Duck for President: Story Dramatization for Grade 2

Based on the book by Doreen Cronin

Session Design by Morgan Huffman and Stormy Knaak
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Content Standards
Utah Fine ArtsTheatre: Standard 1 Objective 3B
o Create and improvise several new endings to one familiar story.
CCSS English Language Arts: Key Ideas and Details, Reading: Literature Standard 3
o Describe characters in a story (e.g., their traits, motivations, or feelings) and explain
how their actions contribute to the sequence of events.
CCSS English Language Arts: Key Ideas and Details, Reading: Informational Text Standard
2
o Determine the main idea of a text; recount the key details and explain how they
support the main idea.
Enduring Understandings
Students will understand that decisions to change can be risky or scary, however the
students may not recognize their full potential until they adventure away from comfortable
spaces, choices, and routines.
Key Knowledge
Students will know that pitch is the degree of highness or lowness of a voice.
Students will know that volume is the ability to make their voice louder or softer.
Skills
Students will be able to portray different characters through the use of puppetry, pitch,
and volume.
Students will be able to give and receive critical feedback.
ASSESSMENT
Performance Tasks
Students improvise an ending to the play presented in class and give written feedback
which will be graded on a rubric (see attachment) in order to demonstrate their ability to
improvise a new ending to a story and to give and receive critical feedback.
Students create an original written script depicting their own ending to the play presented
in class in order to demonstrate their ability to create a new ending to a story.
Students discuss as a class the key concepts and details of their adaptations and how the
emphasis on different characters changed the story in order to demonstrate their ability to
determine the key characteristics and actions that contribute to important events, recount
information given, and support their own ideas.
Students perform their puppet show to the class which will be graded on a rubric (see
attachment) in order to demonstrate their ability to use puppetry, pitch, and volume to
portray different characters.
Other Assessments
Students take a small quiz detailing the definitions of pitch, volume, and puppetry as well
as key details on the characters and main ideas in order to demonstrate their knowledge
of the text and some dramatic elements.
Students write a short journal entry about a time that they took a risk or regretted not
taking a risk to demonstrate their understanding that they may not recognize their full
potential until they adventure away from comfortable spaces, choices, and routines.

MATERIALS NEEDED
Teacher Materials
Cronin, Doreen. Duck For President. New York City: Simon and Schuster, 2004.
Script for puppet show
Puppets for duck, farmer brown, farm animals
Table
Table cloth
Rubric
Student Materials
Brown paper bags (quantity depending on class size)
Art materials (e.g. glue, markers, fabric, etc.)
Journal
LEARNING PLAN
Framing / Hook
1. In a group, students sing a popular song (e.g. Happy by Pharrell Williams)
a. Gather students in a circle.
b. On a computer, play the first verse and chorus of a popular song.
c. Direct students to sing the popular song that you just played for them as a group.
i. NOTE: Teacher should also be in circle participating in the song.
2. Students change their pitch and volume to sing a small part of the song in the following
sequence:
a. Excited
b. Sad
c. Angry
d. Whisper
e. Shout
f. Donald Duck
g. Old woman/man
h. Martian
i. Robot
Process
3. Using a puppet theatre, present a puppet show of Duck for President by Doreen Cronin.
i. NOTE: See attachments for script
4. Explain that the students will be creating their own endings for Duck and bringing them to
life through their own puppet show.
5. Plan the segment of the story that the students will be adapting.
a. Initial Discussion:
i. Who are the important characters?
ii. What are the important events, key details, and main ideas of the story?
iii. What part of the story should we adapt for our own endings?
1. NOTE: Establish a particular ending for all students to adapt.
b. Prepare their scenes:
i. Assign students to small groups (3-4 students per group, depending on class
size).
ii. Within each small group, assign a unique main character out of the important
characters that they should focus on for their adaptation.
iii. Students create puppets for the characters they will need in their adaptation.
iv. Students create their stage out of tables and craft supplies.
v. Discuss how the sequence of events might be changed with the character
they have been assigned.

