Lower School Drama Teacher Missy Heinemann kept our 2nd, 3rd, and 4th graders busy with a variety of productions the past few weeks.
Second Grade
In 2nd grade, students recently attended a virtual performance of The Very Hungry Caterpillar presented by Metro Theater Company. The bi-lingual show features over 30 puppets. Serving as a culminating performance and extending this virtual field trip experience, the students created their own “puppet pals.” The puppet pals shared sage advice to 1st grade friends about what to expect and how to succeed in 2nd grade. From “listen to your teacher” to “remember to have fun,” our rising 2nd graders are all set to start their new grade in the fall! Check out the current 2nd graders’ wonderful videos here.
Third Grade
As a cross-curricular experience linking drama and social studies, Heinemann assigned 3rd grade students a state to research and instructed them to discover notable people to represent each state. Using their research, students then developed a script, created a costume plan, and delivered a recorded performance as their notable person to be featured in a “Virtual Living History Museum” experience. This year includes performances of notable athletes, musicians, authors, scientists, and more! Visit the Virtual Living History Museum here.
Fourth Grade
Fourth grade students co-wrote and performed a short film script inspired by the classic movie Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure as a culminating drama performance. Each cohort divided into two performance groups and customized their scripts to feature unique characters. The characters included famous historical figures called to present-day who were tasked with saving the main characters of the Most Excellent Talk Show before it was canceled! Their film, comprised of eight segments, will debut on June 4.
“This year presented a number of challenges,” said Heinemann. “However, thanks to platforms such as Padlet, Seesaw, and Loom, I was able to create and deliver performance-based content, and capture and share student work with internal and external audiences alike. In so many ways, this approach has proven to be more advantageous as it archives the creative achievements of Lower School drama students for many years to come!”
Congratulations to all our Lower School thespians for their original and imaginative work. Bravo! Brava!