Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall

These workshops are available virtually or in person

Are your students ready to think like an actor?  Students will explore key literacy skills of Vocabulary, Beginning, Middle and End and Problem/Solution using the dramatic technique of Tableau (Frozen images that show people, objects, or ideas).

Teachers may choose to do all three Sessions OR may select one for their classroom visit.

Teachers may select a fairy tale, folk tale, fable, or a story from their literacy book for the lesson or choose a book from the suggested titles below.

Session 1– Vocabulary/Tableau Skills

Students will discover the theatre skill of Tableau using levels, concentration, and focal points.  Students will apply those skills using their body and imagination. Students will use the skill with facial expressions and gestures.  Using vocabulary words from the selected story to create Tableaus of the words.

Standards: ELA.K.V.1, ELA.1. V.1.3, ELA.2. V.1, ELA.3. V.1.1, TH.K.S.2.1, TH.1.0.1.1, TH.2. S.2.1

Session 2-Beginning Middle and End

Students will discuss the Beginning, Middle, and End of the selected story.  They will focus on one idea from BME and develop a tableau to show their idea.  Students will work together as a group or in small groups to create Tableaus and present them. This will help reinforce the sequence of the story.

Standards: ELA.K.R.3.2, ELA.1. R.3.2, ELA.2. R.1.1, TH.K.S.2.1, TH.1.0.1.1, TH.2. S.2.1

Session 3-Problem/Solution

Students will discuss the parts of a narrative Characters(who), Setting(where), Problem/Plot and Solution or ending.  They will learn how to show a problem and a solution in a Tableau (using their skills of levels, concentration and focal points). Using the story, they will identify the problems from the story and create Tableaus to show those Problems and work together to find and show the solution.

Standards: ELA.K.R.3.2, ELA.1. R.3.2, ELA.2. R.1.1, TH.K.S.2.1, TH.1. S.2.1, TH.2. S.2.1

Teachers may choose one these suggested book titles:

K- Brown Bear, Brown Bear, Mission to Space, Swimmy, The Carrot Seed, Two Ways to Count to Ten: A Liberian Folktales

1-Drum Dream Girl, How People Learned to Fly, My Name is Celia, The Tale of Peter Rabbit, The Tortoise and the Hare

2-Bee Dance, Four Famished Foxes and Fosdyke, Seven Blind Mice, The Coastal Dune Drama: Bob the Gopher Tortoise, The Gingerbread Man, The Patchwork Quilt

Teaching Artist: Laura Courter

Length: 30 minutes

Virtual lessons will be through Zoom or a platform of your choice.

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