Emotions in Nature

Overview

In this second lesson of the unit Erupting Stories: Drama of Tarawera, students explore how nature scenes can show feelings. They create freeze frames (still images) that represent peaceful terraces and moments of disruption. Students practise using movement, facial expression, and simple acting choices to connect emotion with what they see and imagine.

Learning intentions

• WALT use drama techniques (freeze frames and movement choices) to show emotions connected to nature and change.
• WALT communicate an idea clearly through a still image and short spoken phrase.
• WALT respond respectfully to classmates by describing what they notice and wonder.

Success criteria

• I can hold a freeze frame that shows a clear emotion (peaceful, worried, shocked, or sad).
• I can use my face and body to match the emotion I chose.
• I can say a short phrase that explains what my freeze frame represents.
• I can give a kind comment using “I notice…” and “I wonder…”

Curriculum links

• Drama (The Arts): creating and presenting drama using techniques such as freeze frames to communicate meaning.
• Key competencies:
• Communicating ideas and information through drama and short speaking.
• Managing self by staying in role and focusing during performances.
• Relating to others by listening, sharing space, and giving respectful feedback.
• Learning focus (unit context): personal and collective experiences connected to nature and destruction through role play and expression.

Lesson structure (30 minutes)

1. 0–4 min · Warm-up: Feelings in the body. Teacher models 4 emotion faces (calm, curious, worried, shocked) and students copy. Teacher prompts: “How does your face change? How does your body feel?”

2. 4–10 min · Visual attention & short think time. Teacher shows a single tranquil terraces image (calm scene) and one that suggests disruption (without graphic detail). Students do a 30-second silent “look and think”, then discuss in pairs: “What emotion might someone feel here?”

3. 10–18 min · Direct teach: Freeze frame basics. Teacher demonstrates: “Freeze means still; frame means your body is posed like a picture.” Students practise in groups of 4:

• Group A creates a calm freeze frame of terraces.
• Group B creates a worried or shocked freeze frame of “something changed.” Teacher checks: “Show me with your face—can we tell the feeling without your words?”

4. 18–25 min · Perform & feedback (guided). Two groups perform while the class watches as an audience. After each freeze frame, students give feedback using sentence stems:

• “I notice…” (body/face/pose/emotion)
• “I wonder…” (question about story or feelings) Teacher adds one “teacher comment” linking emotion to the scene: “Your shoulders show worry.”

5. 25–30 min · Exit ticket: One-line acting explanation. Students choose their favourite freeze frame emotion and complete a quick response (worksheet or digital):

• “My freeze frame shows how I feel because…” (teacher provides sentence starter). Teacher collects to inform next lesson.

Resources

• 2 images for terraces: calm and a “changed” scene (non-graphic, drama-appropriate)
• Sentence starter cards: “I notice… / I wonder… / My freeze frame shows…”
• Simple emotion face cards (calm, curious, worried, shocked)
• Small space markers or rope/tape to define freeze-frame area
• Worksheet or digital form for the exit ticket
• Timer for performance rounds

Assessment

• Formative observation: teacher checks whether students’ freeze frames clearly communicate an emotion through facial expression and body pose.
• Formative feedback quality: during “I notice / I wonder,” teacher listens for specific observations (not just “good”).
• Exit ticket: whether students can connect emotion to a simple reason using the sentence starter.

Differentiation

• Support for students needing more structure: provide a “pose template” (e.g., calm: standing tall and soft hands; worried: crouched or tense shoulders) and allow whisper rehearsal before performing. Offer options to point to an emotion card rather than speaking.
• Support for diverse learning needs: use visuals on the board (emotion icons) and short, repeated instructions (“Freeze—still. Frame—pose. Explain—one sentence.”). Provide a buddy for rehearsal.
• Extension for advanced learners: ask them to create a two-part freeze frame (before and after) and add a second line: “At first… then…”
• Language support: for emerging speakers, permit non-verbal showing first, then add one short spoken phrase with teacher prompting. Encourage use of words like calm, worried, surprised, sad, changed, nature.

Extension (optional)

• Advanced groups can invent a title for their freeze frame (e.g., “Quiet Terraces” or “The Moment Everything Changed”) and share it in one sentence.