A Robot Dog

Creative Drama Unit Plan

Rationale: This Five Unit Lesson Plan will be taught to second semester Kindergarten students. The short story that will be used throughout the week is A Robot Dog by Clark Ness. In each lesson, the students will utilize this book for the whole week to really understand the concepts of prediction, key events in a story, characterization, and cause and effect. In three out of the five lessons, students will use creative drama as a central teaching strategy to achieve particular objectives. In lesson number two, the students will work on plot and story development. They will be using a creative dramas concept of pantomime to act out the five key events in that take place in this story. This is being used because by engaging in movement, they will be able to remember the story much better. This is also a central teaching goal because with CCSS.RL.K.1 students must know the key details in a text. In lesson number three students will also pantomime, but they are doing this to focus on characterization. They will focus on one main character, the do Rockey, and focus on the different emotions he could have felt when he was turned into a robot dog. Through pantomime, the students will be able to really get into character and have a deeper understanding how Rockey really felt. This also fits into the central teaching goal stated as CCSS.RL.K.3 where students describe characters in a story using key details. Since the book does not have many key details about Rockey the dog, students will be able to connect feelings and make their own understanding (key details) of this character. Lastly, in lesson five, the students will use the creative drama concept of improvisation to go past what the book has told us and think of what could happen outside of the reading. Again, in CCSS.RL.K.1, students have to answer questions about key details in a text. To have a deeper idea of the characters and the story, students can create an alternative ending to predict what would happen if the tree would turn itself into a little boy. It gives the students a chance to be creative and really get into characterization and thinking for themselves, using previous knowledge of the book to make up an ending on their own.

By using creative drama to teach these three lessons, students will be able to get into the stories characters and create a deeper sense of understanding of how the story flows. Since creative drama is a student-focused process, they are able (with side coaching) to experience thinking they may have not thought off by just talking or listening. This allows for a range of learning to happen because students are able to use different thinking skills, be creative, use their cognitive thinking skills and even stimulate more oral communication. Students are able to go into the role of the characters in the book which develops different thinking, thinking how other people can feel and be empathetic to the needs of others. Overall, Creative Drama will allow the students to gain a better understanding of the entire story, characterization, and let them practice skills they can use while reading any story.

Lesson #1 Interactive Read-Aloud CCSS.RL.K.10: Actively engage in group reading activities with purpose and understanding. Objective: Students will be able to make predictions before, during and after reading to make connections throughout the story. Introduce/Plan: How many of you have a toy robot? How many of you have a pet dog? I never played with toy robots, but I do have two dogs. Today, we are going to read a book about a dog that gets turned into a Robot! Hmm, I wonder who would do that We will be working on making predictions so we can think about what could happen next in the story before we read it. Turn to your carpet buddy and make predictions of who would turn a dog into a robot. Present/Play: This story is about a little boy named Andrew who has a dog named Rockey. Start reading story Stop: Hee, hee, hee, he heard. It came from the tree. Ask: o Who do you think was laughing? o Turn to your buddy and ask them what they think will happen next. Stop: I think you turned my dog into a robot dog, said Andrew. Ask: o Do you think the tree turned the dog into a Robot? I wonder how that makes Andrew feel. o Turn to your partner and ask them what they think will happen next. Stop: Now turn Rocky the robot dog back into Rocky the real dog. Ask: o Do you think the tree will turn the Robot dog back into a real dog? o Turn to your partner and ask them what they think will happen next. Reflect/Evaluate: How did you like this story? This was a silly book to read. I want to know get to know more about this story and about Andrew, Rocky and the tree. We will be working on this story all week to learn more about the characters and the main events that happen in this story. Plan & Replay: It might be hard for these students to make predictions without pictures. (Scaffold more/questions to focus their thinking) How did it feel to predict what was going to happen next in the story? Easy? Hard? Did it help you understand the story more?

