worthwhile theme or central idea. 2. Strong emotional appeal. 3. Action that moves and interests. 2 This refers to the outline of Mrs. Burger's technique which is given on page three of this study. 13. h. Characters that are interesting, understandable and true to life. 5. A direct unbroken plot line rising steadily to a climax. 6. A resolution that leads without any delay to a satisfactory ending. 7. Economy of incidents that can be grouped into a few closely knit scenes. 8. Dialogue that is brief, natural and consistent. 9. If humorous, humor that is sincerely funny.3 The material used for the ten lesson plans which has been included in Chapter III was chosen on the basis of the standards just discussed, the needs and interests of this group of children, recommended story lists and material that has been found successful in previous work with eleven and twelve-year-old boys and girls. Size of the class. ijor authors agree that fifteen to twenty boys and girls make up an ideal beginning group in creative dramatics. The group used for this study was limited to fifteen. limitations were necessary to keep the number of observers to a minimum and to main- tain the atmosphere of an ordinary class in creative dramatics. Exper- imental trials of recording techniques indicated that one observer could not be reSponsible for more than five children. Thus a class of fifteen children required three observers. With this limited number of non- participating adults in the room, a normal atmoSphere could be maintained. 3 These standards represent those stated by'Ward, Burger, Lease and Siks in their respective books. Numbers 5, 6, 7 generally only apply to stories. 1h. The factors which determined class size were, therefore, the recommen- dations of the prominent authors and the number of observers required to record responses. The subjects. To obtain subjects for this study an announcement of the creative dramatics class, cpen to a limited number of eleven' and twelve-year-old boys and girls was placed in "The Toyshop Theatre Tales,“4 "The Faculty Blue Sheet,"5 and the "State Journal".6 Regi- stration for the class was accepted by telephone. This was not to be a Specially selected group, so the first fifteen to register were admitted to the class. Five eleven-year-old girls, three eleven-year- old boys, five twelve-year—old girls and two twelve-year—old boys finally comprised the group. The three factors than, which influenced the selection of the subjects were age, order of registration and the size of the class. Procedures Used in Obtaining Data Data for the background studies. Charts which summarize interests and backgrounds of the subjects have been included in the Appendix to give a better understanding of the group and the individual child. The information used to compile these charts was obtained during a personal interview with the child's mother. h "Toyshop Theatre Tales", is a newspaper which circulates to the two hundred, six through sixteen—year-old, members of the Toy- shop Theatre. (This organization at the college produces children's plays with child actors.) 5 A faculty News Bulletin at Michigan State College. 6 The daily neWSpaper published in Lansing. 15. Before the first class period or at some time during the ten week program, each mother was requested to grant an interview to be held in her home or in Room Forty of the Auditorium. The child was not present at the interview and the mother was asked not to inform the child of this discussion. Ten mothers preferred to be interviewed in their homes and five reported to Room Forty. For the first interview a check list of questions was used and the interview information was recorded in notations made by the author. This was found to be an unsuccessful and inaccurate method of gaining background information, because it was difficult to take accurate notes or keep proper items checked without causing awkward pauses in the conversation or failing to note pieces of information. Before the second interview a questionnaire was compiled from the check list ques- tions.7 This questionnaire was then filled out during the first ten minutes of the interview'and used as a basis for the discussion which served to enrich the written information. In this way the important facts were accurately noted and served as a Springboard for a discus- sion of the child's interests and history. This questionnaire yielded information concerning the child's educational history, school interests, areas of scholastic ease and difficulty, occupational ambition, friendships, organizational member- ships, and interests in hobbies, sports, dramatics, art, music, dance, or other special skills. Other information made available through the questionnaire was the parent's age, education, occupation, hobbies, special interests, and general condition of health. 7 A copy of this questionnaire may be found in the Appendix, page 16. Information gained during the interview made possible an exami- nation of individual members of the group for differences and similar- ity as to background which helped the author determine common factors among them. Selection, training and qualifications of the observers. Before discussing the tools used to record the reactions of the class members, a short eXplanation of who was to use these tools should be made. As has already been stated, the plan was set to employ three student obser- vers. These were selected on the basis of previous training, experi- ence and interest in creative dramatics. They were trained through personal conferences with the author to become accustomed to recording the data. During these conferences, terms were explained and the author and observer came to an agreement about the type of behavior or overt reaponses to which the rating scales and reSponse check sheet referred. An additional phase of the training for recording data included prac- tice sessions. These sessions were described under the development of the response check sheet. Further conferences following the first three lessons were used to point out methods of improving the detail and objectivity of the reSponse reports and to clarify any problems in using the rating scales or response check sheet. Observer l was a graduate student in elementary education who had training and eXperience as a leader in creative dramatics activities. The records kept by this observer were particularly objective and complete. All the data included in this study regarding the responses of children designated as 0., H., Y., C., and D. were recorded by this observer and the author. 17. Observer 2 was a junior majoring in elementary education. She had taken a course in creative dramatics. Most of her records were objective and quite complete. 'With the exceptions of Lessons I and VII, all of the reSponse data for children A., H., J., L., and B. were recorded by Jbserver 2 and the author. Data for lessons I and VII were recorded by the Substitute Jbserver. Observer 3 was a senior majoring in elementary education who had a course in creative dramatics and limited experience as a leader. This observer recorded the data on the reSponses of child K., E., G., F., and N. for Lessons I, II, III, IV, V, VII, VIII, and IX. Her sum- mary records for V, VII, VIII, and IX were incomplete, but the author made every effort to compensate for this by attempting to keep parti- cularly accurate records on the children for which this observer was responsible. The data for Lesson K were recorded by the Substitute Observer and for Lesson VI by the instructor in creative dramatics at Michigan State College. The Substitute Observer was a junior at Michigan State College who had done a great deal of acting and is particularly interested in children's theatre. She and the regular observers attended the same conferences and practice sessions. Her work was done with care and reflected good objective observation. Tools used for recording reSponse data. At present there are no established techniques for recording children's reSponses to creative dramatics material. Therefore a recording technique was devised which utilized a reSponse check sheet, rating scales, and summary records. An understanding of the reSponse data reported in this study depends on a concept of the purpose and uses of the recording tools which were 18. deve10ped on the basis of general aims and values attributed to crea- tive dramatics. The discussion of each tool which follows should aid in the understanding of its use and purpose. ReSponse check sheet.8 The check sheet represented an attempt to devise a quick method of recording reSponses indicating the following: interest, suggestions, desire or refusal to play, concentration, inagi- nation, and originality in playing, observation and ability to contri- bute to the critique. Each playing of an incident or story seemed to pass through these phases: (1) the presentation of material by the lea- der; (2) the development of plans for dramatization; (3) the dramatiza- tion of the material (during this phase part of the children watch while the others play); (h) the critique or evaluation period which actually blends into the planning for the next playing. For phase (1) an attempt was made to predict the major types of reSponses which would indicate an overt expression of interest or lack of interest in the material presented. Under the planning, phase (2), an effort was made to list the possible types of suggestions which the children might make and the various methods of overtly expressing a wish or refusal to play. Dramatization and obser- vation were the two distinct types of activity in phase (3). The children playing were checked for concentration, consciousness of the audience, accuracy of pantomime, originality and imagination. Nembers of the class who were not playing were checked for overt action which indicated that they were watching, were uninterested in watching, or were distracting others. The check list for phase (h) classified the possible types of comments according to content and the comment's constructive or "noncon- structive" quality. 8 A sample of the response check sheet is included in the Appendix.. 19. To test this check sheet each member of the college class in crea- tive dramatics recorded for two periods the reSponses of the same two children participating in the demonstration class of third and fourth graders. The records were then compared to determine the extent to which the checkers agreed. As a result of this, various items on the original check sheet were eliminated, clarified, and some were added. A test was then run on the revised check sheet and showed that a fur- ther revision was needed to facilitate the rapid location of various phases and responses. This need was met partly by the use of colored lines which helped to identify the position of items at a glance. The tests also revealed the necessity not only to check the response but to estimate its quality. A plus check was given to indicate a very good response, an average one was indicated by X., and a minus was used to indicate a poor reSponse. This checking technique and the revisions in the check list improved the data yielded by the check sheet, but at the same time complicated the checking process. At this time the three observers and the one substitute observer who were to record data for the study had a conference with the author, during which each item on the sheet was explained through examples of the behavior to which the item on the sheet referred. Following this conference Obser- ver 1 tested the sheet three times, and 3bserver 2 and the Sustitute tested it twice in the third and fourth grade demonstration class. Schedule complications made it impossible for Observer 3 to make a trial of the sheet. As the observers ran these tests the complexity of the instrument was recognized, but they felt that each practice ses- sion made the sheet easier to use. During these tests more duplications ’! 20. were discovered and the reaponse check sheet was finally revised to a list of forty-five items for which the recorder must watch. The largest number of items to be observed during any one phase was four- teen. In Spite of the testing process, the full limitation of the check sheet was not revealed until an attempt was made to compile the data on the responses to the first lesson. When the check sheet data were compared to the summary and rating scale data a need was recognized for a more specific report of the child's actions. Though the check sheet did not prove as useful or as accurate as was hoped, it was of value in helping to objectify and identify the kinds of response for which the observers were to watch. This tool was also of some value as an objective note taking device which could be used to supplement memory when making rating scale judgements and compiling the summary records. The rating scale. A five point rating scale was designed to eval- uate the following: the child's eagerness to participate, his contribu- tions to planning, his concentration or originality, the imagination revealed during playing, the manner of watching, and the contributions to the critique. These areas of the rating scale were planned to cor- reSpond with the phases of the activity as outlined on the response check sheet. An examination of the sample rating scales included in Chapter III shows that the number five is used as the highest value and one is used for the lowest. The ratings given for contributions to planning were concerned with plot, character, thoughts of the character, dialogue, mm. ._ ...J. .. . Hf..,-..,.r..r.rc.%.0t..J— .‘ ¢ ‘3 I like, «wlw 21. action or pantomime, and setting. Under originality revealed during playing ratings were made of the child's contribution to characteri- zation, to the plot or action in the situation, to the pantomime of the character's activities, to the improvised dialogue. Ratings for imagination refer to overt actions of the player which indicate his visualization of the character, the action of the characters, and the costumes, and setting. The section which rates the contribution to the critique is broken into the same areas as contributions to planning, except in the critique section setting is omitted. A rating is also given under critique for the approximate number and quality of contri- butions. The rating scale was originally designed as a supplement for the reSponse check sheet. Its development was similar to that of the res- ponse check sheet for during the testing the scales were revised so that they could be applied to a more specific type of response. Accord- ing to the original procedure the rating scales were designed to be used solely by the author as a checking device for the plus, X, minus ratings which the observer made on the resPonse check sheet. After the first lesson, when the inaccuracy of the check sheet was recognized, the decision was made that each observer should also evaluate the child's reSponses on the rating scale. For Lessons II through X a judgment was made on each scale by both the author and the observer and in that way one judgment could be checked against the other. These judgments “were based on notes, memory and check sheet information. These scales proved to be one of the most valuable methods for recording reSponses because the judgment of two people could be checked and compared and thus a more objective conclusion could be drawn 22. concerning the quality of reSponse. The ratings could also be charted to show an individual's pattern of reSponse to the different pieces of material in any given lesson. The same chart also revealed the reSponse pattern of the group. Summary record. 'When the rating scales were finished, a report was prepared of each child's reSponses to the planning, playing, watch- ing and critique activities related to each piece of material. This writing was done by the author, during the hours which immediately fol- lowed the class period. Each observer wrote a step by step report on the reSponses shown by each of her subjects to every piece of material before too many of the details were forgotten. Information yielded by both reports was combined to form the sum- mary records presented in this study. These records present a reason- ably concrete and objective report of what the children did in response to lesson material. The fact that this summary is based on the opin- ions of two people, judgments made in more than one manner and is com- piled in detail, makes it a more complete record of creative dramatics activities than presented in some previous studies. CHAPTER III THE RECORD OF CHILDREN'S OVERT RESPJNSES TO CREATIVE DRAl-CATICS IMTERIAL With the class organization completed and the recording methods established, a ten week program in creative dramatics activities was presented to fifteen boys and girls eleven and twelve years of age. This chapter presents a record of all the material used and the chil- dren's overt response to this material used. Since in this chapter the response of many of the individual chil- dren will be discussed, a more detailed introduction to the class mem- bers at this tise'will be helpful in better understanding many of the records of these responses. The divisions have been made into eleven- year-old boys, eleven-year-old girls, twelve-year-old boys, and twelve- year-old girls. This information from which the following brief sketches 'were compiled, was gathered in the interview with the mother. Boys Eleven Years of Age Child A. Family: Father: Profession - College Teacher. -' Special Interest - Sports. Mother: Profession - Housewife, Fert-time teacher, Student. Special Interest - Drama. Siblings: One younger brother. School‘Wbrk: Generally easy. Favorite Subjects - Reading and Project work. Activities and Interests: Science, Chemistry set, MicroscOpe, ToyshOp Theatre, Square dancing, Swimming. Special Ability: At ease with adults. Child N. Family: Father: Profession - College Teacher. " Special Interest - Art. Mother: Profession - Housewife. Special Interest - Coin collecting. Siblings: One younger brother. Child J. Child A. Child 2. 2h. School'Work: Generally easy. Favorite Subject - Reading. Activities and Interests: Scouting, ToyshOp Theatre, Base- ball, Fishing, Swimming, Square dancing. Special Ability: Art. Family: Father: Profession - Mechanic. Special Interest - Mechanics. Mother: Profession - Housewife. Special Interest - Knitting. Siblings: One older brother, two younger sisters. School'Work: Average in ability. Favorite subjects - Reading, music, and Science. Activities and Interests: Scouting, Toyshop Theatre, ”Tink- ering," Paper route. Special Ability: "He enjoys singing." Girls Eleven Years of Age Family: Father: Profession - College teacher. Special interests - Photogrphy, Bridge, Sports, Square dancing. Mother: Profession - Housewife. Special interests - Textile painting, Sports, Bridge, Square dancing. Siblings: None. School work: Generally easy. Favorite subject - Reading. Activities and Interests: Scouting, Toyshop Theatre, Dolls, Dogs, Swimming, Piano, Square dancing. Special Abilities: Square dancing, Piano. Family: Father: Profession - College teacher. Special Interests - Golf, Tennis. Mother: Profession - Part-time teacher, Tennis. Special Interests - Plays, Reading, Music, Golf. Siblings: One younger brother. School'Work: Generally easy. Favorite subject - Reading. Activities and Interests: Scouting, Toyshop Theater, Tennis, Child C. Child D. Child E. 250 Baseball, Swimming, Piano, Violin, Creative writing. (B. has had previous experience in creative dramatics.) Special Ability: Piano. Family: Father: Profession - College teacher. Special Interests - Natural history, Sports. Mother: Profession - Housewife. Special Interests - Crafts, Technical Theatre. Siblings: One younger sister. School work: Generally easy. Favorite subjects - Reading, Arthmetic, Art. Activities and Interests: Scouting, Toyshop Theatre, Baseball, Swimming, Square dancing, Ice skating, Piano. (C. had creative dramatics experience.) Special Ability: Piano. Family: Step-father: Profession - Graduate student. Special Interests - Archery, Hunting, Carpentry. Mother: Profession - Housewife. Special Interests - Girl Scout Leadership, Sewing. Siblings: One baby step-brother. School'Work: Somewhat more difficult than for other girls her age in this group. Favorite subjects - Reading, Physical Education. Activities and Interests: Scouting, Toyshop Theatre, Dancing, Swimming, Softball, Ice skating. Special Abilities: Typing, Skating, Child Care. Family: Father: Profession - Graduate student. Special Interest - Photography. Mother: Profession - Housewife. Special Interest - Sewing. Siblings: One younger brother, two younger sisters. School'Work: Generally easy. Favorite subjects - Reading, Social Studies. Activities and Interests: Scouting, ToyshOp Theatre, Sports, Dancing. Special Ability: "Capacity to be interested in, and enjoy life.” Child Y. Child O. Child F. 26. Boys Twelve Years of Age Family: Father: Profession - Engineer. Special Interests - Golf, Baseball, "Elec- tric ity" 0 Mother: Profession - Housewife. Special Interests - Flower arranging, Piano. Siblings: Two younger sisters, one younger brother. School Work: Generally easy. Favorite Subject - Reading. Activities and Interests: Scouting, Baseball, Square dancing, Piano, Drawing. Special Abilities: "Activities in which he can use his hands." (An adopted son). Family: Father: Profession - College teacher. Special Interest - Not stated. Nether: Profession - Housewife. Special Interest - Not stated. School Vork: Generally easy and sometimes boring. Favorite subject - Reading. Activities and Interests: Toysh0p