Stepping Into Fairy Tales

Stepping into The Three Little Pigs

Serving time in Pre-K is a sentence I've come to embrace because the students (and my coworkers) are very endearing.

And although I am not teaching the literacy skills I find most interesting - due to the age of the children - there are brilliant features ripe for exploration.

These include poems and nursery rhymes (for developing phonological awareness) and fairy tales (for building an understanding of narrative story structure and story elements).

Stepping into The Gingerbread Man

We've been teaching and learning about classic fairy tales and providing opportunities for our little ones to embody the characters through diverse media.

Our partnership with The Children's Museum of the Arts has resulted in the creation of a stop animation film using clay figures set against well-known fairy tales settings all made by 4-year-old hands.

Stepping into Little Red Riding Hood

We have story tables and SmartGames to push student thinking. There are cool costumes for the dress up center and figures for the block area.  We've made 3D houses, dictated and documented hilarious student retellings and have played, laughed and run around the room with these characters.

Stepping into Goldilocks and the Three Bears

They are all fun (and educational) activities but I am a little bit in love with their water-color drawings - mixed with photography - showing the children stepping into the shoes of the fairy tale characters.

Stepping into Goldilocks and the Three Bears

There is also a cool drawing of Hansel & Gretel with more on the way.  I can't wait to see what they do with Jack and the Beanstalk (one of my favorites!).
  

A Broadway Books First Class Visit From Kecia Lewis

Planting the golden seeds of childhood magic with Broadway goddess Kecia Lewis

One overarching message woven throughout the narrative of my Sunday school years is the notion that each and every one of us is blessed with unique gifts. As I grew, that conjecture - or belief - sprung up again and again across the various disciplines of my life from performance, education, and an interest in comparative mythology to relationships and multifarious love. 

And like The Hero with a Thousand Faces our "road of trials" is managed through rescue from within and assistance from without. It is by placing ourselves inside the mosaic of humanity that we overcome obstacles and achieve something far greater than we could ever achieve on our own. In essence, nature (or God) has designed us to triumph and grow strong by sharing our individual strengths (gifts). Then with knowledge, empathy and good 'ol kick ass determination we develop spiritually, emotionally and intellectually. 

In this model we free ourselves from the need to be perfect in all things and take comfort in what we can do, while trusting that help will find us when it is most needed. It also challenges us to be that source of support when called on by others. 

Such were the thematic pillars of the most recent Broadway Books First Class guest artist visit from veteran performer Kecia Lewis. 

Students introduced themselves to Kecia Lewis in American Sign Language

Kecia's career as a storyteller is shaped by portrayals of formidable women either overcoming obstacles (Effie in Dreamgirls), providing help to others to prevail over obstacles (Asaka in Once on this Island) or embodying those obstacles (Matron "Mama" Morton in Chicago). 

As she depicts these various roles from divergent vantage points the audience realizes what it is to be human. And sitting out there "in the dark" we join the archetypal hero in crossing the threshold from struggle to triumph and deeper understanding. That is the cathartic journey of spectator and performer. We all exit the theater somehow changed by our time together. 

The Pre-K and Second Grade students got a taste of the passion, pain and power of live theater as they sat in my classroom at 10:00 on a Tuesday morning in late January to witness Kecia's roof raising rendition of "I Am Changing" from Dreamgirls. Click here to watch a short clip.

The resolute "pick myself up and start again" lyrics reflect what Joseph Campbell described as the adventure of the hero's transformation.

I am changing

Seeing everything so clear

I am changing

I'm gonna start right now right here

I'm hoping to work it out

And I know that I can

But I need you

I need a hand

Kecia Lewis reading THE LAST STOP ON MARKET STREET

The children's book Kecia read, The Last Stop on Market Street by Matt De La Pena and Christian Robinson, also related to expanding one's perspectives with the guidance of a mentor. In this case, it is a young boy named C. J. who comes to view his urban surroundings in a very different way thanks to his nana and a visit to volunteer at their soup kitchen. 

"He wondered how his nana always found beautiful where he never even thought to look." C. J. returns from his afternoon adventure seeing the world in a new way. Finding and appreciating the beauty in everyday events is transformative, such is the gift his nana gave.

Kecia Lewis signs a book for a second grade student

And, of course, we all wanted to learn more about Kecia whose gifts are so abundant. 

The children asked about her inspirations (The Carol Burnett Show, I Love Lucy and laughter). 

How she feels when she performs, "Most of the time I feel really happy. I feel like I'm giving service to the people that come to see the show because sometimes people come to see shows because they want to forget for two hours what's going on in their lives. And they want to laugh and they want to smile or they want to be touched by someone else's story and so it makes me feel good to do that."

Her obstacles (within the context of performing it is going on with the show when things in her personal life are difficult).

And her favorite song ("I am Changing" from Dreamgirls), favorite costume (the "trick dress" that went from simple skirt and shawl to evening gown when she sang "I am Changing") and favorite show (Marie and Rosetta).

Photo Credit: Eileen Lograno

Students each received a copy of the book autographed by Kecia Lewis

I believe that after sharing stories, music, tears, laughter, hugs and gifts we were lifted out of the ordinary and transformed. We were not the same group we were when Kecia first stepped into the classroom. And that is a journey worth taking! 

Theatre Lab

It's been a busy time with some fantastic, unexpected developments sprouting from Broadway Books First Class.

The latest news is that Ali Stroker (Spring Awakening, Glee) is leading a Theatre Lab for the children in third, fourth and fifth grades. We met with all of them on Friday to explain the program and gauge student interest.

