<center>ROTATION.ORG WRITING TEAM

<h3>JESUS' BIRTH THROUGH THE EYES OF ISAIAH

DRAMA (CREATION MOVEMENT) WORKSHOP</center></h3>


PASSAGE

Story: Isaiah 7:14; Isaiah 9:6-7
Key/Memory Verse: Isaiah 9:6

PURPOSE

During this drama workshop, the students will hear some of the prophecies of Isaiah. In order to more fully understand the names Jesus has been called in Isaiah, the students will do creative movement. They will think about and interpret kinesthetically the scripture passages.

Objectives for Drama Workshop

By the end of the workshop, the students will

• know the meaning of some of the concepts embodied in the names for Jesus in the Isaiah passages.
  
• have experimented with a different way of using their whole bodies to give form to a concept or idea.
  
• think about to what their zeal should be devoted.
  

PREPARATION

Review Bible Background.

Materials List

• Bibles
  
• Big open space (a carpeted area will allow for the best movement)
  
• BodySox (TM) and/or colorful, flowing scarves
  BodySox can be purchased from SPORTIME (800-283-5700, www.sportime.com. Lightweight colorful scarves can also be purchased from SPORTIME and other sources, or can be easily made out of chiffon fabric. Note that the chiffon unravels easily, so you will want to hem it; this is a good job for someone who wants to help out, but who does not want to work directly with the children.
  
• Dictionary
  
• Index cards
  
• Markers
  
• Poster board
  
• Wall mirror (helpful)
  

Advance Preparation Requirements

• Using marker, print the memory verse on a piece of poster board.
  
• Also print each word of the verse on a separate 3" x 5" index card. Make a set for every five people in the class or at least two sets for the class.
  

PRESENTATION

Open - Introduction

Early Arrival Activity (or additional warm-up, depending on your schedule)

Encourage the students to experiment with the BodySox and scarves. Ask them to make "shapes" with their bodies, pretend to be objects, and work with others to see what sorts of "effects" they can achieve. Some movement and imagination starters: can you feel yourself moving like a butterfly, a bird, a tree with a bird family living in a nest in your branches, a mother holding a (crying/sleeping/smiling) baby. Walk sadly, jump thoughtfully, tiptoe angrily. You may want to write these and other ideas on slips of paper and have students take turns drawing one and experimenting with it. There are no right or wrong ways to do these things; each person's response will be as different as the person. Explain that the only rules are: move safely so you and others don't get hurt and use your face and body to show the object/feeling/experience, not your voice.

Group Time

Open with prayer.

Read Isaiah 9:6-7 and 7:14

Memory Verse Work

Display the poster board containing the memory verse. Have the class read it aloud in unison several times. Divide the class into small groups of no more than 5 people each and give them a set of "Memory Verse" cards. See which group can put the verse together in proper order first. When all the groups have the verse in order, read it aloud together.

Talk about creative movement. Refer to "Additional Suggestions" for ideas and information on the topic. Explain that today's scripture is really not a story; therefore, we will be exploring the Bible passages kinesthetically -- with our bodies.
Discuss what each of the names given to Jesus means. Look them up in the dictionary if necessary.

Dig - Main Content

Warm-up exercises

Say, "Practice moving your whole body to interpret ideas and things using all three levels: low (kneeling, crouching, crawling), middle (standing, walking), and high (arms up, jumping). Try moving fast and slow, smoothly and jerkily, straight and roundabout to achieve different effects. Keep moving; don't be a statue." Have the class divide into pairs and use their imaginations to move their bodies to interpret objects and concepts from the reading. Experiment with as many as time permits and add more if you have time: sign, young woman, child, Immanuel, authority, shoulders, named, Wonderful Counselor, God, Father, throne, kingdom, justice, forevermore.

Read through the Creative Movement script and allow the students to experiment with movements that express the thoughts and feelings in the passages. Read slowly and thoughtfully and with meaning. Stop frequently to allow students to further explore and try different ways to express the passage. If you have a large class (more than eight people), you may want to divide into two groups and let them take turns interpreting the passages. Those in the group not moving can make suggestions to those who are. Allow individual students to decide if they want to enhance their movements with scarves or BodySox (if available).

<center>ISAIAH'S ADVENT PROPHECIES
Leader's Script for Creative Movement
(Adapted from the New Revised Standard Version)</center>

Readings from Isaiah, chapters seven and nine:

Therefore, the Lord himself
will give us a sign.
Look!
The young woman
is with child
and shall bear a son,
and shall name him Immanuel.
God is with us!

