Exploring shapes, patterns and designs using movement and embodied self and collaborative inquiry

Lesson Overview

In this lesson students will engage in games and activities in order to learn about the shapes, patterns and designs used in Islamic art, in particular relating to the creation of mosaics and designs that demonstrate the interactions and interrelationships between shapes. Using a guided inquiry model students will create a movement piece working with different shapes and exemplars of mosaics found in objects in the Aga Khan museum collection and will share these as part of kaleidoscope dance/movement cipher. They will also use embodied inquiry throughout the lesson which will help them to use their bodies to generate questions, conduct research, and use the results of their inquiries to create a collaborative performance piece using the elements of dance.

Connections to Inquiry Learning

  • Students will develop a deeper understanding of the symbolic use of shapes, patterns and designs in Islamic art and architecture throughout the lesson using guided inquiry strategies and some independent academic research.  
  • Students will be able to discuss through conversation the themes of intersections, interrelationships in the art. Intersections refer to the ways in which shapes connect with each other in a pattern and interrelationships refers to the ways in which the shapes overlap with each other in the patterning. See examples in: http://britton.disted.camosun.bc.ca/Islamic_Art_and_Geometric_Design.pdf
  • Students will identify different geometric shapes found in authentic examples of Islamic art found through their inquiry-based research in the Aga Khan Main gallery and/or digital collection (including floor tiles, mosaics, arabesques and fountains, as well as ornamentations). Through their analysis and inquiry-based analysis work they will consider the ways in which these shapes, patterns and designs both intersect and interrelated.
  • Students will use embodied inquiry to explore the ways in which these shapes can be represented through movements (a series of lines making different pathways in different directions with specific points of departure and of arrival).
  • Students will work with a series of geometric shapes (circles, triangles, squares, pentagons, octagons) and create short individual and collaborative movement pieces which replicate patterns and designs found in these mosaics.
  • Students will regulate themselves in the classroom throughout the lesson as they stay on task, helping one another and contributing to activities.
  • Students will meet specific performance criteria through teacher and peer support and interaction.
  • Value of diversity and beliefs will be honoured throughout the lesson while the very idea of self and group identity is explored.
  • A variety of student generated materials are embedded in the lesson; students will bring their knowledge of the materials to connect to their peers, their school, their community and the world around them.

‘Big Questions’ of this Lesson

  1. What is Islamic art? In what forms is it produced? For what purposes is it used?
  2. What are the historical origins of the use of geometric shapes and patterns used in Islamic art and architecture?
  3. Why are these shapes and patterns used in Islamic art (for example in mosaics, arabesques, tiles, on the folios of the Qur’an)? Students will develop a deeper understanding of the symbolic use of shapes, patterns and designs in Islamic art and architecture throughout the lesson.
  4. What can be learned from an exploration of intersections and interrelationships in these patterns which is representative of the ways in which over time artistic knowledge was transmitted between different cultures and different parts of the Islamic world?
  5. How does Islamic art reflect the cultural, social, political and economic contexts in which it was produced and/or used?

Curriculum Expectations

Grade 9 Specific Expectations

A1. The Creative Process
  • A1.1 use a variety of print and non-print sources to generate and focus ideas for drama activities and presentations
  • A1.2 select and use appropriate forms to suit specific purposes in drama works
  • A1.3 use role play to explore, develop, and represent themes, ideas, characters, feelings, and beliefs in producing drama works
B1. The Critical Analysis Process
  • B1.3 identify aesthetic and technical aspects of drama works and explain how they help achieve specific dramatic purposes
B2. Drama and Society
  • B2.2 explain how dramatic exploration can contribute to personal growth and self-understanding
B3. Connections Beyond the Classroom
  • B3.1 identify specific collaborative skills and attitudes that are required in preparing and staging drama works and explain how they can be applied in other fields or activities
  • B3.2 identify specific social skills and personal characteristics they have acquired or strengthened through drama work that can help them succeed in other areas of life

