Brad

Drama Unit Planner:

UNIT PLANNER: The Arts: Drama NAME: Brad

UNIT/THEME/TOPIC Inventions and Technology

BAND Primary Years Year level: 5

OVERVIEW OF THE UNIT

This is a unit of work in drama that allows students to look at issues surrounding technology and
the impacts it has on our lives and the lives of others in our world.

Class Profile/Prior knowledge;

The class is a year 5 class who have had some exposure already to drama techniques in previous
year levels. Prior knowledge about the issues raised by technology is being concurrently gained
through studies in Design and Technology and SOSE.

Essential Learnings focus:

❏ Futures ❏ Identity ❏ Interdependence ❏ Thinking ❏ Communication

Key competencies focus: ❏ collecting, analysing, organising information;

❏ communicating ideas and information; ❏ planning and organising activities;

❏ working with others in teams; ❏ using mathematical ideas and techniques;

❏ solving problems; ❏ using technology.

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Unit Outcome(s) these are your
Strand/s: Key idea ( one idea for each strand if outcome statements NOT SACSA
using)

Students draw from thought, imagination,

Arts
data and research, and the examination of
Practice social and cultural issues, to demonstrate
personal aesthetic preference, and provide
imaginative solutions and artistic responses
to ideas and issues. [Id] [T] [KC1] [KC2]
Arts analysis
& Response Relevant Standard
3.3
Works as an individual or in groups to
present/perform arts works from each arts
form that demonstrate an awareness of
Arts in social, ecological and/or cultural issues to
particular audiences/viewers. [In] [T] [C]
Contexts [KC2] [KC4]
Conceptual
(knowledge/understanding)
Students will understand that technology
affects us all in different ways, sometimes
depending on our position in society.
Some people benefit from technology,
while others may be disadvantaged by it.
Skills ( can do)
Students will be able to work together in
groups constructively.
Students will be able to express their
ideas by the use of performance and
presentation.

Students will be able to view supportively

the work of other children in the class

Affective (feel)

Students will feel that their work is

appreciated by their classmates and
develop positive self esteem from this.
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Weekly outline of lessons;
Lesson one- The Strap Box Flyer
The Strap Box Flyer by Paul Jennings is a short story
about two inventors, one of whom is a con artist.
Focus- children role play characters from the book
and create new ones to express different feelings
and emotions.
Activities:
Children create their own character who has been
swindled by the con artist portraying what has
happened to them in a class circle. Focus on feelings
of anger, sadness, shock etc.
Children in class circle portray their own undesirable
characters that they have created. Focus on
expressing untrustworthiness and slyness.
In small groups children role play an alternative
ending to the story, where the con artist has to face
the people he has swindled.
Lesson Two- Robots
Focus on robots and their place in the world.
Activities:
Children move around like human style robots .
Children improvise a scenario with two robots
interacting.
Children create a group scenario where they are a
team of industrial robots performing a group of tasks.
Lesson Three- Inventors
Focus on inventors and how they create things from
their ideas.
Activities:
Children mime the use of inventions, and also what
people used before the invention was made.
Children create a tableau about the invention.
Children develop tableau form into a play about the
inventions.
Teacher references and resources
“ABB Robotics - Cake decorating”, 2009, YouTube,
accessed 18th June,
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57F032tEbE4>.
“Aldebaran Robotics' Nao”, 2008, YouTube,
accessed 15th June 2009,
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSKRgasUEko>.
“Cookie assembly using robots”, 2007, YouTube,
accessed June 15th 2009,
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OLRu5rkbx8>.
The State of South Australia, Department of
Education and Children’s Services, 2004, R–10 Arts
Teaching Resource, DECS Publishing, Hindmarsh
SA
Goerecke, A 1993, Drama across the curriculum,
Longman Cheshire Pty Limited, Melbourne, p 84.
Jennings, P 1985, Unreal: eight surprising stories,
Penguin Books Australia, Ringwood, Victoria
“Kraftwerk - The Robots”, 2006, YouTube, accessed
June 18th 2009,
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXa9tXcMhXQ>.
“KUKA robot- automotive line spot welding”, 2007,
Youtube, accessed 15th June 2009,
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-J_EzKm_70>.
O’Toole, J & Dunn, J 2002, Pretending to learn,
Pearson Education Australia, Frenchs Forest, p 81.
“Popcorn by Hot Butter!!! (Original)”, 2007, YouTube,
accessed June 18th 2009,
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9N4ckFN96-k>.
“Robo Japan 2008 ASIMO Diginfo”, 2008, YouTube,
accessed 15th June 2009,
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hPS8aKAQeQ>.
“Robot assembly line”, 2007, YouTube, accessed 15th
June 2009, <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IC-
3AjPn24U>.
“RP series Mitsubishi robot chocolate pick and
place”, 2007, YouTube, accessed 15th June 2009,
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4ftRdo1Wj0>.
Brad
Weekly outline of lessons; Teacher references and resources

