by Melanie Peter

The author of this article is a lecturer in Early Childhood Studies and Special Needs at Suffolk College and has recently focused her research on the importance of social narrative play and understanding as a “vital route to developing social competence.”  (Peter, 2003)  The article maintains that Creative Drama is a valuable route to exploring social narrative and play opportunities, but the experiences must be crafted to meet the child at the developmental stage they have attained in order to best benefit them.

She states that here that children with complex and severe learning needs are less likely to seek out interactive opportunities with other children than their typically developing counterparts, and that this lack of play experience will lead to social impairment.  She cites “play-drama intervention” (2003) as a method for helping the impaired children to engage in play that will “strengthen those aspects of brain functioning necessary for more flexible thinking.” (2003)  The article also points out that children who are seriously affected by their learning impairments very frequently do not have the reflexes for seeking out meaning in what others say and do, and this further damages their chances for finding their way socially.

Drama is seen here as a way to offer children not only a window to their own behavior and the consequences and successes which result, but also as an opportunity to experience role playing and with its inherent opportunities for practicing the perspective of another person.  Drama play “requires holding two worlds in mind simultaneously:  children involved in pretence and watching themselves at the same time… {this} helps to develop their mental agility.” (2003)

I feel this article offered me a very helpful explanation of several different ways that drama activities can alter thinking patterns and create opportunities for children with learning impairments to develop more wide sophisticated understanding of the people and experiences in their lives.

Skill for Children and Youth with Asperger’s Syndrome

Brenda Smith Myles and Richard Simpson

This article by Brenda Smith Myles and Richard Simpson, both professors of Special Education, provides a clear look at what was for me a new term:  The Hidden Curriculum – the social skills “we are not taught directly but are expected to know.” (2001)  The piece also contains a great summary of the diagnosis and traits of children with Asperger’s Syndrome, as well as citing very helpful examples and anecdotes that make  clear the absolute complexity of understanding social interaction for kids with the disorder.

Writer and scientist Temple Grandin, who is herself an autistic person, has written a  rule system for guiding social interaction and this is also included in the article.  Her clear,  open comments and  perspectives on what she has learned that one can and cannot do in public and the consequences resulting from not heeding her advice affected me greatly.

The authors maintain that it is possible to teach the nuances of social interaction to children and teens with ASD, but that it must be done through a systematic, structured approach which is painstakingly described here.  Also included is a very helpful chart with examples of “hidden curriculum” teaching points, such as, ‘You should not have to pay students to be your friends,’ and ‘When a teacher is scolding another student it is not an appropriate time to ask the teacher a question.’ (2001)  The use of social stories to teach appropriate responses and understanding of social behavior is also recommended, as are “acting lessons,” which are referred to as “an appropriate means of teaching to aid in self awareness, self-calming and self-management.”
(2001)

I found this article to be very helpful in illustrating for me just how complicated social interaction must seem to young people with ASD, and the accounts of how interaction works in ways we do not even think about if we are not disabled in this way gave me additional insights into this problem.

Link – http://libcore.csd.sc.edu:50080/ebsco-web/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=b77f6ecd-f352-417c-a66c-9311243b17a9%40sessionmgr13&vid=2&hid=111

This article explores the uses of drama toward helping children with social challenges learn to think in terms of narrative conversations.  The theory is that teaching them to use this  skill will enhance their abilities for developing holistic, creative thinking and conversation rather than the analytical sequential mode of thinking that many of these children often use for communication and interpreting the world around them.

Much of the research and anecdotes center on work with children on the autism spectrum.
It is noted that ability to engage in narrative conversation requires”sensitivity to patterning, sequencing and the “framing” of experience(Bruner and Feldman, 1993) and that babies in all cultures are taught this through give and take games such as peek-a-boo, etc.  Children with autism often do not master this skill in infancy and it appears that this is perhaps one of the causes for their failing to understand the sequence of social interaction.  The dilemma for researchers is to understand whether this is a cause or a consequence of autism, but the fact remains that lack of participation in this type of experience at an early age leads to an interference in the way very little ones with these deficits develop normal play and the subsequent narrative thinking and language.

