Lesson 7 - Becoming Informed - Reaching Out

Drama

 B1.2 Creating and Presenting: demonstrate an understanding of the elements of drama by selecting and manipulating multiple elements and conventions to create and enhance a variety of drama works and shared drama experiences.

Drama

 I can:

• use the elements of drama and to create and enhance my movement phrase based on statistics about depression
• make connections between the work that I and my peers are creating in relation to depression and mental health

Dance

 A1.2  Creating and Presenting: use dance as a language to communicate messages about themes of social justice and/or environmental health

A2.2 Reflecting, Responding, and Analysing: analyse, using dance vocabulary, their own and others’ dance pieces to identify the elements of dance and the choreographic forms used in them

Dance

I can:

• understand how dance is used as a language to communicate statistics or symptoms of depression or mental health
• use dance vocabulary to analyze my dance work and others' dance work and identify the elements of dance and the choreographic forms used

Language

1.3 Reading: identify a variety of reading comprehension strategies and use them appropriately before, during, and after reading to understand increasingly complex or difficult texts

1.1 Media Literacy: explain how a variety of media texts address their intended purpose and audience

Language

 I can:

• use reading comprehension strategies to better understand what I am reading and to assist me with interpreting the text in BLM #12
• interpret the meaning of and purpose for the graffiti poster as a public service announcement

Media Literacy > Critical Analysis

Invite students to view  Appendix #4: Graffiti Poster (print or electronic projection). Ask them to jot down their first impressions in their learning logs. 

Prompts: What do you see? What stands out for you?

Small Groups > Graffiti 

Invite each group to brainstorm words, phrases and images in response to the following questions listed below.  Each group will rotate around adding responses to each question.

Signal to the students when it is time to move to the next chart paper, adding to the previous group's response. Keep the pace consistent to create energy and an urgency in the discussion and writing. REPEAT until students have had an opportunity to respond to each question.

Graffiti Wall Critical Literacy Questions:

• How are the images, graphics and words composed to create meaning in the poster?
• Who do you imagine created it and for what purpose?
• Who benefits from this ad being in the public?
• What values and points of view are represented in this text?
• Are there any other voices you would want represented in this poster?  Who specifically?
• What meaning do you, personally, interpret from this text?

Teacher Notes

Prepare the chart paper in advance with one question written on each piece.

Ensure that you have read BLM #12: Statistics/symptoms/facts thoroughly and are prepared to answer questions that may come out of the symptoms of depression/statistics about mental health.

Each year, Ontarians mark the first full week of May as Children's Mental Health Week. This important week is about:

• increasing awareness of the signs of child and youth mental health problems
• decreasing stigma, and
• understanding that help is available and it works!

Small Group > Read-Aloud 

Handout BLM #12: Statistics/symptoms/facts and ask students to read some statistics and facts about depression (first alone and then aloud moving around the circle). Invite students in groups of 5 to choose one symptom, statistic, form of support or personal statement which resonates with them.

Small Groups > Dance Phrase > Bodystorming

Tell students that they will be creating dance pieces for R, as a way of reaching out, challenging stigma and validating her struggles. It is also an opportunity for her (R) to learn more about how she might connect with support.

Instruct students to bodystorm and create a short movement phrase (maximum one minute) based on two ideas:
1. Interpreting the concept of "1 in 5" from the graffiti poster
2. Interpreting the essence of your group's chosen symptom or statistic

Encourage students to refer to the elements of dance (Relationship, Energy, Space, Body and Time) with particular focus on relationship, to create a phrase that will reflect and communicate the information effectively.  Ask students to find an interesting way to integrate some of the text into the dance work.

Small Groups > Peer Feedback

Invite pairs to join with another group and give each other areas of strengths and areas for improvement.  The following ideas could be written on the board to facilitate this discussion.

Areas of Strength:
-message is easily portrayed or depicted through movement
-use of levels and space are effective in communicating the message
-students use body and facial expressions with a high degree of understanding
-movements are clear and use fluid transitions which assist in expressing the message

Areas for Improvements:
-movement ideas could more effectively represent or communicate the message
-the elements of dance could be integrated more often and with greater clarity to help express the message
-body and facial expressions could be more dynamic to express message
-movements could be clearer and transitions more fluid in order to to express the message with a high degree of clarity

Pairs > Revise, Refine, Perform

Invite students to revise and refine their phrase based on peer feedback.  Allow students 15 minutes to do this.  Observe the groups carefully and sequence the pieces together in an order that is meaningful. (e.g., symptoms to treatment, etc.)