Theatre, Television, Reading, Desire to be a comedian. Special Ability: Not stated. Girls Twelve Years of Age Family: Father: Profession - ”Switchman" for the Telephone Company. Special Interests - Photography, Home building, and Repair. Mother: Profession - "Interviewer", Housewife. Special Interests - Sewing, Girl Scout Leader- ship. Sibling: One younger sister. School'Work: Generally easy. Favorite subjects - Reading, Social Studies, Domestic Science, music. Activities and Interests: Scouting, Toyshop Theatre, Photo- graphy, Cooking, Sewing, Collecting cards, Dolls. Special Ability: music. Child G. Child H. Child L. Chi 1d M. 27. Family: Father: Profession - Salesman. Special Interests - Gardening, Tool shop. Mother: Profession - Housewife. Special Interests - Clubs, Lectures, Foot- ball, Concerts. Siblings: One younger sister, baby brother. School Work: Generally easy. Favorite subjects - Reading, Arithmetic, Science. Activities and Interests: Scouting, Square dancing, Social dancing, "Loves to participate and leads" Special Ability: "Getting along with people." Family: Father: Profession - College teacher. Special Interests - Music, Swimming. Mother: Profession - Housewife. Special Interests - Reading, Gardening. Siblings: Three younger brothers. School work: Generally easy. Favorite subject: Activities and Interests: Scouting, Tennis, Piano, Violin. Special Ability: Husic. Family: Father: Profession - Graduate student. Special Interest - Sports. Mother: Profession - "Reader Michigan Press Asso- ciation," Housewife. Special Interests - Sports, Homemaking, Sewing. School Work: Generally easy. Favorite subjects - Reading, Religion, Geography. Activities and Interests: Scouting, ToyshOp Theatre, Cheer leading, Sewing, Designing clothes. Special Ability: "Good judgement in situations." Family: Father: Profession - Engineer. Special Interests - Music, Art, Building. Mother: Profession - Housewife. Special Interest - Art. School Herk: Generally easy. Favorite subjects - Reading, Husic, Science. Activities and Interests: Scouting, Toyshop Theatre, Tennis, .ilfli RIM. a}. .flthfluhtaecnei. nixiaflfl . . ~ 28. Swimming, Lancing, Piano, Cello. Special Abilities: Nusic and Art. Even these brief sketches indicated that the majority of these children come from home backgrounds which are similar, and that most of them are given opportunities for hobbies, activities, and Special training. Post of the children also appear to have above average intelligence. From these indications and from further information which :is included in the appendix, indications are that this group is not ‘bygfical of the ordinary group found in the average public school class- I'oom. However, the group does seem to be typical of the type of children '“d10 might register for a Special program in creative dramatics, for vvkiich a fee might be paid. These groups might include a creative drama- tzixzs class Sponsored by a Recreation Division, a church, or a college cor' university Department of Speech. In the analysis of the work done it) the ten weeks which the class convened, the following plan of report- ing; will be used: choice of material, planning class activity, the <31£1ss in operation, the rating scale, general observations on the res- Ponses of the studrnts, and the material. LI‘SS JIIS UTILIZ IE‘IG PA I"? T J}. II'IE LETERI AL J Lesson I Introduction to Creative Dramatics Activity and First Lesson in Pantomime, March 15. Explanation of the choice of material. The activity for Lesson I, other than the introductory discussion was planned so that the chil- dren would begin to first develop the basic skill of visualizing or painting a mind picture of the action which they would pantomime. A mind picture exercise was used first so that the children could con- centrate on only this skill. The activity pantomime material was designed to relate the mind picture to a simple large body movement and an imagi- nary object with which they would work. The activity of moving to a new home was chosen because: (I) there are so many large actions related to the carrying activity which is alt-Jays a part of moving to a new home; (2) moving was an SXperience common to most children; (K) through questions the children could be led to decide on carrying as the moving activity which would be used for panto- mime; (14) the use of carrying action left the children free to choose the specific activity which they wished to do; (5) carrying actions W012. ld involve simple picturization of an object which could be translated into action using the entire body without involving strong emotional reactions. Lesson Plan, Lesso_n I. 1- Objectives. A. To give the children a picture of the activities in which. they would participate for the ten weeks of class. B. To help the children understand that the action, dialogue, and sometimes the stories, are not memorized but created from their III. IIII. IV. HO. own Spontaneous thoughts and ideas. C. To assure the children that they will not put on plays for an audience. D. To help the children realize that all costumes, properties, and scenery are imagined. E. To establish a foundation for building group Spirit. F. To introduce the basic tools of story dramatization. l. Visualization. (Painting the mind picture.) 2. Pantomime based on visualization. 3. Critique based on observation of that which made the action or situation interesting and what could be done to make the playing more interesting. Introductory discussion questions. A. "What do you think we will do in a creative dramatics class?" B. "On what things do you think our fun will depend?" Transition questions. A4 "How can we tell another person about something we have seen, heard, done, or felt, if we do not use our voice?" .8. "Can we tell someone about things we have never seen,done, or imagined, if we do not have a picture of it in our minds?" (3. "Do you think you could close your eyes and make a mind pic- ture of a particular place or thing?" lfiaterial. A. find picture. 1. "Just for fun let's close our eyes and see if we can paint our own mind picture of the house I will describe to you. we are in the living room of an old deserted house. In the center of one wall is a huge old fireplace. Some of the stones are loose and some have fallen out. There are great cobwebs in the corners of the room and the walls 2. 2l. have streaks where the water has trickled down from leaks in the roof. A broken window lets in a breeze which flut- ters the ragged curtains. Scattered about the room are a few broken, dusty, pieces of once-grand furniture." (Lea- der must watch children and add or omit details as the children‘s reactions indicate the need.) Follow the description with a discussion of what the chil- dren saw. (A statement which indicates that the leader felt the children had really painted a picture in their minds should open the discussion.) B. Transition questions. 1. 2. 3. "Would you like to move into a house like that?" "How many of you have ever moved?" "What can you do to help with moving?" C. Activity pantomime. (Large action of carrying objects.) 1. 2. "What are some of the things you could help carry?" "Everyone close your eyes and see if you can make a mind picture of the thing you are going to carry) What shape is it? What size? How heavy? Etc." "Everyone cpen your eyes and whenever you are ready, pick up your object, carry it to here, and put it down." Mention some of the actions which were particularly accu- rate cr sincere, and suggest that it might be fun to work in groups and guess what others carried. a. "What must we watch for, if we are to guess what people carry?" b. "Would it be more fun to play and to watch, if our pantomime had a beginning and an end? How can we do this?" Divide the class into groups of three or five. Ask them to visualize what they will carry. They carry the object. The class guesses the object and indicates the action on which they base their guesses. D. Possible variations. 1. Carry the same objects in different kinds of weather. 2. Explore the new house. 3. Felp clean and fix up the new house. A. Fix up your own room. 5. Explore the woods behind the new house. Summary record of Lesson I. Roll call was followed with Intro- ducstory Question A. Approximately five hands were raised in reSponse. Ch;ild.L. said, "We will put on plays." The leader then explained that no plays with costumes and scenery or for an audience would be presented, an<5 asked, "If we are not to put on plays as we do in ToyshOp what do yoxz think we might do?" A suggestion made by Child 3. was, "We'll do parrtomime." Each child's comments were used to further the explanation of 'the activities which were to be included in class work during the next ten weeks. One of the first steps in establishing group discipline and "family spizfiit", or class atmOSphere, was taken by asking the question, "If we are 'to have fun together, what will we need to do?" Some of the res- ponses were: Child E., "Cooperate"; Child D., "Be quiett"; Child E., "Lisinenl"; and Child B., "Help each other!" During the discussion, cooPfiration was interpreted to mean working together, thinking in terms or "TV6" and helping each other. "Be quiet" and "Listen" came to mean being; QJJiet'while other people presented their ideas and listening to those :ideas so that a better story could be built. 53- From the methods of working together the discussion moved to the transition questions listed under III in the lesson plan. Child K. suggested that our bodies could help communicate ideas, Child 3. thought the hands could be used, and Child E. indicated that 'expression' was useful. The discussion which followed, included examples of how hands and bodies could be used to communicate ideas and what is meant by the word 'expression'. From this point the discussion was guided. to the problem of what must happen before one person can tell another person an idea or experience. It was generally agreed that you had to have an idea, an experience, or an imagined experience before you could share it with anyone. The leader suggested that you had to have a picture of it in your mind and asked the children if they could paint a mind pic- ture as indicated by III, D in the lesson plan. Observation of the faces and bodies of the children as they listened to the description of the old house (IV, A., l. in the lesson plan) indicated that a minimum of detail could be used with this group,because most of them were apparently visualizing the scene well. less detail than presented in the lesson plan was used. Recognition by the leader that each child had visualized something led easily to a discussion of how each person had visualized the room in his own way and the Specific things which the room contained. Child B. had visualized, "31d broken stairs," Child K., "An old moth-eaten rug," and Child L. mentioned an Old dusty picture. These were representative of some of the more origi- nal res ponses. Many of the children responded. with objects mentioned in the original description. After the children had an opportunity to tell what they had visualized, ah. the transition question IV, E., l. was asked and the unanimous reSponse was, "No." This was followed by, "How many of you have ever moved?" Every hand went up and there were groans and verbal responses such as ' etc. The question, "What do you do when "too many times," "I sure have,’ you move," brought such answers as these: Child E., "Pack things," Child 0., "Throw away old toys that you like but your parents don't," Child 8., "Throw away trash." Wany of these comments were given spon- taneously. In order to get the children to suggest carrying things and proceed to the activity pantomime it was necessary to ask this question. "When things are packed and old things thrown away, what is the next step in moving?" Child E. replied, "Carry everything out to the car, put it in, take the long boring drive to the new place and unpack." This reply led to suggestions of things that could be carried. (K. - magazines, B. - lamp, Y. - furniture, etc.) Class activities then proceeded according to IV., C., 2., and 3. Most of the pantomime reSponses were rather vague general action, but there were some exceptions. Child E's. pantomime of carrying a chair over her head was quite free from inhibition and indicated visualization which was reflected by reasonably accurate action showing the size, weight, and form of the chair. Size, weight, and shape were also apparent in the weaker action of Child K. who carried magazines and Child L. who carried a fragile vase. Child L. was leW'in starting her action but reflected good concentration. The work of Child A. was slow, hesitant, and almost a cOpy of the others‘ ideas. Everyone, except J., reSponded with a pantomine. Observation of the overt actions seemed to indicate that almost every child had some \ 35. idea of what he was carrying, but it was easier for some to coordinate their mind picture with the action. Though some of the group responded hesitantly, most of the group seemed eager to play, and to tell about what they had been carrying. Encouragement was given through general comments on how well everyone had done and it was pointed out that some particularly interesting things had been carried.ln addition, approval was given as the children told what they had carried. The large group was then divided into smaller groups of three, and new objects were chosen. Each person guessed what was carried and told what actions prompted the guess. Objects were to be carried from the car and placed on the porch according to the plans. ‘While planning the beginning and end of the pantomime, the leader suggested, "We might start our action after dad had unpacked the car, and then carry the object to the house and place it on the porch." This idea.was accepted. Child M. thought it might be interesting if something could happen between the house and the car. "Could something that might happen between the «oar'and the porch help us to tell what the person carried?", was the quaestion asked by the leader. Several suggestions of how this idea ccnxld be used were made by the children and it was decided that this could 'be :a part of the pantomime. Five groups of three were designated by the leader and the following responses were given. GRLKIP I. Child D. Carried a tray of dishes. An original reSponse.1 Pan- tomime revealed accurate visualization of size and weight and showed a carefulness that indicated the player carried a fragile object. Child E. Child N. Kc. Carried two heavy suitcases. Suggested by class. E. maintained the weight of the suitcases which was revealed in muscle tension and indicated visualization. (Late for the first part of the class) Carried a box with something heavy in it. N's choice of action was vague but his body tension indicated the weight of the box and he kept the size reasonably constant until he reached the porch where he became aware of the audience as he put the box down. The critique period was brief. The chief concern was guessing what the players carried which seemed easier than explaining the reason for the guess. Encouragement to observe as accurately as possible was given but the main interest of the class centered around their own ideas and playing. GRINDII. Child B. Child J. Chi 1d ‘30 Carried a plant. An original choice. The action showed clearly that a fragile object which needed protection was carried but the class failed to guess the object. When she told us what she had carried the action seemed very clear and accurate. Carried "something" he told us during the critique. His action was vague and seemed to confirm his state- ment that he was not certain what he carried, "but it was something." J. seemed very aware of being watched. Carried two large boxes of books. He juggled the books first one way and then another. Q.'s walk gave the impression that he was about to fall with every step. 37. O. seemed to be acting for the audience rather than sincerely pretending. During the critique the leader attempted to point out the difference between really pretending and "acting like" doing something. (This was done without referring directly to J.'s playing.) This difference was demonstrated by the act of lifting a heavy sack of bricks as though they were really heavy and by "acting" as though they were heavy. The leader demonstrated and then the leader and the class did the action together. A discussion followed the exercise of the difference between the feeling when thought and visualization made the bricks heavy and when lifting a sack without thinking and visualizing. GRJUP III. Child K. Cooperated in carrying a ball and bat. An original idea and Y. but not closely related to plan made by the group. At times their game of catch was accurate but they were inclined to lose the ball which also assumed several different sizes. Child C. Led a dog to the house and tied him to the porch. An original idea. Another original touch was added when the dog gave a sudden jerk and almost caused C. to fall. No response of giggles was evoked from the watchers and the action seemed sincere rather than planned for comedy. GROUP IV. Child A. Carried magazines tied with a string. Not an original choice but method of carrying was original. The maga- zine seemed to have little weight until after A. had “33“. in...4u.h.u....d. .u. . ......v‘tnDWF-ihtlrh. VJ v 1‘. . f .. gnu ,, FBI... w . n. 38. placed them on the porch and indicated that she had felt their weight by rubbing her hand where the string had pressed. Child L. Carried a mirror. An original choice. The size was kept constant but the weight seemed to vary. Slow care- ful movements told the watchers that she carried a fra- gile object. Child H. Carried a heavy box of books. Not an original choice. Size and weight were kept constant as H. walked from the car to the porch. GRJJP'V. Child M. Carried a stack of hats. An original choice. Half- way between the car and house, K. dropped one and used the action to help tell us what was carried. Pantomime was clear and easy to guess. Child G. Carried a vase. Original choice. Action involving arms and hands was vague. Over-all bodily action indi- cated that a fragile object was being moved. Child F. Carried a bird cage. Original choice. Size of the cage was constant and it seemed to have about the right amount of weight. F. was particularly delighted to tell us what she had carried. At the conclusion of this critique the class was complimented on the Quality and sincerity of its work. They were asked to observe and remem- bez~ how things smell, taste, feel, sound, and look. A pantomime was (tune by the leader at the request of the group. They had great fun 39. watching this and Child L. guessed correctly that a roll of bedding was the object carried. The final announcement that there would be no class until April fifth was greeted by exclamations of disappointment by Child 0., Y., K., N., L., E., and B. The group as a whole seemed enthusiastic. The children who showed the greatest voluntary participation were 3., K., L., E.; those who showed the least were J., A., and G. The remain- ing children seemed to show about the same degree of participation. The outstanding characteristic of this group seemed to be the ability to graSp ideas quickly. Though there was no extremely strong con- flict in the group there was also little indication of group spirit. Each person seemed to be out for his own fun. Some sense of group spirit was reflected in the behavior of L., B., C., and H. Sample Rating Scales hhich Applied to Lesson I. I. Participation in opening discussion. / i. f 2. f a. 7 h. f 5. / Never then participates Abways participates participates. with useful comments. with useful comments. II. Contributions to the planning phase. E. Contributions concerning patomime or action. F‘ 1. 7 2. “7 1;. 7T 1;. 7 5. 7 Unrelated - Useful - reflect Closely related reflect little some understanding reflect understanding understanding - - related to les- insight, and imagi- not useful for son material and nation - and a great planning. planning ideas. deal to planning. III. Concentration while playing. / 1. 7 2. 7 7.. 7 14. 7I 5. 7 Looks at Played with Didn't Accurate Unaware of the others for some inde- break - pantomime audience - plQIS approval or pendence - reasonably not parti- with independence cepies inclined to accurate cularly and is completely action. break fre- pantomime. aware of in the imaginary quently and audience. situation. giggle. IV. Originality shown in playing phase. C. Originality of pantomime. / 1. / 2. 7 5. / i. /‘ 5. 7 Copied action Uses ideas Many new ideas or very vague presented which contribute action. during dis- cussion but plays with an individual twist, or adds a few new ideas. the original idea. bi. Sample Rating Scales‘fihich Applied to Lesson I. (continued) V. Imagination. (Visualization or picturization.) (The rating is applied to action which indicated the mental process described above.) c. Pantomime or action which reflects the child% visualization. f 1- f 2. 7‘ .5, ‘r A. f 5. 7 Little or no Good general Complete detailed detail - poor picture with picture almost general pic- some detail. makes objects or ture. action, character, etc., visible to audience. VI. Observation of Classmates who are playing. J J 4 J J /’ ‘1. / 2. /* a. /’ a. /’ 5. )7 Distracted watched. 