The Buffalo Woman by Paul Goble

Title for Your Identification and Filing

GRADE LEVEL: PREK-2 3-5 X 6-8 9-12 ______

NYC ARTS BLUEPRINT STRAND or BENCHMARK; STATE STANDARD

For more information:

Theater Making: Acting Benchmark: “Students continue to activate and expand their imaginations, and explore the analytical, concentration and process skills associated with acting.”

LITERACY OR SUBJECT AREA STANDARD:

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ELA Standard 1: Students will read, write, listen, and speak for information and understanding.

ARTISTIC AIM:

Students will be able to physically interpret a scene from the story, using gesture, facial expression and vocal expression.

LITERACY/ MATH/ OR SUBJECT AREA AIM:

Students will be able to describe verbally and in movement what they have learned about buffalo from the story.

Motivation:

Read introduction from book:

“The story of Buffalo Woman comes from the tribes who followed the buffalo herds on the Great Plains. The buffalo was the source of life for the people, giving them food, hides for robes and tipi covers, as well as many other things. The lives of both were closely interwoven, and the story teaches that buffalo and people were related. … It was felt that retelling the story had power to bring about a change within each of us; that in listening we might all be a little more worthy of our buffalo relatives.”

MATERIALS:

  • The Buffalo Woman by Paul Goble
  • Large pieces of paper or a pad
  • A drum

Procedure:

  • Warm Up: Meditation to set the scene in the imagination.

“Imagine that you are all part of a great big family, and you have all collected together to listen to a great elder retell the ancient story of the great bond between the buffalo and human beings. Since we don’t have buffalohere in our everyday life, please listen closely so you can get an idea of what these wonderful animals are like.”

  • Read the story.
  • Ask what they learned about buffalo from the story. Write the characteristics on a large sheet of paper.

They are big animals, they are powerful, they live in herds, there is a leader, to human beings they all look alike, etc.

  • Altogether, come up with gestures, actions, sounds they could use to help them “become”/portray buffalo.

(i.e., effecting the change that the young warrior goes through)

  • Have individuals or groups of two or three students show us (perform) their version of buffalos.

Add drumming to give them a rhythm for their movements and to add a sense of the weight and power of the buffalo.

  • Break class up into two groups to enact the scene where the buffalo try to scare the young warrior.

(i.e., one group portrays the buffalo while the other, in essence, portrays the part of the warrior.)

CLOSE:

Ask students to be seated and close their eyes as I read the list of characteristics they came up with for buffalo, drawing a picture of buffalo in their mind’s eye and also remembering what it felt like to be a buffalo.

Assessment:

  • Students are able to elicit facts about buffalo from the reading of the story which they are able to explain to me so I can list them on the paper.
  • Students are able to come up with movements, sounds and gestures that are characteristic of buffalo and are able to perform them for each other.

RESOURCES; LINKS

American Buffalo: Spirit of a Nation

Running with the Bison at Caprock Canyons - Texas Parks and Wildlife [Official]

Lesson Plan Developed By:Amy HellerEmail Address: