Week 3: Drama

Our last drama session examined ‘Reader’s Theatre’, and I was blessed with an opportunity over the weekend to practice this with a group of children! The story I was reading was not from a picture book, so required the children to concentrate and use their imaginations. As I read the story aloud, I was very conscious of my voice…as we learnt last week, emphasising various qualities of our voice (e.g. playing with the pace, pitch, tone, volume, accents, pauses, etc) is probably the most important thing we need to remember whilst reading aloud. Overall, the Reader’s Theatre experience with this group of children was positive; they appeared to be engaged and were actively involved in the follow-up activity. I look forward to any of the opportunities ahead where I can further practice and develop my reading skills.

The drama tutorial this week was extraordinarily interesting. Our first task involved arranging ourselves into small groups of four people, and we were provided with laminated photocopies of five different illustrated pages from Shaun Tan’s book ‘The Arrival’. We were instructed to arrange these in an order that would tell a story. Then, after a period of time, each group presented their arrangement in the form of ‘oral storytelling’. Every single group in our class had a different arrangement, which was rather fascinating! And the stories that the groups told were all captivating; isn’t it quite remarkable how creatively minded people can be! Below is the arrangement that my group proposed:

In the second half of the tutorial, we were instructed to write three words that described 1/something that is valuable, 2/something that is silly, and 3/something that is ugly. Then, in our groups, we were told to create a ‘still image’ of one of those words, but also decide upon a way of how to say that word. We chose the word ‘metamorphosis’ . Our still image involved each person taking the form of a different stage in the butterfly life cycle (egg, caterpillar, pupa, butterfly). The way that we said the word ‘metamorphosis’ aloud served as a difficult task, however! Eventually, we decided to begin the word at the whisper, and then gradually get louder (crescendo), so that it ended in a loud and almost glorious way, to depict the formation of a butterfly.

Week 3 has now also come to an end, and we do not have EDMT5530 until week 9 – a whole month and a half away! In the meantime, I will continue to work on the skills that I have learnt in both drama and art, continue my newly acquired hobby of sketching/painting, and take hold of any opportunities that may arise inside or outside the classroom where I can put what I have learnt into practice.

Week 3: Art

While catching up with a dear friend in Chiefly Plaza today, we stumbled across an exhibition (“Contemporary Japanese & Australian Printmaking”) at the Japan Foundation Gallery. Whilst a small exhibition (50 prints), it was inspiring to walk through and examine all of the works, half of which were by Japanese printmakers, and the other half by local Sydney printmakers - celebrating ‘cultural collaboration’. I could not believe that all of these were ‘prints’; there was such diversity between all the works, highlighting the array of techniques employed. As Australian printmaking artist Neilton Clarke quotes:

“Looking at the printmaking of the two by the kind of responses it produces, Australian printmaking, notwithstanding exceptions, might be said to be more tactile and tends to move outwards towards the viewer, whereas Japanese printmaking shows a tendency towards somewhat more reticence, drawing the viewer in and often revealing itself more gradually.”

Below is a silkscreen print by Japanese artist, Narimi Ochi, titled  ‘Raging’.

As we walked through the exhibition, I was reminded of the time in Year 8 where we did a printmaking unit in art. Although slightly embarrassed by my little ability compared to all of those amazing prints I saw in the gallery, below is one I discovered in my VA scrapbook:

In our art lecture this week, we were provided with great tips as to how we were to construct and create a visual arts lesson plan. Something that stood out to me was learning about the teaching/learning process, which involves three steps: 1/ Exploring (Experimenting), 2/ Developing (Making) and 3/ Reflecting (Studying). As I create my visual lesson plans in the future (and hopefully in this upcoming prac!), I will follow this method and ensure that the ‘reflecting’ step is not in any way neglected.

In our art tutorials this week, we used our sketched portraits from last week to create cubist portraits. This involved cutting our portrait into four segments, and writing on the back of what two colour schemes we wanted painted. We randomly swapped the segments of each others portraits, and painted them in whatever colours were indicated. Not only did we use paintbrushes, but used forks, toothbrushes, sponges, rollers, etc to create a range of different and unusual effects.

Below is my cubist painting:

Finally, I have continued to do some charcoal sketches and water colour paintings in my spare time. Below are a couple that I have done recently.

And one final reflection – my Year 4 art experiences. What wonderful memories! My teacher, Mrs. K White, had a deep passion for the creative arts. We had art sessions quite often, and they were always lots of fun. Below is a painting that my dad has kept, and is hanging in his work office. The painting is of my neighbours’ cat, Albert. He was a beautiful cat, and visited my house almost daily for 13 years. He was dearly loved by my family.

