Topic Lesson: Constellations

8/10/2019 Topic Lesson: Constellations

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Moulton, Popovic, and Thune pg. 1

Topic Lesson: Constellations

Reconnecting the Dots in the Swan Song

Internship I

Dr. Stuart CarrollJuly 29, 2014

Andrew MoultonAna Popovic

LinnThune


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Title:Reconnecting the Dots in the Swan Song

Grade level:college graduate

Guiding Question (Objective):To increase an appreciation and awareness of the night sky through storytelling: We want toincrease student appreciation and awareness of the night sky, constellations, and the universalstories stemming from them both.

Standards:

Affective learning domain:English Language Arts Speaking and ListeningGroup Comprehension, Collaboration, and Communication.

Learning Goals (Behavioral Objectives) and Assessments:Affective goals: Students should enjoy and appreciate and reconnect with the constellationsand the night sky through the storytelling.Students will participate effectively in a group role play activity.

Assessments:Assessing for listening through a quick If youre listening clap twice activity prior to the

start of our introduction.We are assessing appreciation of the night sky, constellations, and the universal storiesstemming from them both through a thumbs upcheck after Readers Theater.

Homework Assignment: If you had to create your own story about the Swan constellation,what would you tell about it? Discuss how inventing your own story would help you

understand what constellations have meant to humans.

Materials:2 laptops1 projector27 printed handouts of the play27 homework handouts

Pre-lesson assignments and/or prior knowledge:Students were introduced to the idea of Readers Theater on the first day of third sessionwhen we were asked to verbally act out the childrens book Stone Soup.


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A general survey of student interest and knowledge in the topic of Constellations wasconducted through informal conversation. Follow-up questions were asked when we

determined a line of trajectory on our topic lesson. No specific knowledge of constellations is

necessary as this is provided through our introduction activity.

Lesson Beginning:See below.

Topic Lesson Instructional Plan Outline: Constellations

Room set up: U shape desk formation around the projector and laptop. Students in their ownseats. Easy access to the stage for the performance.

Lesson Beginning: Setting the Experience(3 minutes 30 seconds )Ana and Andrew near or on stage by the lightsLinn at the laptop

(Ana) Lights gradually cut off, (Andrew) fire starts up on Anas laptop, (Linn) picture of the

starscape comes up on the projector.

Allow ten seconds of time

Intro quote (Linn): Tell me the facts, and Ill learn; tell me the truth, and Ill believe; tell me a story,

and it will live in my heart forever. Native American Proverb (Words to remember)

5 second pause

Ana starts with Ojibwe myth (Prezi goes to Swan by Linn).I am a bird who rises from the earth, and flies far up, into the skies, out of human sight; butthough not visible to the eye my voice is heard from afar, and resounds over the earth. You wish

to know who I am. You have never sought me, or you should have sought and found me. The oldFrench sought and found me. He places his heart within my breast. He told me that every

morning I should look to the east and I would behold his fire, like the sun reflecting its raystowards me, to warm me and my children. He told me that if troubles assailed me, to arise in theskies and cry to him, and he would hear my voice. (p.120)

Quiet for 5 seconds before

Andrew follows with China (same Prezi Swan image).The Weaving Girl was the granddaughter of the celestial emperor. She made the most beautifulsilks for the gods and the goddesses, but in time she fell in love with a lowly cowherd. Againstthe wishes of her grandfather, they married and soon after began a family. Both of them neglectedtheir duties. The cows wandered and the weaving girl no longer made her silks. The celestialemperor, angered by their neglect, decided to separate the couple, placing them on opposite sides

of the Milky Way. The cowherd was left to care for the two children on his side of the MilkyWay while the Weaving Girl wove tears into her silks on her side. The couple was allowed tomeet only one night each summer, when magpies bridged the Milky Way with their wings.


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5 secondsLinn with Greek Orpheus.