The article provides additional information on the neurological differences found in children on the spectrum, as well as how these differences can effect the development of social language and communication.  I feel strongly that this article speaks to the concerns of teachers of children who struggle in social situations whether they are considered “on the spectrum” or “typically abled,” and the information provided can have a very positive effect on the understanding and practice of all teachers and towards all students.

http://astralsite.com/Drama/playback1.html

and my response to it follows.

Elissa thank you, I thought this was a great subject.

Agree with Jen – this is what I truly love about what we do – the chance we have been given to affect change on our students for the better in so many more ways than just the simple (ok, maybe not simple!) enhancing of their acting skills.  And of course, and you are probably all getting bored with hearing my stories of the place I worked last year but as the entire population of the school was made up of high risk students this article brought back of the old frustrations I experienced in trying to reach our guys.  I have always felt like I did not do the students justice in teaching them.  Every one of them is a child who needs so much help academically and socially -it was as if I stood on the edge of a mountain looking up at all the ways they needed help and could not for the life of me figure out a way to get up there and reach them.

This was one of the main reasons I came to USC and our program.  I KNOW that we can help these students with theatre arts, but unlocking the key as to how to do that with students at the level of learning differences  we were dealing with at our school was something I really felt I needed a great deal more information about and guided experience with in order to  do them justice.

The children in  the classes for “Educationally Handicapped” students
(this article was written in 1985; I believe we would now refer to this population as students with “Special Needs.”) had a wide range of problems including emotional and behavior disorders, mild brain injuries and attention issues as well as those problems we now refer to as Learning Disabilities:  dyslexia, communication challenges, etc.  As a whole, the author cites that the group of children involved “appeared to be and often acted like losers, fighting the system and always coming out on the bottom.” (220)  The classroom teachers themselves tended to approach the students in regard to their problems, with the behaviors they wished to extinguish in the students garnering most attention in their interaction with each child on a daily basis.

The Spolin games, which by their very nature take the focus off the isolated individual and onto the successful working of the group as a whole, allowed the children and their teachers to experience that process through “the intertwining of three types of interaction:  with the physical environment;  with other people; and which one’s own intuitive-creative functioning.”(220)  For the students in the study, who had previously experienced very strained relationships in the classroom environment which frequently erupted in such disruptive and negative behaviors as “verbal abuse, bickering, and physical aggression” the games allowed for opportunities for interaction between the students and their teachers which moved beyond each individual’s issues and towards a community goal.  When the focus of the classroom was no longer on negative aspects of the individual student that needed to be changed and placed on the game and on working to play it as a group, the disruptive behaviors were greatly lessened, and many children exhibited “a feeling of release, a sense of personal accomplishment that is generated by contributing to a group rather than through any external means of reward and punishment given by the teacher.”(223)

link to article – http://www.jstor.org.pallas2.tcl.sc.edu/stable/1477044

So in some ways I do think it is important for kids to know their “type.”

However!  From an educational standpoint I do agree that helping young actors stretch into new places can benefit them in so many ways. That:   “theater is a powerful instrument in conquering adolescent self – consciousness and insecurities.”  I also agree that playing new characters can help a teenager with those ever present teen issues:  discomfort in their body, discomfort relating to characters who differ greatly from who they are, and can offer a world of useful opportunities to enhance social  and collaborative work skills.

I feel improv activities such as the Viola Spolin work we have been studying here at USC will go a long way toward helping children access these creative goals in the classroom.

Center Stage Youth Theatre’s

2012 Summer Drama Conservatory

July 9 – August 3, 2012

At Grace Church in Rutland VT

Susan Scaccia, Director

rssb1228@yahoo.com

803-206-4924

Two ways to register!

•   online at http://centerstageyouththeatre.com/classes/summer/
  

or

• print and mail in the registration form below.

The details:

The Early Elementary Conservatory Program

Jungle Drums by Graeme Base

For Students entering Kindergarten – Grade 2

Monday – Friday mornings, 9:00am – 11:30am, July 9 – July 20, 2012

Performance – July 20^th – 10:30am

Fee – $150.00

The K-2 Conservatory Program is a two week program of morning drama activities. Through theatre games, role-play exercises, creative movement and vocal activities students will further develop their emerging drama skills and learn to work together as an ensemble.