Lesson #2 Plot & Story Development CCSS.RL.K.1: With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about key details in a text. Objective: Students will pantomime the five key events in A Robot Dog to demonstrate their understanding of sequencing. Introduce: Yesterday we read the story A Robot Dog Do you remember reading that story? Who were the three characters that were in this story? o (Remind students what characters are.) What was it about? o What do you remember/What happened in the story? Listen to their responses. Today, we are going to read that book again but this time we will be pantomiming the five most important parts in the story. Present: Remember a story has to have a beginning/middle/end What was the first thing that happened in this story o Andrew & Rockey went for a walk. What happened in the middle? o Tree turns Rockey into a robot dog. o Andrew looks all around and finds out the tree did it. o Andrew tickles the tree. What happened at the end? o The Tree turns robot dog back into Rockey. Plan: While I say the key-events that took place in the story A Robot Dog, you will pantomime, act out, the story. Place students into pairs (10 groups in the class) Each group will have a member that is one of the characters o Andrew or Rockey o Stick will represent the tree Students have enough room to move around Play: (Side coach what I see students doing well give them more ideas) Andrew and Rockey go for a walk. Tree turns Rockey into a robot dog. Andrew looks all around and finds the tree laughing because the tree turned Rockey into a robot dog. Andrew tickles the tree. Tree turns Rockey back into a dog. Reflect/Evaluate: We really understand the story now. Was it difficult to pantomime the five key events? In this story there was a beginning, middle, and end. You cannot have a story without those three things. Plan & Replay:

The students will really enjoy being able to pantomime the five key events of the story. Getting them up and moving they will be able to connect on different levels to be able to learn, understand, and remember the story. Possibly next time add in writing just so they are able to see writing since that is so important in Kindergarten. Lesson #3

CCSS.RL.K.3: Describe characters, setting, and major events in a story using key details. Objective: Students will pantomime the different emotions Rockey could have felt when he turned into a Robot Dog to explore his character. Introduce: We know this story pretty well now dont we? Go over story the five key events Plan/Present: We will pantomimg again today so we have a better understanding of the story. We will pantomime the different emotions Rocky could have felt when the tree turned him into a Robot Dog. Now, when I say emotions do you know what I mean? Emotions are different feelings we have and we can express them through our body movements and face. Demonstrate the emotion of happy Can you think of any emotions Rocky may have felt when the Tree turned him into the Robot Dog? o Happy/sad/tired/confused Play: Begin with the first two key events of the story - Pantomime o Andrew & Rockey went for a walk. o Tree turns Rockey into a robot dog. Now Rockey has just turned into a robot dog and he is very confused. Let me see you being confused. Once Rockey has seen that he can jump higher than he used to he gets happy. Let me see you being happy. Rockey sees how mad Andrew is getting and does not like to see him getting mad. This makes Rocky the robot dog very sadlet me see what sad looks like. Finally, after feeling all of these different emotions Rocky is tired! What does Rocky do when he gets tired? Reflect/Evaluate: Rockey has had a pretty hard day. He went for a walk with Andrew and gets turned into a tree. All of these emotions, happy/sad/tired/confused are shown in one day! Turn to your carpet buddy and ask them which emotion they would have felt and why. Ask a few students It is nice to be able to read a story and think about the different things a character is feeling. Plan & Replay:

I think students will really enjoy getting more in depth about a character. This is a great time for them to work on their emotions and have a better understanding of how they are expressed. Students could also show more emotions and talk about why each emotion could happen. Lesson #4

CCSS.W.K.3: Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to narrate a single event or several loosely linked events, tell about the events in the order in which they occurred, and provide a reaction to what happened. Objective: Students will create writing that connects the story to their own lives by writing about if they were the tree what they would have turned Rockey into and why. Introduce: We really understand this story now. o We have predicted what would happen in the story, o We have pantomimed the 5 key events in the story (beginning, middle, and end) o We have looked into the character Rockey the dog and what emotions he could have felt when the tree turned him into a robot dog. Plan/Present: Today we are going to work on our writing. Think back to what the tree did. (He turned the dog into a robot) I wonder what would happen if I was the tree..hmmm Can you help me write a story that is about me being the tree and turning Rocky intoWhat should I turn Rocky into? Remember I story has a beginning middle and end. Write the story with students giving me ideas. ( I am the writer) Draw a picture to go along with the writing. Play: Have the students think of ideas with their partners of what they could turn Rockey into. Students will go back to their writing spots and write and draw a story of them being the tree and turning Rocky into something other than a dog. Reflect/Evaluate: Have students come together in a circle around the carpet and show off their writing and pictures. Each child will show their pictures and explain what it means. Plan & Replay: Students will enjoy being the tree and having the ability to turn Rockey into different things. This will give them a chance to work on their writing skills and that a story has a beginning, middle, and end. We could pantomime the different things the Tree could turn Rockey into if we had more time.

