Independent Project Portfolio

“The Art Lesson” by Tomie de Paola:

Directing Narrative Pantomime and Instant Illustrations for Children’s Theatre

Andrea Franco

IB Theatre HL

Instructor: Ms. Espinosa

9 April 2013

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Table of Contents

Introduction………………………………………………………………………………………..3

A. Preparation………………………………………………………………………………..4

Synopsis and Uses of Biographical Narrative “ The Art Lesson” by Tomie de Paola.5

Combining Narrative Pantomime and Instant Illustrations with Children’s Theatre…6

Lesson Plan……………………………………………………………………………8

B. Process

Specific Scenes and Observations…………………………………………………….9

Reflection…………………………………………………………………………….11

C. Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………….14

D. Bibliography…………………………………………………………………………….

E. Appendix

The Effectiveness:

Interview with Elementary Teacher…………………………………………16

Interview with Elementary Student…………………………………………17

Pantomime Techniques and Body Language:

Power Point Presentation Slides................................................................................18

Introduction

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Throughout the development of this project, I have taken the role of a director in devising

an effective plan for supervising a theatre workshop for elementary students based on Creative

Theatre and Children’s Theatre practices. Being a student at a small charter school composed of

students from the ages of kindergarten to twelfth grade, working with a second grade class was

facilitated by remoteness. Although it did require the obtainment of permission from the

instructor, Mrs. Simons, my familiarity with the age group in this project due to having a sibling

in the same class was a great advantage.

In an endeavor to enforce the content was being taught inside the classroom, I inquired

what theme of stories were being read in the classroom. In turn, I was provided with the title

“The Art Lesson,” an autobiographical story written by the widely recognized Italian children’s

author Tomie de Paola. With there being a total of 25 students involved in the activity, I was

focused on finding an all-inclusive theatre practice for the basis of a theatre workshop in which

all of the students could actively participate. The methods narrative pantomime and instant

illustration methods, as described by Matt Buchanan, a professional playwright and composer

from New England specializing in theatre involving youth, caught my attention mainly due to its

applicability with any age group and drama skill level.

A. Preparation

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My approach to this project was to use all available resources to compose a

comprehensive plan of initiatives in educating a young group of children. In turn,

collaborating with an elementary teacher before all other tasks was vital to the

completion of the goals. Communication about my project was done via e-mail through

the internet as shown below:

Message Sent:

Hello Ms.Simons,

I am Andrea Franco, a high school senior attempting to obtain an IB Diploma. I am wondering if I may teach a creative dramatics lesson to your class during the week of March 25 through March 29. If so, I would need to coordinate with you about which type of things your students are currently learning in class. This information would provide the basis for my lesson plan, as creative dramatics revolves around a certain ability (i.e. understanding others, pantomime practice, improvisation, swift response to demand/question..)

It would be awesome if you have a story your class is reading, as I can use it to do a simple dramatization, problem-solving exercise, or a narrative pantomime---my favorite since it involves each student independently physically interpreting the roles of a protagonist through the five senses.

I really hope I can do this with your class, please let me know which times would work for you.Also it would be very useful if I can get the number of boys and girls in your class.And if you are not available during this time, could you please refer me to an elementary teacher who might be. :)Thankyou,Andrea Franco

Message Received:

Hi Andrea,

This sounds amazing and we would love to participate! Next week, we will be reading a story called, "The Art Lesson" by Tomie dePaola. It focuses on how the author uses words and pictures to tell his story. Often, the art in the story portrays a message that is not directly written in the text.

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Tomie dePaola is known not only as a great children's author, but a fantastic artist and illustrator. One theme in this story is about how art plays an important part in our lives.Would you like to come next Thursday or Friday at 9:00? Either day would work out well for us.I have 12 boys and 13 girls in my class. Let me know anything you may need!! I look forward to working with you and seeing you next week.

Take care, Ms. Simons

Synopsis and Uses of Biographical Narrative “ The Art Lesson”

by Tomie de Paola

Characters from The Art Lesson by Tomie dePaola:

NarratorMiss Bird TommyMomMiss Landers JackDad

Mrs. Bowers

HerbieTom and Nana JeannieNana-Fall-River Two Cousins

Joe

Summary:

Tommy desires to be an artist because he enjoys drawing over all things. He practices

drawing diligently when his two adult cousins who attend art school advise him to do so, telling

him to never copy. As a birthday present, Tommy is given a box of crayons that he decides to

take to school. He wanted to use his crayons at school, but he is told by his teacher Mrs. Bower,

that he must only use the school crayons. In turn, he does not desire to follow the direction to

copy Mrs. Bower’s drawing, despite the fact that if he does as she says, she will allow him to use

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his own crayons. Tommy decides to follow directions and draws his own pictures, which he still

continues.

