Second grade drama students have been exploring character development and scriptwriting recently, and they have incorporated a kindness-from-afar project into the unit. Before spring break, they began acting out scenes from the graphic novel Owly and Wormy, Friends All a Flutter written by Andy Runton. Each page of the book represents a scene in the story, and each scene was further divided into four acts. Students performed the acts in small groups to convey the story.
Lower and Middle School Drama Teacher Missy Heinemann shared, “The majority of this unit took place prior to spring break; however, I wanted to be sure we had a chance to conclude our journey with Owly and Wormy—even from a distance!”
Her last assignment for the students was to create a poem and a sign for a friend from school who they dearly miss. She explained, “Throughout the story, the main characters (Owly and Wormy) are working to ‘find’ their friends (the butterflies) and welcome them home by making signs and posting them outside. At one point in the story, Owly makes a card. These moments in the book served as my inspiration for developing this lesson. I thought given our circumstances, it would be nice to celebrate the book while also giving the students a creative outlet for celebrating their friendships.” She provided students with a poem template to work with, and the results below will surely put a smile on your face!
Like all MICDS teachers, Heinemann has been working hard to adapt her Lower School drama curriculum to the distance learning environment. “The lessons I offer students include brand new lessons and adaptations of existing activities we would have done in person. That said, I am focused on scaffolding my lessons across all grade levels so students feel a strong sense of engagement, excitement and creative growth.”
Thank you to all MICDS teachers for providing such an enriching distance learning experience, and thank you to all the students—and their family members supporting them—who are engaging in the work in this new environment.