Refer to Appendix 1 for Curriculum Expectations.

Learning Goals

Buts d'apprentissage
Drama
I can:
  • respond to a partner in role with words and movement
  • share my feelings and ideas  by speaking, drawing and writing
  • use my face and body to make shapes to match different characters that are powerful or powerless 
Drame

Je peux :

  • répondre à un partenaire dans un rôle par des mots et des mouvements
  • partager mes sentiments et mes idées en parlant, en dessinant et en écrivant
  • utiliser mon visage et mon corps pour créer des formes correspondant à différents personnages puissants ou impuissants
Language
  I can: 
  • identify how the destruction of the park affected people's lives differently depending on who they are and what they use it for
  • help my class draft a letter to the mayor to tell him what's wrong with the park and what we want him to do to help by using the proper form for a letter and persuasive and respectful language
Littératie

Je peux :

  • identifier comment la destruction du parc a affecté la vie des gens différemment en fonction de leur identité et de l'usage qu'iels en font
  • aider ma classe à rédiger une lettre au maire pour lui dire ce qui ne va pas avec le parc et ce que nous voulons qu'iel fasse pour l'aider en utilisant la forme appropriée pour une lettre et un langage persuasif et respectueux.

Materials

Approximately 15 minutes

Minds On //
Esprit en marche

Notes/Assessment

Overview

In this lesson, students will meet 4 different members of a fictitious community whose lives have been adversely affected by the destruction of their local park. CLEach has a different point of view for the students to consider.CL Students will be taught what actions citizens can take when faced with a community problem.

Guiding questions will be:
  • What happens when a community space is compromised?
  • What can I do if someones voice is not heard? 
  • Who's voice is missing from this discussion?
  • CL How do members of a community rely on each other?
  • CL  How does hearing multiple people's stories help better understand a problem? 
  • CLWhat actions can I take as a citizen when I have a problem in my community?

Les questions directrices seront les suivantes :

  • Que se passe-t-il lorsqu'un espace communautaire est compromis ?
  • Que puis-je faire si quelqu'un n'est pas entendu ?
  • Qui n'a pas voix au chapitre dans cette discussion ?
  • Comment les membres d'une communauté s'appuient-ils les uns sur les autres ?
  • En quoi le fait d'entendre les histoires de plusieurs personnes permet-il de mieux comprendre un problème ?
  • Quelles actions puis-je entreprendre en tant que citoyen lorsque je suis confronté à un problème dans ma communauté ?

Individual > Pairs > Movement Exploration //
Individu > En partenaires > Exploration du mouvement

Tell students that soon you're going to be meeting some people who are facing a really big problem that's making them feel powerless.CL Explain that they're going to experiment with what it feels like to be powerful and powerless so that can better understand how to help them.  
 
Clear a large space in the room and have students walk in a circle. Tell them that when you call out a word, they have to stop and make a frozen picture of that word using their whole body. When they're in their shapes, ask them to think about what it feels like to be that way and then have them unfreeze and continue moving in a circle until they hear the next word. (See sidebar for sample words to call out.)
 
When you are about halfway through your list, have students get into two lines, facing each other so that each student in one line has a partner in the other. Label the lines A and B. Tell students that when you call out the next few words, line A will do an action and line B will react to the action. After a couple of words, switch so that B is the actor and A is the reactor.
 
Add another column to the movement chart called Body Shapes//Formes du corps and list some of the body shapes they made during the movement exercise. (See CODE's Éléments de danse resource for French vocabulary).

Whole Group Discussion > What Do We Do When We Feel Powerless? //
Discussion de la classe entière > Qu'est-ce que nous faisons quand nous nous sentons impuissant.e.s ?

Engage students in a discussion of how it felt to be powerless or weak. Encourage students to make connections to violated land rights and Indigenous People. Try to come up with strategies about what we can do when we are feeling this way. 
Assessment of Learning (AoL)
Since they've created frozen images throughout the unit, this could be a good time to evaluate the quality of the shapes students are generating using the success criteria established during the statue work.
Sample Prompts for Movement Exploration:

*dragon attacking a village
*monster smashing a car
*mouse hiding from a cat
*kitten who's being chased by dog
*bully yelling at a classmate
*someone who's being teased
*baby who can't reach her/his bottle
*bolt of lightning crashing down
*tornado
*delicate flower in a windstorm

//

*un dragon attaquant un village
*un monstre qui détruit une voiture
*souris se cachant d'un chat
*chaton poursuivi par un chien
*un tyran qui crie sur un camarade de classe
*quelqu'un qui se fait taquiner
*bébé qui n'arrive pas à atteindre son biberon
*un coup de foudre qui s'abat sur le sol
*tornade
*fleur délicate dans une tempête de vent
Approximately 180 minutes

Action!

