Interrelated Arts Unit planner

UNIT PLANNER: The Arts Interrelated: Drama and Music NAME: Adriana De Cicco

UNIT/THEME/TOPIC: The Rainforest BAND: Primary Years Year level: 4

OVERVIEW OF THE UNIT:

The students will be exploring about the rainforest through music and drama. By beginning with a stimulus of
a picture, it will gain the interest of the students about the rainforest, and prepare them for the thinking and
actions of the discussions and drama activities that will follow. The next stages of the unit involve analysing
the human impact on the rainforest environment. This is where the drama takes the focus of the student
involvement and role play situations are mainly used. One of the main activities is where the whole class is
included in an interesting activity that gets them to “become the rainforest”, followed by smaller role plays
and group activities.

Class Profile/prior knowledge

Essential Learnings focus:

ο Futures ο Identity ο Interdependence  Thinking  Communication

Key competencies focus:

 collecting, analysing, organising information; ο communicating ideas and information;

 planning and organising activities; ο working with others in teams;

ο using mathematical ideas and techniques;  solving problems;

 using technology.

ICTs: (e.g. camera, computer software, etc). ο ________________________________

 Key Idea: Unit Outcome(s)

Strand/s: 2.2: Students explore representations of real Conceptual (knowledge, understanding)

and imagined experiences. They create, plan or

Arts Practice  shape new and/or existing arts works to Drama:

express ideas, feelings and events related to The students will understand the idea of
personal/ social/ environmental futures in taking on different roles and expressing
Arts analysis & local/ global communities. different opinions in those roles.
Response

Music:
The students will hear the sounds of the
Arts in
Relevant Standard rainforest, and understand and know what
Contexts is making these sounds.
Standard 2: Demonstrates knowledge and
skills to each arts form. Chooses appropriate
Skills (can do)
techniques and technologies to complete work
specific to one arts form or combination
Drama: The children can work together
thereof.
to create a rainforest scene, and later can
participate in role play situations.

Music: The students can listen carefully

to the pieces of rainforest sounds for a
period of time.

Affective ( feel)

The students will be able to gain an

appreciation of the rainforest environment
and feel that it is worth protecting.
Weekly outline of lessons: Teacher references and resources

Week 1:

• The focus of this lesson is to introduce the feeling of the

rainforest initially through music, then developing into a drama
activity. Appendix 1:Photo of a rainforest scene – taken
on a trip to the rainforest in Melbourne, 2009.
• To get the students interested in the lesson, show a scene of the
rainforest, included as Appendix 1, to show the children some of
the plants that exist – enlarge this image to A3 size as it is too
small to show the whole class at once.

Questioning with the picture:

• What can you see in the picture? CD – collection of five songs called “Sounds of
• What could be seen in the picture? the Rainforest”
• Where do you think this picture was taken?
• The next activity involves the CD included with the unit –
“Sounds of the Rainforest”

• Students close their eyes and listen to the sounds of the rainforest
– each track has a different sound to it, and any are appropriate
for this activity
While the music is playing ask questions like:
 How do you feel while listening?
 Any there any distinctive sounds they can hear?
Appendix 2 – Animal name cards
 Anything else that you can notice?
Rainforest Resources:
• After listening to the piece, give each child a name of an animal, Appleby, P., 1992 Wildside: Rainforests, BBC
and while the music is playing, each student acts out the animal. Books, London.
The aim of this activity is for all the same animals to find each
other. Breeden, S., 1995 Paul and the Rainforest,
 Animal names are printed on cards Steve Parish Publishing, QLD, Australia.
 Animals include:
Erbacher, J. & S., 1993 Life in the Rainforest,
 Possum Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.
 Frog
 Parrot Taylor, B., 1992 Look Closer: Rainforest,
 Spider Harper Collins Publishers, NSW, Australia.
 Butterfly
 Snake Mackness, B. 1989 Mastering Rainforests,
Dellasta Publishing, VIC, Australia.

Killen, R., 1992 Student-Centred Teaching

Strategies, Second Edition, pp. 23-28, The
• Once the students find each other, they each take turns to perform University of Newcastle, NSW, Australia.
as a group and the class has to discuss the actions and work out
what animal they are
 Working in small groups allows the students to improve their
communication skills and can learn from one another of how best
to re-create the mannerisms of the each animal.
 Teacher references and resources

Weekly outline of lessons:

Week 2:

• The focus of the lesson for this week is to stimulate imagination

about living in the rainforest and leading to the feelings if the Baker, J. 1987 Where the Forest Meets the Sea,
rainforest was destroyed. Julia MacRae Books, New South Wales,
 Begin the lesson by reading the story “Where the Forest Meets Australia.
the Sea”

