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Looking Ahead for Our Native Animals

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Writer: Maria Winder and Julie Cadzow
Curriculum Focus: Music and Dance Curriculum
Level: 3 Years 4-7
Duration: 12 lessons (approximately)

This four-part unit focuses on the sustainability of threatened native animals in New Zealand. Students will use music and/or dance to express their knowledge, ideas and feelings towards the endangerment, extinction, or future survival of New Zealand animals.

Part One Students will consider:
The features and habitat of animals that are endangered or have become extinct.
The circumstances that have lead to their demise.
Ideas for fostering the sustainability of endangered species.
Solutions to reduce risks to native animals.
Teachers may choose to communicate the ideas developed from Part One through Music (Part Two) and/or Dance (Part Three).
Part Two Students will explore ways to communicate their ideas about sustainability through Music .
Part Three Students will explore ways to communicate their ideas about sustainability through Dance .
Part Four Music/Dance Composition
A Cooperative Learning model is used to produce a Music and/or Dance performance to communicate stories of endangerment, extinction or survival of New Zealand animals.
Values

'Ecological sustainability' and 'Innovation, inquiry and curiosity' Students will be encouraged to consider the issue of the sustainability of our native animals. They will have the opportunity to identify a selection of extinct or endangered animals, to discover contributing factors that have led to their extinction or depletion, and look ahead to what they could do to protect those that remain.

Key Competencies

Using Language, Symbols and Texts Students will access information from libraries, interviews and the Internet, and will present knowledge gained by creating dance and music about extinct or endangered animals.

Participating and Contributing The students will participate in full-class and group activities that require cooperation. They will be given a specific role and will contribute ideas, opinions and actions towards the completion of a group task.

Relating to Others Students will interact with others in pairs, small groups and as a whole class. They will share ideas, listen to others, discuss, negotiate, participate in and perform a cooperative music and dance activity.

Learning Goals

LG1: Students can work cooperatively with others to create a music and/or dance to express their ideas about extinct or endangered animals. LG2: Students can present their group work of music and/or dance to others. LG3: Students reflect on their own and/or other's work and their ideas about extinct or endangered animals.

Summary of Activities

Part One: How Much Do We Know? How Much Can We Discover?
'Unscramble the Word.' Goal: establishing prior knowledge.
 'I Wonder as I Wander.' Goal: developing knowledge and using prior knowledge.
Expert Groups.

The teacher can choose to complete either or both Parts Two and Three

Part Two: Music
Students will explore ways to express their ideas about sustainability through Music.

Part Three: Dance
Students will explore ways to express their ideas about sustainability through Dance.

Part Four: Looking Ahead for our Native Animals
A Cooperative Learning model is followed to create music and/or dance performances about extinct and endangered animals.
Looking Ahead - what can we do to protect our endangered animals?

