Tall Tales Arts Integration

The Story of John Henry

2nd Grade • English Language Arts (ELA) & Theater

Lesson Overview: This is a collaborative lesson plan focuses on "Tall Tales," specifically the story of "John Henry," integrating theater techniques to explore exaggerated characters and their significance. The lesson emphasizes arts learning practices for every student and alignment with state standards.

Learning Objectives | Students Will:

  • Showcase the sneak previews to an audience.

  • Reflect on the learning journey and the skills developed throughout the project.

  • Celebrate the achievements and progress made by all students.

 Lesson Process: Students use the "Paint a Character" exercise as inspiration to create John Henry’s exaggerated traits. This reinforces the concept of exaggeration and allows students to apply it to a specific example from a Tall Tale. After the character is fully painted, there is a brief discussion about the choices made and how they contribute to the overall exaggerated nature of the characters. This helps students reflect to analyze and understand the impact of their choices and to refine their understanding of exaggeration.

Assessment:

Assessment includes observation of participation, an exit ticket, and performance-based tasks, allowing both the content teacher and teaching artist to gauge student understanding and engagement. 

  • Exit Ticket and observation of participation.

  • Observation: Observe students’ participation and engagement in all activities noticing how they construct their understanding.

Lesson
Activities & Instructions

The Activities & Instructions section provides a structured sequence of learning experiences, guiding educators through engaging, interactive lessons.

Lesson Activities

    • Warm-up: Voice and body exercises focusing on exaggeration.

    • Discussion: Characteristics of exaggerated characters.

    • Story Time: Reading "John Henry" with emphasis on exaggerated traits.

    • Theater Exercise: "Paint a Character" to create exaggerated characters.

    • Reflection: Exit ticket to reinforce learning.

NATIONAL CORE ARTS STANDARDS

  • Anchor Standard 4
    Analyze, interpret, and select artistic work for presentation.

    Anchor Standard 5
    Develop and refine artistic work for presentation.

  • Anchor Standard 7
    Perceive and analyze artistic work.

    Anchor Standard 8
    Interpret intent and meaning in artistic work.

Success Criteria

Success Criteria:

  • Students successfully present their sneak previews to an audience, demonstrating clarity, expression, and confidence.

  • Students engage in reflective discussions, articulating what they learned and how they grew during the project.

  • Students participate in the celebration of the achievements, recognizing the efforts and progress they have made as well as the success of their peers.

Arts Integration: The core concept is integrating theater into language arts to enhance understanding of literary concepts (exaggeration, character development, and storytelling). Theater activities like "Paint a Character" are used to bring the concepts to life. The lesson leverages activities that intentionally respond to differing learner’s perspectives.

  • "Integrate theater techniques to allow students to express their individual perspectives."

  • "Demonstrate the application of the collaborative Process Recognize how the arts change the learning experience."

Exaggeration in Tall Tales: The lesson's primary focus is understanding how exaggeration contributes to the storytelling in Tall Tales. Students learn to identify exaggerated traits in characters, create exaggerated characters themselves, and understand the message behind these larger-than-life figures. The lesson is intended to help the students understand the concept of exaggerated characters in Tall Tales and how they contribute to the storytelling.

  • "Students will understand the concept of exaggerated characters in Tall Tales and how they contribute to the storytelling."

  • "Emphasize that exaggerated characters are often larger than life and represent specific qualities or traits in an extreme way."

Connections and Team Building: The lesson plan allows students to connect Tall Tales to their own backgrounds and experiences. 

  • "Students will make connections between the tall tales and their backgrounds and/or experiences."

Accessibility: The lesson plan includes specific accommodations for English Language Learners (ELLs) and students with Exceptional Student Education (ESE) needs. Spanish translation, visuals, and individual support are provided. Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles are integrated into the lesson design.

  • "ELL: Spanish translation provided by the teaching artist. ESE: Visuals and individual support will be provided. ACCESSIBILITY: Modeling and Visuals will be offered"

  • "Universal Design for Learning recognizes the different needs that are unique to learners across abilities.

Collaborative Teaching: This lesson highlights the collaborative roles of the content teacher and the teaching artist. The content teacher focuses on vocabulary and reading, while the teaching artist facilitates theater activities and provides modeling and coaching.

  • "Identify teachers’ and teaching artists’ roles in developing arts integrated teaching units."

  • "TEACHING ARTIST: Modeling Demonstrate exaggeration- help students understand how to make their performances larger than life."

  • "TEACHING ARTIST: Side coaching- guide observation by prompting students to notice body language and exaggerated movements."

Overall Significance

This lesson plan exemplifies a well-structured, collaborative approach to arts integration. It demonstrates how theater techniques can be effectively used to enhance understanding of literary concepts and promote student engagement. The lesson is intentionally developed to address understanding charactery traits, encourages students to consider how to exaggerate a character's personality, and fosters a playful and imaginative environment where students feel comfortable taking risks and pushing the boundaries of exaggeration.

– REACH –

Thank you to our Educators, Artists, and Collaborators.

School: Howlett Elementary

Teacher: Theresa Kauffman

Teaching Artist: Maria Schaedler-Luera

Arts Organization: Atomica Arts

  • Resource 1: link