Lesson Notes By Weeks and Term v5 - Grade 3
Creative arts: drama, music and dance – Week 10 focus
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Creative arts: drama, music and dance – Week 10 focus
Download the Lessonotes Mobile South Africa app for faster lesson access on Android and iPhone.
Subject: Life Skills
Class: Grade 3
Term: 3rd Term
Week: 10
Theme: General lesson support
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This week, we dive into the exciting world of Creative Arts, focusing on drama, music, and dance. These are not just fun activities; they are powerful ways we express our feelings, tell stories, and celebrate our culture. In South Africa, a country rich with diverse traditions, music and dance are part of our everyday lives – from the energetic gumboot dancing that tells a story of miners, to the beautiful harmonies of gospel choirs in church, to the traditional storytelling (izibongo) that passes history from one generation to the next. By learning about drama, music, and dance, we learn more about ourselves, our communities, and how to communicate in many creative ways.
This is where we become artists! Our bodies, voices, and imaginations are our tools. Let's learn how to use them.
A. Drama: Telling Stories with Our Bodies and Faces Drama is the art of telling a story by pretending to be someone or something else. We don't always need words to tell a story. The best actors use their whole bodies!
Key Tools for Drama: Facial Expressions: Your face can show everyone exactly how you are feeling. Let's practice!
Happy: Your mouth turns up into a big smile. Your eyes might crinkle at the corners. Try showing your happiest smile!
Sad: Your mouth turns down. Your eyebrows might come together. You might look at the ground.
Angry: Your eyebrows go down and pull together. You might tighten your mouth or show your teeth a little. Your eyes look sharp.
Surprised: Your eyes open very wide. Your eyebrows go up. Your mouth might open in an 'O' shape.
Body Language (Gesture & Posture): How you stand and move your body tells a story.
Posture: The way you hold your body. To be a brave superhero, you would stand up tall with your chest out and hands on your hips. To be a tired old gogo, you might be bent over and walk slowly.
Gesture: Moving your hands and arms to show something. Waving hello is a gesture. Pointing at something is a gesture.
Mime: Mime is a special kind of drama where you tell a story completely without words. You have to use your facial expressions and body language to show everything.
Example: Imagine you are eating a very sour lemon. How would your face look? You would probably squeeze your eyes shut and pucker your lips! That's mime.
B. Music: Making Sounds with a Beat Music is made of organised sounds that have a rhythm. It can make us want to dance, feel peaceful, or get excited.
Key Ideas in Music: Rhythm: This is the heartbeat of the music. It's the pattern of sounds. Some sounds are long, some are short.
Body Percussion: This is making music with your own body! It's fun, easy, and you don't need any instruments.
Sounds you can make: Clap (with your hands) Stomp (with your feet) Snap (with your fingers) Pat (your knees or tummy)
Example of a rhythm: Let's create a four-beat pattern. We can count "1, 2, 3, 4".
On 1: Clap On 2: Pat your knees On 3: Clap On 4: Pat your knees Try it: Clap, Pat, Clap, Pat. Now try it faster!
Tempo: This is a fancy word for how fast or slow the music is.
Fast Tempo: Like the sound of a djembe drum being played quickly at a celebration. It makes you feel energetic.
Slow Tempo: Like a lullaby your mother sings to you. It makes you feel calm and sleepy. The music of Ladysmith Black Mambazo often has a gentle, slower tempo.
C. Dance: Moving Your Body to the Music Dance is moving your body in time with music or a rhythm. It’s a way to express feelings and tell stories.
Types of Movement: Locomotor Movements: These are movements that take you from one place to another. You are travelling!
Walk: Moving one foot after the other.
Run: Like walking, but faster!
Skip: A step and a hop on the same foot, then another step and a hop on the other foot. (Step-hop, step-hop).
Leap: A big jump from one foot to the other.
Non-Locomotor Movements: These are movements you do while staying in one spot. Your feet don't travel.
Stretch: Making your body long, like reaching for the ceiling.
Bend: Folding your body, like touching your toes.
Twist: Turning your body from side to side while your feet stay still.
Sway: Moving gently from side to side, like a tree in the wind.
Levels: Good dancers use different levels to make their movements interesting.
High: Reaching up high, jumping, on your tiptoes.
Medium: Standing, walking, moving at your normal height.
Low: Crouching, sitting, rolling on the floor. Guided Practice (With Solutions)
Activity 1: Emotion Mirror (Drama)
Question: Stand facing a partner. Partner A will be the leader and make the face of an emotion the teacher calls out (e.g., "SAD"). Partner B must copy the facial expression exactly, like a mirror. After 10 seconds, swap roles. Solution/
Commentary: The teacher calls out "SAD". The leader (Partner A) should droop their mouth, lower their eyelids, and perhaps let their shoulders slump. The mirror (Partner B) should carefully observe and copy every detail. The goal is to focus on the small muscle changes in the face that show emotion. The teacher can walk around and say, "I see you've made your mouth turn down, that really shows sadness!" Activity 2: The Rhythm Train (Music)
Question: The teacher starts as the engine of the train and creates a four-beat body percussion pattern (e.g., Stomp, Stomp, Clap, Snap). The whole class, standing in a circle, copies the pattern. The teacher then "passes the sound" to the next person, who creates a new four-beat pattern for everyone to copy. We continue around the circle. Solution/
Commentary: Example Pattern 1 (Teacher): Stomp, Stomp, Clap, Snap. Everyone does it together four times. Teacher points to Learner 1.