Graeme Base’s delightful book Jungle Drums tells the story of Ngiri, the Smallest Warthog in Africa, and what happens when he tries to get the other warthogs to stop teasing him about his size.  With Jungle Drums as our inspiration and creative drama as well as other artistic activities as our tools, the K-2 conservatory program will provide opportunities for our students to develop a greater understanding about why it is important to be kind to everyone, regardless of differences.

The children in the K-2 group will create an original performance piece inspired by Ngiri’s story.   They will rehearse their creation, compose songs, and design and create costumes and scenery, and finally present the finshed product for family and friends on the last day of the session.

————————————————-

The Upper Elementary Conservatory Program

Story Theatre by Paul Sills

For students entering Grades 3 – 6

Monday – Friday mornings, 9:00am – 11:30am, July 23 – August 3, 2012

Performance – August 3^rd – 10:30am

Fee – $150.00

The Upper Elementary Conservatory Program is a two-week session of morning classes designed to enhance social skills and self esteem while increasing proficiency in the Theatre Arts. Through daily rehearsals and theatre games and activities we will focus on skill building and ensemble development as well as basic choreography, character study, acting technique and physical/vocal warm-up skills.

Paul Sills script, Story Theatre is a funny, fast-paced collection of short plays from Grimm’s Fairy Tales which includes such classics as The Bremen Town Musicians, The Fisherman and His wife, and The Master Thief.  We will take our 3^rd Through 6^th graders on an ensemble-building journey using some of the plays from this work.

On our last day of class students will proudly present their work on their own version version of Story Theatre for family and friends.

————————————————–

The Summer Shakespeare Intensive for Teens 

Twelfth Night, or What You Will

For students entering Grades 7 – 12 as well as 2012 High School Graduates

Monday – Friday afternoons, 12:30 – 4:00, July 9 – August 3, 2012

Performances – Friday August 3rd, 7:00pm, Saturday August 4th, 3:00 pm

Fee – $300.00

William Shakespeare’s comedy Twelfth Night finds Orsino, the Duke of lllyria, in love with his neighbor, the Countess Olivia. She has sworn to avoid men’s company for seven years while she mourns the death of her brother, so rejects him. Nearby a group of sailors arrive on shore with a young woman, Viola, who has survived a shipwreck in a storm at sea. Viola mourns the loss of her twin brother but decides to dress as a boy to get work as a page to Duke Orsino.

And that’s only the beginning!

Our Summer Shakespeare Intensive for Teens is four weeks of afternoon sessions designed to provide training in physical theater, movement and voice work, and to enhance acting techniques, character development skills and ensemble building through immersion in the world of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night.  The four weeks of afternoon rehearsals will also include body and vocal training, theatre games and improvisation activities and will culminate gloriously in two rollicking, public performances of Twelfth Night.

—————————————————-

Two ways to register:  Either print, fill out and mail the registrations form (below) with your deposit, or visit our website at http://centerstageyouththeatre.com to register and pay online.

For more information check out our website at http://centerstageyouththeatre.com/, or please feel free to contact Susan Scaccia directly at rssb1228@yahoo.com, or 803-206-4924.

Thanks, Everybody!

Please spread the word, and I very much hope to see many of you this summer!

-Susan

———————————————————-

REGISTRATION FORM -

NO SMALL PARTS!

Center Stage Youth Theatre’s

2012 Summer Drama Conservatory

July 9 – August 3, 2012

At Grace Church in Rutland VT

Susan Scaccia, Director

rssb1228@yahoo.com

803-206-4924

Student’s Name___________________________________________________________

Date of Birth_______________________________Grade entering in Fall__________

Parent or Guardian’s Name________________________________________________

Mailing Address – Street__________________________________________________                           

City, State, Zip___________________________________________________________

Parent or Guardian’s email address_________________________________________

Parent or Guardian’s primary phone_______________________________________

Emergency Contact Name_________________________________________________

Emergency Contact relationship to student__________________________________

Emergency Contact phone________________________________________________

If there is anything else you would like us to know about your student, please use the back of the form to tell us.  (Special talents, interests, special needs, learning style, etc.)