Drama, Grade 10 ADA2O Specific Expectations

A1. The Creative Process
  • A1.2 select and use appropriate forms to present identified issues from a variety of perspectives
B3. Connections Beyond the Classroom
  • B3.1 identify and describe skills, attitudes, and strategies they used in collaborative drama activities
  • B3.2 identify skills they have developed through drama activities and explain how they can be useful in work and other social contexts
C1. Concepts and Terminology
  • C1.1 identify the drama forms, elements, conventions, and techniques used in their own and others’ drama works, and explain how the various components are used, or can be used, to achieve specific effects, with a focus on ensemble drama works
C2. Contexts and Influences
  • C2.1 identify ways in which dramatic expression and performance reflect communities and cultures, past and present
  • C2.2 describe how drama is used for various purposes in a range of social contexts

Learning Goals

By the end of the lesson, students will:

  • Be able identify the use of dramatic and dance conventions that can shape a drama work with movement
  • discuss the shapes, patterns and design of Islamic art and architecture, as well as their intersections and interrelationships as displayed through patterns found on arabesques, in mosaics, in fabrics and features of buildings in the Islamic world.
  • identify different geometric shapes found in authentic examples of Islamic art found in the Aga Khan Main gallery and/or digital collection (including floor tiles, mosaics, arabesques and fountains, as well as ornamentations).
  • Use embodied inquiry to explore the ways in which geometric shapes can be represented through movements to show the process by which mosaics are created and put together
  • create short individual and collaborative movement pieces using a series of geometric shapes and flocking which replicate patterns and designs found in these mosaics.

Instructional Components and Context

Readiness

Students need to be able to listen and respond appropriately in the setting of the drama classroom.

Students need to have had some experience both individually and collaboratively doing movement work using some of the Elements of Dance (Body, Energy, Space, Time, Relationships and related movements). See Anchor Chart for the Elements of Dance.

Teachers may also wish to consult the CODE resource, "Exploring Dance Elements"  which breaks down the elements into body, space, pattern, time and energy and would be a great resource for reference and understanding these terms.

Students should have some knowledge of drama conventions connected to ensemble work and and teacher coaching to participate in the lesson.

If teachers wish to show students some videos that outline effective ways of working with movement, please check out the following links from the National in London:

This lesson could be done over three or more classes depending on the number of extensions the teacher chooses to include in this lesson and the comfort of the students in rehearsing and presenting a collaborative movement piece.

Terminology

Materials

Lesson Plan

Minds On

Whole Class > Warm-up Option 1: My Body Makes This Shape...

The purpose of this activity is to have students warm-up their bodies and to become familiar with the ways in which they can use parts of their bodies to make particular geometric shapes.

Gather the students in a large circle and ask them to stand.

Explain that for the warm-up they are going to explore the ways in which they can use their bodies as a whole as well as specific parts of their bodies to make movements (Connected to the Body element of Dance using Body Parts (head, torso, shoulder, arms, fingers, elbows, legs, knees, feet, ankles etc. and Shapes that are curved, straight, angular, twisted, narrow, wide, symmetrical, asymmetrical).

Ask students to stand at least arms-width apart so that they have enough space to move.  Instruct students to listen closely to the instructions and individually move/create based on them.

Begin with easier movements and gradually increase the complexity of the movements throughout the exercise.

Encourage students to explore the diverse ways in which they could use their bodies throughout this activity while creating their movements.

Teacher Prompts

In order to facilitate the progression of the movements, the teacher will start with the whole body and then have students use different parts of their bodies to explore the shape making in different ways.

Circles

  1. Use your whole body to make a circle.
  2. Make a circle with your right leg.
  3. Make a circle with your pinky finger.
  4. Make a circle with your hips.
  5. Make a circle with your knees.

Squares

  1. Use your whole body to make a square.
  2. Use your left hand to make a square.
  3. Use your head to make a square.
  4. Use your right ankle to make a square.
  5. Use your shoulders to make a square.

Triangle

  1. Use your whole body to make a triangle.
  2. Use your big toe to make a triangle.
  3. Use your left elbow to make a triangle.
  4. Use your right thumb to make a triangle.
  5. Use your head to make a triangle.
Debrief questions:  

This could be written as as journal entry or done as part of a class discussion
Which of the shapes did you find easiest to make?
Which of the shapes did you find most interesting to create?
Which of the shapes did you find most challenging to create?
Which part of the body did you use that you are most comfortable creating with?
Which part of the body was the most challenging for you and that you would want to explore creating with.

