3D Art and the Art of Verbs : Stage Three A whispering gallery
3D Art , a technique to use at different stages of target language learning
Here we are considering 3D Art as a way to explore present verbs with primary age children .
I may use the same technique to explore adjectives or a range of tenses with more advanced KS3 learners
I have always loved to link language learning and drama and find the primary classroom a place where we can explore both these aspects and be really creative !
I love to use Art as stimulus for great drama and language explorations and find that I can bring Art from the target language country to life through simple activities .
I call this work "3D Art", taking a piece of Art and imagining and bringing the characters to life through performance and use of simple target language.
Simple rules
Select Art that has conversation and interaction running throughout the storyline of the picture .
Make sure there are enough characters for a group of six children to be able to select characters that they want to investigate
Set the scene by investigating as a class possible phrases in the target language that characters could be saying
Practise voices that the characters might have
Add actions to the characters and ask the children to think of signature actions for the characters.
Divide your class into mixed ability groups of six children maximum and make sure in each group you have a strong linguist and strong performers
As you progress through the stages described below increase the amount of reference sources the children can use , so they can access powerful verbs and adjectives etc.
First you need your picture
Here is one of my favourites : the Boating Party by Renoir
The Boating Party Renoir
Stage Three : A Whispering Gallery
1. Revisit the painting you used in stage one and stage two and if you have the outcomes to hand i.e. the sugar paper paintings book ( stage one) and the virtual gallery of pictures of characters and their conversations from stage two , share these with the children.
2.Now working at their tables - in mixed ability groups, with children who work better with support working with either yourself or a partner , give the painting out a third time to the groups .
3. Give each child at the table a cut out of the face of the character you would like them to be .
4. They should glue the character to the centre of an A4 piece of paper and write first person singular statements in the target language about the character- based on prompts written by you on the flip chart . Some children may need a writing frame . Prompts will be name , age , where live , birthdays, feelings , likes, dislikes, what they are wearing , what they are doing. Differentiate the task by outcome - each child must come up with at least 5 statements for example
5.Bring three children to be in the "hot seat" and ask for volunteers to be the question panel . Give these children questions that they will ask the character at the front , using second person singular questions e.g what are you called? , what are you wearing ? etc
6. After each child has been in the hot seat ask the class to help you to put their statements into a hot seat report on the flip chart . This means that working with you they will put the statements into the third person singular using he/she depending on whether the character was male or female.
7. Back at their tables can the groups create appropriate questions in the third person singular matching the information on the flip chart in the hot seat reports?
8. Ask for suggestions for third person questions to each third person response in the hot seat report .
9.Write these questions up at the bottom of the flip chart.
10 . for the next activities the children need to be in groups of 4 or 6 . They will become the characters in the painting again , taking poses, thinking of the characters voices and actions , finding a partner to talk with but this time the partners will develop a third person singular conversation about one of the other characters in their painting.
11. The first step will be to locate their character ( using the face cut out that they have worked with earlier) .Each character introduces themselves in the first person using the notes they made earlier . Everyone else listens and makes notes about the character .
12. Now they work in pairs to create a whispering third person singular question and answer conversation based on the facts they have just noted down about one of the other characters e.g what is he / she called / where does he / she live etc
13. The groups must develop their conversations , then work on their characterisation and then hold whispering gallery third person singular conversations to share information about other characters in the painting.
14. These whispering gallery conversations are performed to the class in the picture frame area at the front of the classroom just as described at the end of stage two
15. Finally the children are set the task of creating and writing a newspaper style description of the character they have just described in their performance of a whispering gallery third person question and answer conversation .