Questions during the story:

 Have forests existed for over a hundred million years?
 Why do you think the crocodiles and kangaroos aren’t in the
rainforest anymore?
 Can you see any animals in the pictures? (dinosaur, bird,
snake, lizard, spider, cassowary
 Is there anything else you notice in the rainforest?
(Aboriginal children, developments to be made – hotels)
 What do you think would happen to the rainforest if those
buildings do get built? Department of Education, Queensland, 1993
 Where would the animals go? Drama Makes Meaning, videorecording, 24
minutes, Unit Outlines, Year 2: Rainforest,
• Small Group Activity: Journey into the Rainforest Queensland.
 Students to imagine that they have followed the boy into the
rainforest Young, J., 2007 100 Ideas for Teaching Drama,
Idea 45: Strange Journey, pp. 72-73, Continuum
 Get the students to think about these questions before
International Publishing Group, London.
beginning the drama:
What would they see in the rainforest?
How could they survive in the rainforest?
Would they meet anyone in the rainforest?
 Students assign what characters they will be in the drama
 Teacher guides students through the drama – beginning by
explaining that they followed the boy into the rainforest, and
seem to be lost.
 Teacher guiding speech for the drama:
“We haven’t been to this part of the rainforest before, and there
isn’t anything that we can see that we recognise.”
“We can see different animals and different trees around us.”
“It’s beginning to get dark, we’ll need to find some food to eat
and water to drink, because we won’t find our way out until the
morning.”
“Because we’re going to be staying the night, we need to make a
safe place to sleep. We hope it doesn’t rain, and that we can keep
warm through the night.”
“The night wasn’t too bad – the shelter was good and strong and
kept us dry.”
“Should we continue to explore the forest or find a way out?”

• The drama would then continue according to the students’

decision to stay for a bit longer in the rainforest or to find a way
out.
Small group discussion: How would you feel if you lived in the
 rainforest and it was destroyed?  develops student’s
intrapersonal skills Teacher references and resources

Detailed Lesson Plan:

Week 3:

Discussions and activities in this lesson will be centred on the

structure of the rainforest and how it is affected by the human
processes of logging and how this impacts on every form of life in
the rainforest.
The activity of “Be the Rainforest” is the main part of the lesson.
Begin by asking 6-8 students to volunteer being trees – including the
tall canopy trees, shorter understorey trees, and forest floor shrubs.
After they are in position, give each student a role of an animal that
lives in the rainforest, including chimpanzees, frogs, birds, snakes,
wallabies, spiders, butterflies, lizards, possums, as well as asking
students what other animals live in the trees and on the ground in the
rain forest.
Make sure to have one or two students not playing roles as animals
or the trees, and get them to be the loggers and hunters.
Begin the drama by asking the students to work together to show
what a healthy rainforest should look like and sound like, by making
appropriate sounds and movements of the environment.
Allow this to develop for a minute or so, then stop the drama and ask
the loggers to now go in and begin cutting down the trees, so that
they make the noises of a chainsaw, and the trees dramatically die.
Adapted from “Be the Rainforest” activity
http://www.childdrama.com/rainforst.html
Viewed on 15/06/09
Ideas for teaching added from:
Dodgson, E., 1982 Exploring Social Issues, in
“Drama and the Whole Curriculum”, pp. 97-
112, Hutchinson Group, NSW, Australia.
Heathcote, D., 1981 Drama as Education, in
“Children and Drama”, 2nd Ed, pp. 78-90,
Longman Inc., New York.
Young, J., 2007 100 Ideas for Teaching Drama,
Idea 44: Looking at Both Sides, pp. 71,
Continuum International Publishing Group,
London.

The questioning then develops the actions of the animals – what will
happen to you without your trees? Tree-animals – where will you
live? Point out one by one why each different animal cannot live
without the trees, if the children have not already done so, then each
animal dies in turn.

It is important to explain that without the trees – not much oxygen is

made, and we cannot make medicines to keep humans healthy
because of the lack of plants. This causes the human to die, played by
the teacher. Make a decision to act out the dying or not, as it depends
on the behaviour of the children.

To conclude the drama, always make sure to reconstruct the

rainforest. This can be done through giving the students situations:
“Let’s see what happens if loggers stop cutting down and clearing the
rainforests”
“What if people plant new trees?”
“What if some trees grew back if not many trees are taken?”
The result of these questions would be that the trees come back to
life, followed by the animals as their habitat re-builds itself.

