Recently, I went to see the musical Evita at the Bob Carr Auditorium with my mother and sister. It was honestly such an amazing experience. The play was absolutely amazing and the cast and crew worked so hard to give such an amazing show. But after watching it, I started to ponder something. It is so important that our students have opportunities such as this one. In all honesty, some students might not get the opportunity to participate and see plays and other cultural events. Their parents might not be able to afford it or might not have the time to take them to see it because of work or prior commitments. Within my classroom, I want to integrate all sorts of cultural experiences so that students are able to use those experiences for their personal or academic needs.
Perhaps Evita has too sensitive topics for Elementary, but there are plenty of plays and musicals for students of all ages. When students watch these assignments, it is also important for them to given pre-, during, and post assignments so that they are able to see the relevance of the performance? How can this be used in their lives and what have they gained for watching this? One can start off by giving students information about the play and what to look for prior to the performance. This kind of information might help them understand what they are viewing a lot more clearly then if you had not. It is also important for students to have a good closure activity in order to be able to connect what they have see to their lives and retain the information learned. Making learning meaningful!
Who knows? A mere 2 hour play might inspire a student to become the next Broadway star.
I agree with you so much in the idea that students need exposure to all sorts of arts within the school! I am in the Reading MEd program at UCF, and all I read and listen to is how reading comprehension and reading success all depends on background and prior knowledge. We cannot keep giving students packets of work and expect that to build their knowledge base! I mentioned in a post for another class that my kids LOVE Bill Nye videos. Although I think the subject matter and the vocabulary is a little over their heads, they can pick out certain facts from his videos that just blow their minds. I'm always so happy when we go to media and they check out books related to some little tidbit that they saw in class. Kids WANT to learn. It's our job to give them something to learn about.
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