Orpheus played the lyre and sang so well that the wild animals were tamed and the rivers stoppedto listen. He was married to beautiful Eurydice, but one dayEurydice was bitten by a snake anddescended into Hades. Orpheus then followed her to the kingdom of death, and managed to softenHades heart with his beautiful music. Hades agreed to let Eurydice go, if Orpheus promised not

to look at her until they had reached daylight. When they were almost there, Orpheus thought hecould no longer hear his wife's footsteps, and looked back, only to see the screaming Eurydice

being pulled back into the underworld.Shattered by grief, Orpheus wandered the forests, singing his wife's lament, and was attacked bythe maenads who tore him to pieces. His singing head floated down the river, and all was lost.

Lights gradually come back on (Ana). Fire video shuts off (Andrew).

Prezi lands on our objective (Linn).To do that day: Set papers on student desks

Get electronic equipment hooked into projectorAll three of us reconnect in the center of the space.

Summary of the introductory experience, context of stories, and introduction toactivity.(3 minutes)(Andrew) The night skies have inspired humans for millennia. Just like we tried to recreate for you here,

people have sat around the fire, listening to stories about the world and the heavens around and abovethem. We offered you three interpretations of one constellationthe constellation of what is nowcommonly known in the U.S. as the Swan. The Native American Ojibwe, the ancient Chinese, and the

ancient Greeks were all trying to make sense of a natural phenomenon they could not explain.

With this lesson we want to increase your appreciation of the night sky, the constellations, and theuniversal stories that stem from them both.

Next we are going to look at depth at the Greek myth of Orpheus through Readers Theater. There is a

script on your desk, you have two minutes to read through it and recognize your part. The main charactersof Orpheus, Hades, and Euripides will join us here in the middle of the classroom space. Everyone elsewill read their part from their seats.

Activity: Reading Theater (7 minutes)Ask peers to read through the play and organize themselves. Ask main characters to join the three of

us in the center of the classroom space. Involve Stuart as the reader of parentheses (2 minutes).Ready, set, go!

OrpheusA Greek MythAbout the StoryThe story of Orpheus originated in ancient Greece, the birthplace of theatre. The Greeks used masks to portray

characters and spoke some parts in unison by a chorus.Meet the Characters:Cerberus: (SUR-bur-us) A three headed dog guarding the Underworld (may be played by 3

people)Charon: (KAIR-on) A skeleton Ferryman of the Underworld

Chorus: A group of people who speak in unison, much like a narrator

Hades: (Brandon for his strong deep voice and quirky personality) (HAY-dees) The god of theUnderworld (also known as Pluto)
http://www.in2greece.com/english/historymyth/mythology/names/eurydice.htmhttp://www.in2greece.com/english/historymyth/mythology/names/maenads.htmhttp://www.in2greece.com/english/historymyth/mythology/names/maenads.htmhttp://www.in2greece.com/english/historymyth/mythology/names/eurydice.htm


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Eurydice: (Brian for his ability to speak volumes through body language) (yu-RID-uh-see)

Orpheus' wife

Orpheus: (Nadja for her animation and grace with words) (OR-fee-us) A talented musicianMusic Lover (Amber)

Narrators: every person in the class receives at least one line. No one is left out.

Rocks and StonesSavage Beasts: lions, bears, monsters etc.

Snake

StagingThe Narrators and Chorus may read their parts as the others act out the story. There should be pauses between the

narrators lines to allow time for action. The Charon skeleton can be built out of milk jugs and used as a puppet.

Parts may be doubled or split to accommodate any size group.

OrpheusA Greek MythNarrator 1: Long, long ago in Greece, there was a man named Orpheus, who played an excellent

lyre.Music Lover: A lyre? Whats a lyre?

Narrator 1: Its a musical instrument sort of like a harp.

(Orpheus plays or mimes playing lyre)Narrator 2: His music was so good that it soothed the savage beasts, and even the rocks and

stones were moved.

(Savage Beasts make as if to attack and then are peacefully lulled by the music.)Narrator 3: Orpheus and his lyre made everyone and everything really happy. And there was one

person who made Orpheus really happy; her name was Eurydice.

(Enter Eurydice)

Narrator 1: One day Eurydice was out frolicking in the woods when she was bitten by a snake.