'Watched others. with close attention. VII. Contributions to Critique or discussion of playing. F. Contributions concerned with pantomime. ‘__‘ L 1 A J / 1. f 2. / a. /‘ M. F 51/ Criticism Reasonably Honest, imper- directed at ‘ impersonal sonal, con- the classmate and accur- structive based based on in- ate - attempt on accurate accurate to be con- observation. observation. structive. L2. TiBLE I RAT hos IF CEILLRBN'S JVERT RESPJNSES T) EXERCISE rhithAL USED IN LESSJK I Rating Scale Key 1 II-E III IV-C V-C 1v II Lesson Plan Key Iidlli 1v IV 1v IV IV IV IV 1v IV IV IV C1 A1 C1 Ch C1 Ch. Al Cl Ch. ch on Child A 1 2 2 2 2 2 1 l 5 5 Child B 5 h. h h h h 5 IIIIII 1+ LL 5 Child C 2 *h ‘E. 5 5 5 5 h 5 E. 2 Child D h h 5 3 3 3 CD. 5 5 5 3 Child E ggh 5 3 h h- h 3 3 b- 3 3 3 Child F 2 5 3 3 3 3 5 3 3 3 3 3 Child G 2 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 Child H h IE7 h h. h 157’ h 3 5 L 5 h Child Y 2 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 h 3 3 Child J 1 l 1 1 1 1 5 Child K II 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 h 2 3 Child L u. 3 3 *E 5 5 h 5 5 ‘IH u '*h Child M 3 5 h. h 5 h 3 h. h. 5 h Child N 3 3 1 3 7+ 3 3 1+ 3 T. Child a 5 2 3 2 2 2 2 3 2 2 3 3 LESSJN PLAN KEY II.and III. IV. A. 1. IV. C. 1. IV. C. h. Introductory Liscussion Questions and Transition Questions. (All of the re3ponses to these two exercises are rated on Scale I.) Painting a mind picture of the old house. Activity Pantomime. (Carrying Large Objects.) Helping to carry objects from the car to the new home. (See Lesson Plan I and refer to numerals listed for a more detailed description of the exercises.) RATING SCALE KEY I. II. E. III. IV. C. v. C. . VI. VII. F. Participating in opening discussion. (Used only for Exercises I. and III.) Contribution to planning Re. Pantomime. Concentration while playing. Jriginality of pantomime. Imagination in pantomime. Observation of classmates who are playing. Contributions to critique Re. Pantomime. (Each of these headings has its own descriptive key scale. For a sample of these scales see page ho.) 1. 2. 6. 1+3 . Jbservations for Lesson I The over all reSponse of the group in imagination, concentration, and originality seemed higher to the author than other first res- ponses to pantomime which she has noted in experience with other groups of this age level and similar background. The two children who most consistantly rated high in concentration, imagination, and originality were children who had done previous creative dramatics work. (B. and C.) Above average reSponse patterns were shown by L., M., and E., who were active, interested members of Toyshop and have had parts in plays. H., who had never participated in ToyshOp, showed an above average response. H. has had one previous dramatic experience with a scout troop. The author feels, and the summary report and rating scale chart seem to indicate, that all but two of the children reSponded with similar quality of work and showed gradual increase in participa- tion through the lesson. Two of the children, A. and J., seemed to participate less than the others and their quality of work was somewhat lower. The author felt that the boys showed as much eagerness to partici- pate as the girls. In the author's opinion all of the Lesson Plan aims were to some extent satisfied. A through D were the most adequately met and E was the least adequately fulfilled. U4. Lesson II Explanation of choice of material. Factors which influenced the choice of material for Lesson II were: (1) the reSponse of the group to the material presented in Lesson I; (2) the number of children who seemed ready to move ahead on the basis of Lesson I; (3) the over-all plan of the ten week program. The over-all reSponse of the group to Lesson I indicated that most of the children had a good concept of visualization and its transla- tion into action using imaginary objects. These first pantomines were more accurate than most first pantomimes given by this age group, and the author felt this indicated a readiness in most of the children for more complicated work. Since the number of lessons was limited, the author planned work involving pantomime which depended on the memory of sensory perceptions. Had the over-all program been planned to extend over a period of six or eight months, the author would have used an activity lesson necessita- ting group playing in an action where one person's pantomime must dove- tail into the pantomime of another. This type of exercise requires ensemble type of playing. Action pantomime was used for review tocpen the lesson and to give an opportunity to check the extent of carry-over in visualization and translation of visualization into action. Had there been no carry-over, or had it been very slight, the lesson would have been devoted to acti- vity pantomime, but there was sufficient evidence of carry-over to introduce work with the senses. As will be noted in the lesson plan the exercises are not completely detached from emotional feeling but 15. the emphasis is placed on visualization and action. To reinforce visualization, sight was the first sense used for exercise material. The circusawatching was planned to help the chil- dren relate thoughts to visualization. Taste was used for the final exercise, when the lesson was presented, because the children seemed to need the bodily action which it offered. This "food fair" exercise was planned to coordinate visualization with thought and action which involves the whole body. Lesson Plan, Lesson II. I. Objectives. A. To review thinking the thoughts, making the mind pictures, and doing a pantomime with a beginning, middle, and end. B. To sharpen the child's awareness and memory of objects and events, perceived through the five senses. (Touch, taste, sight, smell, hearing.) C. To work for improvement in concentration, visualization (imagination) and accurate pantomime. To begin to help the children realize the relationship of thought to action. II. Introduction and Review. A. "Does anyone remember any of the things which we pretended last time?" B. "What were the things we did which helped us pretend so clearly that others knew exactly what we did?" C. "What things did we watch for which helped us know what the person who was playing did?" D. "How did we make our pantomime have a beginning, a ndddle, and an end?" B. "Remember last time we met we were carrying things and helping III. IV. G. H. I. he. move into a new house? You know how a new house is when you are newly moved? There are lots of things to be done. Can you think of anything you might do to help?" "Do you think you could show us any of the things which you would do to help?" "Let's close our eyes and see our house; the things we will work with and what we are going to do." "Whenever you are ready raise your hand." (Assign the chil- dren as they raise their hands to play in groups of two or three.) "What will we need to watch for?" Pantomime using the five senses - Sight. A. B. C. D. E. G. B. "How can we find out about the world around us?" "If you were at a circus would you find out more about the circus by seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, or touching?" "How many of you have ever been to a circus?" "What kinds of things might you see at the circus?" "Would you think the same thoughts all the time you watched a circus act? Why wouldn't you? What usually happens during a circus act?" "Our action will begin when the Act begins and the end of our pantomime will be at the end of the Act. In fact we might pretend it was the last act and start home at the end of the act." "Who would like to be in the first group?" "Watching the circus act" will be played in about three groups of five and discussion will follow each playing. Five senses - Taste. A. B. C. "What things do you learn about by tasting?" "Do you think you could imagine you were at a food fair? It is a wonderful place. There are great tables full of food and it is all free. You may go from table to table and taste anything you like." "What are some of the things you would like to find on the tables?" V. VI. E. "U 0 Five A. B. L7. "What would you think as you tasted the various foods?" "What can you do to tell us about the various things you taste?" "How many tables shall we have? Where shall we start? How can we finish our pantomime? 'What can happen in the middle?" Divide the children into groups of three or four and remind them to close their eyes to visualize the food fair and see a mind picture of the specific food they wish to eat. Senses - Touch. "What can you find out by touching things?" "Lo you think different thoughts as you touch things that feel slimy, soft, rough, smooth, or hard?" "If you could not see and you went to a museum how might you discover what the things in the museum were?" "What different kinds of museums are there?" "Let's pretend that we are blind people and that we are inside a very Special museum where we may learn about the things from touching." "If we can only touch them, what will tell us the different kinds of things that are there?" "What will you think when you first touch an object? - As you begin to discover what it is?" "Everyone decide on four things which you would like to have in your museum." Request volunteers for the first group. Play in small groups and follow each playing with a critique period. Five senses - Smell. A. B. C. "How many of you have ever gone to the drug store to buy per- fume as a present for your mother?" "What sense do you use when choosing this gift?" "What are some of the things that you might think as you tried to decide which kind your mother would like best?" L18. D. "Where should we be when we start our action? How can we end it? 'What important thing happens just before the end of our scene?" E. Use groups of three for this exercise. Follow the usual procedure of playing and critique. VII. Five senses - Hearing. A. "What is another sense which we haven't used as yet?" B. "What different kinds of activities depend principally upon the sense of hearing?" C. "What do we hear during a walk in the woods; on a city street; at a fair; or while sitting at a football game?" D. "Do sounds sound different at various time of day and mean different things?" E. "Let's pretend we are walking through the crowd downtown and suddenly you hear someone behind you call your name?" F. "What would you think? 'What would you do? would you hear, think, and then do something? Or‘would you do all three things at the same time." Summary record of lesson II. Every child was present and the class started on time. The leader opened the class with part II, question A, on the lesson plan outline and received five spontaneous responses, such as, "moved," "carried things," "carried boxes," " etc. These reaponses came quickly and neither "carried magazines, the observers nor the leader succeeded in recording the name of the child who gave each reaponse. To question B Child L. responded with, "making a mind picture," Child M. with, "think about the size," and Child G., "remember about the weight." In the brief discussion which centered around these comments the leading participants were Child K., Child H., Child E., and Child D. The group seemed to listen. Question C was rather well covered by the volunteer comments 1+9. and therefore, was not asked by the leader. Question D was omitted and used later in the lesson when planning the pantomime of "watching the circus." The planning which was to lead into the first playing activity began with ideas concerning what the children could do to help just after moving into a new house. Approximately eight boys and girls raised their hands signifying that they had an activity in mind but the leader only called on two or three for suggestions. Then the chil- dren were asked if they would rather show in action how they could help. Bodies, faces, and Spontaneous comments of "yes" indicated approval of this idea. At the leader's suggestion the children closed their eyes to visualize what they would do and the objects which they could use in their pantomimes. As each child raised his or her hand indicating readiness to play, the assignment to a playing group was made by the leader. There were three groups of four children each and one group of three. Child N., Child J., an eleven-year-old boy, and Child A., an eleven-year-old girl, could not think of pantomime ideas of their own, but gladly accepted the leader's offer to give them an ideas. The idea was whiSpered to each so that the activities could be a sur- prise to the other members of the class. Data indicating the order and the members of the playing groups are lacking. Therefore reSponses will be considered in alphabetical order. Child A. could not think of an activity but accepted the sugges- tion given by leader of taking clothes from a suitcase and hanging them up. movements which showed putting clothes on hangers were SO. adequate but her action of reaching to hang up the clothes was not too clearly pantomined. It was difficult for the class to guess this panto- mime. The leader would have been wise to have given Child A. a simpIer- activity. She watched well but made no comments during critique. Child B. chose dusting furniture as her activity. This was not an unusual or original idea for a pantomime but it was clearly and carefully done. She seemed to enjoy doing the action. Observer 2 states, and the author agrees, "Child B. watches closely during the acting part. A girl next to her said something to her and she made ’ Author and observer also noted a motion as if to say, 'be quiet'.' that B.'s comments during critique were always accurate and construc- tive. Child C. read to and played with her little sister. This activity was not guessed by the class but C.seemed to enjoy telling us what she had done. Her body and face indicated interest in the action of the other children, though she made no comments. Child D. helped to straighten up the new house by putting away books. Her books changed size and shape and had little weight. Glances at the audience indicated that she was not concentrating enough to be unaware of being watched. Jbserver l agreed with the author that D.'s face usually indicated a great deal of desire to play though she did not always raise her hand. She seemed to enjoy watching but did not comment during the critique of this activity, though she did make suggestions during planning. Child E. decided the best way to help was to entertain her little brother by bouncing a ball for him. As the class watched the action 51. seemed vague and no one was able to guess the action. Yet when E. explained what she had pantomimed, her actions seemed less vague. The author and the observer both commented that E. liked to be watched and kept her eye on the audience to see its reactions. Lack of con- centration also was shown when she broke and giggled while playing. She made many Spontaneous comments, some of which were related to class activities and others were irrelevant. Child F. thought of an activity which had not been mentioned. She polished a mirror and hung it on the wall. This pantomime was particu- larly good in that the mirror had weight and remained constant in size. Almost no contributions were made to planning by F. Child G. hung curtains at the new house. She seemed to concentrate and made a limited number of excellent comments. She was quiet but seemed interested and at ease, and her actions did not indicate a deliberate attempt to play to the audience. Hanging curtains represented an origi- nal choice of action. Child Y. did an original pantomime of taking the fish bowl to the kitchen, emptying it, cleaning it, refilling it, putting the fish in, and feeding them. The accurate use of his hands indicated very clear visualization. In terms of concentrated imagination and originality Y.'s pantomime was one of the most outstanding in this group. Child J., at the suggestion of the leader, piled the wood and started a fire. All of his actions were done in such a covert manner and were so small that it was difficult for the "watchers" to tell what he did. He added an interesting detail to the end of his pantomime by stretching out his feet to toast in front of the fire. Since it 52. seemed difficult for him, the leader's comments indicated that he had done well in part of his pantomime. Jbserver and author noted that he watched closely and seemed to enjoy watching the action, but during the discussion he talked to his neighbor, made no contribution, and gave the impression that he was not listening. J. gave indication that he wanted to belong, but did not feel he did as well as other members of the group. Child K. was always eager to play. He pantomimed scrubbing the floor stepped and read a comic-book and then went back to scrubbing. The observer stated and the author agreed that although K.'s panto- mime is usually accurate, he doesn't quite "lose himself in it." He often offered suggestions which were helpful but the spirit in which they were given made author and observer feel that his motivation often was to gain attention from the group. Child L. washed the square panes in a glass door. It was clear that she was washing something with a great deal of care. K. thought it might be something glass for it was clear so you could almost see through it. L. took time to think as she did the action. The choice was somewhat original, but during class discussion washing woodwork and walls had been mentioned. Her comments during discussion usually reflected thought and were helpful. Child M. chose to wash dishes. The choice was not an original one and her actions were not too clear though they did reveal the size and shape of objects. She seems to enjoy doing her pantomime and was interested in watching others. Child N. could not think of an idea but accepted and carried out the leader's suggestion of fixing a broken chair. His action was extremely accurate and his pantomime had an interesting feeling for he was so 53° proud of having fixed the chair. The concentration with which he played indicated that he was completely unaware of the audience. The group quickly guessed his pantomime. He listened well and apparently watched with interest but contributed only one or two comments which were usually helpful. Child 0. was always eager to play and to express his ideas. He put the dog on the leash and tied him to the clothes line and fed him. The group did not guess what he had done but he enjoyed explaining it. After his explanation his movements did not seem as vague and meaning- less as they had appeared during the pantomime. He made many comments but they often had only vague relationship with what the group was plan- ning. The activity pantomime and review required approximately fifteen minutes of the period, before the work with the five senses was intro- duced. Question A in section three was used to introduce the pantomime work involving the five senses. The reSponses were principally one word spontaneous answers, and the discussion turned quickly to ques- tions B and C. All of the children had been at a circus or had seen one on television. The whole group seemed to respond with interest in pretending to watch a circus act, but most of the suggestions came from K., 0., E., L., M., and H. The planning discussion covered the follow- ing general tOpics; circus acts, bodily reSponse of the watching audience to circus acts, the possible thoughts of people as they watch an act, and the fact that each act seems to have a very exciting moment just before it ends. During this discussion the group decided that their 51+. pantomime would start just before the last act of the circus and end as the player left the circus tent after the act was completed. Just before the group started to visualize the act by closing their eyes, 0. asked this question, ”Khan you dream in technicolor - have just part of the things been colored - you know, maybe someone's face is supposed to be green, but he is the only one with a green face?" Two of the children told him that it had happened to them. The group proceeded to visualize the circus act which they wished to pantomime watching. Each child was assigned to a group as he raised his hand indicating readiness to play. Complete data concerning these group assignments is not available so the playing will be discussed by grouping children who pantomimed watching the same act. Four eleven-year-old girls (A., 8., D., and E.), two eleven-year- old boys (K. and N.) and one twelve-year-old girl (F.) pantomimed the watching of a trapeze act. B. played in the first group and the lea- der pointed out how her facial expression and bodily tension indicated the most exciting moment in the act which she seemed to:really'visua- lize as she pantomimed. One of the eleven-year-old boys (Child K.) also played in the first group but his pantomime did not indicate as much visualization as A'S. He gave the appearance of attempting to act as though he was watching a trapeze act rather than thinking the thoughts which a person might think while watching such an act. Com- ments made by K. during the discussion period were usually directed to his neighbor though he did not appear to be uninterested. Two eleven- year-old girls, who are close friends, (D. and E.) played in the same group. D. was inclined to watch E. and mirror E.'s action. For example, 55. during the progress of the trapeze watching pantomime, E. became so interested in the pop-corn she was eating that she forgot the act she was watching. After a glance at E., D. also became fascinated with her pop-corn. Neither D. or E.'s overt reSponse indicated that they had clearly visualized the trapeze act which they were watching. A., another eleven-year-old girl, did not seem to visualize the trapeze act too clearly and her pantomime was very brief. Observer 3 and the author noted on March 15 and the date of this action, April 5, that l A. seemed shy and was afraid to "let herself go" and really get into the Spirit of the pantomime. A great deal of sincerity, originality, concentration, and imagination were revealed in the playing of this pantomime by Child N. The climax of the act was shown clearly by this twelve-year-old boy's body tension and facial expression. The extent of N.'s visualization was shown during the discussion period when he told the class in detail how the man on the trapeze made a dive through a paper hoop and caught the trapeze on the other side. In contrast to the playing of N., was the pantomime done by F. A great deal of look- ing from left to right as though she could not keep up with the swings of the trapeze characterized her work. This left to right movement increased as the audience reacted with laughter and it was difficult for F. to avoid laughing. 