ReNew Cultural Arts Academy 4th grade, Storytelling & Science Ms. Renee / Ms. Stewart
Students in Ms. Stewart’s 4th grade class are learning about systems, how they function, and what might cause them to not work properly. They have been focusing on electrical systems and blackouts. What causes a system to break down? How do we identify a specific problem and imagine a solution?
With Ms. Renee, they have been working on theatrical storytelling. Using the elements of performance that include facial expression, use of body, voice for sound effects, and recently introduced props/costumes, students were tasked in small groups to put on a skit to tell the story of an electrical system failure. All of the skits had the same outcome: a blackout. Each small group, however, was given a different cause for the system failure. Examples of causes included: Animal interference, lightning, poorly installed mechanisms, or aging parts that were worn down.
The audience took notes during each skit to try to best identify the cause of the blackout. They were asked to record what they saw and heard, think about what they were presented with, and try to deduce a cause of and possible solution to the system failure.
