January

 

In January, our block was spent preparing for our class play. One way we prepared was by the students performing lots and lots of small group skits. Not only were they fun but they were also a great way to settle into acting and get comfortable thoughtfully using actions to enhance dialogue. Our few weeks of practice flew by, allowing students to try out roles they perhaps wouldn't volunteer for, letting them step into temporarily experiencing life differently.

                                

Our play, Francis and the Wolf, was specifically written for this class and they embraced it wholeheartedly. Many students knew all the lines and everyone could speak about and act out the story with feeling.  Several students fell ill during our performance week and were missed. Others jumped right in to fill the gaps with success.

As a counterbalance to the deep group work called for during the play, we also worked with cursive, which is more internal and individual. Cursive vowels were experienced through large movements, then through practice got smaller and smaller until they fit on the chalkboard, slates, and finally onto paper. 

Similarly, both cursive and dramatic recitation work for the play called for connection and awareness in new ways and both benefitted from lots and lots of lively engaged practice. It's easy to let emotions rise to extremes while acting or have that beautifully connected and flowing writing take over, resulting in giggles that take over the lines or writing jumping off the lined paper, so practice with control was also an underlying theme this month.

             

What a great block, I'm looking forward to next year's play already!