An important part of this lesson is to reflect on the experiences –

asking the students to think briefly about the role they played before
asking them questions.
“Trees, how did you feel when you were being cut down?”
“Animals, how did you feel when your homes were being cleared
away?”
 Teacher references and resources

Detailed Lesson Plan:

Week 4:

To pick up from last week’s lesson, the students will use what they
discovered when they made the rainforest, and demonstrate the Assigning roles using fruits:
different perspectives held about clearing rainforest areas.
Phillips, G., 2009 Workshop Week 13, UniSA
Get the children into small groups, four students to a group, and Magill.
assign roles to each student using fruits rather than numbers or
letters:
 Apple = tree of the rainforest
 Orange = rainforest animal of choice Adapted from: “No, You Can’t Take Me!”
 Banana = logger http://www.childdrama.com/lpno.html
 Strawberry = rainforest animal of choice (different to orange) - viewed on 14/06/09.
The purpose of this discussion is for the each student to see different
standpoints on rainforest clearing.

The logger begins by presenting their case for cutting down trees of
the rainforest, and each of the other students in turn reply with why
they need the rainforest trees, or why they are important for the
environment and world.

This develops their views on the issue, as well as the way that they
present their reasons to help the logger to see what they are doing is
harming them. These reasons need to be why they are important and
what would happen if they weren’t there anymore.

The language can be simplified that the logger asks “I’ll take this Phillips, G., 2009 Tutorial Week 11, UniSA,
older tree away” so that the older tree can reply “No, you can’t take Magill.
me!” then give their reasons why.

Let the discussions develop until each character is given the

opportunity to give their opinions. Once each character has spoken,
give the children perspectives by getting them to change roles for the
next discussion. This is so that each child not only hears each
perspective, but also experiences and reflects about them.

After each child has taken on each of the roles, conclude the lesson
by having each student write down what they thought the strongest
points for and against logging were throughout the discussions that
were held. These notes will become a valuable resource for the next
lesson in the unit.

Structure this by asking questions like “What did the logger say that
you thought was a really important reason for cutting down the
trees?” or “Was there a significant point that was brought up by a
rainforest animal?”
Change these questions according to each of the roles, and make sure
that each child records at least two points; one on each side of the
issue.
 Teacher references and resources

Weekly outline of lessons:

Activity adapted from:

Week 5: Cleland Wildlife Park – Education officer
activity
Using the previous discussions, the class will be involved in an
activity that shows how it gets harder for animals to survive when the 10 x Sports Hoops
land is being cleared of their habitat.

• Links to Health and P.E. – this lesson is active

• Majority of the children go to one side of the room
• These students are to be the animals in this activity
• Begin with having ten hoops in the middle of the room
• Choose two students to be the loggers.
• The hoops represent the safe areas of the rainforest where the
animals can live happily.
• The animals work together to fit into the hoops completely.
• Allow 2-3 minutes for each round
• After this time, the loggers take away one hoop each, and the
animals have to re-arrange so they are all still safe.
• Repeat until there are only two hoops left – animals realising
that they cannot all be safe anymore
• Result: animals die and the children can see that as the habitat is
disappearing.
• End off the activity by changing the loggers into tree planters
• This lets the children see what would happen if we help to re-
build and preserve the rainforests.

Ending this lesson and unit involves reflection on the issues brought
up about the rainforest, as well as the activities that the students were
involved with.
• How did you feel at the beginning of the activities? Appendix 4 – Self Assessment Proforma
• How do you feel about the Rainforests now?
• Have your opinions changed from the beginning of the activities
to now?
• What do you think changed your ideas?
• What do you know about rainforests that you didn’t know at the
beginning of the unit?

Following these verbal questions, get the students to reflect on their

own by using the student self assessment proforma.
Assessment strategies
The main things that are being assessed through completing this unit are the students’ idea
development about the rainforest, beginning with listening to sounds of the rainforest and
communicating what they feel about the music, demonstrating animal mannerisms, and developing
into role playing by showing the ability to stay in character and express the views held by that
character.

The assessment will take place through self assessment and observations. The students will reflect on
what activities they have done by discussing and recording how they felt while doing them. To assess
the technical elements of the dramatic skills being demonstrated, the teacher will use a rubric to
record how each student is developing their skills, how well they work with others, and if they can
convey the emotions through the views of their roles. Also, informal peer assessment will occur
through seeing if the students can express the mannerisms of an animal successfully, by identifying
what animal they were.

Are the assessment methods appropriate to the processes , skills & concepts which are being
assessed?

These assessment methods are appropriate because they assess how the students portray each
character they take on, their feelings about the rainforests while doing the activities, through listening
to the sound recordings of the rainforests, as well as how they work together with each other in small
groups as well as a whole class. They will accurately record how the students move through the
lessons and develop their skills.

Evaluation of unit outcomes :indicators;

These relate to the unit outcomes of conceptual, skills & affective etc…..