For a child has been born for us,
a son given to us;

authority
rests upon his shoulders;

and he is named
Wonderful Counselor,
Mighty God,
Everlasting Father,
Prince of Peace.

His authority shall grow continually,

and there shall be endless peace
for the throne of David and his kingdom.

He will establish and uphold it
with justice
and with righteousness
from this time onward and forevermore.

The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this!
God is with us!

Reflect - Closure

Questions to Discuss

• What does Advent mean? What are we waiting for during this season of the church year?
  
• What is zeal? The end of verse 9:7 states, "The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this." What will God's zeal do?
  
• Do you have zeal for anything?
  
• Is Advent just about waiting, or should we be showing zeal for something? I wonder what?
  

Closing Prayer

Dear God, thank you for giving each of us the gift of imagination and creativity. Thank you for the stories and word pictures we find in the Bible. Help us to hold God's words close in our hearts and to understand how they call us to serve and obey You. Amen.

ADDITIONAL SUGGESTIONS

Move to the appropriate sections of a recording of Handel's Messiah: Number 8 Recitative (Isaiah 7:14) and Number 12 Chorus (Isaiah 9:6).

Adaptations - Younger Children

Remind the children of the meaning of the different names as you read the scripture and they bring it to life.

Adaptations - Older Children

If some of the participants seem reluctant, let them take turns being readers and coaches during the reading of the scripture or the warm-ups. Assign teams of two or three to come up with a group movement to show "Counselor," "Prince of Peace," and so forth.

Suggestions for Leading Creative Movement

Read each section of the script several times slowly and thoughtfully, section by section, line by line, with expression. During the first reading of each section, allow the listeners to think about and experiment with movements. After they have a feeling for and understanding of that section, move on to the next. Finally, read the entire script from beginning to end, allowing selected students to "perform" their movements for the rest of the group.

The script is written so that each line is a movement/image/thought. Discourage attempts to interpret every word.

Some sections are more appropriately dramatized by several students working as a team, others call for solos.

If there are two leaders, take turns reading sections to provide a clear demarcation from one idea/concept/movement to the next.

Suggestions on using Creative Movement with Isaiah's Advent Prophecies

Creative movement is a way of moving our bodies to show feelings. The goal is not a polished performance, but a visual expression of our understanding of God's word. There are no right or wrong movements. We were created as individuals, each of us different, and we create as individuals.

"For teachers who may feel intimidated or overwhelmed by the idea of using movement and creative improvisation as a teaching tool, remember that you do not have to do the movement yourselves. The children will supply all the physicality needed for a successful lesson. Your job is to supply the direction, the guided imagery, the permission to be physical, and an encouraging gleam in your eye. The idea is not to have the children imitate your movements, but to discover their own physical language." (Griss.)

Outcomes of kinesthetic learning include "increased comprehension. Interpreting a concept through physical means ... helps children - especially those at the elementary age level - to grasp, internalize, and maintain abstract information." (Griss)

Creative movement is: improvisational, not permanent, spontaneous, experiencing, experimenting.

"Creative Movement ... is oriented towards diversification rather than uniformity." (Exiner, page 64)

Some notes to help you "direct" the creative movement activity:

There is "safety" in numbers, but there may be more creativity shown when children are not watching to see if they are doing the same thing as everyone else. Consider the personality of the class when deciding whether to do exercises individually, in small groups, or as a large group.

After experimenting with subject and movement, students "will take the step of selecting movements which they feel express most sensitively and clearly what they wish to 'say,' and of organizing them into a coherent and distinctive pattern." (Exiner, page 3)

"Students should be given complete freedom as to how they interpret a given topic. Guidance from the teacher should be directed towards making them clarify their own movements with regard to the way they use their bodies and apply basic movement principles. As students are not taught any specific steps, there is no need to be concerned about overtaxing physical and intellectual abilities." (Exiner, page 46)

"Creative Movement is often associated with practices such as 'being a tree,' which invariably result in students remaining on one spot and waving their arms from side to side. This interpretation could at best be described as an attempt at mime, but certainly not as an experience in Creative Movement." Use movement analysis: break the content into components (trunk, branches, leaves) and explore the space, force, time, and fluidity of each component. For example, explore the concepts of leaves blowing in the winds, branches reaching for the sun and rain, the tree as the seasons progress. Then, interpret the object "using a wide range of Body Activities to express the movement qualities it contains ... . Movement analysis is instrumental in freeing Movement from being imitative and therefore allows for a much more imaginative and original interpretation of any theme." (Exiner, page 44)

