Teachers ask children what they observe in the painting and how they
would bring the characteristics of the animals to life. Students work
in groups on dialogue, props, costumes, scenery, music, or other aspects
of the production that interest them. In each phase of preparation,
teachers look for opportunities to integrate arts-based inquiry with
other art forms and subjects:
- In writing dialogue, students role-play conversations with each
other, assuming the roles of various animals and brainstorming what
they might say. The students are having the kinds of conversations
that young kids need to have in order to grow and develop as good
successful people and not just to be successful academically,
says first-grade teacher Geralyn Broussard.
- Some students listen to the Stravinsky music while thinking of
an animal in the Brueghel painting. They imagine how the animal would
interpret the music, draw pictures of the animals dancing, and use
vocabulary words to describe the dances.
- Other students research how the animals act and move, then design
puppets with those features. Second-grade teacher Megan Neelis challenges
them to think about how the animals move How would you
flap as a bird? What would you do as a jaguar? How would a rhino move?
and come up with action words for their answers.