According to Wilhelm (2005), “Tableaux helps students visualize, perceive, and consider characters, relationships between people, forces and ideas, scenes, settings, and meaning, key ideas, and features of a text or textual experience.”I have used tableaux because I feel it’s a good strategy for ELLs who do not yet have the language to respond to a text or participate in a conversation, but can instead show understanding through their body and facial expression. I also chose this strategy because I felt I needed more strategies for my bodily/kinesthetic learners. I can use this strategy as an assessment tool to gauge understanding instead of relying on a paper and pencil assessment. A traditional assessment might not give me as much information about what a student knows as the tableaux if the student is a very visual or kinesthetic learner.
Courses in which it could be implemented:
I have used tableaux most often to respond to social studies concepts such as the gold rush, civil rights movement, westward expansion, migrant work, and economy.
Diverse learners:
This strategy is especially helpful for visual and kinesthetic learners. It can also be helpful for ELLs who are able to respond to text with their bodies but not yet through language.
Procedure:
1. Teacher should first model what tableaux is and looks like within the context of the topic being studied. 2. With the class, identify central concepts or events that are crucial to understanding the text as a whole. 3. Teacher can then break students into groups. Either the teacher or the students can decide which concept they will be “frozen” as.In the past, I have had student pick an event from the social studies lesson we were doing. Even if two groups picked the same event, they will enact it according to their own perceptions of the event. 4. Each group will work together to consider how to present the concept or scene visually in a way that will communicate the importance of the concept without using words.The group will eventually “freeze” into their scene. 5. Each group presents their scene while the audiences discusses what they see happening and how it relates to the concept they are learning.The teacher may manipulate the scene by moving the frozen characters and have the class discuss how that changes the scene and everyone involved in the scene.
Potential Issues:
Problem:
Possible Solutions:
Students may not want to participate thinking it’s like acting.
·Teacher can reassure students they just have to freeze. There is no actual acting or memorizing of lines involved. · Teacher can show examples of how tableaux looks in the classroom like the movie below or this link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nlxw9qflKxk
Students may not be comfortable and creative with body movement.
·Teacher can do some simple exercise to help students imagine how they might pose their bodies to create a scene.I have had university theater education students come to my class and teach these lessons to my students.
References
Wilhelm, J. (2002). Action strategies for deepening comprehension. New York: Scholastic Professional Books.
Rationale:
According to Wilhelm (2005), “Tableaux helps students visualize, perceive, and consider characters, relationships between people, forces and ideas, scenes, settings, and meaning, key ideas, and features of a text or textual experience.” I have used tableaux because I feel it’s a good strategy for ELLs who do not yet have the language to respond to a text or participate in a conversation, but can instead show understanding through their body and facial expression. I also chose this strategy because I felt I needed more strategies for my bodily/kinesthetic learners. I can use this strategy as an assessment tool to gauge understanding instead of relying on a paper and pencil assessment. A traditional assessment might not give me as much information about what a student knows as the tableaux if the student is a very visual or kinesthetic learner.Courses in which it could be implemented:
I have used tableaux most often to respond to social studies concepts such as the gold rush, civil rights movement, westward expansion, migrant work, and economy.Diverse learners:
This strategy is especially helpful for visual and kinesthetic learners. It can also be helpful for ELLs who are able to respond to text with their bodies but not yet through language.Procedure:
1. Teacher should first model what tableaux is and looks like within the context of the topic being studied.2. With the class, identify central concepts or events that are crucial to understanding the text as a whole.
3. Teacher can then break students into groups. Either the teacher or the students can decide which concept they will be “frozen” as. In the past, I have had student pick an event from the social studies lesson we were doing. Even if two groups picked the same event, they will enact it according to their own perceptions of the event.
4. Each group will work together to consider how to present the concept or scene visually in a way that will communicate the importance of the concept without using words. The group will eventually “freeze” into their scene.
5. Each group presents their scene while the audiences discusses what they see happening and how it relates to the concept they are learning. The teacher may manipulate the scene by moving the frozen characters and have the class discuss how that changes the scene and everyone involved in the scene.
Potential Issues:
· Teacher can show examples of how tableaux looks in the classroom like the movie below or this link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nlxw9qflKxk
References
Wilhelm, J. (2002). Action strategies for deepening comprehension. New York: Scholastic Professional Books.