Professional Development

Our Professional Development Partnerships and Workshops give educators hands-on experience with teaching the art of theatre as well as arts-integration: theatrical techniques that teach across the curriculum. Arts Partnerships are custom-tailored collaborations in which you, the educator, work directly with our teaching artist to create curriculum designed to meet the needs of your students. Our artists will model lessons with your students in your classroom and then, after observing you working with your students, give your immediate feedback. Together, you both reflect and refine curriculum so you can then immediately implement lessons with your students. We also offer In-Service Workshops in which our teaching artists bring informative and lively workshops that provide you with accessible, skills-based theatre activities that are easily integrated across the curriculum.

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Theatre Arts Partnership

Teachers & Students Learning Together

Stages Theatre Company's teaching artists have more than 20 years experience "breaking open" curriculum in classrooms from kindergarten through high school. Our arts integrated programs apply creative dramatics activities to any curricular topic in a way that allows students to get the lesson "into their bones." We find these methods especially suited to the non-traditional learner. Students participating in Stages Theatre Company artist-teacher's collaborations have shown improved test scores as well as stronger social skills such as leadership and cooperation.

We specialize in custom-tailored programs designed to suit the needs of both you and your students. Our teaching artists work closely with you, the classroom teacher, to create a collaborative partnership that provides an opportunity for you to observe and practice research-based arts strategies at work in your classroom. Design curriculum together with your artist partner and then observe as the teaching artist models lessons with your students. As you implement the lessons, our teaching artists observe and give you immediate feedback – allowing for opportunities to reflect and refine lessons throughout the partnership. Stages Theatre Company has found great success for both teachers and students with this collaborative process that promotes reflective learning as well as provides hands-on experience for you and your students.

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Past Topics Have Included:

Science: Balance and Motion Terrestrial Food Chain Solids and Liquids The Human Body Sound

Social Studies: Multicultural Tales Cultural Dance Styles Egypt, Land of the Pharoahs Asia, Life on the River American History

Language Arts: Literacy Skills: Tableaux Literacy Skills: Reader's Theatre Playwriting Poetry

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In-Service Workshops

Our In-Service Workshops provide educators hands-on experience with theatre lessons and activities contained in Make a Scene, our K-6 Theater Curriculum or In My Own Voice: Responding to Life and Literature, a curriculum guide for Secondary English and Language Arts Teachers. These engaging activities help build community, boost staff morale, and can jump-start ideas for engaging all types of learners across the curriculum. Registration includes:

• A free copy of Stages Theatre Company's K-6 Theatre Curriculum, Make A Scene or our Secondary Curriculum, In My Own Voice: Responding to Life and Literature,
• Two hours of instruction for up to 30 teachers.

For more information on Professional Development for Educators, contact our Education Program Manager at (952) 979-1138 or cproball@stagestheatre.org.

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Free Curriculum

• STAGES THEATRE COMPANY THEATRE ARTS AND LITERACY CURRICULUM
• STAGES THEATRE COMPANY WARM UPS

IN MY OWN VOICE:

RESPONDING TO LIFE AND LITERATURE THROUGH PLAYWRITING

FOR GRADES 6 - 12

Words, gesture and actions are the tools of daily communication. In My Own Voice is a curriculum guide for Secondary English and Language Arts teachers intended to foster writing that expresses ideas and concepts in a way that can be engaging and fun. The activities range in complexity from simple monologue and dialogue writing to more advanced scenes. Some basic exercises can be accomplished in a single classroom period. Others have numerous extensions that can last for several sessions. All are adaptable to various curricular themes and content, and they have been tested with students in a wide variety of age groups and settings.

Although the main focus on these strategies is to link student writing with literature, they can also be used to develop original written material that can be presented by groups of students in an informal public presentation. It is our hope that teachers will adapt the activities in this guide to best suit the needs of their particular classrooms.

Click here to download your own copy of IN MY OWN VOICE: RESPONDING TO LIFE AND LITERATURE THROUGH PLAYWRITING FOR GRADES 6 - 12

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STAGES THEATRE COMPANY

THEATRE ARTS AND LITERACY CURRICULUM

Lessons for Pre-K through Grade 6

Developed in collaboration with the Mary McLeod Bethune Community School and Minneapolis Public Schools

• Twenty lessons with three main areas of literacy development:
     - vocabulary (decode, define, engage, use in new context)
     - reading with expression (word emphasis, punctuation, presentation, interaction)
• comprehension (setting, character, plot)
• developed and tested in elementary classrooms
• lessons are adaptable for various grade levels
• written for use by classroom teachers new to theatre arts
• designed for repeated use with different vocabulary lists or stories
• each lesson includes ideas for assessment, extension and variations

Click here to download your FREE copy of Stages Theatre Company Theatre Arts and Literacy Curriculum.

STAGES THEATRE COMPANY WARM UPS

• Nineteen favorites used by Stages Theater Company teachers,
  actors and directors
• Written for use by classroom teachers new to theater arts
• Used to warm up the three tools of acting: body, voice and
  imagination
• Adaptable and appropriate for a variety of ages, theater projects
  and curriculum areas
• Supporting development of teamwork and personal focus

Click here to download your FREE copy of Stages Theatre Company Warm Ups

Copyright 2008 by Stages Theater Company.
Reprinted from the 1999 Make a Scene! K-6 Theater Curriculum
produced by Stages Theater Company
in collaboration with the Hopkins Public School District and
with support from the State of Minnesota and the Minnesota State Arts Board.