Ali shared her idea for the 6-week workshop and sang/signed The Song of Purple Summer from Spring Awakening, which hooked them.

Ali's decision to sign was a conscious one, designed to honor the background of the students (most are Children of Deaf Adults) and show respect for Deaf culture. The mission of Theatre Lab incorporates those aims while providing a professional atmosphere for the children to explore emotions, learn about theater and have fun.

It's an incredible opportunity and before we left almost all of the students signed up to participate.

We begin Tuesday.

Language Arts Journal

An article I cowrote with Dr. Molly Ness for the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) journal Language Arts is now available!

The article, entitled PERSPECTIVES ON PRACTICE: Books and Theater Arts Take Center Stage for Deaf and Hearing Children in the Early Grades, describes my program Broadway Books First Class.

It also highlights and includes input from guest artists Gregory Jbara, Charles Busch, Alison Fraser, Hollie Wright, Eden Duncan Smith, Devlin Elliott, Julianne Moore, Stockard Channing and Nathan Lane.

It is exciting to spread the word about the program and hopefully inspire other educators to use their available resources to promote things they are passionate about, which for me is literacy development, children's books and theater.

A Broadway Books First Class Visit From Charles Busch

The Divine Charles Busch brings some Old School GLAMOUR to BBFC

There are a few things I've come to learn about playwright, performer and Drag Legend Charles Busch.

He is terribly clever. He delivers a line like nobody's business. He can command a room with the slightest movement. And his heart is as big as Susan Hayward's performance in I'll Cry Tomorrow.

All of this makes him a perfect fit to entertain and enlighten a classroom of elementary school children. The juxtaposition of bravado and tenderness plays well with young children who are required to navigate the complex social structures of school. This is when they build friendships, not always based on commonalities but predicated on necessity, proximity or boredom.

Charles understands that childhood can be tricky and that sometimes it takes a while to come to terms with who we are and what life has placed at our feet. These are not always things we speak about directly but this is where the term "being a role model" comes into play. We teach by example. We listen. We see. We acknowledge. We let children know they'll find their way through it all because we are living proof.

Charles Busch reading UNLOVABLE by Dan Yacarrino alongside ASL interpreter Stephanie Feyne 

This is the second time Charles joined Broadway Books First Class as a guest artist. The first time he read the cautionary tale The Spider and The Fly and shared stories with my first graders. This time he visited with some pre-k and second grade students to read Unlovable by Dan Yaccarino. Unlovable tells the story of a pug named Alfred who is teased mercilessly and called "unlovable" until, one day, he finds someone just like him. In the book it is another pug but the message, of course, goes deeper. The book selection was inspired by the question-and-answer session Charles had with the students during his first visit.

Charles wrote about that visit on Facebook and has graciously given permission for me to include a bit of it here.

One of the children asked me when I started acting and writing. I explained that it was around their age. I told them I had a rather lonely childhood and always felt different from the other kids and when I was grown up I found a group of friends who also felt alone and different and we formed our own group.  Each person was so interesting and unique that I was inspired to write parts for them to show how wonderful they were and we put on plays together. For the first time in my life, I truly had friends who wanted to play with me and people came from all over to see us. They got it.

The children got it this time as well. I am always curious how the reverberations of these visits will play out in a child's life.

And like last time, the children were fascinated to learn how Charles uses makeup to create the look of his female characters, such as Irish O'Flanagan in Times Square Angel.

Having fun with false eyelashes!

At the children's request, Charles brought along some false eyelashes, a bangle and a boa. Charles performed a little mini-transformation right before our eyes and afterwards got down on the floor with the children and shared the goods. 

Before long there were giggles and guffaws as the false eyelashes became a mustache, a beard and even a third eye. The children seemed to understand his explanation about why he performs the female roles in his plays - it is a way to step outside of himself to find freedom of expression (although these days he is becoming more comfortable performing the male roles). 

After all, how is it any different from the boy in my class who comes in every morning and puts on the police uniform? Children understand the need to step into other roles, to become someone other than themselves for a time whether it be to work out their place within familial power dynamics (e.g. playing mommy and telling others what to do), societal power dynamics (e.g. a cop giving a ticket or arresting someone) or playing out relationships they want to be true (e.g. "You are my sister").  

All of these manifestations show us to be like musicians playing the same song but with different pitches and chords. And that is where we learn to embrace diversity and play in harmony with one another. We are more alike than we are different but our differences should be celebrated. 

A second grade student asks Charles to reread his favorite page
"Squawk, Unlovable!"

As we handed out copies of Unlovable - signed by Charles - the children sat on the rug to read alone, in pairs or in small groups. Some mimicked the way Charles gave life to the characters and even asked him to read parts again.

Others had more questions or wanted to practice his name sign. Charles describes it as such, "For Charles I make a C with my hand and cup the side of my face and for Busch I pat the bottom of my hair like I'm styling it." (In Deaf culture name signs are given by someone who is Deaf or hard of hearing and, for someone who is hearing, a name sign signals acceptance into the Deaf community. Name signs are unique to each individual and relate to an aspect of your appearance or personality. Charles has an amazing name sign!)

That afternoon the children wrote out a bunch of thank you cards for Charles illustrated with eyelashes, pugs, flaming-haired chanteuses and words of encouragement and gratitude. I will end this post with one card written by Leo, "Dear Mr. Busch/Charles Busch: Thank you for everything that you did. And you can make a play out of all that.  THANK YOU!!"