Assignment 4 pen pals

Overall description of Epal Project:

Lesson Objective:

Since theatre is a global experience we decided to have  the students in our class share a theatrical experience with a class in Japan.  Our research project is  Writing and Producing plays, so our students will become epals with another 5th grade class in Japan.  Our students will set up a blog that will enable communication to take place between epals about the theatrical experience; such as sharing videos, pictures and notes about theatre.  Our students will be going on a field trip to a local theatre and observe a play being performed, which they will later share with their Japanese epal.  During this performance, the students are to take notes, take pictures, and videos so they will be able to recall the performance at a later date.  

Focus of our lesson:

The main focus of the lesson is for our students to learn about a theatrical experience happening in Japan as well as to share their theatrical experience. Since this unit focuses on many aspects in the classroom, the students will be contacting their pen pals while learning about different plays that are in the United States.  In order to get to this part in the unit, our class will  already have an understanding of how plays are created, how they are written, what to include in a play, and what types of plays are popular in the U.S.  By being knowledgeable about all of these aspects, the students can better understand and learn about plays and production in our other countries.  

Expectations of Students:

Since this is an assignment that focuses on making cultural connections regarding theatrical performances, students will need to have a clear understanding of the different aspects of the play, such as the setting, the plot, the climax and the conclusion to be able to describe the theatrical experience to their epal. The students should include the following information when writing their pen pal:

• What mode of transportation did you take to get to the theatre?
• What are three major landmarks that you passed in order to arrive at the theatre?
• Describe what the theatre looks like.
• What are you most looking forward to in the performance? Is it the set? The costumes? The acting? The Script?
• Give a summary of what the play is about using theatre language- The introduction, the plot, the climax, the conclusion. What was your favorite part of the play? What did you least enjoy?
• Describe what is happening in the pictures or video being taken.

The purpose of this assignment is for students to have an expanded knowledge on how other countries express theatre and communicate back and forth with one another about writing and producing plays. This assignment can be modified and continuously used throughout a 6 week process.

Daily Description of Assignment:

The  epal assignment will occur over a seven day period, which will be incorporated into our overall unit of Writing and Producing a play. One aspect of our overall unit is that the students are expected to learn  how to record, edit and produce a digitized production for the end of the year performance. However, they will need to practice the skills beforehand  in order to produce a play on a larger scale. Therefore our group thought that while the students were visiting a live production- the production they will write their epal about- they should take various photo, video or even interviews of the performance that they will later need to upload into the video editing program, and post it to their pen pal letter. Here is a breakdown of what the seven days will consist of. The teacher is responsible for arranging a field trip permission slip two weeks before the performance. The teacher is also responsible for arranging a meet and greet with the theatre production company to be available after the show to communicate with the students. Depending on what the student’s interest is, the teacher should specifically arrange who the students speak with based on their interest. Furthermore, and most importantly, we will  need to communicate with the teacher of the fifth grade classroom in Japan to be sure they correlate their theatrical experiences with ours. In other words, this assignment’s main focus is to learn about a different cultural theatrical experience so its crucial that the teacher in Japan is on board with our idea.

Day one will be used to sign into the epal account. Students will contact another 5th grade class at Linden Hall Elementary School in Fukuoka, Japan.  Our student and the students in this class will communicate with one another through a blog that both classes will set up.  This will make communication easy for all.  Each student will set up an account through ePals. They will spend the rest of the time researching what they are most interested in about plays (i.e. the set, script, acting, filming). Our students will write to the the teacher about what they are interested in and give one characteristic about why they chose their focus.

Day two,  each one of our students will be assigned to another member in the Japanese class to become epals. They will need to introduce themselves as well as  include the following information:  a brief description about themselves, the school they go to,  the play they are seeing, what they are most interested in about plays, and what they predict will happen in the play.   Since we are trying to reinforce communication, the students will also need to include three questions in their initial pen pal letter.

Day three will be the field trip performance. The performance we are seeing is Shrek the Musical at the Civic Theatre in Kalamazoo.  The students will be required to list three major landmarks on the way to the theatre. The students need to describe what the theatre looks like (or this is a good opportunity for taking a picture or video of the theatre itself or themselves  in front of the theatre) Each student is to take pictures, detailed notes, and  a video of what they are watching.  Once the students have completed watching the play, they will need to write a summary of the play. They will also have a 20 minute meet and greet opportunity after the production with a specific theatrical  group that has been pre-arranged by the teacher. Here they can simply ask questions and record the answers, take pictures in the set or with an actor; whatever they choose.

Day Four will require the students to edit the videos, notes, and pictures from the play.  The students should also begin writing their pen pal about their theatrical experience using the question prompts above. Students will have assistance from teachers and staff if necessary.   

Day Five will be spent continuing to upload the movies, notes, and pictures that the students took while at the musical.  Students are to upload these to the epals so their friends and pen pals can see what they have recorded.  This will help the class at Linden Hall better understand  what plays are like in the U.S. and more specifically, what the play we went to was like.  

Day six  we will be watching the movie Shrek.  This is so the students can compare and contrast  a live performance (musical) to an on screen film (movie).  The students are required to take notes on anything they noticed that the theatre also did (art wise) and to include five similarities and five differences between the play and the movie.  We chose t

Day seven  we will learn about what plays are like in Japan when each student has the opportunity to look at what their epal wrote about. We will spend the entire class period learning about the play our epal went to and what a theatrical experience is like in Japan. At the end of the class period the students will write a summary about what they  have learned from their epal. The responses will be posted on a bulletin board outside the classroom so other students in the school have a chance to see what our  fifth grade class has been up to.