Resources
Teaching and Learning Sequence
Part One: How Much Do We Know? How Much Can We Discover?
  1. 'Unscramble Those Letters!'
    Organise the students into groups of four.
    Give each group member a copy of the worksheet and encourage the students to share the task of completing it in the fastest way possible.
    Suggestions:
    Work as one group, completing each line of the worksheet together.
    Work in pairs to complete half the worksheet each and then combine answers.
    Work alone, answering three or four lines each and then combine answers.
    Answers:
    Kiwi moa dolphin albatross huia kokako fish bat eagle tuatara rail environment predator extinct sustainability
  2. Class Discussion
    After the answers to the worksheet 'Unscramble those Letters' have been given, discuss the strategies the groups used to complete the worksheet.
    How did your group complete the worksheet?
    Was it successful?
    If we were doing this activity again, what strategy would you use?
    Would the worksheet have taken more or less time to complete if you worked alone?
    What are some advantages of working in a team?
    What are some facts we know about the words mentioned on the worksheet?
    What do you think our new topic for study might be?
  3. I Wonder as I Wander - Information trek
    Place pictures of digistore artefacts relating to extinct and endangered animals around the room. These could also be displayed as a data show on computer screens.
    Allow 10 minutes for students to wander around the room (or to sit and watch the data show), looking silently at the pictures and reading about the animals.
  4. Expert Groups
    Ask students to stand near one of the artefacts they are most interested in and/or have some prior knowledge about.
    The students standing beside the same artefact form a new group.
    Note If many students have gathered around one artefact, split them into smaller groups. If a student is standing alone beside an artefact, it may be possible to encourage another person to join him/her, or he or she could work alone.
    Each member of the group takes their turn to share what they know about the artefact with their group.
    Fill in the " Animal Characteristics Chart " to identify the appearance, movements, noises, qualities, habitat and reasons for extinction or endangerment.
    Note any characteristics that the group needs more information about and develop some questions for investigation.
  5. Finding Answers
    The purpose of this activity is for students to access, explore, describe and discuss the wealth of knowledge that can be found through the internet about the sustainability of extinct and endangered animals. Students will later select specific knowledge and ideas gained, and communicate them through music and/or dance.
    Students could work in pairs or small groups to research answers to questions raised in Activity 4 and share their knowledge with others.

    The following list gives a few examples from hundreds of possibilities of what to do on the site:
     Visit the 'Fact Sheet' pages and discover amazing facts about the NZ Dotterel, Hector's Dolphin, the Moa and many more endangered or extinct NZ birds and animals.
    Find out the names of the six varieties of Kiwi and where they can be found in New Zealand.
    Take a quiz to test your knowledge - Kiwi, Possum, Black Robin, New Zealand Geography, Weta, Kakapo, Takahe and Tuatara.
    Visit the 'How Can I Help' page and plan a sustainability project.
    Click on the link to Forest and Bird to broaden knowledge as required.
    Department of Conservation
    Find the names of the 14 National Parks and identify them on a NZ map.
    Imagine you and a friend are going to visit every one of the 14 National Parks. Find one activity you would both like to do at each National Park.
    Visit the 'Activity Finder' page. Decide on your three favourite outdoor activities listed on the page and find the closest place to your home that you could participate in this activity.

  6. Sharing the Learning
    Groups decide how the informationthey have gathered will be shared:
    Posters could be displayed in the classroom.
    Students could make live presentations of work to the class or a smaller group or present work through shared workspaces:
    Web based: Wikispaces for Eduction
    Easy to use online space for creating 'living' documents that may include any sort of interactive media and can be viewed and/or edited and commented on from anywhere with Internet access.
    See an example of a shared workspace from students at Buckland's Beach Intermediate who have created a wiki to share their inquiry into a local community issue. Each group has created a page on the wiki. Images, video, files, text and hyperlinks can also be added.
    Inviting feedback on a wiki: Wikispaces for Education includes a discussion forum that enables a discussion for each page or to set up one main discussion for the entire wiki.
  7. Looking AheadWhat can we do to help protect our endangered native animals?
    What can we do to help protect our endangered native animals?
    Working as a class or in smaller groups, plan a project or series of activities that can be implemented.
    Suggestions:
    Identify a specific local need.
    Email or Skype experts for advice on a course of action.
    Off Line: Inspiration or Kidspiration  
    This is a visual learning tool to support learners with developing ideas and organising information. Includes tools to combine pictures, text, and spoken words to represent ideas. It enables learners to build concept maps and Venn diagrams, and to group, classify, and compare words and symbols.
    See example here of how students have used Kidspiration to share and organize ideas over time and in response to their learning.
    In this example students have used Inspiration to clarify ideas, express and justify opinions about survival and, in some cases, produce a presentation based on the characteristics of a survivor and the comparison with a real-life situation.
    Files can also be saved on a shared drive in a format that can be uploaded to the web or shared through file transfer (eg: e-mail) if required. 
    Arrange for school visits from experts.
    Create posters to advertise the issue. Display these in the local library, around the school or in appropriate places in the community.
    Write letters to the local newspaper to explain the issue.
    Participate in DOC activities already planned in the area.
The teacher can choose to complete either or both of the following units.
Part Two: Exploration through Music

A series of Music activities designed to explore knowledge, ideas, and feelings about endangered or extinct animals

Part Three: Exploration through Dance

A series of Dance activities designed to explore knowledge, ideas, and feelings about endangered or extinct animals.