Week 1 Homework: Name Montage

Create a name montage; let it reflect your personality, likes/dislikes, identity, etc.

Name: Amy

- Music manuscript

            - Play piano, sax, teach piano

- Scripture

            - Christian

- Origami & Chopsticks

            - Half-Japanese background

- Sand & Shells

            - Live in Freshwater, love the beach

- Photo

            - Enjoy friends’ company

            - 365 Grateful (this year I have begun a photo project; to take a photo each day of something                   that I am thankful for)

- “m” outline

            - Love my family

            - Blue, red, white dashes: Half-British background (colours of flag)

- Buttons

            - I enjoy art & craft
            - Also trying to learn how to sew!

Week 2: Drama

Week 2 already – wow, time seems to pass by very quickly. It brings a tear to my eye to know that we are in fact half way through the drama ‘art-strand’ of this unit; it is a shame that we are not able to study this for the entire semester. I am learning SO much..!!

In the first half of our drama tutorials we continued to look at ‘The Green Children’ through participating in a range of drama activities. Homework from last week involved creating a character of a person from the village of where the ‘green children’ were located. In our tutorials, we were to ‘put on’ the role of our character. We were instructed to move around the drama studio as that character would, then FREEZE! Creating a still image, we were invited to speak our thoughts or feelings about the green children to a ‘villager’ next to us. After a short moment of conversing, we were asked to continue moving around the studio, then, FREEZE again! Next, we were told to have a ‘gossip’ session about the green children discovery. This drama strategy is classified as ‘thought-tracking’. I believe that it is a useful activity for the classroom as it is non-threatening; we were only required to talk and act in front of one person. Moreover, it slows the action down, enabling student’s to reflect on events, take on the mindset of another persona and establish what the character would be thinking or feeling at a specific moment in time. In essence, thought-tracking is useful preparation for improvisation.

After this activity, we were told to keep on the role of our characters, and come along to a ‘town meeting’. Four village members facilitated the discussion; a mayor, farmer, doctor and witch. Members of the public stated their opinions or asked questions in response to the arrival of the green children. It was a great, fun activity, and the points raised were very interesting. In response to the town meeting, we were instructed to write down our thoughts and feelings from the perspective of our character. As Robyn has reiterated in our lectures, a written representation facilitates a deepened understanding. Below is an extract of what my character, a child named “Poppy”:

“My Pa found the two ‘green children’ while he was out for a walk with a friend. That was a few weeks ago. Sadly the boy died, but the girl now lives with my family. It was very strange at first; the girl acted odd and couldn't speak properly. She was shy and I would often feel uncomfortable around her. But we have gotten to know one another; we now really get along as if we are sisters. We play and chat, and have fun with the other village children too. I’ve always wanted a sister, so I am very happy that Pa found her. But I feel very sorry for too, the way the town people talk about her makes me sad. They don't understand what she has gone through; they probably haven’t even gotten to know her yet. And I don't want her to be kicked out of the village, it’s not fair because she hasn't done anything wrong...”

In our lectures this week, as well as the second half of our tutorials, we examined ‘Reader’s Theatre’. According to the NSW Creative Arts Syllabus, Reader’s Theatre is defined as ‘rehearsed reading for an audience’ and encompasses ‘drama conventions [including] reading aloud, vocal expression, silent pauses and a direct actor-audience relationship’ (NSW BOS, 2000). The main point that I took away from the lecture was the importance of the ‘voice’; we should emphasise the various qualities our voice when story telling, such as playing with the pace, pitch, tone, volume, accents, pauses, etc.

As an activity in our tutorial, we were asked to form groups of three or four and choose a text to practice our ‘readers theatre’ with. My group decided to choose ‘The Hairy Toe’, a traditional American tale. What a fun and grizzly text this was! We broke the poem into three sections, which were divided already by the repetitive phrase “Who’s got my hairy toe?’. We planned to read this repetitive phrase in unison. Next, we highlighted all the onomatopoeias in the text, and decided that the other two people who weren’t ‘narrating’ that section of the story would read these words. Below is text annotated:

Week 2 has now come to an end, and let’s just say, this subject is definitely inspiring me to embrace the art forms more and really explore creativity!

Week 2: Art

In the winter break, it was brought to my attention that I didn’t really have any hobbies.. Although I do really love doing many things, I found myself feeling a bit awkward whenever I was asked, “What are your hobbies?”.  I would usually reply with a very standard/boring answer: love the beach, play piano, eating chocolate, etc.

