Lesson Overview

Connections to Inquiry Learning

This lesson aims to explore manuscripts and texts housed at the Aga Khan Museum to engage in a deeper understanding of how knowledge was transmitted to people living in the Islamic world.

Connections to Inquiry-based learning

In this unit, students will:

  • Explore various manuscripts and texts housed at the Aga Khan Museum or extensions of Islamic art found in various other places (libraries, online, etc.) to gain a deeper understanding of Islamic art forms in Persia
  • Experiment with Islamic manuscripts and texts  to uncover and explore meaning in Islamic culture
  • Create movement phrases using the elements of dance inspired by chosen manuscripts and/or texts

Note: Teacher may use BLM #1 - Engaging Students in Inquiry-Based Learning to guide their students in their inquiry.  Engaging Students in Inquiry Based Learning is another resource that can be of use.

‘Big Questions’ of this Lesson

  • How might knowledge be transmitted through movement?
  • What role did the Silk Route play in the transmission of knowledge?
  • How might you, your family, and your community share knowledge?
  • What does the poetry of Rumi and Hafez tell us about the values of Islam and art?
  • What are some of the big themes found in the poetry of Rumi and/or Hafez?

Curriculum Expectations

Dance Grade 11, Overall Expectations

 

  • A1. The Creative Process: use the creative process, the elements of dance, and a variety of sources to develop movement vocabulary;
  • A2. Choreography and Composition: combine the elements of dance in a variety of ways in composing individual and ensemble dance creations;
Dance, Grade 11 Specific Expectations

 

  • A1.1 use the elements of dance to create and perform increasingly complex dance phrases inspired by a theme
  • A1.2 create and perform increasingly complex phrases that combine and manipulate the elements of dance in a variety of ways
  • A2.2 create a complex dance composition that explores a self- or teacher-selected theme

 

Dance Grade 12, Overall Expectations

  • A1. The Creative Process: use the creative process, the elements of dance, and a variety of sources to develop movement vocabulary;
  • A2. Choreography and Composition: combine the elements of dance in a variety of ways in composing individual and ensemble dance creations;
Dance, Grade 12 Specific Expectations

 

  • A1.1 use the elements of dance to create and perform abstract dance phrases inspired by a theme of personal significance
  • A1.2 create and perform complex phrases that combine and manipulate the elements of dance in a variety of ways
  • A2.1 use a variety of choreographic forms, structures, and techniques to create and perform complex dance works

 

Learning Goals

By the end of the lesson, students will:

  • Become familiar with various poetic works of Rumi and Hafez
  • Be able to create a movement phrase inspired by a source
  • Compare themes in poems Islamic and Sufi writers to Indigenous poetry from Canada
  • Be able to discuss and identify ways and means of transmitting knowledge differently and how these can reflect our family, community, and culture

Instructional Components and Context

Readiness

  • Students will have already worked with the elements of dance and compositional forms
  • Students will have already created choreographies based on other themes/inspirations
  • Students will have already worked in large and small discussion groups
  • Students will need to be reminded of choral speaking techniques

Terminology

Materials

  • Chart paper
  • Markers
  • Persian Music (to be used throughout the lesson during Minds On activities and during the choreographic process and for performance)

Lesson Plan

Minds On

Whole Class > Magic Floor Exercise

Ask students to gather at one side of the room and line up against the wall.  Ask students to imagine the floor (or the entire room) is magic and can be turned into anything the teacher says - you may also ask students to contribute here after modelling it first. Students must move across the floor in response to the word given.

Say, “Imagine that the floor is...LAVA!” Students will most likely scream and move across the floor in fast staccato movement. Once all students are at the other side of the room, the teacher will prompt again by saying, “Imagine that the floor is covered with....ICE!” Students will likely make slipping and falling motions. Teacher continues saying different things the floor could be to illicit dance movement in response to text.

Small Group > Word Bank creation

After Magic Floor, students will get into small groups and write the words used in the exercise on chart paper. Students will now create a list of describing words for each word used in Magic Floor. For example, for “LAVA” students will likely list words like “hot, fire, red” etc. Students are modelling for themselves how to create a word bank to use to inspire new movement in their choreographies.  Share the words with the whole class

Key Questions for Discussion:

What was the first word/image/feeling that came to your mind when you heard “LAVA, ICE…?”
Was it difficult or easy connecting these words to movement?
How did you use positive and negative space in your movements?
Did you use different levels? Why or why not?
Did you or some of your peers make vocalized sounds when you heard the words? If so, why might this be the case?

Small Groups > Painting Analysis Discussion

Provide students with images of suggested paintings from the Aga Khan Museum, permanent collection, Iran. Ask students to work in groups of 3-4 and write down everything they notice about the painting using the Graphic Organizer provided in BLM #6 - Paintings from Iran. For example, what do they see? Are there common colours or characters? Themes?

Suggested paintings:
Teacher prompts:

Who is in this painting?
What do you think is happening in this painting and why?
What might this tell you about the time period?
What was the purpose of these paintings? What do they tell us about the way knowledge and information was transmitted?

