Art forms are invaluable for the education of children in 2024. I put on a play for bilingual Latino students for their end-of-year party. Here's what you should know about how creative expression amplifies learning for students in a post-COVID world.
As a teaching artist, I have researched the theatre strategies that aid in education. Previously, I have presented research on how theatre strategies have inspired incarcerated youth within the Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice to dream bigger for their futures. Applied theatre is a relatively new field that has excited me for quite some time and I hope to keep adding to the work of my colleagues with the meaningful experiences I've had thus far.
Those who interact with children regularly are already aware of the incredible setback that virtual learning had on elementary school students in their formative years. For example, many fourth-grade students who were learning to read in 2020 still have trouble understanding how to mix sounds to "sound out" words. I say this to recognize the peril that students face in using modern technologies like "text-to-speech" as a crutch because of their inability to read. It is because of that danger that we must embrace new strategies to inspire students to have the desire to learn to read.
Even I had difficulties learning to read as a young bilingual student, which required me to attend summer school. This experience made me pay extra attention to the way that I absorb information at a very young age. I learned that using my imagination while reading helped me to remember the story later. It took me longer to read, but it was because I would read "Glenda climbed onto the stepstool to reach the cookie jar at the end of the counter" and immediately picture the girl's feet stepping onto the red stool and reaching for the porcelain jar with fingers open wide. It was in these imaginary pictures in my head that I discovered my love of reading and creating new worlds.
I encourage this same amount of imagination by acting out the scenes written in my students' reading homework. I captured their attention by using my physicality, which always led to giggles, and got them to see the action happening in the story we read together. Those same students who would read an entire passage and immediately forget what they just read were then able to create connections between the text and the physicality that I performed.
When it came time to plan the end-of-year party for my students, I was encouraged by my colleagues to lean into my theatre expertise and help my students act in a play. At first, we thought it would just be a fun idea for the students' families. We later learned the intersectional impact that this experience had on the students' academic futures.
The potential of script analysis for reading comprehension and pronouncing new words
Theatre artists are well aware of the importance of not only reading scripts but also: asking questions, paying attention to small details, re-reading, looking up unfamiliar words and terms, taking in-text notes, etc. These script analysis practices proved to be essential for the students I worked with who had issues reading new words or comprehending texts that they read. I would have students do a "cold read" of a particular scene in the play, stop to circle unfamiliar words, and then ask them questions about what just happened in the story as we read.
I would ask students how THEY think a certain word should be spelled and then have them write it next to the new word (inspection=inz-pek-shun) so that they would remember how to pronounce it the next time they read it.
In our version of The Jungle Book, our script explained that the tiger Shere Khan hates humans because "we often fear things we do not know." This is a big concept to think about for elementary school students. To break it down, I asked them the same questions I would ask myself if I were an actor reading it: "How would you feel if you were a tiger living in a jungle close to a village where humans had fire and weapons?" These questions helped students understand Shere Khan's motives for being an antagonist in the story. I strongly believe that this strategy of questioning will help them in moments when a reflection question might ask them how a character might feel, given the character's circumstances.
The empowerment of a rehearsal process
Practice makes perfect? No, I always say "Practice makes permanent." To me, this means how you practice is how you will perform.
During the rehearsal process for The Jungle Book, I could see a definite change in the students' confidence, reading ability, and reading comprehension skills. This wasn't a miracle, but a result of constant practice, with encouragement from myself and other educators.
I believe it is crucial to teach students the importance of practice and let them experience their own growth over time. They will see that after constant practice of a skill that they struggle with, they can improve. My favorite thing ever was watching their faces light up when they were finally able to achieve the goal they were working towards, not to mention how proud they were to finally show their families!
Acting is public speaking!
Public speaking is an important skill for students to learn early on. In today's schools, there are increasingly more presentation projects because many jobs also require the ability to present one's work or at least speak eloquently in front of a group of people. Some important details to keep in mind when learning public speaking skills are: being aware of how your body reacts to nerves, maintaining an inviting posture and body language, fluctuating one's tone of voice to keep the audience engaged, and taking the time to practice to avoid "ums" and awkward pauses.
Through theatre, children naturally practice these things while also having fun! With specific choreography, they learn planned movements that release tension from nerves. They also learn to act in a way that aligns with their character. If they can carry those strategies into their public speaking in the future, they will have a much easier time thinking through how their physicality can skillfully capture the attention of an audience.
Speaking in a dialogic format also helps children understand how to fluctuate their tone when speaking. During rehearsals, I would ask students to say lines aloud as they would in real life. If a sentence ended with a question mark or exclamation point, I encouraged them to change their tone accordingly. When they finally found the ease of finding a natural speaking style instead of nervous monotone reading, I was delighted. As someone who enjoys interactive and charming lectures or presentations, I thought that this was a very important public speaking strategy to teach my students.
These are just a few of the learning outcomes that I have observed in my work in applied theatre. Discovering new creative strategies for education is my passion. I think it is in the interest of our society to continue this research if we are to teach children to be literate. Theatre is more than entertainment, it is human. Therefore, I believe it is a brilliant way to compete with the internet for the attention of children who will become the future workforce. I see many opportunities for more discoveries and look forward to continuing my search for more knowledge. Today's children are worth it and our collective future is worth it.