Whole Group > Reflection > Discussion

Facilitate a whole group discussion using the following Prompts: What have you learned about mental illness? What have you learned about the information itself through physicalizing it? Do you better understand R now?

Ask students to think-write-pair-share and then use the talk around strategy to share their responses.

Whole Group > Elevation of Awareness and Knowledge > Empty Chair

Share with students that R is receiving help and support from her family and from professionals. 

Invite students to form a circle around an empty chair. Tell students that the 'empty chair' represents someone else who might be struggling with depression or another mental illness.  

Ask students to think about all that they have come to understand, choose one thing they want this 'imagined person' to know. (you may choose to have them write first). Ask them to complete one of the following sentence stems:

I will...
I believe...
I understand....

On a  signal, invite each student to step forward and address the imagined person with their statement.

Assessment for Learning (AfL)

Circulate and give feedback to students during the bodystorming activity.  Remind students to refer to the elements of dance anchor chart as a checklist for guiding their dance creation.
 

Use BLM #13: Writing in Role Rubric to assess students' writing work. Provide feedback to students acknowledging both the strengths and specific suggestions for improvement.

Circulate and observe how students incorporate peer feedback during the revision phase of their dance creations. Invite each group to perform 2 times so that you can record anecdotal comments about each piece.

Assessment as Learning (AaL)

Use the Talk Around Strategy and Whole Group Discussion to gauge student comprehension of the statistics/symptoms and facts related to depression.

Assessment of Learning (AoL)

Use BLM #13: Writing in Role Rubric to evaluate student writing. Use as evaluation only if students have had enough time and opportunity to practice and incorporate feedback from Lesson 5.

Differentiated Instruction (DI)

Offer students choice with respect to the content of their dance work. Allow students to incorporate words and text into their dance work. Allow students to draw instead of write their response for the writing stems.

Tips and Considerations

The teacher may need to assist students with the connection between words and movements. Use the elements of dance to generate movement ideas, reminding students that everyday pedestrian movements convey a lot of meaning and that gestures can be powerful. Group formations can also be used to interpret and represent statistics.

A small mini-lesson may be required to go over elements of dance and perhaps even compositional forms and tools.

It is important to remind students that they are only representing the research and in no way are they themselves becoming the character with depression.

Remind students that when giving feedback it is important to be sensitive and to start with a strength, then give an area(s) for improvement and then end with another strength.

The small group pieces may be danced in silence or using music.

Hyperlinks

Pre-reading for the teacher can be found in many place such as:

The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health
www.camh.net

Caring Minds (Wonderful, Relevant Historical and Current material related to Mental Health)
www.caringminds.ca

Children's Mental Health Ontario
http://www.kidsmentalhealth.ca/ news_and_events/CMHW_2010.php

Canadian Mental Health Association
https://cmha.ca/bins/index.asp

Ontario Division
http://www.ontario.cmha.ca

To explore Health and Mental Health from a variety of perspectives including Aboriginal and Traditional Chinese Medicine see the following link;
http://www.caringminds.ca/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=
70&Itemid=112&lang=en

GLOBE AND MAIL SERIES-breaking through - many articles, stories, videos on mental health and stigma.
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/special-reports/breaking-through/
www.youthnet.on.ca

Distress Centers Ontario
http://www.dcontario.org

Whole Group > BLM #13: Writing in Role Rubric

Share with students that they will write in role as R and that this piece of writing will be assessed (or evaluated) using the rubric. Review the criteria for rubric before they start.

Individual > Writing in Role > Imagining a Future

Ask students to imagine that it is 10 years later. R is writing to one of the people who was central to her understanding of her depression and journey to wellness (mother, father, sibling, friend, support person, teacher, herself, other). Invite students to share their writing with a partner. Prompts: What might she say to this person about how they helped her or supported her?

Tips

Encourage students to use the appropriate terms and language around mental and emotional health that they have learned throughout the lesson.