Archive for the ‘Arts And Entertainment’ Category
Tell it All – Through Play Scripts
Carolynn Rogers asked:
And then, and then, and then...How often have you heard younger children retell an event or story as a series of facts punctuated by the dreaded "and then"? Having our students present an oral retell in the narrative form helps them to develop an essential skill and it is worth the time and effort to teach them to abandon the "and then" format since it is little more than a bare bones sequencing activity.
What More Do We Want in a Retell?
Even in the shortest, and simplest of stories such as fables and fairy tales, there are elements that need to be noted to flesh out and add interest to the recount. A more complete telling would include not only the events, but also details of the setting, characters, emotion and some in some cases, a hint of the reader's / reteller's personal reaction. Atlanta Driveway repair . Heating Denver . How do we encourage a fully detailed retell?
Play Scripts to the Rescue!
I have noticed that the greatest use of descriptive language, and emotional response displayed by children is during the retell of a schoolyard event in which they and their friends or enemies (for the moment) are the main characters in the story!
Picking up on this already developed skill, we can encourage students to put themselves into "the story" by writing short play scripts, taking on the roles and performing their way through the events. This can encourage a more detailed account including information about setting, character and emotion. It often leads to an interesting revelation of the students' reaction or point of view on the characters and events of a story.
Where to Start
Where to start with your students may depend on their experience with reading and writing play scripts. Provide examples of familiar stories (fairy tales work well) in play script format. Read through and discuss the differences between the narrative and play script versions. If your students are younger, it would beneficial to spend some time practicing the skill of writing dialogue.
e.g. change - Baby Bear looked at the broken chair and cried.
to - Baby Bear: (crying) Somebody smashed my chair!
Demonstrate for the students the different oral presentation of the two lines, the first as it would be said in a reading of the story and the second adding the emotion and voicing of Baby Bear. Give students the opportunity to read the two examples aloud and discuss the difference in presentation. Once you feel that students are confident in writing dialogue, give them an opportunity to write their own play script version of a short fable or fairy tale. Most students have little difficulty with this because television shows and movies have already given them an "ear" for dialogue.
As the students are ready and you wish them to do more formal play script writing, examine elements such as descriptive writing for setting and character notes, action and emotion cues etc.
When asking more experienced students to do a play script retell it is beneficial to have them use a chart to review and fill in pertinent information from the story. (Setting, Characters, Events) If students are ready, you could also have them include a column for their own reaction to specific characters, their actions and events, since this could effect how they write the descriptions and dialogue for certain characters.
Surface Versus Depth
From time to time, opt for the retell through student written play scripts. Encourage students to go a little deeper than 'just the facts'. It will add another dimension to reading response, so dive in and have fun!
Caffeinated Content for WordPress
And then, and then, and then...How often have you heard younger children retell an event or story as a series of facts punctuated by the dreaded "and then"? Having our students present an oral retell in the narrative form helps them to develop an essential skill and it is worth the time and effort to teach them to abandon the "and then" format since it is little more than a bare bones sequencing activity.
What More Do We Want in a Retell?
Even in the shortest, and simplest of stories such as fables and fairy tales, there are elements that need to be noted to flesh out and add interest to the recount. A more complete telling would include not only the events, but also details of the setting, characters, emotion and some in some cases, a hint of the reader's / reteller's personal reaction. Atlanta Driveway repair . Heating Denver . How do we encourage a fully detailed retell?
Play Scripts to the Rescue!
I have noticed that the greatest use of descriptive language, and emotional response displayed by children is during the retell of a schoolyard event in which they and their friends or enemies (for the moment) are the main characters in the story!
Picking up on this already developed skill, we can encourage students to put themselves into "the story" by writing short play scripts, taking on the roles and performing their way through the events. This can encourage a more detailed account including information about setting, character and emotion. It often leads to an interesting revelation of the students' reaction or point of view on the characters and events of a story.
Where to Start
Where to start with your students may depend on their experience with reading and writing play scripts. Provide examples of familiar stories (fairy tales work well) in play script format. Read through and discuss the differences between the narrative and play script versions. If your students are younger, it would beneficial to spend some time practicing the skill of writing dialogue.
e.g. change - Baby Bear looked at the broken chair and cried.
to - Baby Bear: (crying) Somebody smashed my chair!
Demonstrate for the students the different oral presentation of the two lines, the first as it would be said in a reading of the story and the second adding the emotion and voicing of Baby Bear. Give students the opportunity to read the two examples aloud and discuss the difference in presentation. Once you feel that students are confident in writing dialogue, give them an opportunity to write their own play script version of a short fable or fairy tale. Most students have little difficulty with this because television shows and movies have already given them an "ear" for dialogue.
As the students are ready and you wish them to do more formal play script writing, examine elements such as descriptive writing for setting and character notes, action and emotion cues etc.