'When others are playing, F. watches but seldom makes a comment. Three players chose to watch the tight rcpe acts. Two of these players were twelve-year-old girls (L. and H.) and one was a twelve- year-cld boy (O.). L.'s pantomime revealed the most bodily tension. Visualization was indicated when she explained in detail how the man 56. on the motorcycle had ridden on the tight rcpe. As O. pantomimed watch- ing the tight rope act his pantomime indicated, for the first time, that he was relatively unaware of the audience. His body tension, facial expression, and pantomire of eating popcorn seemed to grow out of what he was pretending to visualize. O. was the first player to use the idea of pop-corn eating. E., who usually had done clear accurate panto- mime, used only vague actions and seemed to have visualized the tight rcpe act only in a very general way. The most original choice of acts to watch were made by M. who watched the clowns, C. who watched a dog act, and Y. who watched a man sweep down in a rocket. The pantomimes of these players revealed cli- max and bodily action which indicated that they were visualizing clearly. C. and M. watched their acts with growing interest which was revealed as they began to get just a little tickled, then giggled, and finally broke into a laugh. Movement of Y.'s head and shoulders showed how the thing he watched started high in the tent and moved to the ground and his body showed tension which increased until after the action on the ground had been completed. J. played in the same group with Y. and as on March 15th and in the first pantomime lesson, his actions were vague. 'When he told us what he had watched, after Y. had described the rocket act, J. said he had watched the same thing. Another player whose action did not show what act was being watched and who did not discuss the act, was G. Her pantomime of eating popcorn, was clear, but her watching showed little climax or interest. Most of the critique period related to the watching of the circus wan-3w...“ IPL". ‘~ lfifl‘ 57. act centered around the children's description of acts which they had watched, or the audience guessing what the acts were. however, there was also a limited amount of discussion concerned with how the actions of the players revealed the imaginary situation. A transition from sight to taste was made by asking, "Did any of the people use another sense while they watched the circus?" Child E. responded that some of them had used their taste when they ate p0pcorn. r11 TITS" .- - The leader then asked, in general, what things were learned through the 1F .0-.. sense of taste. To this the class gave a unanimous Spontaneous response ‘ mt“- by naming different kinds of food. Next the food fair situation listed under part IV of the lesson plan was presented. The preliminary discus- sion covered the following: Food which might appear on the tables at the food fair; the placement of the tables; action that could help show what food the individual was tasting; and the difference between popping an object into the mouth and smiling, or frowning, or taking time to really taste the food. When planning was completed, the group had decided that they would each taste four different things. Some of the most popular foods were candy (K., F., Y.), pop (N., Y., F., E.), crackers (G., E., E.), ice cream (E., D., B., N., m., L., C., A.), sandwiches (E., o., G., B., Y., E., E., .). Some of the less popular foods were nuts (K., Y.), apples (K.), juice (8.), cake (8.), doughnuts (L.), and prunes (M.). Data concerning all four things tasted by each person were not complete. In general C., L., N., B. seemed to handle food clearly, take time to taste it, and then Show their reactions. Improvement in concentration 'was shown by A., D., G. Pantomimes which were rather surface types of 58. action, and which reflected varying degrees of desire to please the audience, were done by J., F., K., E., E., F., and Y. reflected some visualization and concentration in their adequate, but not particularly outstanding, pantomire. J. again had difficulty visualizing his action and objects. Although effort was made to comment on the things which he did well, and the class accepted him, the author felt that he left class with the feeling he had not done as well as the others. 59- 0 cawgo N‘N‘ a pawso Ufifizo a:+4 pawso cafizo caflno NNHNNNHM. N\ er4 01th 01:4 Q] vflfino cHfino ofiwso pawso pflfiso a: rr xx erc N\ N‘ KN 01;! 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(See lesson plan III and refer to numerals listed for a more detailed description of the exercises, pate 63-) RATING SCALE KEY I. Eagerness to participate. (See scale pageéo .) II. E. Contribution to planning Re. Pantomime. III. Concentration while playing. IV. C. Jriginality of pantomime. V. C. Imagination in pantomime. VI. Observation of classmates who are playing. F. VII. Contributions to critique Re. Pantomime. (Each of these headings has its own descriptive scale. For a sample scale see page ho.) _' 3' ”h" 2. General Observations Concerning Pantomime The smaller the amount of detail included in the lesson plan mat— erial, the greater the originality in the reSponse. There was a tendency to copy a reSponse which brought praise from the class or from the leader. In Lesson III all of the children reSponded more freely to the material during all phases of the activity than in any of the previous lessons. All of the children, whether their participation was principally active or passive in nature, seemed to enjoy the classwork. In most cases the amount of overt pleasure seemed related to the amount of participation. LESSJNS UTILIZING TRAISITIJN thERIAL Lesson IV Explanation of choice of material. Marked progress in all phases of creative dramatics was shown by the children during lesson III. This progress indicated that the children were ready to move on to work in mood pantomime. Exercises planned for the last two senses (hearing and smell) were not used because the children needed to feel that they 'were stepping forward. If these exercises with emphasis on feeling had been used, they might have proven too complex for many children in the group at this point in their development of the child. Walking home with certain Specified thoughts and feelings was cho- sen as an introduction to mood pantomime because it brought forcibly to the child the concept of thinking in terms of using the whole body for emotional expression. Three different situations were given in a whiSper to the groups who were playing out the ideas so that the watchers would be drawn to observe more closely. In addition, this enabled them to have the fun of guessing what the person's thoughts had been and at the same tire obtain practice in the activity of think- ing thoughts and observing the effects upon bodily action. For the same reason the five situation exercises were planned as a surprise package. These two exercises were designed as surprises, also, to encourage and insure independence and individuality in playing. In the presentation of the lesson the children were allowed to use dialogue for two of the exercises which they played in pantomine because their pantomimes indicated a readiness in terms of thoughts ‘WhiCh could be translated into dialogue. If the children appear ready 76. when they have reached the mood pantomime stage and express a wish to use dialogue, they are usually permitted to do so. I. II. III, Lesson plan, lesson IV. Objectives. A. To help the children become aware of how the body reSponds to feelings. To help the children see the relationship be- tween thoughts feelings and bodily reSponse to these feelings. To help the children realize-the difference between theatrically portraying only the outward actions of a sad person and actually thinking the thoughts of a person who feels sad. To show the children how previous work in pantomime, visua- lization, thinking the thoughts of others, and observation skill can be used as they play out the situations which involve feeling. Liscussion and Demonstration. A. B "Did anyone notice the bodily action of peeple who were happy, sad, disgusted, or angry?" "What happens to people's bodies when they are happy or angry or sad?" "See if you can tell what I am thinking?" (Lemonstration of walks in different moods.) Discuss the walks and the thoughts of the leader while the leader iS'Walking. C§roup work -'Walking action with mood. -A. B. Divide the children into three groups of five. EhiSper one of the following to each group. 1. ”Halk home to tell your mother the news that your class is going to Chicago, all expenses paid." '7 {o 2. "Halk home in your very best special new shoes. It is raining and you don't have any overshoes and the road is muddy." 3. "Walk hone with the news that your class picnic has been called off." , 0 IV. Surprise package.“ A. Each child will draw one of the following exercises. 1. "It is a beautiful sunny day. Carry the wash basket out to mother and help her hang up part of the clothes, then carry the basket back into the house." i 2. "You have lost your very best ring which was given to you for your birthday. You are searching for it in an area where the grass is tall." 3. "You have just drOpped one of mother's best prized dishes - you are picking up the pieces." h. "You had planned to go to the movie with our best friend, but you have to stay home and do the dishes because mother isn't feeling very well." 5. "For a long time you have been saving your money for a present for dad so that you could get him sonething very Special that he has wanted. Your scene Opens when you are just a little way from home. You slip into the house and put it in his chair for a surprise." B. The following instructions were given to the children. 1. "Don't let anyone see your card or tell your neighbor what is on it, for it is to be a surprise." 2. "The number on the card tells you which group you will play with." K. "In some cases you will have to decide what has happened before the story began, how you felt about the thing you are doing, and the way you feel will determine the ending of your own situation." A. "Remember each person will play the scene in his own way and his thoughts will determine how he feels." \ 2 Exercises adopted from the work of Isabel 8. Burger at the Ch‘ . . . v lldIWEn's Experimental Theatre in Baltimore, haryland. a... .- F... flux-udugmufilvrii a“... s 4H!” ...ILI. T 5-.. if 78. 5. The situations were played in groups of five. Before each playing, objectives for the watchers were set up. Summary report of lesson IV. April nineteenth was a gray spring day. Before class started the leader did not feel too enthusiastic but when the children arrived her enthusiasm increased. E., E., and H. arrived early and helped arrange the chairs. A. and B. were a few min- utes late, but all of the other children arrived on time. Ho reSponses are recorded in this summary for Child L. who was on a vacation, or children H. and Y. who were absent because of illness, and for Children 0. and G. whose absences were not explained. At the beginning of the class the children were inclined to be noisy but as the discussion of bodily reaction to emotion commenced their attention began to focus on the classwork. Voluntary contribu- tions to the discussion of actions and feelings were made by B., E., E0: F., IL, C., and K. This discussion was followed by a demonstration of “walking as described under II, C in the lesson plan. The first resfmnoses were "you looked scared," or "your body was tense." Since the cfbjective was to guide the children into thinking the characters thougflrts in dialogue form, the leader asked, "If I had been using words What Inight I have said?" This brought such responses as "Oh, dear," "It'53 so dark here," and "I'm afraid." This same procedure was followed after' a denmnstration of walking action based on the feeling of disap- pointnkant. Host of these reaponses came quickly and Spontaneously so that lihe records of the children who made these responses are incom- plete, A demonstration of movement not based on thoughts related to feelirug was also given so that the children would gain a concept of the 79- difference between sincere playing and "acting." As soon as most of the group could "think the thoughts" in dialogue form they volunteered and were divided into groups. Naterial in exercise three on the les- son plan was whiSpered to each group. The "watchers" objective was to observe so well that +hey could guess the players' thoughts. The children seemed intrigued by the idea of guessing each other's thoughts and feelings. The children who played in group one were E., L., and B. These children walked home with the news that their class would go to Chi- cago. Each of the children went to a different part of the room and closed their eyes to get the thoughts and feelings in mind. hhen they were ready they began. E. skipped gaily and during the critique she reported that her thoughts had been, "I can hardly wait to get home and tell mother." The reSponse given by E. as she played this exer- cise was somewhat more sincere than in previous work. D. reSponded to this exercise with a quiet dreamy walk or as the observer states it '31 new adventure type of playing." D. said that she had been think- ing, 'hEow nice it will be to go to Chicago." Concentration still seemed diffixnilt for D., but she seemed less inclined to mirror E.'s actions. In Ocurtrast to E. and D., the manner in which K. walked was slow and contemjplative. There was still some tendency to play for the audience, bUt j-twas not pronounced, and the pantomime had some qualities of sin- ceritbr. K.'s thoughts had been of all the things his class would do in Chicagfib. Each of these children might have found concentrating easier had truay played in different groups. Ilia children who played in the next group walked home with the 80. news that their school picnic, on which they had counted, was called off. Children E., F., and P. played in this group. F.'s reaction to news was shown in a stamping, Sputtering walk, which seemed to say, "I'm disgusted and therefore I should stamp and Sputter." During the critique she told us that She was very disgusted with her teacher, but did not report specific thoughts. The observer reports that child A. walked across the room'with a sad expression on her face and used .‘ ' . .Qb‘bv more concentration than before. She said that her thought had been, "The teacher said we couldn't go on our picnic. I'm so mad at the weather," and when asked by the leader how she felt she reported, "I'don't know, I just felt funny." F., the third child, gaily walked along. Suddenly She stOpped her pantomime and came to the leader and asked if they were supposed to walk_home with the news that their class had just planned a picnic. The leader explained that the situa- tion was just the opposite. K. laughed and sat down near the leader because other children had just finished playing. I. was not at all upset about the situation but explained to the class that she had been thinking how much fun the picnic would be. Playing in this group three were C., E., and B who were to walk home in the rain wearing their very best shoes. C. seemed to be eartremely worried about getting her shoes muddy and at times was almost in tears. Later She explained that She had been thinking, "“hat will mother-say? These are so muddy! 'Will I ever get a new pair of shoes." In tflde playing of this exercise, C. showed more concentration than in past vvork. Child B.'S pantomime included tiptoeing through the mud, a PaUSE? to wipe off her shoes and an attempt to step over and around the 81. mud puddles. B. seemed a little worried but tried to figure out the best way to avoid the mud. Several children mentioned that they liked the way she walked around the mud. N.'s pantomime was similar to B.'s in that he used the action of stepping over puddles and brushing off his shoes, but differed because he showed us that it began to rain harder and harder and became more and more worried about his new shoes. This pantomime was the only one in the group to show an indication of a climax and his action indicated excellent picturization. The discussions which followed each of these three playings of the different walking action was devoted mainly to the player's eXpla- nation of his thoughts and the "watcher's" descriptions of bodily action which portrayed feelings. Each child seemed to enjoy telling his thoughts to the others. An attempt was made to guide the children in stating their thoughts as conversational dialogue. "walking home with new shoes in the rain" was the most successful of these exercises, and seemed to offer the best opportunity for emotional expression. The walking exercise was followed by the "surprise package." Instruc- tions for playing the "surprise package" were given and then each child drew an exercise. Drawing the exercises and keeping them secret appealed to the children. When they had read their cards, the instructions (indi- carted in that lesson plan) were repeated concerning their feelings and the Iflanning of endings. Then the children closed their eyes to pic- ture the situation and to plan the endings of their individual pantomime. Before beginning, the group discussed the particular things to watch for “diile someone was playing and decided to look for what happened in the srtory and action which revealed the thoughts and feelings. 82. A. and F. drew situation one and were the first to play. A. pan- tomimed hanging clothes on the line but gave the situation no particu- lar feeling or definite ending. She commented that she wasn't too happy or too sad. F. carried out her basket, set it down, wiped her hands and started to hang up clothes. The records agree that she did not make the basket look heavy and that her actions in general were vague. Like A., F. did not give her situation an ending or give any indication of what might have happened beforehand. Some visuali- zation of what might have occurred before the scene opened would have .4 helped A. and F. to portray emotional feeling. This material did not X. seem to evoke originality in reaponse nor did the children involved respond with imagination. A more Specific statement of the situation might have brought a better response. These two children had diffi- culty picturing what might have happened previously which might have given them a strong emotional reaction. During the discussion period the leader asked what could have happened before the scene began which might have made the players feel particularly happy. Child B. suggested, "The mother might have told her girl that there was a surprise in the bottom of the basket," and also suggested that a person might be "mad" if his mother had made him stop something he enjoyed to hang up the clothes. During this discussion several of the children also asked if the situations could have happy endings. Discussing the events that might have occurred before the pantomime situation began seemed to give the children ideas which were revealed as groups two, three, four and five playe d . 