Early childhood is a time of great creativity. Building creativity into the learning environment should be natural, organic, as observant teachers follow the child. This article provide tools for building creativity through play across the creative arts including dramatic play, movement and dance, music, and visual arts. Additionally, play and…

Introducing drama to the learning experience is guaranteed to enrich a child's development, and is an especially effective approach for children with special educational needs, including those with autism spectrum disorders. This practical handbook offers teachers an array of simple and easy-to-implement theatrical techniques that will enhance…

"Ready, Set, Respect!" provides a set of tools to help elementary school educators ensure that all students feel safe and respected and develop respectful attitudes and behaviors. It is not a program to be followed but instead is designed to help educators prepare themselves for teaching about and modeling respect. The toolkit responds to…

Ways to perk up language arts instruction include skits, choral readings, and full-length plays. Ideas for putting a show together, from making the curtain to having a cast party, are covered. Two readings, a skit, and a play are appended. (MT)

The significance of drama as an expressive form of thinking and feeling lies in its concern with the process of personal engagement with the objective world. A Taxonomy of Personal Engagement is offered and strategies and techniques to engage students are suggested. (MT)

Ten seasonal plays are presented: (1) September (nutrition); (2) October (Halloween); (3) November (Thanksgiving); (4 and 5) December (Hanukkah, Christmas); (6) January (Martin Luther King, Jr.); (7) February (friendship); (8) March (Saint Patrick's Day); (9) April (Easter); and (10) May/June (Memorial and Flag Days). (CJ)

Learning through play is as natural and important for young children as breathing. With this book, parents and teachers can create toys that help children become more confident, develop their intellect, and encourage play and exploration--all with materials easily found at the local hardware store or home center. Written by two experienced family…

Explains a classroom experiment to create a folk story about the trickster, a folklore metaphor, through dramatic role playing, improvisation, and imaginative play. Describes the activities used, including details of the students' dramatic role playing and the use of "gibberish" as language. Discusses the methods used for creation of a…

This paper examines aspects of the use of puppets with young children and provides guidelines on proper times for puppet use, basic movements, and patterns. The use of puppetry in dramatic play provides young children with opportunities for refining communication skills and defining self. Puppetry provides a means for children to explore their…

Discusses seven books and a film that can help teachers capitalize on the benefits of drama in the classroom. (ARH)

Describes how a teacher sparked her students' interest in Henrik Ibsen's "A Doll's House" by having them conduct a classroom trial of the play's lead character. (JL)

Suggests allowing children to draw on their experiences with doctors and dentists and encouraging pretend play centered around medical settings such as clinics and hospitals. Provides guidelines to involve children's participation in such play, and provides detailed information on setting up appropriate play centers. (BAC)

Integration occurs when separate parts or elements are combined into a unified whole. This book focuses on classroom arts integration--equally incorporating skills in drama and reading comprehension into all lessons. Drama and reading comprehension share a multitude of authentic connections, including meaning making and interpretation. Each…

This guide provides activities, resources, and ideas for elementary physical education and classroom teachers. The activities in the basic rhythms program are divided into five classifications: movement patterns, dramatic activities, singing games, creative rhythms-dance, and rhythmic gymnastics. At the beginning of the basic rhythms sections is a…