These are related to the conceptual, skill and affective outcomes in earlier outcome column ie

Students will know what animals exist in the rainforest, and how we has humans are impacting on them and the
environment.

Students will understand how to take on different roles and express the opinions that they would have about the
conservation of rainforests.

Students will be able to work individually, in small groups, and as a class to explain the situation with the
rainforests and how the animals, trees and loggers would view it.

Students will have gained a better appreciation for the rainforest environment and consider each view in a un-
biased manner, which results in improving their perceptions of the world.
 REFERENCES

Appleby, P., 1992 Wildside: Rainforests, BBC Books, London.

“Be the Rainforest” activity : http://www.childdrama.com/rainforst.html, Viewed on 15/06/09

Breeden, S., 1995 Paul and the Rainforest, Steve Parish Publishing, QLD, Australia.

Dodgson, E., 1982 Exploring Social Issues, in “Drama and the Whole Curriculum”, pp. 97-112, Hutchinson Group,
NSW, Australia.

Erbacher, J. & S., 1993 Life in the Rainforest, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.

Heathcote, D., 1981 Drama as Education, in “Children and Drama”, 2nd Ed, pp. 78-90, Longman Inc., New York.

Killen, R., 1992 Student-Centred Teaching Strategies, Second Edition, pp. 23-28, The University of Newcastle, NSW,
Australia.

Phillips, G., 2009 Tutorial Week 11, UniSA, Magill.

Phillips, G., 2009 Workshop Week 13, UniSA Magill.

Taylor, B., 1992 Look Closer: Rainforest, Harper Collins Publishers, NSW, Australia.

Mackness, B. 1989 Mastering Rainforests, Dellasta Publishing, VIC, Australia.

“No, You Can’t Take Me!” : http://www.childdrama.com/lpno.html, Viewed on 14/06/09.

Young, J., 2007 100 Ideas for Teaching Drama, Idea 44: Looking at Both Sides, pp. 71, Continuum International
Publishing Group, London.
 Appendix 1:

Photo of a Rainforest Scene

 Appendix 2:

Animal Name Cards

 Animal Name Cards

Possum Possum Possum Possum Possum

Frog Frog Frog Frog Frog

Parrot Parrot Parrot Parrot Parrot

Spider Spider Spider Spider Spider

Butterfly Butterfly Butterfly Butterfly Butterfly

Snake Snake Snake Snake Snake

 Appendix 3:

Mind-Map

Connections to Learning Areas

 Design and Technology: Music:
Creating a rainforest Sounds of the
diorama rainforest
Making puppets of Animals
rainforest animals to Weather
tell a story Play music piece of
English: the rainforest – how
Story – “Where the Forest does it make you
Meets the Sea” by Jeannie feel?
Baker
Words associated with the
rainforest used for
spelling
Writing a poem about the
rainforest
Drama:
Movements like rainforest
Ra animals:
Tiger
inf Monkey
Birds
or Snake
Role play – what if all the
est rainforests of the world
were gone?
Society and Environment:
Rainforest area
decreasing
Global effects of logging
and land clearing
Extinct species that lived
in the rainforest Maths:
Science: Numbers of animals
Food chain decreasing
Different types of Graphing data
rainforests – how they
are different to each Temperatures of the
other as well as rainforest in
different to other comparison to
environments suburbia
 Appendix 4:

Self-Assessment Sheet
 Self-Assessment Proforma
Did you enjoy doing these activities on the Rainforest?

  
Yes Unsure No

Why did / didn’t you enjoy them?

______________________________________________
______________________________________________
______________________________________________
______________________________________________
How did you think you went when doing the activities?

  
Very Well Okay Not Too Well

What was the most interesting part of the activities?

______________________________________________
______________________________________________
______________________________________________
______________________________________________

Did you enjoy doing these activities on the Rainforest?

  
Yes Unsure No

Why did / didn’t you enjoy them?

______________________________________________
______________________________________________
______________________________________________
______________________________________________
How did you think you went when doing the activities?

  
Very Well Okay Not Too Well

What was the most interesting part of the activities?

______________________________________________
______________________________________________
______________________________________________
______________________________________________
 Appendix 5:

Teacher Observation Proforma

 Observation of Students – “The Rainforest” Unit

Student A Student B Student C

Rainforest Sounds:
Expressed feelings while listening
Identifies distinctive sounds
Drama:
Acting out animal mannerisms
Discussed if rainforest destroyed
Role-play in being the rainforest
Demonstrated different perspectives
Reflected on activities and issues
Attitude:
Worked well with peers
Stayed engaged throughout task
Developed rainforest appreciation

(More student columns can be added as needed)