Whole Class > Option 2 Warm-Up: A Walk through the Shapes

Ask students to find a space in the room as their point of departure. When told they will begin moving about the room based on a particular shape that the teacher calls out. (Based on Jonathon Neelands’ strategy Walk, Walk, Walk)

Example Teacher Prompts:

Move in a square making 4 straight lines (vertical and horizontal only), turning at right angles until the square is complete
Move in a circle, making a continuous rounded-line until they come back to the exact spot in which they started;
Move on a diagonal to make a 3 pointed triangle.
Move using a series of straight and angled lines in the shape of an octagon (8 sided)

Throughout the activity, ask the students to pause and begin making a different shape and take off from a point of departure while moving in a different direction from the way in which they previously travelled.

Teacher may want to remind students of the drama and dance concepts of:

Spatial aspects

  • Traveling - any path (straight, circular, meandering, curving) moving from one place to another.
  • Direction - movement into different directions (up, down, to the right, to the left, forward, backward)

Movement Intention:

  • Destination - Statement of an ending situation, position or state to be reached (before the next shape is called out)

Warn students to be careful not to run into one another, but to pay attention to the points at which the lines that they are making using their movements, either intersect or interrelate with the lines of other students.

Tell students that when they cross lines with another student, they are to pause in their movement and are to greet the person saying “peace” or perhaps in Arabic, a traditional greeting “As-Salaam-Alaikum," meaning "Peace be unto you."

As the students walk around they should be changing directions, creating their own patterns and seeing how they might intersect or interrelate their movements with other students shapes.

Extension

Add a speed element to this activity. Prompt the students to walk at a level ‘3’ at a level ‘7’. This will be helpful in showing students how speed can impact the movement and patterns they are creating.

Key questions for Discussion:

How does it feel to move in the shape of a circle?
How does it feel to move in the shape of a triangle?
How does it feel to move in the shape of a square?
How did it feel when your embodied lines intersected with another student? How did you negotiate the sharing of space?
How many times did you greet other students? How did it feel to make that connection and to share the offering of a greeting of peace? How did this change or shift your understanding, connection or appreciation of the exercise.
What kinds of intersections did you find yourself in while moving around the room as in the movement of the shape?  How did it feel to make these intersections/connections? If you didn’t make many clear intersections or connections how did that make you feel?

Connections

Connections

These warm-up activities are meant to help students explore shape-making using individual body-storming/embodied inquiry.

Differentiation

Provide additional work time for students with different learning needs. Give instructions orally and in writing as required. Modify inquiry-based questions to support students in doing more foundational questioning or to conduct more in-depth research. Use guided modelling and have students mirror the shapes, movements and patterns you are creating at first and then allow for more independent work. Have students work in small groups to scaffold students who may find the movements to be challenging.

Whole Class > The making of a Mosaic

Present to students an overview of the historical background and geometric shapes, patterns and designs used in Islamic Art and in showing images from the Aga Khan collection or from other examples so that the students can identify the different shapes, patterns and designs within them.  See BLM #9 - Backgrounder on Works of Art in the Aga Khan Museum, BLM #7 - Understanding some of the Symbolism of Geometric Shapes in Islamic Art, and BLM #10 - Artifacts from the Aga Khan Digital Collection

Small Groups > A Flocking of Shapes

The purpose of this activity is for students to work at first individually and then collaboratively in order to create movement pieces using flocking that represent the development of a mosaic using different shapes.

To begin this activity the  teacher will give each student one of four shapes - a circle, a triangle, a square or a polygon. The students will keep the shape they have been given through the different tasks in this activity.

Explain to the students that they will have 5 minutes to body storm different ways in which they can use their bodies to move in the the shape that they have been given.  Have the students find their own spaces in order to do this individual creative work.

Instruct students to get into groups based on the shape that they have been given. (This would mean 3-5 people with the same shape in each group). Ask the students to work together to create a 60 second movement piece using the dance strategy of flocking that combines the ideas that they came up with in their body storming and which embodies/demonstrates the ways in which the shape that they have been assigned moves.  Provide students with BLM #11 - Flocking of Shapes - Checklist of Movement Vocabulary to help them explore and set a piece to perform for the class.

Have students share with the class what they have created using their flocking movements.

Each student will take a turn taking the lead and the others will follow their lead in moving the ways in their shape would move.

