Flexible number of Participants, All Girls Middle School - Junior High

Goals:
· Students will recognize the impact of media-generated jargon on their own thinking
· Students will identify exaggerated claims found in popular print advertising Students will identify characteristics unique to themselves

Lesson Objectives:
· Students will use movement and sound to convey internal responses
· Students will use improvisation to create scenes inspired by print images
· Students will use vocal repetition and variation to create an orchestrated soundscape

Materials:
· A list of words/phrases culled from popular women's or teen magazines (examples p.2)
· Several print advertisements from popular women's or teen magazines (examples attached)
"I Poem" handouts (see structure on p.2)

Activities:
WARM-UP ACTIVITY: CULTURE WORDS:
Students adopt a relaxed stance standing in a circle. With the students' help, design three very simple movement/sound combinations (of one or two syllables each) to be used by the entire group: one to represent a negative response, one to represent a positive response, and one to represent a neutral response. Review the movement/sound combinations. Ask the students to close their eyes. As you move around the circle, call out a series of words and phrases you have pulled from the headlines of popular women's or teen magazines, such as "fnzzies," "fat," "diet," "makeover," etc. (See attached list for ideas). As the students listen to your words and phrases, they respond with one of the movement/sound combinations based on how the word makes them feel. There are no right or wrong answers. Ask them to keep their eyes closed and to respond as quickly as possible when the word is called out. As they gain proficiency, increase the speed of your calling. Ask the students to open their eyes and be seated. Discuss how they chose whether a word was positive, negative, or neutral. How were their choices influenced by listening to the other members of the group? How did having their eyes closed hinder or help them in asserting opinions? Who tells us how to respond to these words? Point out that these words are fed to us through cultural media, and that our opinions toward them should come from inside, not out.

IMPROVISATION: "SECRET MESSAGE" ADVERTISEMENTS:
Divide students into groups of 5 or 6 (as appropriate). Present each group with a magazine advertisement for a health/beauty product from popular or historical women's or teen magazines. (See photocopied examples attached). Using one advertisement as an example, explain that print ads often contain "secret" or "hidden" messages that do not always make sense (i.e. the message might be that using a certain shampoo will make you popular with boys, or that wearing certain blue jeans will make school seem more fun.) The groups will have 5 minutes to come up with a 2 minute improvised scene to bring the ad to life and reveal the "secret" message of the advertisement. To focus their improvisations, ask the students to think about 1) what hidden messages might be in the ad and 2) what the ad says about what it means to be a girl. After each group has prepared, share the scenes. After each scene, discuss the messages they got from the living ads. Ask them to identify any false promises being made in the advertisement. What tactics did they use to convince the audience to buy the product? What did each living advertisement say about what it means to be a girl?

SOUNDSCAPE: THE "I" POEM:
Distribute handouts of the "I" Poem to students. Give the students 5 minutes to fill in the blanks in the poem structure, designing their own "I" Poem. Ask the students to stand in a circle with their backs facing the center. Proceeding in order around the circle, have each student read one line of her poem, taking each line in order down the page, and starting over as necessary. After every student has delivered a line, ask that each student choose one line from her own poem that she likes the best and memorize it. Ask the students to close their eyes. As you move around the outside of the circle, tap students on the shoulder at random. When they are tapped, they deliver their favorite line from the poem. They should not be afraid to overlap their speech with others, and should be encouraged to experiment with tone and volume each time they deliver their line. Finally, make one swooping movement around the outside of the circle to touch all participants. (If time permits, or if the group is too large to use a circle, have the students form lines of 4 or 5 in staggered rows, facing the same direction and indicate their turn to deliver their line by pointing to them). After experimenting, have the students be seated in the circle facing inward. Ask for their impressions of hearing everyone 5 lines from the poem being chanted. What kind of mood was created? If it was "cool" or "powerful", why? Ask for volunteers to explain why they chose the lines as their favorites. Encourage students to keep their poems.
END OF LESSON
EXAMPLES OF WORDS/PHRASES FOR WARM-UP
Diet         Deep Clean         Girl Talk           Makeover         Thighs         Dating
Frizzies         Skin         Blue Jeans          Fat         Acne          Beauty Tips
Fitness         Weight Loss         Sprunch Spray         Healthy            Teenager
Hot Oil Treatment          Shiny         Boyfriend         Spiral Curls
 