When asking more experienced students to do a play script retell it is beneficial to have them use a chart to review and fill in pertinent information from the story. (Setting, Characters, Events) If students are ready, you could also have them include a column for their own reaction to specific characters, their actions and events, since this could effect how they write the descriptions and dialogue for certain characters.
Surface Versus Depth
From time to time, opt for the retell through student written play scripts. Encourage students to go a little deeper than 'just the facts'. It will add another dimension to reading response, so dive in and have fun!
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The Tooth, the Whole Tooth, and Nothing But the Tooth
Cynthia Lechan asked:
To us adults, losing a tooth is scary. The mind cannot stay away from toothless witches, beggars, and the overwhelming dental costs. green gifts . We hopefully try to protect our teeth from any kind of fall. But for kids, there is even more at stake. Three seemingly insurmountable questions are: how will the tooth come out, how will the tooth fairy get it, and how will money be received for the sacrifice of the tooth?
Our daughter Lailee had a wiggly tooth, and in every mirror, in every spare moment, she was amazed at how it wiggled. Why not, kids and movement, they are a team. dog groomer tampa . The roadblock came with the apple...and the carrots...and whatever else is healthy to eat-which leaves the squishy stuff like ice cream, pudding, and jello. Lailee knew that with crunchy food swallowing whole was not the way to lose a tooth. Well, for sure, how many adults do get "squeamish" about swallowing the potential bones in canned salmon croquettes and loafs? Then there's peanut butter sandwiches, but you might as well go to a dentist and get it pulled, or use the string and door fable.
Days went by and fears began to mount about would the tooth really come out, or was that a joke, and will the tooth fairy really come, or was that a joke. We decided to keep both ideas in the same trench, for now.
The upcoming tooth event prompted a lot of contemplation and learning. The value of a tooth to a tooth fairy seems to have gone up these days with everything else. How does the good fairy know if that potential tooth will bring in $1, or more? This is truly a ponderous decision to make...thinking about the succession of teeth (are there 25 or 32), and the total expenditures, or collections-whichever side you are on. We decided ahead of time to low ball at $2.00 just to be over the cheep $1.00 mark.
For Lailee, there was an insistence on preplanning. This was a good use of cause and effect as to how the pillow on top of the tooth will manage to protect the tooth but not prevent the fairy from finding it and leaving the treasure. Lailee decided, ahead of time, that she will provide a clean pillow case - so the fairy will smile, a nightlight - so there will be no mistaking as to who lost the tooth, and a gift beside the bed of (not candy or cookies) a wind up toy to make sure the fairy will be in a good mood for giving.
One day Lailee came home with a gap and a wail. The tooth was a goner. It bounced onto the playground at recess and now there was no evidence for the fairy. This was a tragedy...but as the sunny day provided a beam of light streaming through the glass door, and revealing an orange seed on the floor--a bit battered by the cats - miraculously, we knew we had a good tooth substitute. It will work, it will be fine, and we tried to convince her-to no avail.
Our luck, and to her credit, Lailee decided a last resort was to write a note to explain herself to the tooth fairy, and leave it under the pillow. Later during the night we retrieved the note that said: Dear Tooth Fairy. I am sorry this is a seed. My friend Justin knocked out my tooth at recess, and I couldn't find it. Please leave the money.
With that we had to leave her a calling card back, complete with picture, which read, "Hey Lailee, no Sweat, saw it all happen and we're cool" T.F. and $7.00-one for each year of her precious candor. It always pays to be honest.
Create a video blog
To us adults, losing a tooth is scary. The mind cannot stay away from toothless witches, beggars, and the overwhelming dental costs. green gifts . We hopefully try to protect our teeth from any kind of fall. But for kids, there is even more at stake. Three seemingly insurmountable questions are: how will the tooth come out, how will the tooth fairy get it, and how will money be received for the sacrifice of the tooth?
Our daughter Lailee had a wiggly tooth, and in every mirror, in every spare moment, she was amazed at how it wiggled. Why not, kids and movement, they are a team. dog groomer tampa . The roadblock came with the apple...and the carrots...and whatever else is healthy to eat-which leaves the squishy stuff like ice cream, pudding, and jello. Lailee knew that with crunchy food swallowing whole was not the way to lose a tooth. Well, for sure, how many adults do get "squeamish" about swallowing the potential bones in canned salmon croquettes and loafs? Then there's peanut butter sandwiches, but you might as well go to a dentist and get it pulled, or use the string and door fable.
Days went by and fears began to mount about would the tooth really come out, or was that a joke, and will the tooth fairy really come, or was that a joke. We decided to keep both ideas in the same trench, for now.