Students may also want to experiment with the ideas of interrelationships and intersections, in particular in the transitions from one leader to another. The idea of interrelationships refers to how the shapes can physically connect with one another in order to create a  new shape or a combined shape. The intersection refers to how shapes  cross over one another when physically moving. Like two paths crossing over the other, in a way.  

Assess the performances using BLM #12 - Flocking the Shapes Performance Rubric

Small Groups > Activity: Mirror, Mirror… Broken Mirror… Mirror Mirror… Piece (Peace) it back together

The purpose of this activity is for students to now collaborate with other shapes in order to create a new movement piece using the concept of a mirror/broken mirror to explore ideas of symmetry which exist in the more free patterns found in Islamic art.

The activity will also allow for students to “play” with asymmetry and explore what happens when the mirror breaks its form. They will show how the fragmented pieces of the mirror can in fact ultimately be pieced back together to recreate unity of composition, similar to the ways in which pieces of a mosaic are fit back together and reassembled.

The teacher may want to review with the students the following connections in doing this mirror work.

  • Symmetrical Position: A symmetrical position is identical on the right and left sides of the body. It looks and feels stable, balanced and resolved. Think of a pyramid, or mirror image.
  • Symmetrical Sequence: A symmetrical sequence is one in which movements to the right are mirrored by movements to the left, and vice versa.
  • Asymmetrical Position: By contrast, an asymmetrical position is different on the right and left sides of the body. It suggests mobility and potential loss of balance. Think of actions that are unstable, lopsided or unbalanced.
  • Spatial Patterns: Spatial patterns, like body shapes, may display symmetry or asymmetry, suggesting stability and equilibrium versus irregularity and imbalance

Group the students into fours, and in combinations of shapes (ex. 2 circles with 2 squares, or 2 polygons with 2 triangles etc).

Tell students to keep in mind the types of shapes that they created in the previous activity, instruct them to make an image of symmetry. Ask them to stand in pairs (one of each shape on each side) and work together to improvise a series of mirrored movements.  The symmetry will work well when the movements are mirrored in shape as well as in timing.

After 60 seconds instruct one of the pairs to symbolically, and in a swift movement “break the mirror.” This will then create a shift in the “mirror” which will now “throw off” the symmetry.  This means that the pairs will shift their movements so that they will no longer be symmetrical and they will shift together to create asymmetry.  Tell students that when this happens, movements can start to go in opposite directions, timing can be off, movements can become exaggerated in size, shifts can happen in levels and the mirror can change its position in the space, the tempo/speed can increase or decrease etc.  All of this symmetry and asymmetry work is part of the experimentation of playing with design.

Note: This activity can be done with a common piece of music. It can then be decided by the students in listening to the music, at what point the “mirror will break.”

After another 60 seconds, instruct the opposite set of pairs to symbolically say “Peace” and the pairs will use a series of improvised moves to work their way gradually back from movements of asymmetry to movements of symmetry again in the mirror.

Key Questions for Discussion

Ask students to reflect on the concept of unity of source, diversity of expression in creating their flocking piece.

How did your movement piece show a sense of unity?
At what points were these movements more noticeable than others?
How did you work together as a collective to embody the senses of shape, pattern and design when the different leaders were leading?
Did you face any challenges when considering each of your diverse interpretations of the shapes and means of expression? How did you work together to resolve these challenges? Explain.

Ask students to reflect upon the process and the experience of mirroring the symmetry of the movements with their shapes and compare and contrast that with what happens with the symbolic “breaking of the mirror” which symbolizes a break in form.

What strategies did you use in order to ensure that there was a clear sense of symmetry?
How did this sense of balance and mirroring shift when the mirror was broken? How did your movements change?
What modifications did you make to your mirror to represent and reflect asymmetry?

Finally ask students to reflect in a written response about the following:

  • The concepts of unity and disunity and how in shifting their experimentation with mirror work this can be likened to the experience of how one shifts and moves from a situation of peace and harmony to one of conflict and discord
  • Students are to draw upon their creative process and decision making in this movement piece and use this as evidence for their reflection here.
  • They will then consider how collaboration can and must be used to overcome and work through a challenge of  piecing the broken mirror back together in representation peacemaking and/or reconciliation.  
  • They will also explain the role that they can play as individuals and as a collective in doing this work of reconciliation as people and in particular as artists-dramatists and dancers.