"I" POEM STRUCTURE

I am_____________ and ______________. (2 things that you are)

I see ______________and_____________. (something you see)

I hear_____________and ______________.(something you hear)

I feel______________and _______________. (an emotion and reason why)

I am______________and_________________.(same 2 things you choose above)

I am ______________and ________________. (the same two things you chose above)

I think____________and _______________.(something you have thought about)

I believe ____________and_______________.(something that you know is true)

I wish ____________and______________.(something you hope will someday be true)

I am _____________and____________.(the same two things you chose above)
 

                                                        The Activity Bank:
                                                Other Activity Ideas for Use
                            In Creative Dramallmprovisation with Youth Lesson Plans
                                                    For Pre-Adolescent Girls
 

Prepared by Carol Lanoux and Elizabeth O'Hara
for "Deconstructing Barbie: Creative Drama as a Tool
for Image Making in Pre-Adolescent Girls"
 

ASSERTIVENESS ACTIVITY:
Introduce and discuss definitions of passive, aggressive, and assertive with students. Divide students into small groups. Give each group a scenario from a prepared list detailing a dilemma that they might realistically face. If you are working with a group of girls only, they might be scenarios specific to female experiences, such as: "A girl you know at school is pressuring you to go on a "crash diet" with her..." or "A boy in your class makes a comment about a skirt you are wearing..." Allow each group a few minutes to develop a series of three tableaux depicting 1) a passive response to the scenario 2)an aggressive response 3) an assertive response. Spotlight and discuss. In the interest of time, each group might be assigned a response to develop only one tableau. Point out in discussion that girls are traditionally stereotyped as being passive. Discuss how to combat stereotypes, making the point that aggressive responses get no more results than passive ones.

OPINION CONTINUUM:
Ask students to imagine that one wall of the room is labeled "strongly agree" and the other is labeled "strongly disagree." The line between the two walls is a continuum of opinion, ranging in degrees of belief. Ask students to place themselves at a point on the continuum, according to their opinions, on the following statements:
1. Girls feel more pressure to look attractive than boys do.
2. If boys didn't pay so much attention to the way a girl looks (as opposed to how smart, funny, or interesting she is), then girls wouldn't spend so much time in front of mirrors.
3. Kids our age feel influenced by what we see on TV and in the movies, when it comes to knowing what to wear and how we should look.

For each statement offered, the leader should "interview" students on various points of the continuum, giving them a chance to explain their opinions. Limit each interview session to about three students. Next, students on each extreme wall have two minutes to prepare a statement to be read to those who are at middle points on the continuum. Each "side" will share its prepared argument, and students in the middle must side with one of the two "walls." Share statements, have "middle" students move to one side or the other, and discuss with each "middler" why they chose to move to one side or the other. Use the following questioning style to elicit answers: What was it about the argument that spoke to you? Would you have felt differently if you were of the opposite gender? As time allows, regroup into a circle for discussion.

BODY IMAGE DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES:
Divide students into small groups. Give each group a title pertaining to body image that has a relatively neutral slant, for example: What Happened to My Body; Out of Control; When I Looked in the Mirror; Shopping Trip; The Miracle Potion. Using fantasy elements of movement and sound (but not necessarily improvisation), ask students to depict either their best dream or worst nightmare using the title they have been given. Give students a few minutes to discuss and prepare, then share their work. In discussion, ask students from other groups what possible story there might be behind each dream/nightmare. Was it a dream or a nightmare? How could they tell? What other ideas for dreams and nightmares do the titles inspire?

CULTURE ON TRIAL:
The leader assumes the role of a judge, presenting the pretext of a trial between the Council of Nature vs. the Council of Culture. Based on their agreement or disagreement with a list of statements, students take their places on the Nature or the Culture side. Statements could include: "Hair must be long and sleek." "Lips should be wide and puffy." "Legs should be skinny." After the students have divided, the leader reveals that the Council of Culture is on trial for sending false messages. The Council of Nature is suing the Council of Culture by arguing that everyone's physical traits are unique and must not be tampered with. As the statements the Culture allegedly issued are read (aloud or on an overhead projector), students from each side have a chance to argue. The judge rules in favor of the Council of Nature. As a group out of role, the students can decide what penalty they think is appropriate for Culture.