The upcoming tooth event prompted a lot of contemplation and learning. The value of a tooth to a tooth fairy seems to have gone up these days with everything else. How does the good fairy know if that potential tooth will bring in $1, or more? This is truly a ponderous decision to make...thinking about the succession of teeth (are there 25 or 32), and the total expenditures, or collections-whichever side you are on. We decided ahead of time to low ball at $2.00 just to be over the cheep $1.00 mark.
For Lailee, there was an insistence on preplanning. This was a good use of cause and effect as to how the pillow on top of the tooth will manage to protect the tooth but not prevent the fairy from finding it and leaving the treasure. Lailee decided, ahead of time, that she will provide a clean pillow case - so the fairy will smile, a nightlight - so there will be no mistaking as to who lost the tooth, and a gift beside the bed of (not candy or cookies) a wind up toy to make sure the fairy will be in a good mood for giving.
One day Lailee came home with a gap and a wail. The tooth was a goner. It bounced onto the playground at recess and now there was no evidence for the fairy. This was a tragedy...but as the sunny day provided a beam of light streaming through the glass door, and revealing an orange seed on the floor--a bit battered by the cats - miraculously, we knew we had a good tooth substitute. It will work, it will be fine, and we tried to convince her-to no avail.
Our luck, and to her credit, Lailee decided a last resort was to write a note to explain herself to the tooth fairy, and leave it under the pillow. Later during the night we retrieved the note that said: Dear Tooth Fairy. I am sorry this is a seed. My friend Justin knocked out my tooth at recess, and I couldn't find it. Please leave the money.
With that we had to leave her a calling card back, complete with picture, which read, "Hey Lailee, no Sweat, saw it all happen and we're cool" T.F. and $7.00-one for each year of her precious candor. It always pays to be honest.
Create a video blog
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Good Vampire Movies – What Makes A Good Vampire Film?
Shane Dayton asked:
I am a huge fan of vampire movies. One of the amazing things about this genre is how varied the actual movies are. They're not all carbon copies of the same thing, which means there are a lot of original works among the classics. phlebotomist pay . So with so many different types of movies, what determines a "good" vampire movie?
Part of that answer depends on what you enjoy most out of vampire movies. Is it gore? Terror? The sensual flair? The movie plot itself?
What makes this further interesting as a question is that even the vampire legends are different. Does sunlight really affect a vampire? What about silver? If you answered that the best vampire movies are action flicks, do you prefer "Blade," "John Carpenter's Vampires," or "The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires" (think vampire kung fu with zombies - great stuff)?
There's nothing sensual about the vampires in "30 Days of Night," which shows vampires in a pack mentality, but there are some very attractive vampires in "Blade" and in "Bram Stoker's Dracula."
While the variety of various vampire movies is so great that it's impossible to keep the list down to only one or two things that make a great vampire flick, there are a few basic things to look for:
1)Cool Vampires. This is mandatory. dallas teeth whitening . If the vampires are lame, the movie will be lame. There's a lot of leeway here: it can be from the hot and alluring lady vampire, to the kung fu vampire, to the traditional played by a very strong lead (like Christopher Lee).
2)Strong hero. To fight off really evil vampires, you need a freaking cool hero.
3)Victims. What's a good vampire movie without any victims? The vampire may be a suave monster, but they still need to be a monster.
These three things are mandatory in every successful vampire film, whether modern or old.
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I am a huge fan of vampire movies. One of the amazing things about this genre is how varied the actual movies are. They're not all carbon copies of the same thing, which means there are a lot of original works among the classics. phlebotomist pay . So with so many different types of movies, what determines a "good" vampire movie?
Part of that answer depends on what you enjoy most out of vampire movies. Is it gore? Terror? The sensual flair? The movie plot itself?
What makes this further interesting as a question is that even the vampire legends are different. Does sunlight really affect a vampire? What about silver? If you answered that the best vampire movies are action flicks, do you prefer "Blade," "John Carpenter's Vampires," or "The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires" (think vampire kung fu with zombies - great stuff)?
There's nothing sensual about the vampires in "30 Days of Night," which shows vampires in a pack mentality, but there are some very attractive vampires in "Blade" and in "Bram Stoker's Dracula."
While the variety of various vampire movies is so great that it's impossible to keep the list down to only one or two things that make a great vampire flick, there are a few basic things to look for:
1)Cool Vampires. This is mandatory. dallas teeth whitening . If the vampires are lame, the movie will be lame. There's a lot of leeway here: it can be from the hot and alluring lady vampire, to the kung fu vampire, to the traditional played by a very strong lead (like Christopher Lee).
2)Strong hero. To fight off really evil vampires, you need a freaking cool hero.
3)Victims. What's a good vampire movie without any victims? The vampire may be a suave monster, but they still need to be a monster.
These three things are mandatory in every successful vampire film, whether modern or old.
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