83. "The lost ring" was the situation played by the second group, made up of players B., N., and B. This was a particularly interesting group because each of these players responded with imagination, origi- nality and concentration. In her pantomime H. walked around looking down and kicking the grass aside with her feet. She stepped once as though she had found the ring but then was mistaken. H.'s most realistic touch came when a weed tickled her leg and she scratched it with her other foot. The scene built to a climax as she became more and more worried looking first in one place and then another, until she was almost ready to cry before she finally found the ring and placed it on her finger. N., a twelve-year-old boy, also played the lost ring situation with a great deal of concentration as he pulled the grass apart and crawled on his hands and knees as he carefully looked for the ring. His body tension, facial expression and tempo of movement all indicated that he was really thinking and feeling. The ending of N.'s pantomime differed from H.'s in that the ring was not found. His feeling gradually became more intense, and his disap- pointment at not finding the ring was carried clear back to his seat where he sat with his head in his hands for a moment before he broke from the scene and came back to reality. The last member of this group, Child B., started her pantomime by moving very slowly about look- ing at the grass and stooping down occasionally to push the grass apart with wide, circular movements of her hands and arms. Finally B., stopped suddenly, cpened her eyes wide, picked up her ring, smiled and placed it on her finger. Though H. and B. used the same endings they each played the scene differently and in accordance with their 814. own thoughts and feelings. During the discussion N. said that he had thought, "It was the best ring I had. Gosh, I lost it right after I got it.” A number of the children who watched commented on how real this scene seemed. M. particularly the way H. "itched her leg with her foot." D. said that she could really tell that the players were in tall grass. The playing done by this group offered a particularly opportune time to discuss different reactions to the same situation. Varying degrees of emotion displayed by these three players was noted by the watching group and they also decided it was fun to see how each of the players ended the story. t Number three on the lesson plan outline or "picking up the pieces of the broken dish" was played next by Child C. and K. The players also responded particularly well to this exercise. When the children draw for their exercises, K. had drawn "the dish washing situation" and asked to put it back and draw again because he felt that he would not do it well. As K. played this 1"broken dish scene" the one he drew the second time, emotional response was one of anger mixed with anxiety. The pieces of the broken dish were carefully picked up and put in the waste basket. During this picking up process he pricked himself sev- eral times and each time this occurred his anger grew; His scene ended when he apologetically showed his mother the dish in the waste basket. Most of his work in this pantomime seemed sincere although occasionally the author and observer felt some actions were done for effect. ‘When C. played this situation her dominant emotions were fear and guilt. C. looked at the dish, got a tube of household cement, and tried to mend the dish. As she struggled with the pieces that would not fit 85. together she was almost in tears. When her mother reprimmanded her, her body was tense, and she dropped her head, then her body gradually slumped down in despair with her head buried in her arms which rested on her knees. This playing seemed particularly realistic and almost as though it were an episode which this child had actually eXperienced. ‘When the scene was finished her body relaxed and she returned to reality, appearing quite happy and pleased as she returned to her seat. The % children noted in the discussion that C. really had tried to put the g dish together and had looked really sad and afraid when her mother scolded her. They also noted that K. had been sorry, but that his mother % did not seem to be mad. They liked the way he picked up the pieces : and thought they actually seemed broken. The records of the thoughts of these children during playing were incomplete. Child M. was the only person to draw exercise four. She signed and frowned as she washed the dishes. In her hurry to finish the dish washing she banged them.down and almost broke one dish. 'When she finished she wadded up the dish towel and threw it down on the drain board. M. remarked that her thoughts had been, "Why'd I have to do this anyhow. I was going to a movie and I had to do these darn dishes.” Comments made during the discussion following indicated that the children had had a clear idea of her action. Child B. said, "She was drying dishes and wanted to do something else." H. agreed with B. and explained "You could tell she didn't want to do it because she put the dishes down hard and was in a hurry." M. was very pleased that the group guessed her feelings and action correctly. 86. D. and E. played together again in the final group. They both decided to use the same chair for their fathers' presents and for this reason were facing each other as they came. Both of them were very _ conscious of the audience and often glanced at the members of the class to see their reactions, however, they seemed to enjoy playing. D. told the class that she had brought a new white shirt and a bow tie for her father. E.'s pantomime had ended with the action of grab- bing the present out of the chair and handing it to her father. She explained that she had done this because she did not wish her father to sit on the new hat she was giving him. As she handed him the hat she mouthed the words, "Happy Birthday." The discussion period follow- ing this playing was brief because one of the children asked if some t of these situations could be played with "talking,' and the group thought this was a fine idea. The leader agreed that the scenes could be played easily with dialogue and asked the children, "Will we use just words to show how we feel and what has happened?" The idea that feeling would have to show in the tone of voice and in action was presented by Child D. The planning discussion also emphasized that when a scene is played with dialogue it is necessary to listen to what other players say so that the action of each person will depend on what others in the scene do or say. The similarity between a real conversation situation and a pretend scene using dialogue was also discussed. All of the children except D. indicated that they wanted to try a scene with "words". There was enough time left in the per- iod to play two group scenes. This situation was presented by the leader: 415$ , . “111.4% JIM-AWL)“ H‘Ifimififlfi. ea. . .PCQ all... . 87. You are at the beach with your friends. Everyone has been having a wonderful time playing ball and the others have just gone down the beach a little way ahead of you. You have stepped to look at a shell when you realize your best ring is missing. You look for it and do not find it and call your friends to come and help you. The children were given no time to plan what they would say but were instructed to listen to each other and to make the ending depend on what happened in the scene. Child FL volunteered and was chosen to be the one who had lost the ring, and her friends were played by Child E., A., and M. As they closed their eyes to concentrate they -' ."C‘x hm ’V' .n n were reminded, "Think your thoughts." "Think about how you feel m, r toward your friends and how you feel about the lost ring.” "Whenever you are ready, begin.” As the scene cpened, H. stooped down to pick up her shell, noticed her ring was missing and made circular movements in the sand with her hands. She seemed very worried, put her hand to her face, and then called the others. As they came over to her, A. asked H. if she was playing in the water. H. informed the group that she had lost her ring. M. said, "We'll help you find it," and M. and A. started to search for the ring. Child K. did not join actively in the search but just bounced a ball and made suggestions about how to hunt and where the ring might be. The dialogue was shared mainly by B., M., and K. After many other suggestions had been made and the children had looked tho- roughly through the sand K. said, "Are you sure you didn't leave it at home?" Child H. used this question to build the climax and end the scene. She thought for a moment as though going over the things that she had done before leaving home and then remembered that she had left her ring in her jewelry box. Everyone was greatly relieved and the ‘K Ilka-hire“ - :51. 9". e '14.: 88. scene ended on a happy note. All of the children commented that it was a good ending and they liked the way H. looked for her ring. The suggestion was made that K. could have helped look for the ring. Iiscussion also offered an Opportunity to point out how each person's dialogue grew out of listening to what the other players had said. For the final scene the following situation was presented: You are at home washing dishes. It is almost time for your friends to stop for you. You know you can't get the dishes done in time to go with them, and mother has said you can't go until they are finished. The volunteer chosen to play the dishwasher was Child F. The children who st0pped by were Child F., C., N., and B. Before the chil- dren came F. seemed very disgusted by her task, but when her friends arrived she pretended she really did not want to go anyway. Child N. tried to talk her into letting the dishes go until after the movie but F. would not do that. The friends offered to wait but replied she couldn't go anyway because she didn't have any money and then C. offered to loan her some. At this point F. said that it wouldn't help because she couldn't get the dishes done in time. E., C., and B. all decided to pitch in and help. Child E. assigned everyone to a "helping job" and the dishes were finished with only one near mishap 'when N. almost dropped a plate. At this point F. said, "Oh! It's only mother's best china." As soon as the dishes were done everyone happily went off to the movies. The remaining class time allowed only a brief time for discus- sion of the scene which mainly centered around how much the group liked the way the friends had pitched in and helped. As in other exercises, Child F. seemed to want to impress the audience and found 89. it difficult to keep her character consistent. The abrupt changes of direction in the dialogue were original but added little to the plot and flow of the scene. 1. 2. 6. Observations for lesson IV. Mood situations which are successful need to be presented with sufficient detail and background information to stimulate a defi- nite emotional reSponse in the child. Situation 1 in the "surprise package" provided insufficient detail to stimulate a definite emotional response in the children who play it. Situations 2 and 3 in the ”surprise package” presented enough de- tail to stimulate emotion and yet allowed sufficient freedom to enable the child to use his imagination and originality in the interpretation of the emotion and the planning of the climax and ending. The "surprise package" device was useful in keeping the children who were not playing interested in watching. There were not as many high ratings on the rating scale chart for this as there were for lesson III. This might be due to the new skills required to dramatize the material. Though a group of children re3pond to the same piece of lesson material with similar basic emotional interpretations, they tend to vary in their manner of expression and intensity of feeling. Children who tend to give a shallow interpretation, or to play only for the audience tended in this lesson to have difficulty in build- ing to a climax and creating a satisfactory ending. I. II. III. Sample Rating Scales Eagerness to participate. 90. / 1. r 2. /‘ a. /‘ h. 5. /‘ Never. Often. Always. Contribution to planning. A. Contributions Re. Character. (Kind of person, feeling.) Be Ree Plate (What happens in the story or situation.) ‘ - e C. Re. Thoughts of characters. D. Re. Dialogue. (What the characters might talk about.) E. Re. Action or Pantomime. F. Setting. ['L I. f 2. 7 3. f h. f 5. 7 Unrelated, Useful, reflect Closely rela- reflect little some under- ted, reflect understanding standing rela- understanding, not useful for planning. ted to planning. insight, imagi- nation, add a great deal. Concentration while playing. F 1- / 2. f 3- T jJr- / 5. 7 Looked at Played with Didn't Accurate Unaware of others for some inde- break, fair- pantomime. audience. approval pendence - ly accurate Not too Plays with or to copy inclined to pantomime aware of independence action. break, somewhat audience. completely giggle. aware of into situation. audience. Originality shown in playing. A. Re. Characterization. B. Re. Plot or action of story or situation. C. Re. Pantomime. V. VI. VII. 91. De Ree Lialogueo A A / i. f 2. / z. / if. /’ 5. 7 Copied others Used ideas Many new ideas or very vague presented which contribu- use of ideas by class ted richness - given in plan- but played and ability to ning. with indivi- see and feel dual reactions relationships and added some while playing. new ideas. Imagination. (Visualization and picturization.) (Rating of action during playing which indicated the above mental process.) A. Re. characterization. B. Re. Use of imaginary costume or setting. C. Re. Pantomime or action. / 1. T 2- / 3- f— a. / 9- / Little or no Good general Complete detailed detail, very picture, some picture almost incomplete. detail. to the point of Poor general making it vis- picture. able to audience. Observation of classmates who are playing. f 1. f 2. f 3. 7 If. f 5. 7 Distracted watched. Watched with others. close attention. Contribution to critique or discussion of playing. A. Re. characterization. B. Re. thoughts and feelings. C. Re. action. (What the character does.) D. Re. dialogue. E. Pantomime. J f—I. 7‘ 2. /‘ 3. 7* h. f 5.7 Directed at the Rather impersonal Honest impersonal classmate, based reasonably accu- constructive based on inaccurate obser- rate, attempted to be on accurate obser- vation not constructive. constructive vation. 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J m : \Hn m n. m w a w a e m a e e o efinno m a. w e e {H NH 2 a N m m e. n. e a. m e m a. a a m eaaeu m m m m m e m m m m w m m w m m e m m a e e 4 efiaeo a >H HHH a >H HHH a ea HHH a a >H HHH a >H HHH a >H HHH a >H HHH ace seamen muHHs Hs o-> n->H u->H HHH meo HH H . aoe endow weaves >H zommfig 2H mama QH Smfia 9%. 8. There was a tendency to plan happy endings for the pantomime situations. (N. is the only child who deliberately used a sad ending for his scene.) 9. Planning suggestions seem to be coming from more of the children, but evaluation still depends on the comments of a few individuals. Lesson V Explanation of the choice of material. During lesson IV most of the children had responded well to the process of thinking thoughts in dialogue form and allowing these thoughts to dictate their action. All but four of the children had responded with a great deal of sin- cerity to most of these exercises. The resPonses to dates showed just enough progress in their ability to think the thoughts of the charac- ters and play sincerely to make it possible to move on into change-cf- mood pantomime. Another lesson in mood pantomime would have been help- ful to most of the children. The children showed a minimum of readi- ness for the new work and the decision to move on to change-of-mood pantomime was made because of the limited number of lessons remaining in the program. A pioneer and Indian theme was chosen for the Lesson V because a number of the children in the class had come to Toyshop Theatre tryouts for Charlotte Chorpenning's "Indian Captive" and had asked to act out some of the play in class. Ideas suggested by scenes in the play were used as a basis for the change-of-mood exercises in this lesson. Lesson plan, lesson V. I. Objectives. A. To develop a sensitivity to the changes in bodily activity which occur as a result of changes in thoughts and feelings. II. III. 91+. B. To aid in their understanding that different people may react differently when faced with the same situation. C. To prepare for simple story dramatization. D. To work for better concentration and more sincere playing of situations which involve emotional reSponse. Introduction. "Many of you asked to play some scenes from "Indian Captive”, so I have planned some scenes with similar characters, howb ever, the things that happen will be a little different because I thought it would be fun to see how we would end some of the situations.” ”Indians are near". (To be played in pantomime with members of a group of three or five all working on the main character at the same time.) A. "You are a pioneer boy or girl about your own age and have lived in the new country for several years. Therefore you know and understand that neighbors must help each other. You know also, that each member of the family must be willing to do his share without being told. Your father is away on a long trip to the fort for supplies, and mother has gone to help some new neighbors. You have been left in charge of your younger brothers and sisters. It is about time for you to brew soap again so you are scrubbing out the brewing tub while the smaller children are just out of sight looking for herbs in the woods at the edge of the clearing. It is a beautiful day and you are having a wonderful time preparing a surprise for your mother. Suddenly you hear a bird call in the forest, but it doesn't sound quite like a bird. In fact, you are pretty certain it is an Indian." B. "What would you feel when the scene begins as you are scrub- bing the tub? Does this feeling change when you hear the bird call?" C. "Is there anything in the story that tells you what kind of person this pioneer boy or girl is?" D. "What would this boy or girl think while scrubbing the tub?" E. "What thoughts would the boy or girl have when the Indian call is heard?" 95- "What is there in the story that would affect the feelings of the pioneer when the Indian call is heard?" "How could the scene end?" ”I will clap for the birds call." Possible variations. 1. If the group seems ready, suggest that they play the above scene with several characters and with dialogue. 2. A possible sequel to the above scene might be ”The pic- neer mother (or father) comes home expecting to find her children and discovers they are missing. Instead she finds an Indian headband." Another possibility might be, "the parent discoveres the children are missing and starts to look for them, but they jump out of their hiding places and surprise her." 3. These variations might be played with one character in pantomime or with several characters and dialogue. IV. "The Chief brings home a captive." (To be played in pantomine with emphasis on ensemble. A. B.- "You are Indians in your own village preparing for a feast. Your chief has been away for many moons searching for a cap- tive and this is the day he is to return. As you prepare for the feast you also listen for the drum which will come from the warrior on look-out rock when he spies the return- ing Chief. Finally you hear it and the number of drum beats tells you that he returns with one captive. You listen again. The drum tells you it is a girl, and the third time the drum tells you the girl is white. One of the villagers sees the chief coming and you all stop work to watch him enter and cross the village to the council tent. The scene ends when he enters the council test." "The players in the scene will all be Indian villagers. You may be any age or sort of Indian you wish to be. The chief who enters will be an imaginary one. A clap will be used to give you the cue for hearing the drum." C. "What will you be thinking as you prepare the feast?" D. "What will you think when you hear the drum? 'What will make a difference in your thoughts and feelings as you hear the drum? Could each Indian feel differently?" E. "Will you need to listen to what the drum says before you think your thoughts, or will you be happy or sad the instant the drum.cue is given?" F. Possible variations. 1. The same scene may be played with dialogue. 2. The children may plan other things which.might happen in the village after the captive is brought. Summary report for lesson V. This was the opening day for the Girl Scout Cookie Sale, and everyone was eager to know who was going to be in the Spring Toysh0p play so there was a great deal of excite- ment before class began. J. and 0. were absent. Everyone else arrived for class a few minutes early except M. and F. who were a little late and missed most of the opening discussion. The general excitement did not subside at the beginning of the class, so the leader stopped the opening remarks' and waited until everyone was ready to listen. The class started with a somewhat authoritarian atmosphere. The first scene was presented as described in III, A through G, on the lesson plan. All of the children closed their eyes to visualize their scene and decided what their ending would be. As they were ready they raised their hands and were assigned to groups. Before the play- ing started the children decided it would be easier to play if they used the leader's suggestion of a hand clap as a signal for the Indian call. E., N., Y., and B., three boys and a girl were the first to raise their hands and were assigned to group one. These children usually 91.‘s§r . c .f . 31mg 97. concentrate well and play clearly but during this playing N., Y., and H. did not concentrate as completely as they generally did. However, K. concentrated rather well. All four children scrubbed the tub in much the same way, and they all listened well when they heard the Indian call. However, their reactions to the call varied. In res- ponse to the first call N. and Y. listened and went on about their business as though nothing had happened, pretending not to be afraid, but H. paused in her work, listened, moved to another side of the tub and began to work faster than ever. The first signal for the Indian call caused K. to step scraping the tub and go to the edge of the clear- ing, look for the Indians, he saw none, and returned to his scraping and scrubbing. At the second signal for the Indian call, H. stood up and moved from place to place looking for the Indians. Although she didn't seem to see any, she was worried and looked for the other chil- dren, and finally saw them coming down the trail with their mother. Y. went to get the gun and quietly started to look for the children. As he neared the edge of the clearing, he also, saw them coming. Like Y., Child N. also got his gun and started to look for the children, but at this point the pantomime became quite vague. As he returned to his seat he said to himself, "I messed up the ending. It didn't work out too well." An original touch was added by K. 'When he heard the second call he became quite worried, went to get his gun, looked for the children, found them, put down his gun and gave each of them a sound spanking. 