Part Four: Looking Ahead for our Native Animals

This activity uses a cooperative learning model to produce a Music and/or Dance performance piece to express the students' knowledge, ideas, thoughts or feelings about extinct or endangered New Zealand animals. Teachers can choose to focus just on Music, just on Dance or a combination of both. If the combined Music and Dance option is selected, the class is divided into two groups - musicians and dancers, and the students work to create a combined music and dance performance.

Brief notes about cooperative learning:
When a cooperative learning activity is explored, the success of the group outcome is dependent on each member contributing to the group by completing a specific and authentic task. The students rely on each other to complete their tasks (known as positive interdependence). The intention is that positive interdependence encourages the students to participate to the best of their ability, to feel valued within the group and be responsible for their own learning (individual accountability).

Reference: Brown, D & Thomson (2000), Cooperative Learning in New Zealand Schools Dunmore Press Limited

Goal: Students compose and present a rehearsed music and/or dance in three sections using one of the Digistore Icons.

Section One:
Create a 20-second music and/or dance sequence to show the main features of the animal and one or two actions the animal makes.

Section Two:
Create a 20-second music and/or dance sequence to show the reason why the animal is extinct or endangered.

Section Three:
Create a 20-second music and/or dance sequence to show what we could be doing or could have done to protect endangered native animals.

  1. Organise the students into groups of 10-12 - heterogeneous, mixed ability.
  2. Explain the task [the summary table above and here ( 25 KB) may be helpful]. Show the red and blue/green cards ( 40 KB) .
  3. Explain the Cooperative Learning model where everyone in the group will have a specific role, which they need to complete to the best of their ability for the group. They will work with other students to compose a section of music or dance, which they will then teach to the other musicians or dancers in the group.
  4. Show the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa resouces to the students once more, asking questions such as:
    • What do we know about the moa?
    • Imagine that you have never seen a picture of a moa before. Describe its main features to me.
    • Is the moa extinct or endangered?
    • How did it become extinct?
    • If the moa were alive today, what could humans do to make sure it doesn't become extinct?
     
  5. Group Discussions Which Digistore icon shall we use? Which one interests us the most? Every person should have a say in the decision-making and a vote may have to be taken. (If two groups select the same icon, either photocopy another sheet or ask them to select a different icon. However, it can be interesting having more than one performance about the same subject.)
  6. Class Feedback Each group selects a speaker who quickly tells the class the icon they have selected, why they selected it and how they chose it.
  7. The Roles Allocate the roles to the students, or allow the students to allocate them themselves. There are three music tasks and three dance tasks. If numbers allow, organise students to pair up for each role. (Composing music and dance for a group is a big job for individual students and the goal is to set students up for success rather than failure.)Remind the music students of the music goals required in each part of the performance. Consider which instruments and voices (tone colours) to characterise an animal. Consider the use of texture to provide structure to the piece (Single instrument or voice or layered sounds, playing/singing the same part or interweaving parts?) Consider how to build excitement in the music. Include a period of silence, increase the tempo (or speed), increase or decrease the dynamics (volume soft to loud)? Consider how all musical elements can work together to create a mood (happy, sad, busy, calm)Remind the dance students of the dance goals required in each part of the dance:
    • Consider the body bases the dancers could use: Feet, knees, heels, hands and feet, bottoms, stomachs
    • Consider the formations and levels of the dancers
    • Consider the energy of the movements: Strong, light, heavy, weak
    • Consider the flow of the movements: Free, bound
     
  8. Give students time to begin to research, discuss and create music and dance.
  9. Have regular progress and reflection sessions. Allow time for groups to act on decisions made and to teach the other musicians and dancers how to perform the composed sections:
    What information do you need to communicate in the music and/or dance?
    How have you decided to present your information?
    What sounds and movements will help communicate your information?