Lesson #5 Improvisation CCSS.RL.K.1: With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about key details in a text. Objective: Students will create an alternative ending to predict what would happen if the tree would turn itself into a little boy. Introduce: We have learned so much about the characters! I have a better understanding of the whole story do you? Present: But you know what, I still wonder what would happen if the tree would turn itself into a little boy what would happen. What do you think? Make 2-3 predictions as a class o Tree and Andrew are friends and go play together. o Tree and Andrew decide to go get something to eat. Plan: Great predictions! We are going to take those predictions and pantomime with your buddy what would happen if the tree turned himself into a little boy. Play: Pantomime what would happen if the Tree turned into a boy and Andrew and him are friends and go play together. o Play in the park in the sand. o Skip o Jump rope o Play with trucks o Climbing up a tree Pantomime what would happen if the Tree turned into a boy and Andrew and him are friends and go get something to eat. o Eating an apple o Drinking some juice Reflect/Evaluate: Was it difficult to be Andrew and playing and eating? What was the most difficult part to act this out? Was it fun playing with the tree? What did you like most about this book? What did you not like about this book? Plan & Replay: This is the last lesson of the week. The students will gain a deeper understanding of the book and the characters. Next time we could include making a mask or include movement into one of the lessons.

A Robot Dog By Clark Ness www.clarkness.com One day Andrew and his dog Rocky went for a walk. They walked and walked. After a little bit, they walked past a big tree. Poof! Rocky was a robot dog. Woof, woof, barked Rocky the robot dog. What is going on? asked Andrew. Who turned my dog into a robot dog? Andrew looked all around him. He looked up the street. He looked down the street. He looked behind the tree. He looked up into the tree. No one was there. He stopped and stood still. Hee, hee, hee, he heard. It came from the tree. Woof, woof, barked Rocky the robot dog at the tree. Andrew looked at the tree. He could not see anything different about this tree. He could not think of what to do. Tree, are you a real tree? asked Andrew. The tree did not say anything. Rocky the robot dog came over and smelled the tree. Woof, woof, he barked at it again. Andrew was mad. He did not like it that Rocky was a robot dog. Andrew walked over to the tree and tickled it. Stop that, said the tree. Why did you tickle me? I think you turned my dog into a robot dog, said Andrew. Maybe I did, and maybe I didnt, said the tree

who was holding his branches in front of himself so Andrew could not tickle him again. It is kind of funny to see a dog become a robot. Andrew got real mad this time and went up to the tree. He pushed away the trees branches and tickled him some more. Oh, stop, stop, said the tree. I dont want to be tickled anymore. I still think you turned Rocky into a robot dog, said Andrew who was about to tickle the tree again. Okay, okay, said the tree. I turned your dog into a robot dog. Just dont tickle me anymore. Well, I dont think it is funny, said Andrew. Now turn Rocky the robot dog back into Rocky the real dog. Okay, said the tree. Poof! Rocky was Rocky the real dog again. Now dont do that anymore, said Andrew. Someone might get mad and tickle you again. You would not like that. Okay, I wont turn dogs into robot dogs anymore, said the tree. Andrew and Rocky walked home. The tree never turned any more dogs into robots, but every now and then, Andrew would see a robot butterfly go flying past his home. Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level 2.9 Flesch Reading Ease 87.9 Text Copyright 2008 by Clark Ness. Clip art from Microsoft Clip Art. Permission granted for reprinting and photocopying. Sale of this story and clip art is prohibited.