Peter Leyden Publishing House 1999, Technology

Lesson Four- How technology affects different and change, Peter Leyden Publishing, Artarmon,
people NSW. (10 posters, student worksheets and teachers’
guide.) See Appendix 4 forexamples

Focus-Different people in society and the world have

different access to technology, which greatly affects
their lives.

Introduction with Technology and Change Posters,

discussing the different levels of technology in the
posters for different people.

Activities-Brainstorm what activities children like to do

that involves the use of technology. Children mime
their favourite activities that rely on technology.

In pairs they have to role play a situation where they

don’t have that technology. Where do they live, what
is their life like compared to ours. What are their
favourite things to do?

In groups role play a family from the future with much

more technology than we have. Are they happier than
us or not?
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Assessment strategies

What is being assessed?

Students are to be assessed on key drama outcomes as described in Appendix 3: participation,

collaboration, leadership, confidence in presenting, consideration for other when they are
presenting and responding to drama discussions. Key outcomes to be recognised through
observations undertaken by teacher.

Another important assessment comes from the students themselves, an example of which is
Appendix 2. Students can express their own thoughts and feelings about drama. Also beneficial is
an opportunity to give and receive feedback amongst themselves on their role in the drama lesson.
Students have to give positive constructive feedback to each other, and be encouraged to share
this with a different classmate in each lesson. This approach will build rapport and positive
relationships within the classroom.

Evaluation of unit outcomes :indicators;

Students can describe the differences that technology cause for different people in the
world.

Students show that they can work together in groups to produce a presentation as
required.

Students can express their views and ideas through their presentations.

Students are fair and respectful when viewing others’ presentations.

Students feel positive about drama and themselves from a collaborative class environment.
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Lesson 2: Robots
Expected Outcomes: Students, through activities with movement, improvisation and creating a
scenario will gather an understanding of what robots are in our world and what they are used for.

PROCEDURE RESOURCES

(Activity/ies, methodology/process)

Stage 1 – INTRODUCTION Please see reference list at the

This lesson is based on robots of two varieties, the
typical “android” idea of robots that resemble people,
and also industrial robots that are used in real world
situations.
Before a short video is shown the students will be asked
what they know about robots and asked to give
examples of robots.
end of the lesson for full details
Gwen, the full web addresses
messed up the formatting of the
columns. Also the Robots lesson
appendix 1 CD includes the
introduction video and songs as
well as the YouTube clips.

What is a robot?

Where have you seen a robot?

What are robots used for?

How do robots move?

Some may talk about androids, others may mention

robots in industry. The introduction is a short video of
YouTube clips that I have joined together showing
various types of robots and their functions. As the video
is playing student’s attention can be focused on aspects
such as how the robots move, and how many tasks they
can do.

Stage 2 - DEVELOPMENT; Music that feels appropriate to

the robots theme can be played
The activity in this lesson is for the students to move and during individual and pair work.
behave like robots, but like both types of robots that they Two songs I thought would work
have seen and not just as human styled robots. well are Popcorn by Hot Butter,
Individual work-movement and We are the Robots by
Kraftwerk.
“You are one of those human style robots like we saw in
the video. Move around the room in the way that these I feel that for the group work the
robots move.” students will need to discuss
their scenario more and will be
better off without background
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“How does a robot move?” music in this phase.

“How would a robot talk?”

“Are your movements smooth, or jerky? Fast or slow?”