'When asked why he Spanked them he told the group that he had discovered that they had played a trick on him and made the Indian call just to frighten him. The specific endings described 98. above were revealed by the children in the emotional feeling shown while playing and in the description added to the discussion which centered around the class guessing the endings. The children watching seemed to particularly enjoy the finish of F.'s pantomime and Child D. immediately remarked, "K. spanked ‘em." Liscussion was limited because the children who had not played were eager to do so. Four girls played in the second group. Children G., L., C., and B. all ended their scenes by finding the children, but there were dif- ferences in emotional intensity. All of the girls were happily scrub- bing the tubs and reSponded to the first call with a movement of their hands to their mouth which indicated the thoughts of "Oh" or ”What was that!" With the second call B., G., and C. all went to get their guns and looked for the children. L. did not bother to get her gun but started to look for the children at once. A very careful and anxious approach was used by Child C. who seemed to be concentrating more completely than the other children. This concentration was evi- dent in the end of her pantomime when she fell on her knees and hugged them. B. seemed to work very hard to control her anxiety as she searched for the children and when she finally found them she seemed sincerely glad and led the little boy into the house. L. and G. seemed relieved to find the children but did not respond with the intensity shown by B. and C. In the discussion which followed the children commented that C. was really glad, when she found her brother or sister. Many of the comments were Spontaneous and though the general impres- sion of the comments were noted the name of the child making them was not always recorded. This discussion reflected the "watchers” ability to recognize action that clearly reflected the feeling of the player. ll!i.'lfil! a . ,.:. V drug . nv . 99- D. and A. played in group three. Again D. had trouble with con- centration which was made even more difficult for her by Child K. who distracted her and caused her to break and giggle several times. Although she made an effort to get back into the scene all of her pantomime was vague. In contrast, A.,who usually had trouble concentrating, for the first time seemed unconscious of the audience. Her scrubbing action was excellent and at the Indian call she stepped, listened carefully, wrinkled up her nose, shook her head, and went back to the scrubbing. On the second call she stepped scrubbing, stood up, looked around, and then went to get the gun. After this she called the children and smiled as she apparently saw them coming. Following the playing, L. commented, "A.'s action really seemed real." A. was very pleased at this. Both girls who played enjoyed recounting their thoughts during the scene and describing the endings they had used. This discussion period was parti- cularly brief for the next group was extremely eager to play. In the last group to play the "Indian near" scene was Child E., M., and F. Two of the girls, E. and M., played with concentration and originality. For example, M. scrubbed her tub with a cloth and squeezed it out with clear clean cut action. E. often paused, checked her work and looked very pleased as though thinking how pleased her mother would be. 'When the first Indian signal came both of these girls listened carefully and considered what they should do. M. went for her gun on the first call and on the second call started to leek carefully for the children, finding them just a little way out in the woods. The observer noted that M.'s playing seemed more sincere than before and that she seemed especially relieved when she found the children. For the first time E. showed no signs of being aware of the audience. She looked for 100. her brother and sister, found them, and hurried them home with a gentle spank so that they would not be caught by the Indians. In contrast to E. and M., Child F. showed little concentration. She was inclined to watch M. and mirrored her action of scrubbing the tub, but as the scene went along this tendency to copy decreased and when she found the chil- dren she seemed disgusted with them. During the discussion she said that she was a little mad at them because they had worried her so much. Following the playing of the scene the children mentioned the change in bodily action which E. and M. had shown as their moods changed. Child D. said, "I really liked the way they scrubbed the sides of the tub." The boys took very little part in the discussion because they had not watched during most of the playing of the scenes. They were interested in a bicycle counter which N. had brought to OlaSS‘Wlth him. Before the next playing the leader reminded them that this was an activity which every- one must share, if it is to be fun for all, and after this, N. smiled and put the counter into his pocket. The boys turned their attention to the activities of the group. Their interest grew when an Indian village was introduced as the setting for the next situation. (IV on the lesson plan.) During the planning H. suggested that one of the Indians in the village might be stirring a pot of food on the fire. Others suggested grinding corn, carrying vegetables, baking bread, etc. The children also decided that it was a ”happy feast" and B. thought everyone would be "excited." They further decided that the change of mood at the sound of the drums would depend on how they felt about the captive. Child C. felt that some of the Indians might feel sorry for the captive. A. thought that they might be "mad" because is“. I . - Ile i D I. .4 . 101. she was a white captive and others thought that they would be glad because the captive would be someone new to play with. When the dis- cussion reacheda point where most of the children were contributing and thinking of ideas, they were divided into three groups by the lea- der. One of the boys was placed in each group. Before the playing began the children met for a few minutes in their groups to tell each other what kind of an Indian they planned to be, and to decide who ‘would see the chief first and give the others the cue. There was also general agreement that the drum cues would be given by the leader. The girls in group one were B., B., C., and D., and Y. was the only boy. He seemed to resent this and did not join in too well with the planning. When the scene began the girls played as a unit and there was a "hurry hurry" tempo to their action. These three "squaws" seemed proud and excited about their work. During the playing of this scene Child D. seemed unaware of the audience. Her pantomime improved and she played well with the others, although her change in mood seemed to come from the thought ”Oht I'm supposed to change my mood new.” B. played an Indian child and her action centered around bringing food to B. who was playing an Indian woman cooking over a fire. For her action, C. chose to grind corn. Y. played an old Ind- ian wood carrier but did not make any attempt to relate himself to the rest of the group. ‘When the first drum sounded all work stopped, and all the children listened, and the girls exchanged surprised or disappointed glances when they learned that there was only one cap- tive. Child Y.'s reaction was similar to those shown by the girls but was not shared with them. In response to the second drum B. 102. seemed pleased to learn the captive was a girl, C. was displeased, and H. reacted with a shrug. Disappointment was the general reaction to the third drum. Y. forgot to give the cue for the entrance of the imaginary chief but C. saved the scene by seeing the chief and giving the cue to the others. When the chief and white girl entered the village B. seemed happy. H.'s action indicated acceptance of the chief's will and D., C., and Y. became more diSpleased than before. Their playing concluded as they went back to their work. During the discussion the actions which revealed their feelings and indicated their working together were pointed out. The "watchers" particularly enjoyed guessing the characters played by the children. The next group was eager to play and was made up of three twelve- year-old girls and one eleven-year-old boy, K. The eleven-year-old boy, E., seemed particularly pleased to be playing with the older girls and tried unsuccessfully to dominate the planning. The actions chosen by K., L., and M. were particularly interesting and original. An accurate and interesting pantomime of an old Indian man weaving was done by K. With great care L. cooked meat for the feast by turning a epit over an open fire. Near the fire sat M. making corn meal patties. G.'s action was not clear. All the players in this group listened well when the drum sounded. M. was pleased that the captive was a girl; K. looked as though he was quite doubtful as to the chief's wisdom; L. seemed disappointed but then seened to think, "Oh, welll"; and G., by all appearances, was perfectly happy about the captive. The girls all seemed sincerely pleased when the captive arrived, but K., who had been playing sincerely up to this point, reached out and touched the 103. captive as though she were a hot stove. This action was completely out of tune with the playing he had done earlier. After the players had finished there was a brief discussion centered around the actions which had made the scene seem real. Children N., E., F., and A. played in the final group. F.'s action of stringing beads for a headband was the most original and interesting one in this group. Carrying food was the action chosen by A. E. ground corn and N. carried water. The general concentra- tion of the group was good. Marked improvement in originality, con- centration and visualization was shown by E., F., and A. To the cap- tive's com ng, A. responded with admiration and eagerness, F. with refusal, and E. with interest. To N. the whole thing seemed quite strange. When they had finished playing this group was so eager to tell their thoughts and feelings that there was little time left for discussion by the "watchers." 10h. games 0 sense m 4 m a m a m m m m m m m m m m z eaano H” m a m a, m a m ”H m 4 a m a eflaao H in m 4 m 4 m m a a m m a m J 4 A 320 a!» m m m m_ a a .4, m a, m m m m m a snags sesame a sense m m H m a w m m m m m m a 4 » eaano a m m a m m m m m m m m w m m m eaaeo m m m m m m 4 m m m m m m m a sense m m m m m m m m m m m w a cameo +~ km, m m m m am a, m w m. m m m eaaeo m H m a m H m H m m m m m m m m a cameo m a 4 m a, a a m m a q 4 a m : ‘mm, m, .4 o adage m m m a m m m .a a, m a 3 ex, 4 m sense m m m m m m a, m 4 m m m m m a, 4 4 eaano >H HHH >H HHH >H HHH >H HHH >H HHH >H HHH >H HHH >H HHH >H HHH >H HHH >H HHH sex seam nowwoq o m «usH HHH a m a o m «-HH . H awe oasom manage > zomwmq zH gems qummeea mmHommxm as mmmzommmm semen m.zmmqumo as mozHaqm > amfiu 105. swam .eHaom mmafipwa eamfiem esp op women muonsoq oHQOm mwnfipem .oaom obwpmeo e mwnwam meflgo .aeoz mnmflenH .>H .HHH Mmm zt'1 :e a: zgza <3 eafino nafiso Uaaxo N‘HNN‘TH vafiso oaaso ofifino m m oaaso m m NNHNHHNMH N g: a: 4: re re xx N~rn N\ A: to 4i N‘ M~ro to N\ N\ a: 43 :9 CU rm N\ N\41 r4 4: N‘ K\H HHH >H HHH >H HHH >H HHH >H HHH >H HHH >H HHH >H HHH >H HHH hem seam commoq m o m «IHH> Hb m a hem oHcom mofipem Aeoeqaveoov >.zommmq zH ommp qummaqa mmHommam oa mmmzqammm amass n.2mmgqamo so mezHah m.zmequo m0 ozHadm TABLE VI 12h. RATINGS 0F CHILDREN'S OVERT RESPONSES TO annexes MATERIAL USED IN msou v1 (Continued) IJESSON'PLAR’KEY II.TB. C. D. E. waiting in the park. Buying the radio. Taking the radio home. Radio discovered in the attic. (See lesson plan VI and refer to the numerals listed for a more complete description of these exercises.) ILAHPING SCALE'KEY I. Eagerness to play. Contribution to planning Re. Character. R. e PIOt e Re. Thoughts of characters. Re. Dialogue. Re. Action or pantomime. R. a Setting a Concentration while playing. Originality shown in playing. Re . Characteri sat ion. Re. Plot or action of story or situation. Re. Pantomime. Re. Dialogue. Imagination. Re . Characteris at ion . Re. Use of imaginary costume or setting. Re . Pantomime or act ion . Observation of classmates who are playing. Amount of contribution. Re. Characterisation. Re. Thoughts and feelings. Re. Action Re. Dialogue Re . Pantomime (Each of these headings has its own descriptive scale. For samples of the scales identified by these numerals see page 90 .) 1. 22. 9. 125. Observations for lesson VI. All the children took a very active part in the planning. During planning most of the ideas showed thinking and originality and yet also seemed independent. The children felt the mood changes in the scenes and usually the final playing of a situation had warmth and sincerity. As a result the characters seemed real and the audience watched absorbedly. The material was presented in less detail than indicated on the lesson plan because the children graSped the situations so rapidly. Each playing seemed to bring forth new ideas which enriched the scene which followed. After the first self—consciousness over the brother-sister rela- tionship the boys and girls played easily together. Interest gradually increased as the story built in plot and action and class closed when it had reached its peak. During this lesson group spirit grew and all of the children worked together as a unit for the first time. (This was difficult for Child K., but to some extent he too became part of the group and began to share happily in the cooperative feeling before the period ended.) This lesson involved new skills yet Table VI confirms the trends shown in the summary record which indicates an increase in parti- cipation in all phases of the activity. 126 . Lesson VII Explanation of the choice of material. The children's ability to develop and recognize plot elements shown in their responses to lesson VI indicated they could try a simple story. Miss Ward recom- mends folk tales as excellent beginning story material for this age group. Stone Soup by Marcia Davenport Brown , a modern writers adaptation of the old folk story, meets the qualifications for story material stated on page 12. The theme and plot of this story are very similar to that of "The Old Woman and the Tramp" which appears 1:1 lfiss‘flard's, Stories to Dramatize.5 For dramatization in this class, Stone Soup seemed a better choice than "The Old Woman and the Tramp" because opportunity for more children to play was afforded. Lesson plan, lesson VII. I . Objectives . A. To help the children pick out the important scenes which must be played in order to maintain the plot of a story. B. To help the children recognize the clues in a story which show what kind of people the characters are. C. To help the children find ways to enrich their playing of a story and still maintain the plot and Spirit presented by the author. h Marcia Davenport Brown, Stone Soup, for complete story see aPpendix page 183. S Winifred Ward (Editor) Stories to Dramatize, (Anchorage Kentucky: The Children's Theatre Press, T9525 page 270. III. III. 137. 127.. Introduction. A. "Do any of you know what we mean when we Speak of a folk tale?" (Discuss briefly the origin of folk tales.) B. Introduce the story and suggest that the children listen for the following: (1) the kinds of people in the story; (2) the plot of action which must be included in our dramatiza- tion of the story; (2) clues to the setting; (h) the action, thoughts, and feelings of the characters; and (5) possible places where interesting additions can be made. Tell the story Stone Soup. (To adapt the story to the needs of the class the three soldiers were given names and richer charac- terizations.) A. "What do you think happened in the story?" B. “Nhat kind of people were in the story?” C. "Who played the joke?" D. "Where does the story take place?” "Can you think of a character you would like to show us in panto- mire?" A. "What can you do to show us who your character is?" B. "Would you like to show us your characters so that we may guess who he is?" "If we were going to make this story into a play for someone who had never heard the story, which scenes would we have to include?" (Guide the children's discussion so that they will include at least: (A) hiding the food, (B) soldiers asking for food, and (C) the making of the soup.) 128. Summary record for lesson VII. Child L. arrived early and came to the office to meet the leader who was looking over the story material to be dramatized. Later in the planning her suggestions for the costumes and settings were very similar to the pictures she had glanced at in the book. Child G. was absent because of illness and Child J. and 0. were also gone but no reason was given. The other members of the class arrived on time. The story was introduced by asking, mflhat is a folk tale?" Child Y. thought it might be a "sort of like a rumor." Differences and similarities between folk tales and rumors were discussed briefly. The title of the story intrigued the children and most of them listened well during the telling. Some private eXperimentation with action was done by Child Y. Many of the children sat on the edges of their chairs to listen and L., B., D., and E. seemed to enjoy the humor in the story. Some of the children also seemed to be listening for the characters which they wished to play. At the conclusion of the story most of the children were so excited and eager to play that it was difficult to keep them planning. In reaponse to the question, "What happened in the story?", children F., M., E., L., K., and Y. all raised their hands. K. started telling the incidents and then by going around the class everyone shared in this portion. Y. pointed out that the village had been tricked. The suggestions indicated that the children felt the people who lived in the village were not "bad", but only a little selfish. Some were "just ordinary people" and probably "some mothers would be more concerned with their children than with hiding food." In the discussion of the village and the houses of the characters, the children were amazed that people in the story would not have had telephones and radios. 129. Each of the children visualized a character which he might wish to portray. These characters were presented in pantomime. The first pantomime characterizations were presented by B., L., and H. Shallow characterizations were given but each person was different. H. panto- mimed a character who was a very hurried sort of person, but B.'s charac- ter was a very neat, prim, deliberate old lady, L.'s character was cautious. These characterizations were discussed only briefly. The children should have been given more opportunity to point out which ‘ actions told about the peOple characterized. Records are not complete concerning the pantomimes presented by M., N., E., Y., A., and F. but the available information shows that the boys played soldiers and the girls villagers. In general, when the children gave their character pantomimes, either the character's action or his personality was clear, but seldom were both factors present. During the following planning phase which preceded the playing of the first scene, K. started talking with the boys (Y. and N.) who were sitting next to him. His actions during planning sometimes seemed to indicate that he did not think he needed all of the prelimi- nary'work. After a rather long and rigorous discussion the children finally agreed that the first scene should begin when the villagers received the news that the soldiers were coming. M. suggested that the villagers could hear of the approaching soldiers by means of the telephone or wireless, and someone reminded her that this was a long time ago. E. said, "I know. There could be some shepherds on the high hills and they could motion from one to another and until the message came through and Y. could be the shepherd on the high hill." The class decided 130. that the town busybody would see the imaginary shepherd's message and that she would rush around the village to tell everyone. When the planning discussion turned to the question of what other characters would live in the village, boys broke up their own private discussion and joined in the group planning again. Two old maid sisters, the town busybody, and a busy mother were suggested as characters for the story. Child K. asked, "Aren't there going to be any men in this village? Couldn't there be a lazy husband or something?" The girls agreed that this would be fun. A brief plan of the setting and action 'was made and finally children could be chosen for the different parts. Many hands went up. H. was chosen to be the town busybody and her characterization was very convincing but still uncluttered. Her sense of timing held the scene together and gave it pace. The village family had a lazy husband played by E., a wife played by A. and an old grandmother played by B. The lazy husband was an inconsistent character because part of his bodily action was quite lazy but he was always asking, "Is there anything I can do?" A., who played the mother, had no particular characterization and did not relate herself to the other characters around her. B. who usually concentrates well and does an interesting job also lacked a definite characterization, but she had a wonderful time hiding food as did all of the players. F. and M. played the old maid sisters. These girls had definite characterizations and related themselves to each other and the villagers. Everyone in the scene seemed to sense that the action and dialogue could not all occur at once, but that when it grew in one corner of the playing area it needed to diminish in another. 