Objectives
to encourage imaginative problemsolving while developing pantomime skills, and to introduce the props of the unit.
Materials
a selection of dowels, be sure to include a number that are at least three feet in length, paper and pencils, a recording of
Patriotic Diggers
, by Burl Ives. 3 lists of the following: hatchet, rifle, sack on a stick, firewood, cane, fiddle, carpenter tools, sledge hammer, telescope, hoe, rake, sixshooter, train throttle, wagon brake, parasol, torch.
Activities
Warmup: Explain to the class that a prop is something that an actor uses on stage that he can usually carry in his hands. Name an object, (eg. table, coffee cup, book, grandfather’s clock) and ask the class to reply “prop” or “not a prop.” Continue until they get the idea. Then, show the class a dowel and pantomime a specific prop, (eg. telescope). Have the class guess what it is. Pass the dowel around to each student, allowing each a turn to pantomime an object. (Note: See
Bananas
, listed in bibliography, for other wonderful warmups of this type.)
Divide the class into three teams and provide them with a selection of dowels and paper and pencil. The teams are given three minutes to write down as many different types of props that they can think of using one or more of the dowels. Collect the pencils. Give each team two minutes to pantomime their objects. A point is scored for each new object that is correctly guessed by the class. The team with the most points wins.
Listen to
Patriotic Diggers
. Have the class try to count the number of possible props named or suggested. See how many they remember. You may want to have the students pantomime the different objects.
Hand out the three prepared lists to the above groups, explaining that these are some of the props that will be used throughout the semester. Each group is to select three to five items and to create a short pantomime scene, no words, with them. Encourage the students to be imaginative. (No horror-film-mass-murders.)
Conclusion
You may want to discuss the importance of tools in our lives and in the lives of our heroes. Talk about the differences and similarities between the tools we use today and those of the nineteenth century. Have students make a list of tools they, or family members, use in one week, then compare the lists.