(Snake bites Eurydice)Narrator 1: The snake died, (Eurydice celebrates) but Eurydice died too.

Narrator 2: Hades came and took Eurydice away to the Underworld.Narrator 3: When Orpheus heard the news, he was saddened by it so much that he hung up his

lyre and stopped playing it.

Music Lover: Orpheus why do you no longer play your lyre? Your music was so beautiful,that it could even waken the dead.

Orpheus: Hey that gives me an idea!

Narrator 2: He knew that the entrance to the Underworld was hidden by some rocks.So, Orpheus took down his lyre and went out into the mountains.

(Rocks and Stones enter and hide the entrance from Orpheus)

Narrator 3: Then he played for all of the rocks, and stones, and boulders. Finally, two largeboulders rocked and rolled, revealing the entrance to the Underworld.(Rocks and Stones dance and move aside)

Narrator 1: Orpheus stepped in the cave and found himself face to face with the three-headed dog

Cerberus.

Narrator 2: Orpheus took out his lyre and began playing. This soothed Cerberus andOrpheus managed to slip by.

Chorus:


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Down, down, down, through the dark and the chill journeyed Orpheus with his lyre. Till he came

to the river, the river Styx.

Narrator 3: After walking through a long tunnel, he found Charon, an eerie skeleton who ferriedthe dead across the river Styx.

(Enter CharonOrpheus reacts with fear)

Narrator 1: Once again Orpheus took out his lyre and began playing. Charon liked the music somuch that he ferried Orpheus across the river.Chorus:

So he ferried on over the River Styx till he came to the palace of Hades.

Orpheus: Hades! Hades!(Hades enters.)

Hades: Yeah, yeah, what do you want?

Orpheus: O mighty Hades, I hate to trouble you, but I was just wondering if, um, er, well

Hades: (impatiently) What, what, what? Spit it out!Orpheus: Well, I was just wondering if, uhif Eurydice could come back with me.

Hades: Oh, is that all. Why didnt you say so? NO!!! Now beat it, before I find you a place here,

too.Narrator 2: So Orpheus started to leave, but first he decided to try playing his lyre.

(Orpheus starts playing music and Hades, in spite of himself, begins dancing along merrily)

Hades: All right, all right! She can go with you! Just stop playing that awful happy music!

Eurydice!!(Eurydice comes out, and she and Orpheus start to leave.)

Hades: Wait! Just one more thing: she may not speak to you, and you may not look at her, until

you are on the outside. If you do, the deals off. Now, get out of my sight!Chorus:

So they started the journey, the long spooky journey and came once again to the river Styx. Over

the river they started the climb back up, up, up to the top.

Orpheus: There is the entrance! We're almost there . . . but if we're almost there, that's as good asbeing there. Right?

Narrator 3: So, Orpheus turned to get a look at Eurydice. Eurydice tried to dodge his gaze, but

finally he saw her.Orpheus: Eurydice!

(Hades appears.)

Hades: (imitating Eurydices voice) Yes, dear! (Then his own voice) Ha! Fooled you. (ToEurydice) Come on dearie, its back to the resort. (Heleads her away.)

Narrator 1: And although Orpheus continued to play his lyre for the rest of his life, all of his

songs were tearjerkers; and he taught the rest of the world the sound of sadness.

To do: assign classmates name to each role and write it on the top of the page.Have an idea of where the play will be acted out.To do that day: organize the handout of articles to be distributed equally and efficiently

Closure (8 minutes): See below.


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Closure (8 minutes):Applause! Bravo!

(Linn) Group discussion: (Checking for comprehension)What did you think of the theater Thumbs up; thumbs down.We had the Ojibwe, Chinese, and Greek stories, which did you like best and why?

Do you feel that you have a deeper appreciation of the stories that have been inspired by theconstellations?

(Linn) For homework, we have an assignment for you to take along with you. HomeworkAssignment

(Linn) We have provided you with a handout. You will find a celestial map of the summer night skyand a graph chart for plotting your own constellation. These constellations are from the Greeks, weare encouraging you to think broadly about how you group stars and perhaps define for yourself your

own constellation. With the graph, you can use it to create relationships between the stars you see inthe sky with representing them on paper.