131. So much time had been devoted to discussion and planning that the first playing of the scene went reasonably well. Therefore, it was possible to move right on to the second scene. The discussion following the first playing turned quickly to the planning of the scene where the soldiers beg for food and make the soup. Planning was sketchy for the children were so eager to play that they seemed to feel they knew what they wanted to do. Fritz (the tall soldier) was played by E., Franz by Y., and Frederick the philosopher, by N. Among the village characters were the busybody played by L., one maiden lady played by D., the old grand- father played by H., and the daughter by Child C. Once the scene had started the players showed a great deal of excitement and the scene moved rapidly. The children seemed lost in their playing and at tires the action and dialogue became garbled because everyone was talking and pantomiming at the same time. In Spite of the apparent confusion the children playing seemed to know what was happening. Close obser- vation indicated that the children were adding some new ideas and dialogue. Those who kept the dialogue moving in the right direction were L. and N. During the soup making and eating scene the players were inclined to form something looking like a football huddle around the soldiers. The scene was concluded with the feasting. All of the children seemed quite pleased except E. who was disappointed that they did not have the village dance that was mentioned in the story. The time was five o'clock so there was only a brief discussion which con- cerned problems resulting from garbled playing. 152. As the children were getting ready to leave several of them suggested that we play Stone Soup on the day that their mothers were invited to share the class. Another comment was, "Boy that was fun,” and one or two of the children asked if the whole story could be replayed the following week. 133. TABLE VI I RATINGS OF CHILDREN'S JVERT RESPONSES TO STORY MATERIAL USED IN LESSON VII Rat ing Scale Key I II-A B C D E F lesson Plan Key A B C A B C A B C A B C A B C A B C A B C Child 3 3 3 3 Child Child Child Child Child Child Child Child Child Child Child Child Child Child OZKHNQNMQ’UHUOUib 13h. TABLE VII RATINGS QF CHILDREN'S OVERT RESPONSES TO STORY NATERIAL'USED IN LESSON VII (Continued) Rating Scale Key IV-B C D V-A B C VI Lemmy m 1:: 1;: 1:: m 11:: 1:2: ChildA 32 33 3 32 32 33 33 ChildB 33 31; 31+ 33 33 33 HR ChildC 33h 333 313 333 33 3333 ChildD 2 3 3 3 1 3 2 1 2 33 ChildE h 3 h 3 3 3 It 5 3 33 ChildF 33 33 33 3 3 Child G Absent ChildH 33 AD 314 Li 1+ ChildY 3 3 3 h 3 h 33 Child J Absent ChildK 311 3311333 E3 ChildL 3 3 h3 3 3 3h ChildM h h h3 3h hhhh ChildN 11 5.3 3 3 u h 2 Child 0 Abseng TABLE'VII RATINGS OF CHILDREN'S 'JVERT RESPONSES TO STORY MATERIAL USED IN LESSON VII (Continued) Rating Scale Key VII-A B C D E V V V V V V V V V V V V V V A B C B C A B C A B C A B C 1 l l 2 2 F V V B C Lesson Plan Key X Child Child Child Child Child Child Child Child Child Child Child Child Child Child Child l l 2 2 333 Absent 2 2 Absent 2 r3 P3 c.~< s: ca'a tn I: to a: a» 33 2 2 3 2 Absent 5:! 135. TABLE VII _ 13s. RATINGS 0F CHILDREN'S OVERT RESPONSES To WISE MATERIAL USED IN IESON VII (Continued) LESSON PLAN KEY ve The. B. C. Hiding the food. Soldiers asking for food. Making the soup. (See lesson plan VII and refer to the numerals listed for a more complete description of these scenes, page 123.) BATIK} SCALE KEY I. II. A. Eagernese to play. Contribution to planning Re. Character. ROe Plot. Re. Thoughts of characters. RDe DIIIOSUOe Re. Action or pantomime. Re. Setting. Concentration while playing. Originality shown in playing. Re. Characterisation. Re. Plot or action of story or situation. R's Pantomime. Re. Dialogue. Imagination. Re. Characterisation. Re. Use of imaginary costume or setting. Re. Pantomime or action. Observation of classmateS'who are playing. Ammunt of contribution. Re. Characterisation. Re. Thoughts and feelings. Rfle AOthD RCe Dialogue Re. Pantomime (Each of these headings has its own descriptive scale. For samples of the scales identified by these numerals see page 90 .) 137. Observations for lesson VII. The village dance described in the original story contributes little to the dramatization and could cause confusion. Therefore, it might be wiser to mit it in the telling. The class seemed to lack the skill in working together which they had shown during lesson VI. The children seemed to enjoy playing the story and were successful in selecting the incidents important to a dramatization. All the characterizations tended to be two dimensional. There was little growth in ability to portray characters with sincerity. All of the children seemed extremely eager to play. The playing was largely limited by the action of the story. Yet the children played fully'within the limitations of the story. Playing centered around the form of hiding food and the conflict between the villagers and the soldiers. 0.. A... 138. Lesson VIII Explanation of the choice of material. Since the children had asked if they might play Stone Soup again the lesson was devised to comply with this request. An alternate lesson was also planned to be used in case the children's enthusiasm for the story had waned. However, this alternate lesson plan was not used until lesson IX. Lesson plan, lesson VIII. I. Objectives. A. To help the children improve their dramatization of Stone Soup in terms of characterization and clarification of the garbled action and dialogue. B. To give the children an opportunity to combine the scenes and play the whole story. II. Review the story. (Each child should share in this by relating an incident.) III. Preparation for playing. (Discuss each scene in terms of action, dialogue and characterizations which were well done the time before. Guide the children in the discussion to show them how ensemble can give clarity to the scene.) A. Scene I. Hiding the food. B. Scene II. Soldiers asking for food and making the soup. Summary record for lesson VIII. Nay 17th was a beautiful day arui all of the children‘were present except F., J., G., M., and 0. when the children were asked if they wished to replay Stone Soup averyone responded eagerly. They all agreed that if the story was Played again it should grow. Each of the 139. ckflldren added a bit to the story as it was reviewed. Only C. and D. lied any difficulty contributing to this portion of the activity. Just txfter the story had been reviewed N. arrived. He was sure he remembered tfloe story, so the group proceeded to discuss ways in which the first s<:erw ought be improved. Child K. felt that the scene would be better if” the players listened to each other and N. thought that the actors slvould cooperate. "Play together and work for better pantomime," were the suggestions contributed by H. In order to improve the story, L. thought that the players should avoid crowdirg into one area and Sloeaking simultaneously. The planning of the first scene placed the enophasis on a good clear beginning, climax and conclusion. In the cast for this scene was Child L. as the busybody, Child E. as; the lazy husband, C. as the wife, and A. as the maiden lady. The Sczene began with each lady busily engaged in her house work. L. was IDaking a cake, A. was cooking something, and C. was trying to get her Tulsband to help with the cleaning. When the news of the soldiers came, tflie busybody rushed from house to house and the neighbors exchanged ixdeas about what they should do with their food. The dialogue from <>ne group ”cross faded" into that of the next and all of it was audible. 11 cooperative spirit was shown as the villagers worked together to hide 'their food and the wife and all the neighbors put the lazy husband to vvork. Imaginative ideas were used by the children in the "food hiding" pantomimes. Detail was used in suggesting the characters when, for example, the busybody looked for dust in a neighbor's house. Evaluation of this scene by the "watchers" included comments of approval about the way the villages shared their ideas and work. Most lbo. of the comments offered during this evaluation period reflected accurate observation and most of the suggestions for improvement were made in relation to the pantomime. The same scene was replayed with the following cast: busybody - .B., maiden aunt - H., wife - F., lazy husband - N. Playing a very ziosey busybody was difficult for Child B. On the other hand, Child H. flound it difficult to play the maiden aunt as anything other than a isown busybody. K.'s portrayal of the wife was quite convincing and lie was really a nagging old wife. The husband, as played by N}, obviously vvas a very meek soul, but he did try to avoid working. During this Iolaying the pantomime improved and the individual characterizations were Cauite original but the dialogue again became garbled. Though it was scmmtimes hard to understand the'words, the tempo of the scene was good. {This scene was not replayed because the leader felt its quality would jprobably decline rather than improve. Information concerning the casting of the "Soldiers-Asking-For- Ifood" scene was incomplete. lowever, the notes indicated one of the Isoldiers was played by E., the busybody by L., the maiden lady by D. sand the grandfather by C. The notations concerning the critique indi- cated that the best feature of this scene was when all the villagers jpeeked from their windows in anticipation of the soldiers' arrival. TFrom both audience and players came the complaint that E. kept "doing things to make us laugh and that didn't help the story." The action to which the children objected was a pantomime of measuring the vil- lagers to indicate that they were fat and well fed. It was original but the children were right in labeling it as distracting. In this 11o . 'version of the scene the players still tended to crowd around the soldiers while they were making the soup. Child Y. felt this was :particularly ineffective because, as he said, "If the villagers are 'too close the trick won't work." Since there was not time to play the story as a complete unit the cliildren wished to replay the previous scene and work for improvement. Pilanning was rushed yet this dramatization was better than the previous Odie. Soldiers were played by L., K., and C. and villagers were B., N., I{., and A. Their playing as they went from house to house showed con- lceantration until they reached B.'s home where the children all slipped cunt of character for a few moments. L., who played the tired soldier, liept in character by always asking for a bed. These soldiers were (constantly discovering food which had been inadequately hidden by the ‘Villagers. When the soup making started the dialogue was shared by 6111 three soldiers which meant that K. was conscious of being a member :of the group. This time the villagers were skeptical at first and gave 'their food grudgingly, but gradually they became more willing and gen- lerpus. Eagerness to taste the soup grew as the villagers added more tend more of their own food, and when it was nearly done they rushed ‘to get tables and dishes from their houses. The scene concluded with everyone gathered around the table and H. announcing, "Such men don't grown on every bush." Both "watchers" and players appreciated this playing and the children seemed to feel satisfied with the accomplish- sent. Before the group was disnussed plans were made to invite the mothers to share the June 7th class. D., E., and Y. were appointed to an invitation committee and L. and B. volunteered to make some cookies. ..H Show: 0 3H5 4 4 4 4 m 4 4 m m m 4 H 3H5 £334 2 HHHHo 4 44m 4 444 4mmmm HeHHHo m 4 4 4 4 4 m m m m H HHHHo €824 H. 220 4. 4 4 4 m m H H. Has 4 m a m m 4 4 4 4 4 H 220 £334 a 32° H53... H eHHHo m f4 4 4 4 4 4 4 m m m H Has 4 4 4 4 m 4 m H H H 228 4 m P; 4 o EH5 4 4 m 4 HP 4 4 4 4 H eHHHo m m 4 m 4 4 4 4 4 «22¢ NH HH N4 5 NH HH NH 4H NH HH NH. HH NH HH NH ...H NH HH NH HH NH HH NH «H NH HH NH. 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(See lesson plan VIII and refer to numeral III for a more complete description of these scenes, page 138.) RATING SCALE KEY I. II. A. Eagerness to play. Contribution to planning Re. Character. R0. PIOts RD. Thoughts or characters. ROe Dialogue. Re. Action or pantomime. RC. SOttixO Concentration while playing. Originality shown in playing. Re. Characterisation. Re. Plot or action of story or situation. RD. Pantomime. ‘ Re. Dialogue. Imagination. Re. Characterisation. Re. Use of imaginary costume or setting. Re. Pantomime or action. Observation of classmates who are playing. Amount of contribution. Re. Characterisation. Re. Thoughts and feelings. Re. Action Re. Dialogue Re. Pantomime (Each of these headings has its own descriptive scale. For samples of the scales identified by these numerals see page 90 .) l. 1146. Observations of lesson VIII. Sufficient improvement was shown to warrant the time Spent in replaying Stone Soup. (This improvement is reflected by the sum- mary record and the ratings on Table VIII.) Characterizations improved, but were still somewhat two dimensional. The children seemed to show interest in playing together and in building a scene. K. made an earnest attempt to play aS'a contributing member of the group. The children should have been given an opportunity to play the story straight through. Lesson_££ Explanation of the choice of material. Ballads are recommended by Winifred Ward as suitable material for dramatization by eleven and twelve year olds. Therefore the leader was interested in seeing how this group with limited experience would reSpond to playing a ballad. I. II. Lesson plan, lesson IX. Objectives. A. To aid the children in selecting incidents from a ballad for dramatization. B. To give the children an Opportunity to practice characteri- zations of people from other eras. Introduction. A. "How many of you have heard or read a ballad? Does anyone know what a ballad is?" B. "Who sang or told ballads?" (Present the background infor- mation and show a picture of a minstrel.) 1h7 . C. "Can anyone tell us something of life in the middle ages?" (Fill in the background information which the children may lack.) D. "Has anyone every heard of King John?" III. Read "King John and the Abbot of Canterbury,"6 (An introduction of the characters, and an explanation of difficult words and basic plot should precede the reading. If possible show costume pictures.) A. "What happens in our story?" B. "Who are the people in our story?" C. "What are the thoughts of the peOple in our story?" D. "Why does the King pardon the Abbot?" IV. Play some of the characters in pantomime. V. Play a scene at the Abbot's house or at the King's court. (The scene will be planned from the ideas of the children.) VI. Choose a scene from the ballad, plan it and play it. A. The Ying commanding the Abbot to answer his questions. B. The Abbot asking the wise doctors at Oxford. C. The Shepherd disguised as the Abbot. E. The Abbot receiving word of his pardon. Summary report of lesson IX. The only children Absent were G., D., and J. Child Y. brought the design for the invitations and party plans were discussed briefly before the lesson material was introduced. The introduction and presentation of the background material progressed slowly because the children had only a limited knowledge of 6 'Winifred Ward, Stories To Dramatize, (Anchorage, Kentucky: The Children's Theatre Press, 195277 page 295. (See Appendix for a copy of the ballad.) 1&8. the middle ages, and most of them were unfamiliar with ballads. H. was the only child to reSpond to the question, "What is a ballad?" She explained that a ballad was a story to be sung. Using this expla- nation as a starting point, the leader explained how minstrels wandered from court to court collecting and telling stories. The verbal expla- nation of the minstrel was augmented by pictures. Knights and ladies and the courts of kings were discussed. 'When asked if they had ever heard of King John, N. replied that King John had been brother of King Richard. One of the children knew that King Richard had gone to the Crusades. To help orient the children to the period, the presentation of the ballad was prefaced by showing pictures of costumes of the mid- dle ages. The pictures were followed by an explanation of the basic incidents in the ballad, the changes in setting and the unfamiliar words. After this, the ballad was read. The children seemed to listen, but there were some puzzled eXpressions. M., F., B., and B. seemed to understand the story much better than D., Y., and E. The latter three appeared to understand that the King was jealous of the Abbot but found it difficult to follow the action in the scenes. After a rather lengthy question and answer period the children seemed to get the incidents firmly in mind, and planning began for the charac- terization pantomimes and for the first scene. At this point everyone was trying to give ideas at once. This jumbled enthusiasm necessitated the suggestion that ideas be given one at a time so that none would be lost. From the discussion of the King's character, the group agreed that he must be commanding, proud, and conscious of his power, but still show that he had a sense of humor. 1A9 . In reponse to the question, "Could anyone show us this king in a panto- mime?" Child K., Child L., Child E., Child A., Child B., and Child B. volunteered. K. presented his King mostly through mouthed talking and through his walk. He seemed to be giving orders and receiving many compliments. In contrast, Child E. was a very fat King lolling on the throne and "chomping" on a great joint of meat. Her bodily movement and facial expression gave the impression of greed. Greed was also shown by Child L. as her King polished and put on his beautiful gold chains. An original touch was added to the King's character by Child H. who became very angry with one of the servants and throughout her panto- mime she wore an expression of complete disdain. The King played by Child B. showed great pride in his clothes by smoothing her robe and brushing off flecks of dust. Parts of B.'s pantomime seemed to be rather self-conscious and uncertain, but her walk and bearing were kingly. Child A. tended to imitate the pantomimes of others, and seemed very unsure of what she was doing. During the discussion most of the children who had watched indicated that they had particularly liked the ways in which the kings had walked. Some of the other fea- tures of the pantomimes which pleased the “watchers" were B.'s use of her robe, B.'s indication of greed, and B.'s facial eXpression. A suggestion that the next scene be planned and played with dia- logue was met with general verbal approval and enthusiasm. Child Y. suggested that the story should start when the King went to see the Abbot, but M. thought the audience would understand the story better if the first scene showed the King hearing about the Abbott's riches. Thbst of the class agreed with M. Therefore planning became concerned 150. with who would tell the King of the Abbot's riches. K. suggested that perhps the common people could tell the King, but L., B., and H. immediately disagreed for they felt the common peOple would never be allowed at court. Therefore, it would be the ladies of the court who would tell the king. Child E. thought it should be a servant for she said, "How would the ladies know about the Abbott?” Jne of the other girls intervened and fused these two ideas by suggesting that the ladies of the court could be gossiping and a servant could overhear them and tell the King. An attempt was made to decide whether or not the ladies and the servant should like the King, but no agreement could be reached. In the final plans for playing it was decided that each person was to make his own decision concerning his attitude toward the King. 'When the scene opened the ladies were to be gossiping in one corner of the court and one servant was to be fanning the King. Another servant was to enter bringing fruit to the king. Most of the action and dia- logue was to depend on the ability of the characters to listen to each other, and to relate each idea, feeling, and action to the structure of the scene. In the first playing of this scene Y., who had a very kingly walk, seemed quite powerful, but he allowed his servants to make suggestions. The ladies, children D., C., andA. were seated in a circle sewing as they gossiped. Their dialogue indicated that they were pleased to know someone was richer than the King since he was such a selfish,unpleasant person. ‘When the King sent the servant to offer the ladies some fruit and discover what they were saying, all of them changed the subject. The servant, Child E., was not to be defeated by this trick so she asked 151. the ladies what they had been talking about. C. said, "Ohi'We weren't talking about anything at all." The other ladies followed C.'s example. Finally, as the servant started to leave, they returned to the subject of the Abbot of Canterbury, his lands and his riches. The servant paused and listened and then hurried to tell the King. The King res- ponded to this news by pacing the floor. He thought of two or three possible courses of action and discarded them, and then decided to send the servant to "fetch" the Abbot. The girls who played the ladies seemed to enjoy their gossip and pitting their wits against the King. Occasionally the pleasure which they found in playing would show through in giggles. Comments in the critique period noted the way the King walked and that he had "really seemed worried about the Abbot's power and popularity." One of the children felt that the servant was ”a little too equal with the King." In an attempt to guide the children in portraying different kinds of characters the leader asked if all the ladies would have the same feelings toward the King. To this the children reaponded with the idea that one of them could like the King, and Child B. thought one of the ladies might be kind. Various activities also were suggested for the ladies. The children were eager to try these new ideas and the second cast was chosen. Child L., as the King, seemed very proud, but also cautious. This King kept his eye on the ladies and sent B., the fruit-carrying servant, to Spy on them. When H. approached, the ladies ceased their chatting. The ladies, F., N., and B., were pleased when they were given "such fine fruit," but they suspected H. was sent to spy. As soon as the servant 152. started to go the ladies began to talk about the Abbot, and the servant tried to slip back and overhear the conversation. Child N. noticed this and she signaled the others to change the tepic of conversation. By again offering fruit to the ladies the servant attempted to dis- guise his intent of Spying. Child F. refused the fruit by saying, "Oh, no! I really can't have another bite. 