c. Dramatize using improvisation:

i. Using puppetry, improvise the new ending while devising dialogue and
actions that are appropriate for the characters point of view.
ii. After each group has gone, students will give written feedback on other
groups endings.
1. NOTE: explain to the students that they should include both a piece of
critical feedback as well as a piece of positive feedback.
d. Students create a written script for their new endings, implementing their feedback.
i. Students create a short (about five minutes), handwritten script for their new
ending that implements the feedback they received.
1. NOTE: scripts should be graded on content, not formatting or writing
ability, although they should still be grammatically correct and welldeveloped.
6. Students present their new endings.
a. Using the puppets and scripts that the students made, they present their adaptation
of Duck for President to the class.
b. After all groups have presented, students briefly discuss the following questions:
i. Were the changes made between the improvised scene and the scripted
scene effective?
ii. Which assigned characters were most beneficial to the storyline?
iii. How did the new adaptation fit with the original story?
iv. What were the key concepts and details of the adaptations?
7. Students implement changes based on feedback from discussion and give their final
presentation of their adaptation.
Reflection
8. Students discuss their understanding of Duck for President.
a. Gather students in a circle.
b. Ask the following questions:
i. Do you think Duck took any risks in Duck for President? If so, what risks did
he take?
ii. Were the risks good or bad for Duck?
iii. What did Duck learn from taking risks and trying new things?
iv. Have you ever taken a risk? What were the outcomes?
v. What are some of the positive results that might come from trying new
things?
9. Students write a short journal entry recalling a time that they took a risk or regretted not
taking a risk.
a. A few volunteers in the class read their journal entry out loud.

Duck for President Rubric

STUDENT NAME:
POOR
(0 points)
Little to no
puppet
movement and
little to no
connection with
spoken script.

SATISFACTORY
(1 point)
Puppet movement
is sporadic and
rarely connects
with spoken script.

Pitch

Shows no skill in
pitch, the pitch is
inappropriate for
the scene.
Speaker does not
seem rehearsed.

Shows inconsistent
pitch. Speaker
seems somewhat
rehearsed.

Volume

Shows no skill in
volume, the
volume is
inappropriate for
the scene.
Speaker does not
seem rehearsed.
Does not give
any feedback,
does not
implement any
feedback in
scene.

Shows inconsistent
volume. Speaker
seems somewhat
rehearsed.

Adequate and
appropriate
volume. Speaker
seems well
rehearsed.

Give and
implement some
feedback, neither
furthers nor
detracts from the
scene.

Give and
implement
critical feedback
furthers the
scene.

Puppet
Manipulation

Feedback

TOTAL POINTS:

________

ADJUSTMENTS:

________

Reason:_____________________________________________
FINAL POINTS:

________ (Rubric Points +/- Adjustments)

LETTER GRADE:

________ (Based on the matrix below)

Points Final Grade

30-33

Excellent

22-29

Good

11-21

Satisfactory

6-10

NI

Needs Improvement

0-5

US Unsatisfactory

GOOD
(2 points)
Puppet
movement is
relatively
stationary with
minor
inconsistency to
spoken script.
Adequate and
appropriate pitch.
Speaker seems
well rehearsed.

GREAT
(3 points)
Puppet
movement
clearly executed
with a variety of
movement that
relates directly to
spoken script.
Engaging and
adequate pitch.
Speaker seems
well rehearsed
and able to
articulate using
pitch.
Engaging and
adequate
volume. Speaker
seems well
rehearsed and
able to articulate
using volume.
Give and
implement
critical feedback
that significantly
furthers the
scene.

Script for Duck for President by Doreen Cronin

Adaptation by Morgan Huffman and Stormy Knaak
ACTION
Red curtain is down
SOLICIT answers from students
REMOVE red curtain, revealing farm curtain
ENTER Farmer Brown puppet
ENTER farm animals puppet
EXIT Farmer Brown puppet
ENTER pig with chores list puppet
EXIT pig with chores list puppet
ENTER cow puppet
EXIT cow puppet
ENTER Duck puppet
EXIT Duck puppet
HOLD UP election sign
PUT DOWN election sign
ENTER Farmer Brown puppet
EXIT Farmer Brown puppet
ENTER protesting mice puppet
EXIT protesting mice puppet
HOLD UP results sign: F. Brown 6, Duck 20
CROSS OFF 20, change to 21
PUT DOWN results sign
ENTER Duck puppet