    Music:
    Think about the mood the musicians would like to create (happy, sad, busy, calm). Which instruments or voices should be used? How could texture be used to provide structure in the music (Single instrument or layered sounds?)? How might they build excitement into the music? They could include a period of silence, increase or decrease the tempo (or speed), increase or decrease the dynamics (volume soft to loud). How will they combine the dance and music?

    Dance:
    Where will the 4-6 dancers move in each part of the performance?
    What formations will they make together?
    Which body bases should be used?
    Think about the type of energy that could be used. Will the movements be strong or weak?
    Will the movements be free or bound?
    How can the movements be extended and performed clearly so that the dance is more than mime?

    Suggestions:
    The musicians could perform live, or pre-record their music.
    (Live sound, sound effects and music loops can be developed and recorded using audio software.)
    The dancers could perform live or the whole performance of dance and music could be presented as a movie.

  10. Continue to facilitate - watch and monitor each group as they perform their parts, encourage them to reflect on their work and to act on these ideas, and ask questions that will help the students to consider different options if necessary. Video and photograph work in progress to use in the reflection process.
  11. Production Considerations

    Background/Set
    Give time for the groups to find or create three images to be projected during the performance, which relate to each of the three parts. The images should help to communicate the ideas they are expressing through music and dance.

    Suggestions:
    Photos
    News headlines
    Posters
    Photographed student art work
    If more than one data projector is available, students may be able to explore projecting from behind the performers onto sheets or from the sides of the performance space.

    Costumes
    Encourage students to plan simple ideas, such as:

    • Wearing clothes of similar colours.
    • Strips of fabric tied around wrists/ankles/waists or attached to clothing.
    • Masks and headbands.

    Blocking
    If both music and dance has been created, students will need to consider where the musicians and dancers will perform in the performance space.
    Suggestions:
    Musicians perform downstage right and/or left.
    Musicians perform upstage in the centre.
    Musicians perform through or around the dancers.
    Dancers perform through or around the musicians.

    Lighting
    This will entirely depend upon the resources in the school.
    Suggestions:
    Low lighting plus light from the data projector.
    Large torches directed onto the performance space from the sides.

  12. Perform the finished works to the class, to other classes and to a larger audience from the community, and video each performance.
  13. Group Reflection
    View videos of the performances.
    Organise the students in each group to sit face-to face in a circle. Encourage them to take turns to offer answers to the following questions, reach a consensus and report back to the class in a teacher-facilitated class discussion:
    How effective was our performance?
    What could we have done to make it even more effective?
    How well did we work together?
    What could have made our job easier?
    What should our goals be if we work together again?
  14. Self- Reflection sheet
  15. Looking Ahead
    Review Activity 7 (see below)

    Looking Ahead
    What can we do to help protect our endangered native animals?
    Working as a class or in smaller groups, plan a project or series of activities that can be implemented.
    Suggestions:
    Identify a local need.
    Email experts for advice on a course of action.
    Arrange for school visits from experts.
    Create posters to advertise the issue. Display these in the local library, around the school or in appropriate places in the community.
    Write letters to the local newspaper to explain the issue.
    Participate in DOC activities already planned in the area.

    What more could we do to protect our endangered native animals? How could we use the knowledge we have gained and the ideas we have explored through our dance and music performances to make a real difference?
Assessing the Learning

Looking Ahead for our Native Animals

Name_____________________________

Beginning Achieved Developed
LG1: Students can work cooperatively with others to create a music and/or dance to express their ideas about extinct or endangered animals.      
LG2: Students can present their group work of music and/or dance to others.      
LG3: Students reflect on their own and/or other's work and their ideas about extinct or endangered animals.      

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