Stages Theatre Company is a leading provider of graduation standards-based theatre curriculum in the state of Minnesota . Our Curriculum Connection program offers teachers and their classes the opportunity to experience and participate in the production of a play. Through an artist-in-residence visit and a hands-on curriculum, students follow a Stages Theatre Company production as it develops in the weeks before opening. After watching a live performance of the production, students complete various follow-up activities related to the show.
This project is intended to support and enhance an existing language arts, history and/or humanities curriculum while allowing students a look inside the artistry of live theatre production.
 
Project Components:
 

Extensive study guides developed by the Stages Theatre Company Curriculum Development Coordinator for use by classroom teachers.
 

3 hours of classroom visits from artists associated with the appropriate production.
 

Up to 30 tickets to a Stages Theatre Company production.

Purpose of the Theatre Curriculum
With Make a Scene: K­6 Theatre Curriculum, we share our expertise in introducing children to the world of theatre. The over 50 warm-ups and learning activities included, all written in accessible language and format, focus on specific skills of acting, dramatizing stories and making meaning through theatre. Activities may be used with students in a variety of different grade and ability levels and within multiple content areas. Sample units demonstrate how teachers and curriculum leaders may strategically pull activities from the K­6 Theatre Curriculum to support a specific classroom drama project and/or the Minnesota theatre arts content standards.
 
Who could use the curriculum?
Make a Scene: K­6 Theatre Curriculum is designed for multiple uses. Teachers new to using theatre and drama in the classroom will find the activities to be an accessible starting point; teachers with more experience will be able to extend and adapt the activities to support their existing curriculum. Many activities may be used over and over again, with a variety of different age levels and within the context of different curricular areas. Teachers responsible for teaching and assessing the theatre content standards will find concrete and focused learning activities to support student work in the standards.
 
Contents
 
Warm-ups: voice, body, imagination, and teamwork
Acting: movement, voice, characterization, props and costumes
Storydrama: plot and theme, environment, and characters
Making Meaning: personal, cultural, historical
Development
written by theatre educators
edited by a Graduation Standards specialist
piloted and reviewed by teachers from Hopkins and Minneapolis school districts and pre-service education student from MSU,  Mankato
reviewed by a team of experienced theatre and classroom educators
Developed with the assistance of a grant from the Department of Children, Families and Learning.

Our Professional Development Workshops give teachers hands-on experience with theatre lessons and activities contained in Make A Scene, Stages Theatre Company's K­6 Theatre Curriculum. These lively and informative workshops allow for the creative involvement of all participants. Make A Scene was developed by theatre educators and piloted by elementary classroom teachers. The curriculum provides teachers with accessible, focused, skills-based theatre activities that are easily integrated into language arts or other curriculum. Workshops are customized to meet the experience, needs and interest of the participants. These are perfect to include as a part of a whole-faculty development day or as an after-school session.
 

Registration includes:
A free copy of Stages Theatre Company’s K­6 Theatre Curriculum, Make A Scene.
2 hours of instruction for up to 30 teachers.