Notes/Assessment

Whole Group > Teacher in Role //
Classe entière > Enseignant.e en rôle

Explain to students that you are going to adopt the role of an elder in the community who uses the park every day: Mrs. Ahmed (change the name as relevant in your local community). Inform students that she grew up in the neighbourhood and has been helping care for the park for many years. Every spring, she leads a community clean-up to pick up garbage in our park. She played in the park when she was a little girl and now she looks after several children in the neighbourhood who play in the park often. She is paying a special visit to the classroom.

Expliquez aux élèves que vous allez jouer le rôle d'une personne âgée de la communauté qui utilise le parc tous les jours: Mme Ahmed (modifiez le nom en fonction de votre communauté locale). Informez les élèves qu'elle a grandi dans le quartier et qu'elle contribue à l'entretien du parc depuis de nombreuses années. Chaque printemps, elle organise un nettoyage communautaire pour ramasser les ordures dans notre parc. Elle jouait dans le parc lorsqu'elle était petite fille et s'occupe maintenant de plusieurs enfants du quartier qui jouent souvent dans le parc. Elle rend une visite spéciale à la classe.

Prompt: Why might she need to see us?

Invitation: Pourquoi a-t-elle besoin de nous voir ?

 
Begin the role play with a clear signal that you are now in role as Mrs. Ahmed, e.g., use a simple prop such as a scarf or name tag.  Be welcomed by student greeters and sit in the specially-assigned seat.  In role, improvise or use Appendix 7 - Elder Prompts (take out lines that are a call to action, and just have her tell her story for now).
 
Commencez le jeu de rôle en indiquant clairement que vous jouez le rôle de Mme Ahmed, par exemple en utilisant un simple accessoire tel qu'une écharpe ou un badge.  Soyez accueilli(e) par les élèves qui vous accueillent et asseyez-vous à la place qui vous a été attribuée.  Dans le rôle, improvisez ou utilisez l'Annexe 7 - Les messages des aînés (retirez les lignes qui appellent à l'action et laissez-la raconter son histoire pour l'instant).
 
After Mrs. Ahmed has shared her story, explain that there are others from the community that have also been affected by the ruin of the park and that they will also  be coming in to share their stories.
 
Une fois que Mme Ahmed a raconté son histoire, expliquez que d'autres membres de la communauté ont également été touchés par la destruction du parc et qu'ils viendront eux aussi raconter leur histoire.

Whole Group > Shared Writing //
Classe entière > Écriture partagée

Out of role, invite students to complete the following information on a  pre-set chart which has four categories running horizontally across the top of the page which read:
  • What they liked to do in the park // Ce qu'iel aimé faire dans le parc
  • How their life was affected by the park being ruined // Comment la destruction du parc a affecté leur vie
  • Things that need to be fixed // Les choses à réparer
This chart will be revisited as new characters come in to share their stories and will be referenced later in the unit.

Whole Group > Teacher in Role as Visitors from the Community //
Classe entière > L'enseignant.e joue le rôle des visiteurs de la communauté

Next, have three more guests, in sequence, visit to share how they also use the park and how they've been affected by its destruction. See Appendix 8 - Park Friends Prompts for a synopsis of each person's story. Record the information you gather from each visit onto the chart.
 
Note: Classroom teacher may play all three roles or a community volunteer, student teacher, another staff member, parent helper or older student in another class may take on these roles.

Demandez ensuite à trois autres invités, dans l'ordre, de venir raconter comment ils utilisent eux aussi le parc et comment ils ont été affectés par sa destruction. Reportez-vous à l'Annexe 8 - Les messages des amis du parc pour obtenir un résumé de l'histoire de chaque personne. Inscrivez au tableau les informations recueillies lors de chaque visite.

Remarque : L'enseignant.e peut jouer les trois rôles ou un bénévole de la communauté, un élève-enseignant, un autre membre du personnel, un parent aidant ou un élève plus âgé d'une autre classe peut jouer ces rôles.

Whole Group > Discussion //
Classe entière > Discussion

Once the students have met the three other community members lead a brief summary discussion.

Une fois que les élèves ont rencontré les trois autres membres de la communauté, animez une brève discussion de synthèse.

Prompts:
  • Does it seem fair to you that all of these people who rely on the park can no longer use it?
  • CL What can citizens of a community do when something in their community needs fixing?
  • Who can we take our problem to?

Invitations:

  • Te semble-t-il juste que toutes ces personnes qui dépendent du parc ne puissent plus l'utiliser?
  • CL Que peuvent faire les citoyens d'une communauté lorsque quelque chose dans leur communauté a besoin d'être réparé?
  • À qui pouvons-nous soumettre notre problème?
If students say that they could go in and fix things, acknowledge that that's a potential solution and that we may indeed offer to help do some of the work but warn them that lifting heavy objects and dealing with broken glass is dangerous, and the materials to clean/rebuild are expensive.

