Jake and the Migration
of the Monarch

* Tableau *

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Tableau is a French word for a still picture representing an idea physically created by actors. It is an acting “snapshot.”

In drama, actors use their bodies and imagination to show ideas. It takes concentration and cooperation to be a good actor.

For this exercise, the teacher creates several note cards with concepts or words. She also lists these same concepts or words on the board. These may be vocabulary words the teacher wants the students to know or it may be ideas developed in the book. (It is also possible for the students to develop these through discussion of the book.)

Here are some examples:

• “The sky wrapped its arms around the Carolina coast”
• A butterfly caught in the warm winds
• “Jake’s finger moved like the hand of a clock”
• Jake makes a wish
• A bird eats a butterfly
• An egg

In small groups, students will have 10 minutes to develop a frozen picture- shape of the word or idea. 

The students do not need to touch one another, but the audience needs to be able to understand that each member of the group is somehow connected to the idea. (Example — Two children may represent the wind, one a dandelion, and two more the seeds flying away. They are not touching, but we can see that they are part of the picture.)

When presenting the tableau to the class, the teacher will count slowly to five. This allows the students to get into their position. Once in position, they must hold it without talking. Other students in the class try to guess from the list on the board what item they represent.

A logical extension would be to use new vocabulary words (such as butterfly life cycle terms).