7THE NEW VICTORY® THEATER / NEWVICTORY.ORG/SCHOOLTOOLS © THE NEW 42ND STREET, INC.

®

COMMON CORE STANDARDS

Speaking and Listening: 1; 3; 4; 6Language: 1; 4

NEW YORK STATE STANDARDS

The Arts: 1; 4ELA: 1; 4

BLUEPRINT FOR THE ARTS

Theater: Developing Theater Literacy; Making ConnectionsVisual Art: Art Making

AFTER

BEFORE

BEYOND

This section is part of a full New Victory® School toolTM Resource Guide. For the complete guide, including information about the New Victory Education

Department check out: NEWVICTORY.ORG/SCHOOLTOOLS

INSIDE EN ROUTE

before | THE SNAIL AND THE WHALE

8THE NEW VICTORY® THEATER / NEWVICTORY.ORG/SCHOOLTOOLS © THE NEW 42ND STREET, INC.

®

ACTIVITY 1: YOUR CLASSROOM UNDER THE SEA

AFTER BEYOND

In THE SNAIL AND THE WHALE, the main character goes on a tour of the ocean without ever leaving her bedroom. Use this activity to transform your classroom into an underwater wonderland!

1. In a seated circle, brainstorm the different things you can find in the ocean! Ask your students: What kinds of animals and plants live in the ocean? What colors and shapes might we see in the ocean? What sounds might we hear in the ocean? Write down your students’ responses on the board.

2. Tell your students that they are now going to go on a journey through the ocean without ever leaving the classroom! Ask students how they can create the environment of the ocean with just the things present in the classroom. Ideas may include dimming the lights, covering windows with blue paper, drawing seascapes and hanging them on the wall, and arranging desks and chairs to look like sea plants and animals. Put a few of their suggestions into action!

3. Tell your students, that now that they've transformed the classroom into an ocean, it’s time for them to transform into sea creatures! Invite each student to decide what kind of sea animal they would like to become.

4. Once your students have decided on their animal, have them slowly start exploring the way their animal moves and the sounds the animal might make. Start this exploration in a standing circle and slowly let the students start traveling around the room as their sea animals. Encourage them to try and feel the water around them as they move.

5. Once students have explored individually, encourage them to start interacting with their fellow classmates/sea creatures. Ask: How might these creatures move if they were swimming together? How do you say hello to your fellow sea creatures? What questions do you have for your fellow sea creatures?

6. Spotlight some individual students and have them share the name of their creature. 7. Conclude this activity by turning on some sea-inspired music and have a sea creature dance party!

REFLECTION QUESTIONSWhat kind of sea creatures did you see in our classroom? What was unique your sea creature and your classmates' sea creatures? How did you change the way you normally move to become a sea creature? How did you use your imagination in this activity?

INSIDE EN ROUTE

BEFORE

before | THE SNAIL AND THE WHALE

9THE NEW VICTORY® THEATER / NEWVICTORY.ORG/SCHOOLTOOLS © THE NEW 42ND STREET, INC.

®

AFTER

BEFORE

BEYONDINSIDE EN ROUTE

ACTIVITY 2: AN UNLIKELY PAIR

In THE SNAIL AND THE WHALE, an unlikely friendship forms between the tiny snail and the gigantic whale! This activity will give your students a chance to act out some other unlikely animal friendships.

1. Gather your students into a circle.

2. Tell students that in THE SNAIL AND THE WHALE, they are going to see a friendship form between a tiny snail and a gigantic whale! Although these animals are very different, they help each other and become great friends. Ask students: Why might a snail and whale want to be friends? How could a snail help a whale and how could a whale help a snail? What makes a good friendship?

3. Tell students to turn and talk to the person next to them and think of two different animals that might form an unlikely friendship. Tell them that each of them will be acting like one of the animals. In their pair, have them decide who will be which animal.

4. Once the pairs have decided on their animals, tell students to stand up and start exploring how they might move if they were that animal. Ask students: Is your animal fast or slow? Is your animal’s movement smooth or jagged? Does your animal stay close to the ground or stretch high into the air? Give students time to play and discover the movement of their animal.

5. Next, tell each pair to decide how their different animal friends might move together. Ask students: Where would they go? What would they do? How do they help each other?

6. Have students come back to a seated circle (make sure they sit next to their partner) and explain that they are now going to guess what animals their classmates have become! One at a time, have each pair stand up and show everybody how their animals move together. Students can observe what they see and guess the animals.

7. Continue around the circle until every pair has a chance to share.

REFLECTION QUESTIONSHow did you know what animals your classmates had transformed into? How did their movements give you clues?Which pair formed the most unlikely friendship? What did you like about this friendship?Did you like becoming your animal? What did you like about it?

before | THE SNAIL AND THE WHALE

© THE NEW 42ND STREET, INC.®

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Trace the trail of the tiny snail to discover his friend!

Now that the snail has a friend for his journey, what do you think they will see together as they travel? Draw or write your ideas below.