Connections:

This activity connects to the first lesson on storytelling, in looking at diversity of expression. It allows students to consider commonalities and differences in the interpretations of stories and also provides an embodied look at experiences of calm and symmetry and also conflict/fragmentation and asymmetry and the need to work in collaboration to piece/peace back together the fragmented pieces of the mosaic/components of the story.

Differentiation

The mirrored movements here can be done seated or standing and can consist of varying tempos and levels in order to meet the movement abilities of all group members. Students may be grouped in order to scaffold students in doing this collaborative work.

Assessment for learning:

Students will be assessed for learning by teacher observation of the creative use of their bodies to make particular shapes (circles, squares, triangles) using various parts of their body and also for their abilities to move in patterns relating to the shapes. This assessment will be done during the two Mind’s On Activities.

Assessment as learning

Students will be assessed for their ability to work both individually in bodystorming and collaboratively to create a performance of movements of shapes using their bodies and the movement strategy of flocking.

Assessment of learning

Students will present their Flocking of Shapes movement piece to the class and will be evaluated on their use of the elements of dance and abilities to work collaboratively to show intersections and interrelationships using similar and different shapes. Their work will be evaluated on a rubric.

Action!

Small Group > Creating a Dance Map

Students will work with shapes/patterns and designs which represents the concepts of intersection and interrelationships found in mosaics, tessellations and arabesques in Islamic art.

In continuing with our shape, design and patterning work in this lesson, this summative performance task will involve students working both individually and collaboratively to create a series of movements and combinations which they will share as part of a circular dance taking place within a cypher. “A dance cypher is the area of the dance floor that is open to those who wish to dance in it. A cypher is also a sacred space to those who build and partake in them, thus, every cypher has rules.” These rules include:

  • No unwanted physical contact.
  • There is a time limit.
  • Generally one person at a time, but there is flexibility in this if two or more dancers consent to dance with each other.
  • A space must be filled and held.
  • A cypher’s edge must only be occupied by its participants.
  • There are no props allowed.
  • Everyone in the cypher must respect the vibe

Source: https://medium.com/cuepoint/9-dance-cipher-rules-no-one-ever-told-you-7ad4cd1817d8#.tog757485

Put students into groups of 5, ‘jigsaw style’ with one student from each shape group (circle, square, triangle, polygon, octagon). These can be cut out from BLM #8 - Shapes and students can select or the teacher can assign to the students randomly.

Instruct students to create a movement piece wherein each student will move according to their shape, and will combine their work to create a series of intersections and interrelationships with the other shapes. Considerations of the Elements of Dance (Movement, Body, Energy, Space, Time and Relationship) must be taken into account in the creation of the piece.

Students are to be given time individually to bodystorm how they might connect with the other shapes and then will be invited to work collaboratively with their other team members to create a composition.  It might be useful to introduce a series of conditions here, based on the level of knowledge and experience of the students with movement.

In order to shape the performance piece, instruct students to work together to create a Dance Map which will enable them to plot out and map out the beginning, middle and ending of their piece; help to see the direction and trajectory of their work and to work out the types of levelling, shapes and number of beats to sustain a particular movement.

Ask each student to begin by creating their own Dance Map which after practice and rehearsal will be combined into one larger Dance Map that will include the movements of all group members

Give each student a piece of chart paper or a piece of 11x 17 paper as well as a pencil/crayon/marker.

  1. Ask the student to first draw three points (dots) anywhere on the paper.
  2. Next, ask the students to draw a pathway that is not a straight line but that will connect the three points.
  3. Ask the students to label the three points “beginning,” “middle,” and “end”.
  4. Then along the pathway, mark 5 other places using hash marks (||).
    1. Underneath each set of hash marks, write the following:
      1. a level (high, medium, low),
      2. the type of movement that will be embodied (to represent the shape that the is the student’s focus for this task),
      3. and a number between 1 and 8 (representing the numbering of beats)

In doing this drawing, the student has mapped out their individual dance.

Individual and Small Group > Kaleidoscope Cipher of Shapes

Now in an open space, have students walk the pathway as it is shown on their paper.  

Ask the students to walk the pathway a second time in order to commit the pathway and its components to memory. Students should ensure that they are beginning and ending at the correct places they have drop and that the direction of their movements is identical to what they have drawn.