Outline of Expected Physical Images to be Created:

Stop 1: Tommy’s mother becomes upset that he has drawn on his sheets.

Stop 2 : Tommy walks home from school, and a strong wind blows his art work off a piece of

paper.

Stop 3: Tommy receives a gift of 64 Crayola crayons from his parents.

Stop 4: Teacher Mrs. Bowers draws her own picture on the board for the class to replicate.

Combining Narrative Pantomime and Instant Illustrations in Children’s

Theatre

Narrative pantomime and instant illustration work very well in conjunction. In a narrative

pantomime, each student involved is given the opportunity to act individually without verbal

interaction as if they were the protagonist of the story, Tommy, in this case. Likewise, in

practicing instant illustration, a given story is read or told aloud and paused at certain points to

allow students to create a picture of a scene silently, with their bodies in “frozen tableau.” There

will be relatively low involvement with this technique given the limitations associated with the

age group.

Creative drama emphasizes the creation of a product through a learning process in which

a full class of a wide range of expertise and age may participate in an acting exercise. In

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development of an approach towards teaching the students, there was much influence from the

Lecoq school method. Jaques Lecoq is an international theatre artist and instructor who created

his own philosophy of performance, improvisation, and movement. His technique for teaching

calls for the following:

o Emphasis on improvisation and rules of movement techniques

o Process of teaching:

1. begins with the investigation of psychological play, which is silent

practice in development of characters meant to develop the “receptive and

expressive potential of the human body,” (Lecoq 14)

2. follows with an exploration of nature which enriches character acting

3. gestures are studied in a “geodramatic journey,” involving five areas that

include Melodrama and grand emotions (Lecoq 15)

The emphasis on emotions as carried out in the lesson plan was established through an

applied technique called the “developmental method,” which calls for the progression of simple

to more complex procedures, (Lecoq15). This concept was applied in terms of the order of

presentation of the emotions in the slideshow since they follow an order of most to least familiar.

Similarly, this activity as a whole was encompassed by a “transfer method,” which Lecoq

describes as, “moving from physical technique to dramatic expression,” (15). This is apparent in

the sequencing of introducing emotions in a miming exercise to the actual instant illustrations,

also known as “storyteller miming” which is the alternation between a read story and gestural

language that occurs traditionally in China and Africa, (103). In such a given situation, there is

an obvious shift from the comfortable to applicable characters and situations.

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In the development of the central pantomime aspect of this activity, an

investigation of the practice was undergone. Pantomime originates from fairground theatre in

which performers primarily used gestures to communicate given the loud noise surrounding

them, which is basically known as “white pantomime,” which calls for the use of hand gestures

and body tone. Ultimately, certain syntax is created through symbolism that differs from

common language. Due to this, it is evident that comprehension of a story for students recreating

a scene by reconstructing phrases “…demands clarity, economy, and precision of meaning,”

(101). As the students listen to the story, it is expected that not every word will easily physically

translatable. They realize facial transitions occur with complete fragments of meaning. For

example, when the character Tommie receives a gift, there is no instruction for his facial

emotion, the story does not say he smiles or grimaces. This must be deduced as a possibility for

performance when he story does say that Tomie is pleased to receive his gift. In this sense,

theatre involving young individuals is beneficial as their increased ability to imagine widens the

amount of possibilities for performance to create a dynamic work.

Lesson Plan

Objectives:

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Discuss how facial and body movement can portray different messages, especially when

speech is absent

Explain how appealing to a character from a story can help you visually interpret their

feelings

Emphasize the importance of relating to characters, considering your own experiences, in

order to understand stories and their message

Framing and Process

1. While the students sit, start by introducing the topic of theatre as an art by which humans

express experiences and reactions, with a didactic approach of question and answer.

2. Explain how dialogue and sound can play a significant role in theatre; refer to what is

seen in television.

3. Introduce how there are subtle things that you can say with your face and your body.

Show the power point presentation with examples of emotions, ask them to stand and

mimic what they see, with absolutely no sound. Tell them that this is called miming. Tell

them that with miming, there is also an activity that takes place. Pretend you are throwing

around a beach ball, ask them to imagine it and keep it in the air.