DIALOGUE
NARR: Welcome! Today we are going to hear a
story about a farm. What kind of animals do
you think might be on a farm?
Well, this story is about many farm animals, but
about a duck in particular. Running a farm is
very hard work.
At the end of each day, Farmer Brown is
covered head to toe in hay, horse hair, seeds,
sprouts, feathers, filth, mud, muck, and coffee
stains. He doesnt smell very good, either.
And the animals have chores to do, too.
PIG: Pigs clean under the beds, cows weed the
garden, sheep sweep the barn, and duck has to
take out the trash, mow the lawn, AND grind
coffee beans!
COW: At the end of each day, the pigs are
covered in lint bunnies, the cows are covered in
weeds, the sheep are covered in dust, and duck
is covered in tiny bits of grass and espresso
beans.
DUCK: I do not like to do chores. I do not like
picking tiny bits of grass and espresso beans
out of my feathers. Why is Farmer Brown in
charge anyway? What we need is an election!
NARR: The next morning, Farmer Brown found
a sign taped to his door. Vote Duck for a
kinder, gentler farm.
Farmer Brown was furious. He ran to the farm
and found the animals registering to vote.
MICE: Height limit unfair! We may be short but
we still care!
NARR: Duck didnt keep the height limit
On election day, each of the animals filled out a
ballot and put it in a box. The vote was
counted, and the results were posted on the
farm wall.
Farmer Brown demanded a recount. One sticky
ballot was found stuck to the bottom of a pig.
The new results were posted.
DUCK: The voters have spoken. I am now in
charge!
NARR: Running a farm is very hard work. At
the end of each day, duck was covered from
head to toe in hay, horse hair, seeds, sprouts,
feathers, filth, mud, muck, and coffee stains.
DUCK: Running a farm is no fun at all!

HOLD UP campaign sign Im a duck, not a

politician
PUT DOWN campaign sign
EXIT farm animals puppet
REMOVE farm curtain, revealing town curtain
HOLD UP results sign: Ms. Governor 299, 999;
Duck 300,000
CROSS OFF 300,000 change to 300,002
PUT DOWN results sign
DUCK puppet crosses to center stage

HOLD UP presidential election sign: A duck for

a change!
PUT DOWN presidential election sign

HOLD UP results sign: Mr. President 50, 546,

165; Duck 50, 546, 170
CROSS OFF 50, 546, 170 change to 50, 546,
180
PUT DOWN results sign
REMOVE town curtain, revealing white house
office background

HOLD UP help wanted ad

PUT DOWN help wanted ad
REPLACE farm curtain and farm animals puppet
ENTER Farmer Brown puppet
EXIT Duck and Farmer Brown puppet
ENTER Duck on a computer puppet

NARR: That night, duck and his staff started

working on his campaign for governor.
Duck left Farmer Brown in charge and hit the
campaign trail. He visited small town diners,
marched in parades, went to town meetings,
gave speeches that only other ducks could
understand.
On election day, the voters filled out their
ballots at booths all over the state. The vote
was counted and the results were posted. The
governor demanded a recount. Two sticky
ballots were found on the bottom of a plate of
pancakes. The new results were posted.
DUCK: The voters have spoken. I am officially
in charge!
NARR: Running a state is very hard work. At
the end of each day, duck is covered head to
toe in hair spray, ink stains, scotch tape,
fingerprints, mayonnaise, and coffee stains.
And he had a very bad headache.
DUCK: Running a state is no fun at all!
NARR: Duck and his staff started working on
posters for the presidential election.
Duck left his staff in charge and hit the
campaign trail. He kissed babies at local diners,
rode in parades, gave more speeches that only
ducks could understand, and even played the
saxophone on late night television!
On election day, the voters filled out their
ballots at booths all over the country. The vote
was counted and the results were posted on
CNN.
The president demanded a recount. 10 sticky
ballots were found on the bottom of the vice
president. The new results were posted.
DUCK: The voters have spoken. I am now in
charge!
NARR: Running a country is very hard work. At
the end of each day, duck was covered head to
toe in face powder, paper cuts, staples,
security badges, secret service agents, and
coffee stains. And he had a very bad headache.
DUCK: Running a country is no fun at all!
Duck needed. No experience necessary. Must
be able to mow lawn and grind coffee beans.
NARR: Duck left the vice president in charge
and headed back to the farm.
At the end of each day, Farmer Brown is now
covered head to toe in hay, horse hair, seeds,
sprouts, feathers, filth, mud, muck, and coffee
stains.
And duck is working on his autobiography.

DUCK: Four score and seven years agono.

The only thing we have to fearwait. Ask not
what your countryno wait I got one. Running
a farm is very hard work.
Story Dramatization Quiz
NAME:
DATE:

1. What were the three things that Duck ran for?

2. What is pitch and what is it used for?

3. What does Duck do when he returns to the farm?

4. What did we use puppetry for?

5. What is volume and what is it used for?

Story Dramatization Quiz

NAME:
DATE:

6. What were the three things that Duck ran for?

Head of Farm, Governor, President.
7. What is pitch and what is it used for?
Pitch is the degree of highness or lowness of voice. It can be used for the
representation of diverse characters.
8. What does Duck do when he returns to the farm?
Begins writing his autobiography
9. What did we use puppetry for?
To dramatize the ending / a scene from Duck for President.
10.What is volume and what is it used for?
Volume is the ability to make the voice faster or slower. It can be used to
express different emotions or different characters.