Students act like robots. Encourage their thinking about

how the robots made their movements. Give them minor
tasks to perform in a robot style, such as wave to a
friend, clap their hands, shake hands with another robot.
Ask them to talk in a robotic voice when they interact.
Ask them to dance to the music the way robots would.
Pick a leader for a robot conga line.

Pair work- improvisation

Have the students work in pairs to create a small

scenario where two robots would interact with each
other. It could be an everyday human interaction, but
they need to make it relevant to a robot’s life. For
example a robot may go to a shop and ask a robot shop
keeper for some new batteries because he is feeling
tired.

“If I were a robot, what are some of the activities that I

would do every day?”

“What are some of the things I would need if I was a

robot?”

Students again need to pay attention to their robotic

movements and machine voices but also consider what
the life of a robot would be like.

Group work- creating a scenario.

Group the students into groups of four approximately.

“Now you are robots like the robots in the assembly lines
in the video. Your group has to work together to perform
a function of some type.”

The function can be something like an everyday activity

or anything else that the students decide upon. An
examples could be making toast for breakfast; one robot
can toast the bread, another can spread butter and
vegemite, another can cut the toast in half, and the last
robot can move the toast between the ‘workstations’.
Other examples could be making a milkshake, planting
trees or building a toy.

“Are your movements different now that you are a

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different type of robot?”

“How should you move now?”(These robots most often

have very quick movements.)

“What types of noises would you be making now?”

(There should be no talking now, only the robots
mechanical sounds.)

It will be important to have the students pay attention to

the fact that these types of robots only perform one
simple task of the whole process. Also important to have
the students realise that these are continuous or cyclic
processes that repeat over and over. Encourage the
children to also include the noises that they or their task
would make.

An extension or variation to this activity for a large group

is to have the process performed on a human or for one
person perform the process as a human would.

Stage 3 - Conclusion

Each group should present their work to the class. Allow Drama assessment and reflection
each group enough time to complete their process a worksheet, appendix 2. Based upon;

number of times. The rest of the class can try to figure O’Toole, J & Dunn, J 2002, Pretending
out what process the group is performing. to learn, Pearson Education Australia,
Frenchs Forest, p 81.

Once all the groups have presented it is time for some

reflection.

Ask some simple questions,

“Who enjoyed being robots today?” Invite students to

share what they enjoyed about the lesson.

“Was there anything difficult about trying to be a robot?”

Discuss this as a class.

“What kind of robots do we think we would most likely

find in our world?” Reflecting on the industrial uses of
robots.

“Why do we use robots?” If the students respond with

answers such as to make things, question why do we
use robots instead of people.

“Do the robots do a better job than humans?”

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“What jobs that people do would you think can be better
done by robots?”

Try to have the students bring their SOSE learning into

this lesson, now that they have a better understanding of
robots.

For assessment students can fill out a reflection and

assessment sheet to place in their drama journals.

Observations of students can also be made and

recorded on either individual student or whole class
forms.

References and resources

“ABB Robotics - Cake decorating”, 2009, YouTube, accessed 18th June,

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57F032tEbE4>.

“Aldebaran Robotics' Nao”, 2008, YouTube, accessed 15th June 2009,

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSKRgasUEko>.

“Cookie assembly using robots”, 2007, YouTube, accessed June 15th 2009,
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OLRu5rkbx8>.

“Kraftwerk - The Robots”, 2006, YouTube, accessed June 18th 2009,

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXa9tXcMhXQ>.

“KUKA robot- automotive line spot welding”, 2007, YouTube, accessed 15th June 2009,
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-J_EzKm_70>.

O’Toole, J & Dunn, J 2002, Pretending to learn, Pearson Education Australia, Frenchs Forest, p
81.

“Popcorn by Hot Butter!!! (Original)”, 2007, YouTube, accessed June 18th 2009,
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9N4ckFN96-k>.

“Robo Japan 2008 ASIMO Diginfo”, 2008, Youtube, accessed 15th June 2009,
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hPS8aKAQeQ>.

“Robot assembly line”, 2007, YouTube, accessed 15th June 2009,

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IC-3AjPn24U>.