Si les élèves disent qu'iles pourraient aller réparer les choses, reconnaissez que c'est une solution potentielle et que nous pourrions effectivement proposer d'aider à faire une partie du travail, mais prévenez-les qu'il est dangereux de soulever des objets lourds et de s'occuper de verre brisé, et que les matériaux pour nettoyer/reconstruire sont chers.

If students don't come up with the mayor/city councilor, tell them that when there is a problem with a building or park in a community, we go to the mayor to fix it.
 
Si les élèves n'évoquent pas le maire ou le conseiller municipal, dites-leur que lorsqu'il y a un problème avec un bâtiment ou un parc dans une communauté, nous nous adressons au maire pour qu'il le résolve.
 
Prompts: Since many people live in a city, we need a leader who is good at making decisions and coming up with solutions to problems. In Ontario, the people in the city vote for/get to pick the person who'll be their leader and part of their job is to listen to the people when they are making a decision.
 
Invitation : Étant donné que de nombreuses personnes vivent dans une ville, nous avons besoin d'un leader qui sait prendre des décisions et trouver des solutions aux problèmes. En Ontario, les habitants de la ville votent pour choisir la personne qui sera leur chef et une partie de son travail consiste à écouter les gens lorsqu'iel prend une décision.

Whole Group > Shared Writing In Role

In role as Mrs. Ahmed, thank the students for listening to the stories that you and your friends had to share. Explain that if the students really want to help, they need to get the mayor involved by writing a letter informing him/her about the problem and asking him/her to do something about it.
Tell the students that, as an active community member, you've had to write letters to the mayor before. CL  Remind the students that when writing to a government official, it is important to use polite, formal language. Also, emphasize that it is important to be persuasive, as the mayor receives many letters requesting help every day.
Divide a piece of chart paper into three sections horizontally to represent the opening, the body and the closing of the letter.
In the opening of the letter, tell your students that you need to say who you are, what the problem is and what you would like the mayor to do.
In the body of the letter, have students refer to the chart they completed after the guest visits to review what needs to be fixed/repaired. For each item that needs repairing, have the students write a sentence or two explaining why it is important that it be fixed by describing how it is affecting people's lives. They can pull their arguments from the guest visitors' stories or from their own experience.
In the closing, be sure to thank the mayor for listening and offer to meet him if he has any questions.
Once the letter has been written, review it and see if it sounds convincing enough. Encourage students to replace neutral words with strong, passionate words to be more persuasive.
Assessment for Learning 
(AfL)
Clipboard of checklist and class list to check off who is participating and make notes on sticky notes about the quality of their observations/contributions.  
Tips and Considerations
Note: when explaining and preparing students for teacher in role as the community elder, Mrs. A, be sure to explain that this event is fiction and we are not talking about a real park that was vandalized. Some primary students may think this event is really happening.
Possible Extension:
Invite an actual local politician in to explain and talk about their job as a city councillor, Elder, etc., and how they help people.
Approximately __ minutes

Consolidation

Notes/Assessment

Whole Group > Signing and Delivering the Letter //
Groupe entier > Signature et remise de la lettre

Have the students sign their names at the bottom of the letter to show their solidarity. CLExplain to them that having a lot of people from a community express the same opinion about a problem helps to get it resolved because the mayor can see that it is affecting many people and not just one or two.
 
Demandez aux élèves de signer leur nom au bas de la lettre pour montrer leur solidarité. CLExpliquez-leur que le fait qu'un grand nombre de personnes d'une communauté expriment la même opinion sur un problème aide à le résoudre, car le maire peut voir qu'il affecte de nombreuses personnes et pas seulement une ou deux.
 
Pack the letter into an oversized envelope addressed to the Mayor at City Hall. Thank the children for their care, concern and creativity and tell them that you will mail the letter on your way home.

Mettez la lettre dans une enveloppe surdimensionnée adressée au maire à l'hôtel de ville. Remerciez les enfants pour leur attention, leur préoccupation et leur créativité et dites-leur que vous posterez la lettre en rentrant chez vous.

Individual > Exit Card //
Individuel > Carte de sortie

Hand out exit cards and have students complete the following writing prompt:
  • When people are unhappy with something in the community they can______.
Let students complete the sentence without discussion to see how much they've internalized.

Distribuez les cartes de sortie et demandez aux élèves de répondre au questionnaire suivant:

  • Lorsque les gens sont mécontents de quelque chose dans la communauté, iels peuvent ______.

Laissez les élèves compléter la phrase sans discussion pour voir dans quelle mesure iels l'ont intériorisée.
Assessment for Learning 
(AfL)
Collect students' exit card reflections to determine the current level of understanding students have about the powers of individuals within a community and how community problems could be solved.
Differentiated Instruction 
(DI)
If students are not able to write independently, allow them to draw a picture of their ideas instead.