Registering for (please circle):

The Early Elementary Conservatory Program

Jungle Drums by Graeme Base

For Students entering Kindergarten – Grade 2

Monday – Friday mornings, 9:00am – 11:30am, July 9 – July 20, 2012

Performance – July 20^th – 10:30am

Tuition – $150.00

Deposit to hold student’s place in class – $50.00 (non-refundable after April 1, 2012)

Tuition Balance due May 1, 2012

The Upper Elementary Conservatory Program

Story Theatre by Paul Sills

For students entering Grades 3 – 6

Monday – Friday mornings, 9:00am – 11:30am, July 23 – August 3, 2012

Performance – August 3^rd – 10:30am

Tuition – $150.00

Deposit to hold student’s place in class – $50.00 (non-refundable after April 1, 2012)

Tuition Balance due May 1, 2012

The Summer Shakespeare Intensive for Teens 

Twelfth Night, or What You Will

For students entering Grades 7 – 12 as well as 2012 High School Graduates

Monday – Friday afternoons, 12:30 – 4:00, July 9 – August 3, 2012

Performances – Friday August 3rd, 7:00pm, Saturday August 4th, 3:00 pm

Fee – $300.00

Deposit to hold student’s place in class – $100.00 (non-refundable after April 1, 2012)

Tuition Balance due May 1, 2012

Please mail your completed registration form with your deposit in the form of a check made out to Center Stage Youth Theatre to:

Center Stage Youth Theatre

C/o Susan Scaccia

3209 Bachman Road

Gaston, SC 29053

Upon receipt of your deposit you will receive a complimentary copy of Susan’s book: 

No Small Parts – Inspiring Character Development,

Creativity and Community Though Youth Theatre

For further information about Center Stage Youth Theatre, please check out our website at http://centerstageyouththeatre.com.

Questions? Concerns?   Feel free to contact Susan Scaccia directly at rssb1228@yahoo.com, or 803-206-4924.

Thank You!

When the children were working they appeared busily involved in what they were doing and appeared relaxed and engaged as they went about their tasks, which led me to believe that the teacher had been successful in influencing the children that they were not only going to enjoy what they were doing but that they were fully capable of gaining mastery of the content – no need to fear the tasks.

I also feel that Best Practices takes into consideration the learning styles of all children in the classroom, and that towards the success of all learners many varied opportunities for gaining content are offered.  I see a Best Practices curriculum as one which integrates across all subjects thematically, providing another way to assure that the children will have diverse experiences through which to gain knowledge.  Further, influences from Gardner’s theory of Multiple Intelligences should be considered in the creating of the Best Practices learning environment as another way to foster learning, success and self actualization in all our students.

The student’s own views on their learning are a Best Practices assessment tool that I feel is invaluable.  I am reminded of the Y.-L.P. Chan article we read at the beginning of this semester and her study of the ways students, some of them very little people, were able to relate to the researchers their feelings about what they had learned in their drama lessons.  While the children did not always see the value of the lessons, making statements such as, “We were just playing around in class!”,  when the researchers discussed the experiences with the children further they were able to uncover verbal evidence that the children had made great strides in learning the cross curricular lessons that were the goal of that day’s activities.  As one student said, “I used to know that the farmer’s lives are harsh.  However, taking part in the drama lessons, I got to feel that the hardship was much bigger than I imagined.  Clearly, this child had learned a great deal through a “non-traditional” social studies teaching strategy, and was able to provide his teacher with a clear verbal self report through which she will be able to access his understanding of the content. (Chan, Y.-L.P 2009, pg. 201)

Sources

Yuk-Lan Pheobe Chan(2009):  In their own words: how do students relate drama pedagogy to their learning in curriculum subjects? Research in Drama Education:  The Journal of applied Theatre and Performance, 14:2, 191 – 209.

http://www.ttms.org/best_practice/best_practice.htm

Day One

Motivation/Pretext:

• One teacher will enter the classroom and tell the students that she has just been visiting a farm out in the country, has brought a friend to visit with them and now seems to have lost track of her.  But there is a song that her friend really likes, and maybe if the children join in singing the song, her friend will find them.
• Teacher sings the sing, asking the children to do the motions with her.
• Scarecrow, scarecrow touch your toes.
  Scarecrow, scarecrow tap your nose.
  Swing your arms so very slow,
  Now real fast to scare the crows!
  Tough your head, jump up and down.
  Now sit down without a sound.
• Sing the song again, this time asking the children to join in.  The teacher compliments the children on their effort, and asks them to try again, just a little bit louder, and then making sure to sit quickly and carefully at the end of the song.
• The children sing the song louder and this time, and when they are all sitting the teacher in role as scarecrow enters the classroom. She is carrying a basket with corn, a stuffed crow, a model toy tractor a model toy cow and the book: The Auction.  She greets the children, thanking them for singing her song because she was lost in the school and couldn’t find them.