'Why, I can't get into my Sunday dress now." Over and over again the servant offered the fruit and repeatedly the ladies changed the subject urtil the servant finally asked, "What were you talking about?" M. replied, "If you must know we were discussing the Abbot of Canterbury." The story began to move again as the servant rushed to tell the King. At this news the King became quite flustered and upset and began to pace the floor. A bit of a climax was built by the King as he ordered the fanning servant to summon the wise men. The scene built further as he ordered the fanning servant to summon the Abbot so he could decide whether or not to cut off the Abbott's head. This final order given by the King concluded the scene. Class had already run overtime so there was no critique of this playing. Many of the children stated that they wished they could have finished the story. Some commented, "We were just getting started." 153. TABLE IX RATINGS OF CHILLREN'S JVERT RESPONSES TO EXERCISE KATERIAL USED IN LESSON IX Rating Scale Key I II—A B C D E F III lesson Plan Key IV V IV V V IV V IV V IV V IV V IV V Child A 5 5 5 5 5 Child B Child C Child D Child E Child F Ch h Child Y Chi Child K Child L Child M Absent 15h. TABE IX RATINGS JF CHILLREK'S JVERT RESPJNSES TO EXERCISE KATERIAL USED IN LESSON IX (Continued) Rating Scale Key D V-A B C VI VII-A B C D E F lesson Plan Key IV V IV V IV V V IV V IV V V IV V Child 3 S 3 3 3 5 3 3 3 2 Child 3 3 5 3 3 3 2 3 3 Child 3 3 2 3 3 3 3 Child 3 1 3 3 3 3 3 Child 2 3 3 Child Child Child Absent h 3 TABLE 1x 155. RATINGS or CHILDREN'S ovsnr RESPONSES TO sawhorse MATERIAL USED IN LESSON Ix (Continued) LESSON PLAN KEY IV. Pantomime of characters. V. Scene at the King's house. (See lesson plan IX and refer to numerals listed, page 1&6.) RATING SCALE KEY I. Eagerness to play. II. A. Contribution to planning Re. Character. no he PIOta C. Re. Thoughts of characters. D. Re. Dialogue. E. Re. Action or pantomime. 1". Re. Setting. III. Concentration'while playing. TV. Originality shown in playing. A. Re. Characterisation. 3. Re. Plot or action of story or situation. Ce Rfle hhtOfllifllOe D. Re. Dialogue. V. Imagination. A. Re. Characterisation. 3. Re. Use of imaginary costume or setting. C. Re. Pantomime or action. VI. Observation of classmates who are playing. A. Amount of contribution. 3. Re. Characterisation. C. Re. Thoughts and feelings. D. Re. Action E. Re. Dialogue F. Re. Pantomime (Each of these headings has its own descriptive scale. For samples of the scales identified by these numerals see page 90 .) 1%. Observation for lesson IX. 1. If the children have a limited knowledge, of the era in which the story is set, additional time must be spent in introduction and planning. 2. The improvizations tended to come from the flavor of the material rather than from an attempt to reproduce the exact story. 3. Most of the responses reflected imagination and originality. (The fact that the material was suggestive rather than concrete in nature may be related to the originality and imagination revealed by the children.) 5. Characterizations presented by the children tended to be reasonably consistent throughout the playing of a scene. Lesson X . Explanation of the choice of material. Since this final class meeting was a combination demonstration and class, the material had to meet the needs of the children, but it also had to be interesting to watch and representative of ordinary creative dramatics activities. Two different types of material were chosen; one to ShOW'hOW the children were able to plan a very brief story developed from their own thoughts and ideas and the other to show how they were able to dramatize a familiar story. Lesson plan, lesson X. 1. Objectives. A. To give the children an opportunity to share with their mothers the types of dramatizations which they had been doing in class. B. To help the children concentrate completely enough on the activity to have their playing natural, even though an audience was present. II. III, 157. C. To give the children an experience in creating their own brief plot utilizing certain given elements within a specified locale. D. To fulfill the children's request to play Stone Soup for their mothers. Explanation to the guests of the general nature of class activi- ties in which the children have participated for the past ten weeks. Emphasis should be placed on the fact that this is not a program, but a regular class which they have been invited to share. Development of an original situation. A. "Would you like to try and create a brief story of your own?" B. "What are some of the qualities which a good story must have?" C. "If we are to make up a story, how can we be sure that it will have a clear beginning, an exciting moment, and a clear conclu- sion?" D. "Do you remember how we built the Tom and Betty story one scene at a time? Today I will give you the setting, tell you something of what has happened before the story began and give you three things to be used in the story. Then we will divide into two groups and Spend a few minutes decid- ing what will happen in our stories and who will play the parts." E. ”Have any of you ever been out west to a ranch? You have all seen ranches in the movies or on television, haven't you? The setting of our story is your uncle's ranch in Arizona. You have spent several summers at this ranch. This is the last day of your stay. In fact, it is the last day you will probably ever spend on the ranch. Your uncle has had quite a few bad years and this fall he will probably have to sell the ranch. For this reason today is very special, and you and your friends all are going on a picnic out on the hill amere the Indians used to hold their ceremonials." F. "How would you feel on such a day?" G. ”What would you be thinking and talking about?" era—J.- wm‘1 J5 _'. If)- . O.'_._. ."E 158. H. "Do you think you could include in your story, (1) a sudden rain storm, (2) an old cave and, (3) an ancient Indian neck- lace?" I. "Who would like to play in group I? In group II?" J. "What are the things you will decide on in your groups?" K. "let's divide into our groups. You will have about five min- utes to plan." L. Playing and discussion of the scenes planned by the groups. III. Ikesentation of Stone Soup. A. "Does anyone remember what happened in our story of Stone Soup?" B. "What is the joke?" C. "Who are the people in our story?" D. Plan the story so that everyone may play and then do the story straight through. ‘7- Have the children serve ice cream, cookies, and lemonade to the guests. Summary report of lesson X. Bach child's mother had been invited 't<3 share this last class so that it was a very special class meeting. Children 11., F. and H. arrived early to arrange the chairs. As the °}15_ldren arrived they were each asked to be responsible for a particu- 1111‘ duty in the serving of refreshments. The leader welcomed the Incrtlwrs and guests and presented a brief summary of the ten weeks of creative dramatics activities. A few of. the children arrived during 'tlifi! explanation and slipped quietly into place. When the discussion began most of the children did not appear to be overly aware of the preSence of their mothers. Verbal and bodily responses indicated the chiJldren's eagerness to create their own story. 'When asked, "What are the qualities of a good story?" many hands were raised. F. said. 159. "A good story must have a main idea." Child D. felt that it should have excitement. From these general characteristics of a good story the discussion moved to a consideration of the desirable qualities of a beginning, ending, and middle. Some of the suggestions recorded by the observers were as follows: Child E. said, in regard to the beginning, "It should tell what the story is about, introduce its characters, and get things going;" in regard to the ending the same oh 11d remarked, "It has to tell who-dun-itg" and Child K. suggested that the middle must have "interesting action" and the ending must "Come out right." There were a number of other comments which were Contributed during this area of the discussion but they were similar to those quoted and the records are incomplete. The children were asked to keep the elements of a good story in mind as they planned their own scene. Then the setting and pre- vious events described on the lesson plan under III. E. were presented, and the children were divided into groups. Group I (children N., E., A., L., Y. and M.) planned in one corner of the room, while group II (Children E., F., C., D., B. and K.) did their planning in another corner. In group I the planning seemed pretty well shared, but in group II, K., E., F. and C. were vying for the dominating position. when time was called, group I had come to an agreement about most of their plans and were better prepared to play than group II. Neither group wanted to begin, but group I complied with. the request to play ‘first. Their scene opened when they arrived at the picnic epot and started t0 unpack their basket. M. seemed to be the leader in dialogue. During the unpacking process some of the children did very interesting and . m- ..r 160. accurate pantomire. For example, L. took a jar from the basket, found she could not open it and asked N. to do it for her. N. easily opened the jar and invited everyone to have pickles which he proceeded to remove from the jar. Everyone started to eat things just as they were taken from the basket, and Child H. said, "Let's not eat until we get everything unpacked," so the children proceeded in taking out chicken, sandwiches, etc., until N. said, "Well, that's everything. I guess we have reached the bottom of the basket." A. found the paper telling about the reward of five hundred dollars offered for an Indian necklace. The children were interested and thought it might be fun to look for gum a: Such a necklace after lunch. Everyone had just settled down to eating his chicken when N. felt a drop of rain. Into the basket, halter- Skelter, went all the food. The boys looked for a place to get in out of the rain and finally spotted the cave. As they ran for the cave the children's bodies and faces indicated visualization of the rain sten-m. This group had planned to use the space under the table for the ir cave, but there was not quite enough room for all of them so they moved out. When they were all in the cave, one of them suggested that they eat there, so the picnic basket was unpacked and they settled down to eat, and talked about the good food and their good fortune of finding a place to eat. Child L. accidentally moved a stone under which she found 8‘3)!!1ething. They were not sure what it was until they had rubbed off some dirt. As they realized that it was a turquoise necklace the excite- ment grew and they looked for the paper to check it with the description, but, the paper seemed to be gone. Finally Y. remembered that they might have left it out in the rain and dashed out to see. His pantomime of 161. picking up the wet paper was very clear and seemed so real that the water seemed to be dripping from it. They compared the necklace with the one in the paper and the excitement grew as they decided it was the right one and started off to tell their uncle about it. As they went out of the cave N. added the natural touch when he said, "Gee, can't I even have my chicken leg to eat on the way?" To this one of the girls replied, "How can you think of food!" Observation records L " ‘ w.....t.‘ I” indicated that these children were not aware of the audience, were Sharing the dialogue and action of the scene and playing as an ensemble. The children watching seemed to repond well to the series of climaxes built by the group playing. I During the critique period, the children all seemed somewhat con- Sc ious of the audience and free participation was hampered by this aAwareness. However, Child C. said that she liked the way the necklace was held up and K. noticed that everyone looked happy when they knew they could save the ranch. Child 8. liked the way the newspaper was used. Group II was eager to play but asked to have a brief council before they started”. Their story began as one part of the group went to another I‘eu‘nch to pick up the neighbors. 13. and her two girl friends carried the basket and went to pick up K. and the other girls at their ranch. The dialogue of K. and his companions indicated that they felt they had been waiting a long time, but everyone seemed happy as they started for Indian hill. K. took the lead, looked for and decided upon the picnic 8P'D't. E. suggested they explore before eating their lunch. Everyone agreed and started wandering around the hill. Soon K. found the cave and all the children followed him in to look around. Their cave was 162. very low and necessitated crawling on hands and knees to get in. F. noted the "markings on the wall." After a brief exploration C. sug- gested that they eat and come back to explore later. Everyone agreed and returned to the picnic site. As they started to eat everyone seemed to have his own basket and there was some interesting dialogue about exchanging food. B.'s pantomime of opening bottles of pop was parti- cularly accurate. Soon it started to rain and everyone dashed for the cave. At this point most of the picnic baskets seemed to disappear but the excitement began. K. crawled back into the cave and caught his foot in what first seemed to be quicksand, but turned out to be a hole where the necklace was hidden. One of the girls cleaned the dirt from the necklace, another suggested that it might be valuable, and D. Suggested taking it to uncle right away. F. reminded everyone that it Q E. decided to check and see if it really was. she Was still raining. Went to the door of the cave, poked out her head and hands, felt the rain and returned to report. They all agreed that rain or no rain this was too important to wait. K. also thought they should leave be<=euse there might be a cave-in, and everyone started off through the rain to tell uncle. B. and C.'s bodily reaction and facial expression gave the impression that they were really visualizing the rain. These eh ildren played more as individuals and the ensemble Spirit evident in the first group was lacking. Child K.'s domination of the group met some resistance as E. and F. also made their bid for the center of attention. As a result the children seemed at times to play against reL‘tl‘ier than with one another. The "watchers" were interested, but did not respond as completely as the previous onlookers. 163 . Again the children seemed inhibited during the critique. There were a number of brief comments such as, "it was fun," or "interesting," or "I liked it," but very few observations of a Specific nature. Two rather Specific comments were made by Child i". She said, "I liked the tunnel. It was kinda exciting!" and that the exciting moment came when "they thought the cave might cave in." Child N. noted that this group built some suSpense by rubbing just a little dirt off the necklace, ‘E ‘flh—J‘ hm Seeing that it was silver and finally realizing that it was an old turquoise necklace. But the commenting soon waned. The announcement that Stone Soup would be played was greeted with Verbal responses and bodily action which indicated the children's enthu- siasm. As the review and planning of the story began there was a marked increase in participation. Every observer indicated several contribu- tions from each of the children, with the greatest number of contribu- tions coming from E., L., E., and F. The story and planning done for previous playings was quickly reconstructed, but no new details or ideas We re added. When the characters in the story were discussed, the chil- dren mentioned all the villagers who had ever been talked about in cOnnection with the story and as the time to choose the parts approached there was some sign of tension. However, this tension relaxed when the leader suggested that it might be fun if everyone played. The three boys played the soldiers, Child L. the Busybody, F. and G- the Maiden Ladies and H. the Baker. D. played a mother, E. the Child, Mr. the husband, C. a grandmother, B. the mayor's wife, and A. the mayor. From an audience point of view the playing of this story seemed like u‘b‘ter confusion during the hiding of the food and making of the soup. 1" spite of the seeming confusion each of the children was playing his 15h. portion of the story with imagination and concentration. The apparent confusion seemed to be the result of playing all the little portions simultaneously. The story began with each family working in its house and the news that the soldiers were coming brought the confusion of hiding the food. The emotional tone of the scene was not that of appre- hension, but it was dominated by the fun of hiding things. A lull in tempo and volume came when the soldiers went from house to house begging food. K. tried sometimes to dominate the dialogue but N. and Y. were equally determined to say their share and frequently succeeded in doing So . After K.'s announcement that they were going to make stone soup the excitement rose and so did the jumbled quality of the action and dialogue. However, the story was carried along even though it was some- times necessary for an important piece of dialogue to be shouted above the din of the villagers. After the excitement had risen to a climax during the soup making and the feasting, C. informed her fellow villagers that such men did not grow on every tree and the soldiers were invited into the village homes to Spend the night. The little hungry soldier (N.) went to the house of the baker, the sleepy one (Y.) with the mayor and his wife, and the thoughtful one (K.) with the mother. Some interesting notations were made by the observers concerning the work of the individual children. One observer noted that much of the a~<3‘tion and dialogue contributed by F. seemed to be somewhat out of keep- ing with the story and she appeared to be making a bid for attention. E. 's exaggeration of the child's character also tended to bog the story doWI]. These two children, in the opinion of both observer and leader, ““5 re more interested in being sure everyone knew that they were in the 165. scene than in contributing to building the story. It was difficult for D. and if. and C. to concentrate and make a real contribution to the story because E. required too much of their time and attention. A. and E. used good pantomime but had little characterization. For the mo st part A. agreed with what others said and did not use the poten- tials offered by her part as mayor. B. played well with A. in their portion of the story. B.'s observer noted that her pantomime was "fairly accurate" and sometimes she seemed reasonably unaware of the audience. Though she was hampered by a bothersome child (played by E. ), D. contributed more than usual to the dialogue. Host of the Observers coments indicated that the children were not particularly aware of the audience. They also noted that the children's dialogue and pantomime was related to the action of the story but not always I‘elated to the characters they were supposed to be portraying. After the playing was completed the children appeared to be I'61axed and seemed to have had a good time. An attempt was made to pOint out that the action had become a little confused and still to leave the children with a feeling of success. TABLE X 166 RATINGS OF CHILDREN‘S OVER! RESPONSES TO HERCISE MATERIAL USED IN LESSON X (Continued) IJESSON PLAN KEY 111.. Development of an original situation. IV. Presentation of Stone Soup. (See lesson plan X and refer to the numerals listed for a more complete description of the story material, page 156.) ‘RU!!EING SCALE KEY I. Eagerness to play. II. A. Contribution to planning Re. Character. Be ROe PIOte C. Re. Thoughts of characters. D. Re. Dialogue. 8. Re. Action or pantomime. Fe R‘s SOWIJQs III. Concentration while playing. IV. Originality shown in playing. A. Re. Characterisation. B. Re. Plot or action of story or situation. 0. Re. thtomime. De Rfle DiCIOSHCO V. Imagination. A. Re. Characterisation. B. Re. Use of imaginary costume or setting. 0. Re. Pantomime or action. VI. Observation of classmates‘who are playing. A. Amount of contribution. B. Re. Characterization. 0. Re. Thoughts and feelings. D. RD. Action E. Re. Dialogue F. Re. Pantomime (Each of these headings has its own descriptive scale. 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