4. Give instructions for the workshop before you begin to read. Ask them to stand and try to

imagine they are Tommy, making the expressions he would, pretending to do as he does,

as you read.

5. Tell them you will tell them when to stop and create an image together, as if they were

making a painting but in real life as if you can stop time. Give volunteers a role. Ask the

rest of the class questions as the students in the front demonstrate.

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6. Review by asking which scenes were the most difficult and which were easier. Ask them

why they think so. Remind them that everything they do visually can be used to

understand what they are thinking or feeling.

B. Process and Reflection

Specific Scenes and Observations

Stop 1: Tommy’s mother becomes upset that he has drawn on his sheets.

The children had difficulty with deciding how to portray age difference, but ultimately

decided that a firm pointing gesture from the hand would indicate the age of the mother.

Stop 2: Tommy walks home from school, and a strong wind blows his art work off a piece of

paper.

Imagining the effects of natural weather conditions seemed to be quite amusing and

easily applied for the students.

Stop 3: Tommy receives a gift of 64 Crayola crayons from his parents.

Students enjoyed exploring the indication of weight from an object as it was passed from

the students who portrayed Tomie’s parents. This was done fairly well, as it was

considered convincing by a toll of opinions from the class.

Stop 4: Teacher Mrs. Bowers draws her own picture on the board for the class to replicate.

This called for a student to imagine and imitate the movement of a turkey. This was very

entertaining and challenging for the students. Because of this, it was requested that the

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students attempt the movement from their seats. Most struggled, but one student

distinguished himself by emphasizing the widely recognizable neck movement of the

animal.

Reflection

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Guiding a class of elementary students through the process of this project was very

intriguing, although more commitment was called by the task than initially expected due to the

dynamics of the age group including the following:

1. more clarification needed as instructions were asked to be repeated

2. difficulty staying on task due to attention spans, directing attention frequently

was often needed

3. more than necessary willingness to participate from the students, which called

for the use of named sticks for random choosing for fairness

As I walked in to meet the gaze of very attentive eyes, I introduced theatre as something

of total familiarity by asking yes or no questions such as the following;

o Do you enjoy watching television or movies?

o Have you ever been to a theme park where there are live shows?

At the sight of every hand raised, I explained that theatre is an art of expression and how it

involves the same processes as when people did not possess the technology to record human

activity as they see today.

Then, I naturally felt the need to introduce the notion of pantomime as an extraneous

practice, asking questions to which there would be no response in familiarity such as:

o Have you ever watched a show without any sound?

o Have you ever seen a performance by Charlie Chaplin or the more modern mime

Marcel Marceau?

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As I witnessed the absence of hands, I asked if they had watched the modern film

adaptation of “The Three Stooges,” an early established ensemble that works primarily in

silence. With this common ground, I explained the gist of pantomime in terms of its linguistic

roots, “all imitate,” with the exception trying to replicate something using any sound. I had to

emphasize this at the glimpse of some confusion. I told the class that they could not speak

throughout any of the activities we would do that day.

When hands rose for questions, I asked them to wait so that I could have the opportunity

to bring the positive characteristics of silence to light. I told them that when one cannot speak,

people pay much more attention to your body as a whole, but that this does not undermine what

occurs in the face. I told them that this is because the face and body suddenly become equally

important in delivering a message of how you are feeling as a character.

In turn, I said you have to get really comfortable with expressing yourself through your

body. Then, with the use of a slideshow depicting a parallelism of emotion expressed through the

face and the body, the children were very entertained when I told them to try and copy the

images. However, I had to keep the class focused and reminded them that they had to take the

task seriously, because that is what professional mimes do. To guide them in imitating each slide,

I set an example for each, while also ensuring that they had the freedom to do whatever they felt

they should naturally do if they were in different situations that would provoke certain states of

mind. In order to help them envision feeling certain emotions, I described different scenarios

they could relate to, applying such concepts as sense memory. For example, for happiness I said

to imagine waiting a long time for something you really want and finally getting it, finally being

able to grasp it or smell it or taste it.

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With a balance of subtle expressions and large body movements, I gave the students an

opportunity to settle down and I began with the instructions for instant illustrations. I began to

read and paused once in a while to explain how the characters were feeling so that they could

express that while sitting in their seat. When I stopped to practice the scenes, I was inclined to

determine an alternative method for selecting volunteers for the scenes given a great level of

willingness to participate. I fortunately turned around to find name-calling sticks that allow for

random choosing.