"Any topic should be seen as a question for which the answer has to be found in Movement. The students' imagination [sic] may need supporting comments from the teacher, which may be expressed in terms such as: " is there perhaps another way of 'saying' what you mean?". "Does this (particular movement) 'feel right' to you?'", "Should you use more Space?", "Less speed?", and so forth. On the other hand, too many remarks may be restrictive to some students, for they may not have had sufficient time to explore one idea before another is suggested to them. In the main, however, students learn to disregard some of these comments and only use the ones that appear relevant to the movement task they are working on." (Exiner, page 35)

"Dance studies on themes (from the world around) are best encouraged by the comment 'can you feel yourself moving like (the model you observe)?' rather than 'imagine yourself being ...'. Dancing, by being more symbolic, is a very different process from miming, which primarily aims at imitating. This does not rule out the fact that much can be learned from copying, for it requires close observation, leading to a greater understanding of the movements of a given subject. It also teaches one to be more precise as one is expected to adhere to the movement patterns of the model. Copying, used with discretion, can be a valuable addition to creative practices." (Exiner, page 38)

Ways to move creatively to interpret an object or topic: use a single body shape or activity to interpret the topic; explore other ways to express the object, for example, move like it; experiment with sequences; for example, move like the object and then end with the 'shape' of the object.

"We consider facial expression to be a part of Movement experience, yet we feel that it should not be as dominant as it is in mime." (Exiner, page 41)

Creative movement may be used to explore the world within (thoughts and emotions), as well as objects in the world around us. These will be very personal interpretations, as we all experience anger, sadness, and so forth differently. In addition, "movement can also create emotions. Rocking will evoke a feeling of tranquillity or reflection, lashing out a feeling of aggression; narrow movements may lead to tension, wide movements to a feeling of freedom and release." (Exiner, page 40)

Combine a feeling with an activity to help the students explore the world within: "'sitting sadly', 'stamping angrily' or 'jumping excitedly.' This can be followed up with short sequences, e.g., a 'sad walk ending in a sad sinking,' 'a happy whirling -- running and jumping -- ending with a gesture of welcome.'" (Exiner, page 41)

Exiner divides movements into these five body activities: locomotion - various ways to move across the floor; turning - change the way the body faces; elevation; falls; gesture.

Laban and Carpenter describe eight working actions for voice and movement: punching (strong, direct, quick); pressing (strong, direct, sustained); slashing (strong, flexible, quick); wringing (strong, flexible, sustained); dabbing (light, direct, quick); gliding (light, direct, sustained); flicking (light, flexible, quick); floating (light, flexible, sustained). These types of movements should occur high, low and in-between. Encourage the students to try mixing them together to add variety to their movements.

SOURCES

Exiner, Johanna and Phyllis Lloyd. Teaching Creative Movement. Boston: Plays, Inc., 1974.

Griss, Susan. "Creative Movement: A Language for Learning." Educational Leadership, 51: 5 (February 1994), pages 78-81.

The Scripture quotations contained herein are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright (c) 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA. All rights reserved.

CONTRIBUTOR: Amy Crane

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This message has been edited. Last edited by: Luanne Payne,

After studying the prophecies of Isaiah concerning the Messiah, we came up with this dramatic telling of the Birth of Christ. Prior to the class, we made the room as dark as possible, blocking off all sources of light. We hid paper stars all around the room. The words to the memory verse were written on the stars. We also set up a string of white Christmas lights. Before entering the room, we discussed Isaiah 9:2. We discussed how the world was in darkness from the time of the fall through several thousand years. We told the children that God was trying to communicate with the world, but people had a difficult time understanding Him. We told the children that there was a message hidden in the room. We showed them a sample star and instructed them to enter the room and look for the stars. Of course, when we entered they were unable to see anything, let alone the hidden stars. I asked them what they needed to help them. Of course, they said a light. We told them that sometimes God would send a message through a prophet to encourage and help them. We turned the Christmas lights on for a few seconds, quoted the prophet's message, such as Isaiah's promise of a son, a great light. Each time, the children quickly looked around the room, attempting to find the hidden stars. We mentioned several prophets, each time turning the lights on. I also brought several items such as a pair of socks, a toothbrush, a coat hanger. I offered these to the children at various times to help them see. We discussed how people try to use other things in life to help them "see", but what they really need is the light. Finally, we turned on the lights in the room. Instantly, they were able to see the "hidden stars". They located them and placed them on a board, spelling out the memory verse. We discussed how Jesus is the only true light and He is what we need in this world of darkness. After all those years of darkness, promises, and waiting, God fulfilled his Word on Christmas so long ago, by sending His Son - John 8:12 "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."