Students will understand their heritage and how it contributes to Utah’s culture by discussing their role in Utah, as an important member to their family.
National Arts Standards:
TH:Cn10.1.4. a. Identify the ways drama/theatre work reflects the perspectives of a community or culture.
TH:Re8.1.4. a. Compare and contrast multiple personal experiences when participating in or observing a drama/theatre work.
UT Core Standards:
Standard 2- Students will understand how Utah’s history has been shaped by many diverse people, events, and ideas.
As you all sit on your dots, I would like you to take a minute and think about who your favorite person is. Is this person your mom? Dad? It is a famous person? Maybe it is a cartoon character? This person can be literally anyone you want them to be. Now that you have that person picked, I want you to begin to walk around the room like that person. How do they hold themselves? Do they walk proud? Do they shuffle their feet? Are they fast or are they slow? Now I would like you to find one person to talk to in the room and talk to them as that person. Does your person talk fast? Are they quiet? Do they like to say the other person’s name a lot? I want you to really become this person.
Lesson:
Step 1:
By the count of 5 I would like to have everyone back on their dots. We got to meet some interesting people today. What did you notice about the way the person talked to you? How did they hold themselves? Did they look at you when they talked to you? How do you think they were feeling?
As student’s share ask them to expand and deepen their observations.
Step 2:
Interesting observations. Now, before we move on can anyone tell me what we have been learning about these last few weeks? (Cultures in Utah) Since we’ve gotten a chance to explore these different cultures, I want to focus on ourselves and the cultures within our own families. I am going to give each of you a sheet of paper and you are going to have some time to fill out. I would like for you to think about it thoughtfully as you answer the questions.
Handout Activity Questionnaire out after all instructions are given. Give students 8 minutes to complete the worksheet.
Step 3:
Once students have completed their handouts, being their attention back to the front. We are going to split up into pairs, and in your pairs, you are going to interview each other to learn about the answers your partner has written on the sheet. But you have to share it while being the important person that you described in question 3. Using some of the same techniques we practiced at the beginning of class I want you to fully become that person and talk about how you’ve made it possible for your family to become a part of Utah. See how your favorite person might feel about you and your favorite foods. Maybe your grandpa is so proud that your favorite food is hot dogs, just like him. How do you and that person connect to one another?
Give students 8 minutes to talk and share their answers with one another.
Remind students to think about how the person they wrote about. How would they talk to a stranger? Are they are really outgoing person? Or maybe they are shy? How do they hold themselves? What questions might they ask someone they are really interested in.
Step 4:
Bring the class back to their dots. Did you guys learn anything interesting about your classmates and how they are tied to their families? What things did you learn about your classmates’ culture? How did you find that they are tied to Utah? Is there anything you want to learn more about after your peer shared it with you?
We have done a lot of learning together about who we are and where we come from today. Thank you guys for participating in all our lessons these last few weeks. As I dismiss you to line up, will you please hand me your worksheets.
Assessment(s):
Activity Questionnaire handout
Discussion on what they learned from their classmates:
Did you guys learn anything interesting about your classmates and how they are tied to their families?
What did you learn about the person you were being?
How did you discover those things?
What similarities did you find between yourself and your character?
What things did you learn about your classmates’ culture?
How did you find that they are tied to Utah?
Is there anything you want to learn more about after your peer shared it with you?
