Snapshot 4.6. Sharing Powerful Passages from Ninth Ward
Integrated ELA in Grade Three (cont.)CA CCSS for ELA/Literacy: RF.3.4b; SL.3.1, 4
CA ELD Standards: ELD.PI.3.1, 5, 6
Related CA Model School Library Standard:
3-4.3a Listen to, view, and read stories, poems, and plays.Source
Adapted from
Yopp, Hallie K., and Ruth H. Yopp. 2014. Literature-Based Reading Activities: Engaging Students with Literary and
Informational Text. 6th ed. Boston: Pearson. Reprinted by permission of Pearson Education, Inc., New York, New
York.Snapshot 4.7. Biography Tableaux of American Heroes
Integrated ELA, History–Social Science, and Theatre in Grade ThreeAfter reading and listening to short biographies of American heroes, including Thomas
Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Frederick Douglass, Cesar Chavez, Biddy Mason, and Harriet
Tubman, small groups of third-grade students select one of the individuals for focused study.
The students revisit and reread portions of the relevant text and work together to identify
major events from the person’s life. With assistance from their teacher, Mr. Jordan, they
summarize and list the events on a chart. The students then select two of the events to
represent in a morphing tableau and present it to the class.
The group that reviewed Biddy Mason’s biography note her years in slavery, first in Georgia
and later in California, her emancipation by a U.S. District Court judge in Los Angeles in 1856,
and her early work as a midwife. After buying her first home, Mason grew increasingly wealthy
through shrewd real estate investments. In the latter half of the 19th century, Mason’s home
became a refuge for migrants to the area and she began to dedicate her time and resources
to meeting the needs of those less fortunate. The students decide to depict Mason’s work as
a philanthropist in Los Angeles, including her visits to local prisons and her support of local
churches in both white and black communities (such as the oldest Black church, the First
African Methodist church) in their morphing tableau. Students identify the figures that will
appear in each tableau, determine who will play each role, and problem-solve how to depict
the events. They choreograph their tableau and the transitions from one scene to another, and
they rehearse this choreography to ensure the messages are clear and the transitions smooth.
With one another, they also prepare and practice several times what they will say about their
character and the activity depicted in each scene of the tableau. Mr. Jordan supports each
group as he observes and provides feedback during their rehearsals.
The day of the performance, each group introduces its tableau by sharing the name of
the hero. They strike their first pose and the teacher invites the audience to comment on the
tableau. What do they see? What do they think is happening based on their knowledge of
the figure and events in his or her life? The teacher then taps each of the performers on the
shoulder, one at a time, and the students turn to the audience and tell them who they are and
what they are doing in the tableau. Speakers return to their poses. Then the performers slowly
transition, or morph, from their first pose to their second. The audience again comments and
the performers share. The class applauds the performance and the next group presents.Grade 3 Chapter 4 | 367