Why Did the Children Put Beans in Their Ears?

This is an activity that works well with very young children, but not surprisingly is also enjoyed by more mature learners. I even use it with adult theatre students. Basically, we take Carl Sandburg’s Poem and student’s then extend it by adding other things parent’s might have told the children not to do. And of course, after writing, we dramatize them. What self respecting child doesn’t want to dramatize children being disobedient to their parents? The first video is of the student’s reading the title chorally, and the other videos are of their dramatization of the poem and their extensions. Fun and silly, but lot’s of language possibilities depending on your goals. I want to return to this activity again to see if the students can generate more dialogue and extend their scenes a bit more.