Lesson Notes By Weeks and Term v5 - Grade 2

Lesson Video

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Performance objectives

• Identify emotions in music and movement.
• Create movements for characters in a South African folktale.
• Perform a short scene from a folktale.
• Listen actively to your friends' performances.

Lesson summary

Creative arts are a fun and important part of Life Skills. This week, we're focusing on combining music, movement, and drama to tell stories and express ourselves. In South Africa, with our diverse cultures and rich storytelling traditions, these skills are especially valuable. They help us connect with others, celebrate our heritage, and develop our imaginations. Think about the vibrant dances, songs, and plays that are part of so many celebrations and traditions in our communities – learning about music, movement, and drama helps us understand and participate in these celebrations.

Lesson notes

Music: Music is sound organised in a way that creates rhythm, melody, and harmony. It can make us feel happy, sad, excited, or calm. In our context, we'll use simple instruments (like shakers, drums, or even clapping and stomping) and our voices to create sound effects and musical accompaniment for our drama. For example, a slow drumbeat could represent a lion walking slowly, while fast clapping could represent rain falling.

Movement: Movement is how we use our bodies to express ourselves. This can include walking, running, jumping, dancing, and making gestures with our hands and arms. Different movements can show different emotions or represent different things. For example, stomping your feet might show anger, while tiptoeing might show sneaking or being scared.

Drama: Drama is a way of telling stories through acting. This involves taking on a role, using your voice and body to show what the character is like, and interacting with other actors. In our context, we'll focus on simple role-play and acting out parts of a story.

Folktales: Folktales are traditional stories passed down through generations. Many South African folktales feature animals with human-like qualities or teach important lessons about life. Expression of Emotions through Music, Movement, and Drama: Music can evoke emotions through its tempo, volume, and instrumentation. Fast music with a loud volume often indicates excitement or anger, while slow, soft music suggests sadness or peace. Movement also plays a crucial role; a stiff posture and jerky movements can convey nervousness or tension, while fluid, graceful movements often indicate happiness or confidence. In drama, combining these elements effectively allows us to portray complex emotions authentically.

Example 1: The Hare and the Tortoise Let's think about the story of the Hare and the Tortoise, a popular folktale. We can use music, movement, and drama to retell this story: Hare's Arrogance (Movement): A learner could strut around confidently, tapping their foot impatiently to show the Hare's arrogance and speed. They could even do a little victory dance.

Tortoise's Determination (Music): We can use a slow, steady drumbeat to represent the Tortoise's slow but determined pace. The beat should be consistent and unyielding.

The Race (Drama): Learners can act out the race, with one learner playing the Hare (showing off and eventually falling asleep) and another playing the Tortoise (moving slowly but steadily forward).

Example 2: The Lion and the Mouse Let's consider the story of the Lion and the Mouse, another common fable.

Lion's Roar (Music): Learner to mimic the sounds of the jungle Lion's Power (Movement): Learner could take big steps Mouse's help (Drama): Learners can act out the mouse removing the net that the lion is caught in.

Example 3: Shaka Zulu Let's discuss Shaka Zulu, a historical figure that is important in South African history.

Shaka's Strength (Movement): Learner to lift pretend spear in air Shaka's Leadership (Music): The class can create music of Zulu warriors.

Shaka's Courage (Drama): Learners can act out battle formations. Guided Practice (With Solutions)

Question 1: You are acting as a very sad character. What kind of music and movement would you use to show this?

Solution: For music, I would choose slow, quiet, and perhaps slightly mournful sounds. Maybe a low hum or a soft tapping sound. For movement, I would move slowly and droop my shoulders. My head would be down, and my steps would be small and hesitant.

Commentary: This helps learners link emotions to specific musical and physical expressions.

Question 2: Choose an animal from a South African folktale (e.g., the Hare, the Tortoise, the Jackal). Describe what kind of movements that animal makes and what type of music could be played to represent that animal.

Solution: Let's choose the Jackal. The Jackal is often portrayed as sneaky and clever. Movement-wise, it would be quick, darting movements, with the actor crouching low to the ground. Music-wise, we could use a high-pitched, playful flute sound, maybe with quick, light drumming.

Commentary: Encourages learners to apply their understanding to specific characters and musical representations.

Question 3: You are acting out a scene where it is raining heavily. How can you use your body and voice to show this? What kind of music can you use?

Solution: For movement, I would start by tapping my fingers lightly to represent the beginning of the rain, then gradually increase the intensity, shaking my body and face. I would make sounds of rain falling heavily. For music, I could use a shaker instrument to simulate the sound of light rain, gradually increasing the intensity to simulate heavy rain. We can use drumming to represent thunder.

Commentary: Prompts learners to think about realistic sensory details and translate them into acting. Independent Practice (Questions Only) Imagine you are acting out a scene where you are feeling very happy.