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ERIC Number: EJ1035481
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2014-Feb
Pages: 7
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0036-8148
EISSN: N/A
Creative Sound Dramatics
Hendrix, Rebecca; Eick, Charles
Science and Children, v51 n6 p37-43 Feb 2014
Sound propagation is not easy for children to understand because of its abstract nature, often best represented by models such as wave drawings and particle dots. Teachers Rebecca Hendrix and Charles Eick wondered how science inquiry, when combined with an unlikely discipline like drama, could produce a better understanding among their fourth-grade students of how a sound wave travels through matter. Creative dramatics uses children's imagination, emotions, and movement to act through improvisation to learn academic material in the classroom. Creative dramatics helps children both retain academic ideas and learn them more deeply (Johnson 1998). Hendrix and Eick used creative dramatics as extensions in support of their children's ongoing inquiries in the Full Option Science Study (FOSS) module on the physics of sound. They found that children performed better on end-of-unit module tests when performing these extension activities integrated into their inquiry studies (Hendrix, Eick, and Shannon 2012). They used an adaptation of the Glasson Learning Cycle Model (Glasson 1993) to plan their sequence of drama activities for maximum effect into four phases or steps: Preliminary, Focus, Challenge, and Application. These steps mirror the 5E Learning Cycle steps of Engage, Explore, Explain, and Elaborate but with an emphasis on student dialogue on new learning in each phase. In this article, they describe a series of creative drama activities that they used with the module section How Sound Travels, including how the teacher facilitates the process.
National Science Teachers Association. 1840 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, VA 22201-3000. Tel: 800-722-6782; Fax: 703-243-3924; e-mail: membership@nsta.org; Web site: http://www.nsta.org
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Grade 4; Intermediate Grades; Elementary Education
Audience: Teachers
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A