Individual Students > Researching a Painting

After examining at the painting of their choice, give each student a piece of paper on which to write two words that describe the painting, using the teacher prompts as a guide. Students exploring similar paintings may gather around one of the paintings and tape their descriptive words around it. As a group, students must choose three (or more) words that represent the feelings/impressions evoked by that work. The chosen words will then be used for choreographic inspiration.

Ask students to use the Internet to visit the Aga Khan Museum website. Ask them to locate their chosen painting and find out more about the painting. Students may use the graphic organizer, BLM #6 - Paintings from Iran, to record their research.

Teacher prompts

After reading about your painting, what new information did you discover?
What were the similarities and differences between your first impressions of the paintings and what you read on the Aga Khan Museum website?
What characteristics of these paintings are specific to the Iranian style of art?

Possible Extension:

Extend the lesson by assigning student-led inquiry about the status and value of the arts in Iran during the 15-18th century.

Extend the lesson with discussion on Aestheticism and Sufism through guest performer, a Sufi dancer or scholar.

Action!

Small Groups > Challenging/Inspiring Poetry in Motion

Hand out a variety of Rumi and Hafez poetry (BLM #7 - Poems).  Choose 2-3 for the class to read together in choral speaking. Tell the students that they may stand (or sit) in a variety of ways: in a circle, spread across the room, or facing multiple corners/directions.

Group students into groups of 3-5, and instruct them to choose the poem that resonates with them the most and discuss their reasons for choosing that particular poem. Give students time to discuss the meaning of their poems.

Have students read their poems out loud to the rest of the class and provide their explanation for their choice.

Ask students to select keywords/themes from their poem and write these down on chart paper. Next, ask them to brainstorm descriptive words in response to the words/themes chosen in their poem. Have them create a word bank from which they can pull from during the choreographic process.

Instruct students to begin to create their movement pieces using their poems, word banks, elements of dance, and compositional forms.

Instruct students to use their voices to recite part or all of their poems (one word, one line, or the entirety of the poem to create a vocalized soundscape independent of or in conjunction with Persian music).

Teacher prompts:

How will you embed the text in your movement?
What arrangements will you choose?
Will you make use of repetition/echo?
How will you use dynamics (volume, pace, pitch, tone) to create tension and interest that    
compliment your movement?
What meaning will your text bring to your movement phrase?

Small Group > Choreography of Poetry in Motion

Give students the next 3-4 class periods to work on their 2-minute choreographies.  

Suggested Poetry can be found in BLM #7 - Poems.

The teacher will provide ongoing feedback to groups, assisting them to heighten their choreographies and embedded poetry. At a midway point, instruct students to provide written feedback to each other. This may be conducted by groups writing the feedback together and providing it to the teacher who can mediate the feedback. BLM #8 - Poetry in Motion Choreography Peer Feedback Form is provided for this purpose.  

Extension

Teacher may select poems from Indigenous writers based on the themes discovered in Rumi and Hafez’s poetry and make critical connections with the students. What are some big themes found in Indigenous poetry about God/spirituality? Compare and contrast these two cultures.

Source links

CBC - 7 Must See Canadian Poetry Performances

Aboriginal Poets: Vera Wabegijig

Tea and Bannock Stories: First Nations Community of Poetic Voices

Consolidation

Individual > Journal Questions

Ask students to write their own personal responses in a journal for assessment.

Teacher Prompts

What does the poetry of Rumi and/or Hafez tell us about the time period in Iran?
What does the poetry tell us about that particular time in Islamic history?
How does their poetry help you understand Sufism?
How has Rumi and Hafez’s poetry challenged your biases about Islam? How does it differ from you are shown in mainstream media?

Connections

This lesson connects to the first lesson where forms and patterns of Islamic art and architecture were used in choreography. In this lesson, students scaffold their learning by adding text and vocalizing poetry created in Iran at the time period in which the paintings, manuscripts, and texts were produced.

Differentiation

Students can make use of graphic organizers to organize and gather their observations, and may also watch recordings/performances of poetry and/or dance choreographies on their mobile devices. Students can also make voice recordings of their observations about the paintings, pair up with another student, or have the entire group work together to make observations and have one recorder write down what is seen. Discussion prompts can be made into journal topics and written responses created by students.

Assessment for learning

Students will be assessed on the movements and words brainstormed in the Minds On activities. This assessment will be informal and given to students orally.

Assessment as learning

Ongoing verbal and/or written descriptive feedback will be provided by the teacher at all stages of the process. At the midway point, the teacher may ask groups to do a showing, where students show their work in progress for teacher and peer constructive criticism, both orally and written. Students will perform their pieces for an audience of their classmates. The rubric provided can be used for this assessment (BLM #6 - Paintings from Iran).

Assessment of learning

Students will write a reflection and response to the Key Questions For Discussion. Assess achievement of performance using the criteria outlined in BLM #9 - Poetry in Motion: Performance Assessment Rubric.