So I decided that it was now time.. It was now the time to take up a new hobby or two!!

I’ve always had my eye on art and craft. I really appreciate art, and I love arty-crafty markets. And to put it simply, I really enjoy doing both art and craft! So I thought to myself, why not take it to the next level and make this an actual hobby?! Get passionate about it. Besides, it would most likely come into very good use for primary teaching in the future! (..and potentially be of help in EDMT5530!)

After the unsuccessful attempt of trying to relocate my V.A set from year 8, I rode to the newsagency and got myself some willow charcoal, watercolour paints, paintbrushes, a paint tray (to mix paint), an A4 sketching book and a watercolour book. I also bought some red wool and knitting needles (I decided to take up knitting as a hobby too!).

And so since then, I’ve attempted to do some charcoal sketches here and there, or some (very simple) watercolour paintings. I am still learning so they aren’t anything magnificent at all. But I thought that it would a good opportunity for me to post a few pictures of the sketches of paintings I’ve done each week in this journal.

Below are my first few sketches and paintings.

In the art lecture this week, we examined the different stages a child may be in relation to drawing/art. We learnt that a child moves from the scribble stage to the symbolism stage at approximately 4 years of age, then in the latter primary years move onto the realism stage. Something interesting that I was encouraged by were Robyn’s 2 tips: #1 Engage with the senses, #2 Ensure that the art activity is meaningful and relevant. This is definitely something that I will remember and endeavor to implement in my art teaching practices. In this lecture, we also learnt about ‘Wilson’s Graphic Principles’:

- Simplicity Principle – easiest way to draw something (e.g. stick figure drawing)

- Perpendicular Principle – several view styles in one means that it cannot exist the way it is drawn

- Territorial Imperative Principle – each image has its own space

- Fill the Format Principle – the image fills the page

- Conservation & Multiple Application Principle – uses symbols in the work repeatedly

- Draw Everything Principle – inside and outside of objects (like X-ray vision!), common with transport

- Plastic Principle – most important feature is exaggerated in size, colour etc.

In our tutorials this week, we learnt how to draw a portrait of a person. The instructions we received were very useful, and which I will use when I do portraits of people in the future. We were firstly instructed to draw an oval, then a series of horizontal lines (this would indicate where we would draw the eyes, mouth etc later on). Along the horizontal line that cut our oval in two, we were instructed to draw four even vertical dashes, and then use these to form two football shapes for the eyes. From there, we drew vertical dotted lines from the centre of the eyes down to the bottom line, and this was to indicate the edges of the lips. This formed the structural base for our portrait – we then had about 20 minutes to adjust and sketch in details to make the portrait look like our partner. Whilst I felt a bit under pressure (I was surrounded by very talented people!), I found it to be a very fun and useful activity. Below is the portrait I did of a friend in my class.

Throughout this week, I have been looking for art works that I did back at school. I have found a few, and I thought I would post a picture or two each week and reflect upon it. Unfortunately, I was unable to locate many from primary school. But I found two portraits that I did back in high school. Below is a Mona Lisa drawing that we were asked to do in Year 7, and in Year 8 we were instructed to do a self-portrait. I did a drawing of my Year 2 school photo.

Finally, I located a drawing that I did in Year 5 for my dad’s Christmas present.

Week 1: Drama

Drama? Uh-oh. This is an ‘art-strand’ that sends butterflies into my stomach!

Last summer I was asked to participate in a little skit at a holiday-club program. I played a ‘ditzy’ duck, and my preparation involved learning my lines and practicing how to ‘quack’ well. The audience was a humble size of about 80 people, mainly primary-aged girls and boys. To say I was nervous would be an understatement – I was absolutely terrified to the point where I was struggling to breathe properly! I remember wondering why I was feeling substantially more anxious than actually sitting my HSC exams…! I felt ridiculous – why on earth was I so worked up?!

This week, I have been reflecting on how I feel about drama. I definitely believe there is great importance for drama in education, as was confirmed in our introductory lecture. To try and think back to my drama experience at school: I cannot actually recall of any. I remember my parents sending me to drama lessons for a term in Year 4; unfortunately I didn't enjoy it… and that was the dismal end to my potential acting career/the sprouting of my anxiety towards acting in front of people!

I still think my attitude behind it all is very silly. I get very nervous beforehand, but once I’ve hopped on ‘stage’, it all seems fine! In fact, I quite enjoy it! But why do I get nervous? I think it’s the fact that I am ‘putting-on’ another persona, and the whole experience is something that is slightly outside of my comfort zone. This is something that I personally need to work hard on throughout the course of this semester; I am determined to extinguish these anxious feelings that I have attached to drama!