Once selected for each scene, students actually grew somewhat nervous despite their

choice to participate. They grew embarrassed beyond their ability to refrain from laughing or

keeping still. I had to direct their attention, reminding them they must remain silent and to focus

by asking themselves, “why am I doing this?” When they seemed confounded about what to do, I

improvised a two-step process:

1. Repeat the scene verbatim as in the story.

2. Making a collaborative effort by getting suggestions from the rest of the class, the

audience.

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C. Conclusion

There was an overall successful workshop in terms of underlying objectives being met

through a great level of participation and a sufficient amount of time used. However, there are

several changes I would make to my approach as a guide, or director in a sense, of the exercise

conducted:

1) Increase the time allowed for warming up to increase level of comfort and

self-awareness among the students

2) Increase number of groups per scene in the instant illustrations in order for the

students to learn from their mistakes and witness what they may not have

considered

3) Incorporation of a mirror so that external opinions regarding the students’

performance are not the sole ones, being that self-reflection is vital for

progression in performance

4) Art as a career was emphasized, but should have been better applied as the

central topic for the class using specific examples to present the fact that any

career path requires a sense of knowing what you say with your body

language and facial expressions

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D. Bibliography

Lecoq, Jacques. The Moving Body: Teaching Creative Theatre. New York: Methuen

Publishing Limited, 2001.

Paola, Tomie de. The Art Lesson. New York: Trumpet, 1989.

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E. Appendix

The Effectiveness:

Interview with Elementary Teacher Ms. Simons

Question: Do you have any comments about the approach I took in introducing the pantomime and instant illustration exercises to your students?

Answer: You did a great job introducing the skills the students would need to use for the activity. The power point worked well for this. Right away, the students understood what pantomime was. They knew to act out, without speaking. This was an age appropriate way to introduce a difficult subject for second graders, so I think you did well.

Q: How effective do you think the images given in the power point presentation were in conveying the message about body language?

A: The images were easy to understand and were age appropriate. The students recognized the feeling right away. They enjoyed acting out the images without speaking.

Q: Have you attempted any approach to reading comprehension using theatre before? If so, what was done? How did it work for your class?

A: Yes, I often have students act out scenes so that they can understand how the characters in the story feel. It is great to extend the lesson as well because students take on the role and can try and decide what the character would do next, how they would respond if the story changed, etc. It works well as a reading comprehension tool.

Q: How effective do you think the story “The Art Lesson” was for this type of activity?

A: I think the Art Lesson worked well for this activity. There were many scenes for the students to act out, which helped them understand the story in a more concrete way. Also, because the story is centered on art and how important art is in life, this activity helped the students experiment with acting as an art form.

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Q: Would you suggest the use of dialogue for a younger audience, rather than solely pantomime? Why?

A: I think both art forms could work well. At this age, students have a more difficult time understanding and portraying feelings without using their words, but it is a great way to challenge and extend their thinking. Doing both, students can use their brain in different ways. Also, for students who are still learning English, pantomime works very well because they can understand the story even if they don’t know how to express themselves through speech.

Interview with Elementary Student Jesus Cuevas

Question: What did you learn from the acting lesson?

Answer: I learned most performances have no words but only movement. And I also learned that Tomie is a great artist because draws all kinds of pictures and even sells them for five cents. That’s a good deal.

Q: Did you enjoy miming, why?

A: I did because it’s cool. Sometimes mimes are fun because some people don’t understand what you’re doing. They are like, “What, you’re stuck in nowhere, but you mean you’re stuck in a box?”

Q: Did miming help you understand the story?

A: No because when the first little show came on, the miming helped because you mostly understand when you use words, but when it comes to miming you can’t understand. Words are better in one way, but if you understand miming, in pictures they don’t talk. You can say the words in your mind. Some stories don’t make the characters in the story talk.

Q: Do you think the story was a good choice for miming?

A: Yes. Some people in my class think it is the best story and in my way, the story is the best because only a few involve painting, so it did not make miming complicated because when you’re doing painting you say it in your mind, you don’t say, “I’m going to draw a rainbow.” You do it.

Q: Do you have any additional comments?

A: What I liked was the painting is pretty much the best way of coloring and sometimes when you do theatre you can act out coloring without actually using anything.

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Pantomime Techniques and Body Language:

Power Point Presentation Slides

Pantomime Emotions

Happy Face

Happy Body

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Excited Face

Excited Body

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Surprised Face

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Surprised Body

Angry Face

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Angry Body

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Sad Face

Sad Body

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Shy Face

Shy Body

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Scared Face

Scared Body

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