Plays

	Plays
Author(s):	Bradley Janicek and Bradford Lancaster
Grade Level:	1st Grade
Timeframe:	7 – 10 days, 45 minutes – 1 hour per day.
Lesson Description or Explanation	Students create many kinds of writing during writing workshop. This study is on “Plays”. Students will be read a play and notice how the writing is different from other kinds of writing they have done. They will be able to refer to the play that we read in class to help them understand the writing structure of a play. To help celebrate all the hard work the students did with the writing, they will be “made famous” by filming, staring in their plays as it is broadcast in the lunchroom for the next week. Students will be expected to participate in all parts of the process of creating the plays on videotape, meeting standards in writing, speaking, creativity, communication, and innovation.
Indiana Curricular Standards	English/Language Arts Standard 6: WRITING: English Language Conventions Students write using Standard English conventions appropriate to this grade level. 1.6.1 Print legibly and space letters, words, and sentences appropriately. Standard 7: LISTENING AND SPEAKING: Skills, Strategies, and Applications Students listen critically and respond appropriately to oral communication. They speak in a manner that guides the listener to understand important ideas by using proper phrasing, pitch, and modulation (raising and lowering voice). Students deliver brief oral presentations about familiar experiences or interests that are organized around a coherent thesis statement (a statement of topic). Students use the same Standard English conventions for oral speech that they use in their writing. 1.7.6 Recite poems, rhymes, songs, and stories.
ISTE Standards	1. Creativity and Innovation. Students demonstrate creative thinking, construct knowledge, and develop innovative products and processes using technology. Students: apply existing knowledge to generate new ideas, products, or processes. create original works as a means of personal or group expression. use models and simulations to explore complex systems and issues. identify trends and forecast possibilities. 2. Communication and Collaboration. Students use digital media and environments to communicate and work collaboratively, including at a distance, to support individual learning and contribute to the learning of others. Students: interact, collaborate, and publish with peers, experts, or others employing a variety of digital environments and media. communicate information and ideas effectively to multiple audiences using a variety of media and formats. develop cultural understanding and global awareness by engaging with learners of other cultures. contribute to project teams to produce original works or solve problems.
Assessments Formative/Summative	Formative – Peer reviews of writings and sending information back by e-mail. Summative – Given a rubric we will be able to grade and give feedback holistically based on the final presentation.
Prior Knowledge	Curricular Knowledge or Skills: Students need to have written in class before. Students must know that there is space between words. Technology Knowledge: Students need to know how to type (find letters on the key board and tap them).
Technology	Internet Resources: (please list URLs) Hardware: Computer. Video Camera. Blank, recordable video tapes. Software: Microsoft Word. Internet.
Procedure	Day 1: Class will have shared reading of a play, chosen by the instructor. I will then tell the class that they will be writing and starring in their own plays. Students will raise their hands and tell what they have noticed about how plays are written. I write what students notice on the board for all to see. Students will be grouped in fours so that the authors can put people other than themselves in the play. Students will begin lists of things that they might write a play about. Day 2: Students begin writing their own play. Day 3: Students write, share, and edit their plays with other students, depending on where they are at in the writing process. Students confer with teacher about their writings at this time. Day 4: Students write, share, and edit their plays with other students, depending on where they are at in the writing process. Students confer with teacher about their writings at this time. Day 5: Students write, share, and edit their plays with other students, depending on where they are at in the writing process. Students confer with teacher about their writings at this time. Day 6: Students write, share, and edit their plays with other students, depending on where they are at in the writing process. Students confer with teacher about their writings at this time. Some students may be starting to write their plays on the computer using Microsoft word. Day 7: Students write, share, and edit their plays with other students, depending on where they are at in the writing process. Students confer with teacher about their writings at this time. Some students may be starting to write their plays on the computer using Microsoft word. Students are told to bring costumes from home that might help their play. Day 8: Students are instructed on how to use the video recording device. Students write, share, and edit their plays with other students, depending on where they are at in the writing process. Students confer with teacher about their writings at this time. Some students may be starting to write their plays on the computer using Microsoft word. Students who have completed their plays and have had the instructor check them, may start videotaping their play. Day 9: Students write, share, and edit their plays with other students, depending on where they are at in the writing process. Students confer with teacher about their writings at this time. Students who have completed their plays and have had the instructor check them, may start videotaping their play. Students are expected to have completed their final copies of their plays by the end of the day. Day 10: Students videotape their plays. Teacher gathers the plays on videotape and sends them to the technology specialist. Technology specialist runs the plays on a loop for everyone to watch in the lunchroom.
Differentiated Instruction
ESL	English Language Learners will implement dialogue using their L1 and L2 combined. They will probably use less dialogue and more acting or picture support to aid in when they present their play. There are multiple websites such as Wordreference.com and google.com to aid in translating their plays if they need it. This is why we are using Microsoft Word as well as the internet to aid students in developing their plays. Students will write a play based on an event in their lives (“Slice of Life” genre) this makes it a little easier since they are basically reenacting an event they thought was important in their lives.
Challenge/Extend	For students that need an additional challenge, we will have them add stage directions to their scripts. They will explain exactly how they would like the stage to be set up, what type of lighting they would like to use, and how other students (their actors) will be placed (hypothetically). If these students need an additional challenge; They can, as a group, choose one play and perform it using multiple students and materials to perform the play as close to the chosen script as possible.
Special Needs	Everyone is to be included in this activity. There are multiple ways to include all students. Font on the scripts can be increased for those with difficulty seeing. There are audio readers (a tool that reads text that students write) that some schools provide for classroom computers to help students that cannot see. For students that cannot type; teachers, aids, and or other students can help them type their play. The latter is most preferable because it aid in building community within the classroom.