Franklin/Adesida
Big Idea: Renew Your Mind
Inquiry Question: How can we use performance to convey and shift our emotional perspectives?
Exploration Methods: Music (Instrument & Voice), Tableau Drama, Musicals, Writing
Grades: K-8th
Backstory
Students may be dealing with anxiety, pessimism, and perhaps even depression in the continuing impact of the Covid pandemic on their family, school, and overall social life. Consequently, we wanted to consider their state of mind as they prepare to return to another iteration of school in the coming academic year. How can they be armed with a potential model for expressing dispirited emotions and also intentionally shifting or transforming their perspective for a healthier mindset?
We decided to explore our inquiry via the genre of musicals given their often emotional intensity and natural marriage of music and storytelling as representative of both our artforms.
Musical Inspiration: Annie
The 2014 movie remake of the canonical play, Annie, set in a modern and relatable context embodied our theme through the resilience and optimism of the main character, Annie. Our 3rd through 8th-grade students were able to watch the movie while our K-2nd-grade students only engaged the music.
Introduction
We started with games and activities that highlighted the three main performance components of musicals (music, speaking, dance).
We reviewed music theory and performance fundamentals (projecting, articulating, exaggerating, embodying/expressing)
The Three Parts of a Musical:
Tell the story through Music (singing/instruments)
Speak the story (dialogue, monologue)
Tell the story through Dance/Movement
We know we
20210728_103427.mp420210728_112108.mp420210728_120558.mp420210728_125903.mp4