Applying Texts and Literacies

The main text we used in this unit was the body. We knew coming in that the students didn't have a lot of experience using their bodies and really struggled with that. So we really focused on ways to help them understand their body and how it can be used in performance. We did a lot of activities where we isolated the body and analyzed it. An activity we did to help the students understand how the body can be used to create pictures and portray images really got them thinking and they all loved it. It was one of the most beneficial things we did because it sparked their creativity and they really understood how to use and manipulate the body. It was a sculpting activity. We had the class get into groups of three or four. One person was the sculptor and the others were the clay. We yelled out a situation, and the sculptor made their clay into their interpretation of the situation. It gave them a chance to be different, to create what they saw individually, but since had a reference point because of the situation we gave them. We did this activity in a variety of ways and the students didn't want to stop! They kept asking if we could keep going. Their images got better and they got more and more excited as class went on because they understood it and were able to improve as their understanding grew. I really learned through-out these lessons that making sure the students understand the text you're analyzing is so important. Baby steps and taking it slowly and according to the pace the students need is essential. If they don't understand the text at the beginning, they just get frustrated. But once they get it, something clicks and they just run with it. They get creative and love the work they do.