Social Studies' Culminating Activity
Performance (Virtual Tour)
Stage of Literacy Development:
Stage 3: Literacy for GrowthAges:
8-12
Grade Range:
3rd 4th 5th 6thFood Groups:
Primary: Writing Processes & Strategies, Text Structures & Genres Secondary: Oral Language & ELL
Transcript
As part of a culminating activity, students decided to create a play. This play was told through a series of monologues. They decided on a character which they wanted to portray and they studied this character. They used online resources to find information, and from there, they wrote in role. Once students had created their final monologue, it actually went through the writing process. Students at that time, shared their work with other students. They had the opportunity to edit one another's work, and then go through for the final draft. Once the final draft was created, students then memorized their monologue for the final performance. This was a great way to build community within the classroom because all students participated in this event. Students performed together in front of the entire school, and this was a great opportunity to showcase the work that we had done in the classroom to other classes. We extended the invitation to parents and this allowed them the opportunity to come into the classroom and see what their children had been working on. As part of the culminating activity, I asked students to really think about what goes on behind the scenes. Not only were they working on their monologue, they had to think about how productions come together. I decided to create production teams, where each student was able to choose the team that they wanted to be part of. We had a sound and tech team, a marketing team, we had set design, and we also had students that were preparing this classroom for the presentation. The marketing team was responsible for creating a brochure. This brochure highlighted all of the roles that all the students would be playing, as well as gave show times so that parents and classes knew what time the performance would be taking place. The set design team created a back drop for our performance. Here, they had to look at certain elements from early societies and include that in our timeline. They also wanted to make it clear that we were travelling from the past, back to the present, which is why they've indicated the timeline at the bottom of the backdrop.
Related References
Activity Objective
The goal of Social Studies' Culminating Activity: Performance (Virtual Tour) is to develop proficiency in the writing process and to build class community through working in production teams. To consolidate and extend what they had learned in their social studies unit on ancient civilizations, students are asked to create a play consisting of a series of monologues. In this extended activity they go through stages in the writing process including editing, writing a final draft, and sharing work with classmates. Then they memorize their monologues and showcase their work for other students and parents. In the course of this extended activity the students experience working in production teams as well as learning about what goes on behind the scenes and how productions come together.
Quick Tips
Additional Comments:
- Assign a student to film each performance to make it easier to share with parents - Invite other classes to watch your students perform. - After all the performances are done, open discussion with the whole class about what they liked the most about the project and what they found most challenging.
Other Recipes by this Teacher
Make It Personal: Connecting Students to Texts (Virtual Tour)
3rd - 6th
All About Me: Building Class Community and a Sense of Identity (Virtual Tour)
1st - 4th
Early Societies Inquiry: Creating a Timeline About Ancient Egypt (Virtual Tour)
4th - 6th
Building Class Community: Ancient Egyptian Charm Bracelets (Virtual Tour)
3rd - 5th
Social Studies' Culminating Activity: Museum Display (Virtual Tour)
3rd - 6th