Ask the students to walk the pathway a third time, noticing this time where the hashtags are which indicate a pause and the number 1-8 will indicate the number of seconds the student will stay in that space, and based on what they wrote on their map, what embodied shape that they will make here.

Instruct students to combine their individual maps in their groups to create one large map or combined map which will begin to illustrate the points of intersection and the interrelationships that they are making together while in the cipher.

Have students in their groups repeat steps their choreography and experiment with tempo, musical accompaniment etc. All in all the movement piece will represent a kaleidoscope and will show the ways in which shapes interact with each other to create patterns and unified designs (similar to those of a mosaic).

Once the groups have rehearsed and have modelled their work for the class, invite all the groups to begin by standing in a large circle. Based on the departure points of the students in their movement pieces, they may choose to stand side by side or at different points around the circle.

Invite each student one by one to step inside of the circle to identify their presence and commitment to being part of a unified cipher in the circle.  Ask them to take turns crossing the circle and in doing so offer peace to the group who will be sharing in the unity of source and the diversity of expression in the cipher.

Once every student has travelled through the space, the cipher is ready to begin. With the students, determine the order in which the groups will share their work in the centre of the cipher. Inform them that a group’s movement piece has ended in a “freeze” and will signify a transition to the next group.

As the movements are going on in the centre of the cipher, each member on the outside of the circle should maintain a high degree of focus and energy in supporting the students in the piece both in spirit and in creating a unifying energy. Once the cipher has begun in the centre of the circle, the outside circle will slowly begin to move, in the same way that a kaleidoscope is twisted in order to initiate a shift in the shape, pattern and design of the corrected mosaic at its centre. The kaleidoscope will continue to move until all groups have performed in the centre of the circle.

Key Questions for Discussion

How did you feel being part of the cipher? Describe your emotions prior to going into the cipher, while in the cipher and after you completed your turn in the cipher.  
What strategies did you use in order to show diversity of expression both individually and with your group?
How useful did you find using your Dance Map in order to remember the sequence of your movements and the progression of your journey throughout the cypher?
How is doing this mindmapping for dance similar or different from the ways in which blocking is noted in drama, or how stage management notation is done to mark the positioning, movement and placement of performers, sets and props.
What collaborative strategies did you use with your group in order to show intersections, interrelationships, patterns, symmetry, asymmetry, tessellations?

Extension

Have the students complete an BLM #13 - Exit Card - Creating a Kaleidoscopic-Cipher Reflection

Connections

This activity is great preparation for the movement based work that students will be doing in Lesson 3 that asks them to tell the story behind an artifact from the Aga Khan Museum collection and how it came to have been acquired by the museum.

Students will have also worked sufficiently on using embodied inquiry to answer some of their questions about the ways in which they can use shapes to show how pieces of a mosaic come together and create patterns of intersection and relationships.

Students will also have reflected on the creative process and their performance based work through these guided-inquiry activities and should be ready to do some independent individual and collaborative inquiry-based work using both drama and dance strategies in lesson 3.

This work also introduces students to selected objects and artifacts in the Aga Khan collection which they will be working with in Lesson 3. Students will have had sufficient introduction to the element of design and characteristics of Islamic art as well.

Differentiation

All students should be able to participate in these movement activities and will choose to use their own bodies in ways that are comfortable and suited to their levels of mobility.

Students may be placed in multiple ability groups and teachers may offer side coaching and additional support by scaffolding students with a stronger foundation and background in movement-based work to support other learners.

Assessment for learning

Students will be assessed for their ability to move parts of their bodies and their entire selves in creating shapes, patterns and designs which reflect and represent the concepts of intersections, interrelationships and patterns as seen in exemplars of Islamic art.

Assessment as learning

Students will work both individually and in small groups to create a movement piece to be shared in dance cipher which represents the concept of a kaleidoscope of movements based on shapes and patterns.

Students will plan out their individual and collective works using an assignment of a Dance Map.

Assessment of learning

Students will present their movement pieces in a dance cipher which requires them to show how 5 different shapes can interact and interrelate in the ways in which a moving kaleidoscope does (likened to a shifting mosaic).

Students will complete an Exit Card as a reflective piece on their roles, contributions and emotional response while participating in the cipher.