“RP series Mitsubishi robot chocolate pick and place”, 2007, YouTube, accessed 15th June 2009,
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4ftRdo1Wj0>.
 Brad

Lesson 3: Inventors
Expected Outcomes: Through mime, tableau and play building students gain an understanding
of what it is like to be an inventor, and how they think up ideas to meet society’s needs.

PROCEDURE RESOURCES

(Activity/ies, methodology/process)

Stage 1 – INTRODUCTION Based on Designing Machines in;

Goerecke, A 1993, Drama across the
This lesson aims to give students an understanding of curriculum, Longman Cheshire Pty
what it is like to be an inventor. Limited, Melbourne, p 84.
Almost any object could be used as an
At the beginning of the lesson have a brainstorm about example of an invention, but posters or
inventions. photos could also be used. Use ideas and
examples learned about in Design and
“What is an invention?” Technology to engage students.

“Are there any inventions in this room?” Make a list of

them.

“What are any other inventions that you can think of”

Stage 2 - DEVELOPMENT; Week 12 Practical Friday 5th June-

Mime
Individual work-mime

Ask the students to mime out an action of using a type of

invention. Have them focus on the movements needed to
use the invention and how it is held or how it interacts
with person.

“How do you use your invention?”

“Is it heavy?” “Is it easy to use?”

Now ask the students,

“What did people use before they could use your

invention?”

“Was there something else that they could still use or

some other way to do what they wanted?”

Ask the students to mime out the way people did things
before they could use the new invention

Small group work- role play

Ask the students to get into groups and choose one of the
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inventions that they have been miming. Ask the students
to come up with a role play about the discovery of the
invention and prompt them with questions.
th
“When was it invented?” Ask them to act as if they were in Week 11 Workshop Tuesday 26
this time in history May- Improvisation, tableau and
play building
“Who invented it?” Do they know who invented it?

“What kind of people needed the invention and what did

they do beforehand?”

“What was it like for these people once they had the
invention?”

It is important for the students to come up with a play that

has beginning, middle and an ending. A good way to
ensure this is with a tableau style presentation.

Have the students devise a tableau to suit their invention

story. Encourage them to try to show as much as they can
in each tableau because they don’t have the use of voice
or movement.

Now that the students have a well defined beginning,

middle and ending for their story they can work further to
build a play around them.

Stage 3 – Conclusion

Allow each group to first present their tableau, and then Drama assessment and reflection
their play. worksheet, appendix 3. Based upon;

O’Toole, J & Dunn, J 2002, Pretending to

When all groups have presented have some reflection
learn, Pearson Education Australia,
time. Frenchs Forest, p 54.

“Who feels like they were an inventor today?”

“What makes an inventor want to create new things?”

“Why does society always want new inventions or ways of

doing things?”

“Do we have too many inventions in our lives?”

“Are there some inventions we don’t need?”

“Are there people who don’t have these inventions?” This

is a lead in to the next lesson and a link to the students’
SOSE studies.

Similar assessments to lesson 2 are appropriate for this

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lesson, though the tableau exercise gives a chance to
observe the students as they plan their story, trying to fit
as much detail into each freeze frame, making it as real
and communicative as possible. It would be worthwhile
taking note of how the tableaus come together, for
example does one student take charge, or is it a
collaborative effort.

Though observations are a worthwhile assessment

method, it isn’t possible to observe every student in the
class for particular outcomes. If only a few students at a
time are targeted there will be a greater chance of
actually be able to see the progress those children are
making. Observations can then be recorded onto a class
or individual student form.
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Appendix 2

Assessment and reflection sheet.

Name___________________________ Date________________

Unit and Lesson__________________________________

Thinking about today’s lesson;

What was something you enjoyed?

___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________

What was something that you found difficult?

___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________

Ask another student in the class to something about what you did in the drama
lesson.

___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________

Write about what someone else in the class did today in drama.

___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________
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name
Student’s
Participates in Drama
Lesson

Collaborates in Group
Work

Shows Leadership in
Date when students displays outcome

Group Work
Drama Assessment Sheet

Shows confidence in
Presenting

Is considerate while
others are presenting

Responds to Drama-
Shares and describes
ideas and feelings
about drama
Brad

Technology and Inventions Cross Curricular Mind Map