So, how did I find week one of EDMT5530 Drama?

I absolutely LOVED IT!

Firstly, I am very fond of our lecturer, Robyn Ewing. She is very gentle, yet teaches with passion and great clarity. I am fortunate enough to have her as my tutor as well, and there wasn't a moment in class where I was made to feel nervous about what we were doing as part of our class activities.

This week, we looked at the English legend of the ‘Green Children’. We initially read the short passage in the lecture, and were encouraged to come up with a series of questions that popped up into our mind as we read it. The questions that I wondered about included the following:

- Where do these children come from?

- Why were they hungry and sad? (/why ‘dazed & frightened?’)

- Why were they here? (/how did they end up here?)

- Why did the boy die?

- Why green?

- What was the girl’s relationship with the boy?

- What motivated the girl to eat the food and learn the language?

We began our tutorials with a group discussion of the various questions we each had, and were then asked to complete a drawing of an aerial map for the setting of the Green Children legend. This activity allowed for deliberation and discussion to occur within our small groups, where each individual was encouraged to participate. Below is the aerial map my group enthusiastically drew!

In today’s tutorial, Robyn also taught us about ‘sculpturing’. The sculptor, or ‘director’ in charge, ‘sculpts’ the body of their group members by physically moving the partner’s body into position, or by showing/describing the “clay” how to stand. When the “sculpture” is finished, everybody freezes (this is known as a ‘frozen image’). We did two drama activities that examined this drama concept.

Overall, the tutorial was much better than what I had hoped for! Robyn created a safe, non-threatening environment in our tutorial. We were all instructed and encouraged to participate within our small groups, but were not forced or expected to present to the wider class audience (unless we volunteered to do so). Every student appeared actively engaged in each of the drama activities, and there was a lot of laughter! The fact that we actually participated in the drama activities allowed us to know what it feels like to participate from a student’s perspective. Not only did it serve as a good means for practice, but we were able to evaluate why the drama activity was helpful, and reflect and reason as to why and how it worked.

I am definitely looking forward to what Week 2 of EDMT5530 Drama has in stall! :)

Week 1: Art

What is: visual arts?

This is the question we were encouraged to dwell upon in our introductory lecture for EDMT5530: Creative Arts K-6.

As soon as the question was asked, my mind began to be filled with images of famous works, such as Whistler’s Mother, Mona Lisa, The Scream, Van Gogh’s Sunflowers, just to name a few. I then began thinking about other art forms… ceramics, drawings, crafts, photography, sculptures … and Michelangelo’s masterpiece from the Renaissance period of David popped into my mind. From there, I thought about Sculpture by the Sea, the world’s largest annual outdoor sculpture exhibition at Bondi. My mind then wandered to modern art, and I thought about how it is often quite eccentric, and reflects a spirit of experimentation. Finally, I was brought back to memories of doing art at school. What great memories they were!

Whilst I had been exploring those thoughts, our UOS coordinator and lecturer, Robyn Gibson, had instructed us to ‘creatively’ answer with the person sitting next to us her initial question: What is: visual arts?. When she said ‘creatively’ answer, Robyn meant that we could respond to the question by drawing, writing a poem, mind-mapping, doing a short play/representation – we could express ourselves in whatever way we wished!

The first thing that popped into mind was to do a drawing of a big tree; a thick trunk, lots of branches, leaves, and vines hanging off, long, strong-looking roots… But I decided to ask the person sitting next to me what she thought we could do as an idea. And I couldn't believe it – she suggested to also draw a image of a tree! And so we did.

In our first art tutorial, Robyn played a game with us. It involved dividing up into teams, and we were each given a sheet of paper with a letter of the alphabet written in the corner. We were instructed to draw a picture (which began with that allocated letter) of a particular characteristic that answered the question: What makes a good art teacher.  The actual game involved guessing correctly the characteristic the other teams had drawn. In my opinion, it was such a great game - not only brainstorm what we believe are key characteristics to being a good art teacher, but also encouraged team participation and cooperation! Definitely a game I will use in the classroom when I become a teacher!

Below is an image of the pictures/art teacher characteristics our class drew.

Although we are only at the end of week one, I can already see how valuable and great this unit of study is going to be. In fact, to say that I am simply just excited for the upcoming 7 weeks of lectures and tutorials would be an understatement – I don't think I have ever been so excited about a subject that I passionately believe in!