Readers Theatre

Marianne Wood

Readers Theatre 

10/30/2011

Egyptian Gods and Goddesses 

Characters- 

Narrator 1-8

Nun: the dark waters

Ben-Ben:  the hills

Atum:  the first god

Shu: god of the air

Tefnut: god of moisture 

Nut: god of the sky

Geb: god of earth

Four Children:  Osiris(king of earth), Isis(queen of earth), Seth, and Nephthys(not a part)

Horus: Oriris and Isis son

Setting:  Ancient Egypt 

Narrator 1:  This is a story about the creation of the Egyptian gods and goddesses.

Nun:  I am the god of the dark waters and I have created a chaotic world.

Narrator 2:  One day, a hill rose up of a the waters.

Ben-Ben:  I should be called Ben-Ben.  I will be the home of the first god, Atum.  

Narrator 3:  On the hill of Ben-Ben, the first god named Atum arose.  

Atum:  I am the god of Atum and will control the earth.  First, I will create a god of air.  Then, I will create a god of moisture.  This will gives us the atmosphere in which we live.  

Narrator 4:  Shu and Tefnut were created to be the god of air and god of moisture.  The two had two children:  Geb, the god of earth and Nut, the goddess of the sky.  

Geb:  I am the god of earth.  I will create a place for all to live.

Nut:  I am the god of the sky.  Together Geb and I will make a peaceful world.  I will be the canopy of Geb and the earth.

Narrator 5:  Net and Geb had four children named Osiris, Isis, Seth and Nephthys.

Osiris:  I have been named the king of the earth.  My wife Isis will help me rule the earth for many years.  

Isis:  My husband Osiris and I will protect the earth.  

Narrator 6:  Seth was jealous of Osiris because he wanted to be the ruler of the earth.  He grew angrier and angrier and killed Osiris.  

Seth:  I wish my brother was not the king.  I shall kill him and make him go to the underworld and I will be king of the earth.  

Narrator 7:  Osiris and Isis had one son named Horus.  

Horus:  I will battle Seth and take over the earth and become king.  

Narrator 8:  Horus regained the throne and Osiris remained the king of the underworld.  Seth was defeated.  

Equalizing Standards and Creativity

Equalizing Standards and Creativity:  How can we balance the two??

Today, the majority of our curriculum includes high-stakes standards and tests that are required by all students to follow.  With the focus geared on meeting the needs of high-stakes standards and tests, many students are not experiencing creative learning styles and environments.  Teachers are pressured to teach certain skills in order to achieve testing goals mandated by individual states. 

Research has been conducted to determine the effectiveness of high-stakes standards and creativity used in the classroom.  The research demonstrates that both concepts support student learning in different ways and offer variety to their education (Burke-Adams, 2007).   Gifted students often require unique learning needs that are not being met in the regular education setting. 

How can we insure that we are teaching these required standards while being creative at the same time?  Prescribed curriculum does not support teaching basic skills in a creative form.  What are we doing for our academically gifted students?  These students need opportunities where they can thrive in a creative manner. 

Teachers can still teach high-stakes standards while still teaching creatively.  Three components support this idea.  They are teacher behavior, learning environment and instructional strategies.  Teachers should provide opportunities that allow students to explore their own creativity while still focusing on the set skills in place. 

Hard Work vs Sudden Insights

I would like to acknowledge that my products of creativity (such as writing papers) is due to sudden insights.  However, I must admit that the majority of my assignments come from hard work and dedication.  When writing papers, I limit my focus to getting it done.  I know that is not what our readings suggest however my anticipation and nervousness causes me to only focus on the end result.  

When creating lessons for my students, however, I would like to believe that I am creating these units with “sudden insights.”  The majority of the time I have one goal in mine while designing units but end with a totally different product.  I personally believe this can be attributed to my want to give my students something they can excel with while find interest.  

My Personality and Creativity

Where do I stand with creativity?

After looking at the tables describing personality traits of creative people, I did find myself obtaining many of the characteristics listed in my personality.  The majority of the personality traits that I share with creative people are not new to me.  However, I must admit that I do fall into the category of a few of the negative traits.  

I do see myself as a very independent person however I often doubt what I am doing and worry if it is worthy.  I am a people pleaser which often causes much discomfort for me.  I usually find myself committing to way more than I can handle.  I am a very sensitive person.  I take others feelings and concerns into perspective everyday.  Most likely this is why I am a teacher as I only want the best for others and understand that we are not all perfect.  I have a very big sense of humor and am often told that I am a cut up.  Yes, I must admit that I am also very immature at times.  I am not sure if this plays into the fact that I am the youngest of three children and still very babied by my family. Out of the three children in my family, I probably am the most creative (which says a lot about my brother and sister :0 ).  

I find myself getting extremely excited over the smallest of things but I am not a risk taker.  I wish I was more willing to act on the spur of the moment however I am too cautious and concerned about my well being.  Therefore my results of the “Thrill Seeking Test” were not surprising to me.  I fell into the below average category.  

I must say that I am extremely hard working and generally organized.  Others may not agree with my organization skills, however, I always know where things are located.  Since I was a young child, I have asked many questions.  Often my family and friends will respond “Just deal with the answer.”  This really discourages me because I always want to know “why” something occurred the way it did.  

I enjoyed Davis’s Chapter 5 and making connections with my own personality traits.  I find it extremely encouraging that I do have a large majority of traits that fall into creative category.  This gives me hope that one day I too, can be creative.