The assignment involves picking one of the following:If you had to create your own story about the Swan constellation, what would you tell about it?

Discuss how inventing your own story would help you understand what constellations have meant tohumans.If youre a storyteller, go out and create an original myth based on a group of stars, if youremathematically inclined, we have provided a graph for you to chart your own constellation.

(Andrew)With this lesson we focused on the northern hemisphere because this is our common

skyline here in Mallorca. If you were to be in Taipei, Sydney, or Buenos Aires, the star groupingswould be completely different.

For the first time in human history, more than half of the worlds inhabitants live in cities, wheretheyre surrounded by bright lights that obscure their view of the stars (Oswald, 2009).

(Ana) Were concerned that this disconnection from the night sky diminishes peoples appreciationof a beautiful natural resource - one that has inspired scientists and poets alike for millennia. Were

hoping that we have encouraged you to reconnect with the night skies and so that the next timeyoure leaving the Cowboy Bar at 2 am on a Tuesday, you look up and wonder what the stars looklike in Australia or New Jersey and what are the stories theyre telling about them.


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References

Activated story theater. OrpheusA Greek myth readers theatre scriptretrieved fromhttp://activatedstorytheatre.com/documents/Orpheus_Readers_Theatre.pdf

Drum at the River.Website is produced and maintained by the Leisure and Cultural Services

Department (LCSD), the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government of the People'sRepublic of China. Retrieved from

http://www.lcsd.gov.hk/CE/Museum/Space/StarShine/Starlore/e_starshine_starlore15.htm

Orpheus. Greek mythology from in2greece.com. Retrieved fromhttp://www.in2greece.com/english/historymyth/mythology/names/orpheus.htm

Oswald, H.M. (Jan, 2009). Young Astronomers Study the Night Sky -- and Collaborate with

Peers Online. retrieved fromhttp://www.edutopia.org/astronomy-globe-night-sky

Vizenor, G. R. (1998).Fugitive poses: Native American Indian scenes of absence and presence.

retrieved from http://books.google.it/books?id=ML2UBfO-

xi8C&pg=PA119&lpg=PA119&dq=ajijaak+story&source=bl&ots=9SCRju7ITt&sig=S7HddFLf

PzDPj6YmyDJc2a-spnU&hl=en&sa=X&ei=yPzQU9rmKIOe0QW36oCQDQ&ved=0CDgQ6AEwBDgK#v=onepag

e&q=ajijaak%20story&f=false

Words to Remember :: TELL ME A STORY STORYTELLING TO OPEN EYES AND HEARTS.retrieved fromhttp://racebridgesforschools.com/wp/?p=1089
http://activatedstorytheatre.com/documents/Orpheus_Readers_Theatre.pdfhttp://activatedstorytheatre.com/documents/Orpheus_Readers_Theatre.pdfhttp://www.edutopia.org/astronomy-globe-night-skyhttp://www.edutopia.org/astronomy-globe-night-skyhttp://www.edutopia.org/astronomy-globe-night-skyhttp://racebridgesforschools.com/wp/?p=1089http://racebridgesforschools.com/wp/?p=1089http://racebridgesforschools.com/wp/?p=1089http://www.edutopia.org/astronomy-globe-night-skyhttp://activatedstorytheatre.com/documents/Orpheus_Readers_Theatre.pdf


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Appendix

Homework Assignment

(Linn) We have provided you with a handout. You will find a celestial map of the summer night skyand a graph chart for plotting your own constellation. These constellations are from the Greeks, we

are encouraging you to think broadly about how you group stars and perhaps define for yourself yourown constellation. With the graph, you can use it to create relationships between the stars you see inthe sky with representing them on paper.

The assignment involves picking one of the following:

If you had to create your own story about the Swan constellation, what would you tell about it?Discuss how inventing your own story would help you understand what constellations have meant tohumans.

If youre a storyteller, go out and create an original myth based on a group of stars, if youremathematically inclined, we have provided a graph for you to chart your own constellation.


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Documents

Topic Lesson: Constellations