Presentation

• The scarecrow tells the teacher she has some things to show them.  She one by one pulls out the items and asks the children to identify them.  When she pulls out the book, she tells the children that the book is about the family where she was once the scarecrow.  That the family had to leave the farm, which was sad for them, but that the family had many memories of wonderful times together.
• One of the teachers (Scarecrow?  Perhaps one of the other teachers could take this part) prepares to read the book.  She tells the children to pay special attention to what the little boy and the grandfather remember from living happily on the farm.  While he asks the children to think about what the word MEMORY means as she is reading the book.

• One of the teachers reads the book.

Dramatization

• After the story, the children are asked to think about their favorite scene from the book.  Each child will be asked to tell which of the MEMORIES described by the characters in the book was their favorite one.  A teacher will write the memories down on a slip of paper, and put them in the basket.

• Using the time honored popsicle stick method the children will be grouped in groups of 4  ( this grouping could be beforehand as well, if we can get a class list)  The scarecrow pulls a memory on a  piece of paper out for each group.

• The groups will be told that they will be given two minutes to find a way to show with their bodies and their faces a picture (introduce:  Tableau) of what their group’s memory is.  Teachers assist with the process.  After two minutes of work each group’s memory will be presented in turn, and the other children will be asked to guess which part of the book it is from.  (Also introduce thought tracking here?)

Assessment?

And finally, to get them back to their seats…

• The Teachers will then introduce the following chant in order to get the children back to their seats.  We will ask the children to pretend they are the crows.   Introduce slow motion and have them practice flying away as the crows without leaving their places  first.  (This way no one will be hurt  and the children will not be in an excited state at the end of the lesson.)  Ask the children what sounds crow make, and ask them to practice making this sound as if we were hearing from very far away (it will be much quieter that way!)   Then the teachers can do the chant, and the children can fly in slow motion using the long distance crowing to head back to their seats, a group at a time.

The floppy, floppy scarecrow
Guards his field all day.
He waves his floppy, floppy hands
To scare the crows away.

A picture card will be placed at each group of desks. Students will be instructed to come up with one thing that they notice about the picture. Students will be called to the carpet by the number on their picture. Each student will be asked what it was that they noticed in the picture. Once everyone has presented, students will try to place the pictures in the order that they think the story will go.

Presentation:

The story will be read to the class and questions asked to assess the child’s understanding of the story and the objectives. Questions include:

• What does it mean to remember something?
• What can you remember from the farm in the story?

Dramatization:

Students will be asked to form a tableau of the farm in the story, and the teachers will begin thought tracking of the characters (animals and machinery can have thoughts, too!). Next, students will be asked to make a sound that they think they would hear on the farm and also to begin acting like whatever would make that sound. Students will head back to their desks while still in character from the soundscape.

Assessment:

When back at the desks, students will be asked to close their eyes and quietly think of a memory that makes them very happy. After a few moments, they will be asked to open their eyes and focus their attention on the classroom teacher.

Day Two

Motivation:

Students will be asked to recall what their sound and movement from the first lesson was and to imitate it while walking up to the carpet. Students will move around the carpet while in character before being asked to take a seat on the carpet.

Presentation:

A coffee can with a toy cow, farmhouse, letter from an elder, etc. (items subject to change) will be brought in by one of the teachers. Can will be passed around the circle and each student will be asked what they think might be inside the can. After students give suggestions, can is opened and the letter read/object shown.

Dramatization:

Assessment:

Students will be asked questions about the memories in the story and how they might relate to the emotions expressed by the story’s characters. Examples include:

• What was your favorite memory from the story? How did it make you feel?
• What emotions is the grandfather feeling about selling the farm? Why do you think he feels this way?
• What about the grandson, how do you think he feels about his grandfather’s farm being sold? How do you think his memories make him feel?

We are so excited to be spending a month in Vermont, and I am so hoping to see a lot of familiar as well as lovely new faces in our classes.  My Graduate work has opened new horizons for me in the realm of teaching and directing, and I am very excited have this opportunity to bring what I have discovered to young people in VT!