my project out at school 44 - teaching fifth graders about native canadians through theatre (a geva theatre center thing) - is going along swimmingly. i've got the kids broken up into the four regions they're studying: the inuit, the people of the plains, the people of the forest, and the people of the northwest coast. it's like a little max fisher players production.
this was awesome: while on my way to classroom 215, i saw this book in the school's library. ed emberly! old school. i used to get these books out of the henrietta public library alllllllll the time when i was a kid.
sterling - my pick for the show's host - practices his lines. he's a great kid, and we've added special "host flourishes" for him: for example, on the line "a trip through history," he waves his left arm as if leading the audience through time itself. he does the same with his other arm on the next line, "a trip through geography." it's great.the best part about it is the fact that the scripts were done by the kids themselves. 75 - 80% were written by the groups, then tidied by myself and mrs laird, the teacher i've been working with through this process. and props? a giant igloo, a totem pole, a canoe, and of course mr. macone's leading several ladies through a rendition of a native canadian musical classic, "the old bark canoe." i've had a little help from the legendary arthur brown and the inimitable andrea stoner, who has some great tricks to get normally shy kids to speak up.
i'm very lucky to be a part of this; it's gonna be awesome.