Background: Developing higher-order comprehension skills of learners in primary schools is a challenge that faces many countries. South Africa is no exception. Primary school learners in South Africa have particularly low literacy and comprehension skills: many learners struggle to read for understanding. There is little published scholarship that…

The goals of the present study were (a) to explore different aspects of children's participation in structured performing arts activities (e.g., dance and music); and (b) to examine links between participation in performing arts and indices of socioemotional functioning. Participants were N = 166 children (75 boys and 91 girls) in Grade 1 (n = 70,…

This particularistic qualitative case study design examined reading strategies, approaches, and resources teachers of ELL (English Language Learner) students in kindergarten through third grade use to support reading development and promote the home to school connection regarding literacy proficiency. The purpose of this study was to examine…

In recent decades a number of Australian artists and teacher/artists have given serious attention to the creation of performance forms and performance engagement models that respect children's intelligence, engage with themes of relevance, avoid the cliches of children's theatre whilst connecting both sincerely and playfully with current…

Test scores across the country show American students are far more able to read narrative than nonfiction text. Some research speculates this is due to a great lack in the background knowledge of many children. Librarians are beginning to realize that a unique fit for the school librarian is as a provider of background knowledge materials for…

Considers how children can use tableau (a still, silent performance that involves three-dimensional representations) to move beyond language in developing new understandings about life and literature. Documents primary students' planning and variations in their interpretations of tableau based on a picture book. Concludes that theatre helps people…

To insure that the school play was an actual learning experience, third-graders were allowed to make the decisions about sets, costuming, script, and rehearsals. (SJL)

To determine children's "dramatic literacy" and the modal sources of their inferences, a study interviewed 45 Kansas third graders in regard to a theater production of "Monkey, Monkey." Two-thirds of the children reported that third graders in another city would enjoy this production "a lot." A majority found the play…

A curriculum on theater is presented in this volume prepared by the Central Atlantic Regional Educational Laboratory (CAREL) Arts and Humanities Curriculum Development Program for Young Children. Topics in the 23 page Rationale section range from theories of cognitive development to an extensive explanation of the workshop concept which is…

Presents the statistical results for the theater for children component of the ASU Longitudinal Study, utilizing Dr. Patricia Goldberg's interview instrument, which categorizes the free responses of a child audience after viewing a theatrical production. (JC)

Discusses events that enhanced credibility of theater education including: the birth of the Alliance for Theater and Education; publication of "A Model Drama/Theater Curriculum"; inclusion of theater in the curriculum; change in emphasis in endowment programs; and publication of the National Endowment for the Arts "Toward…

Describes a four-hour drama session, held one hour for each of four weeks, in which 15 girls and one boy ages six through eight participated with 17 college participant observers in a 1991 Children and Drama course, during which a drama teacher came to a "different" playmaking process, guiding children to direct their own dramas, without…

Choral speaking is one way to introduce elementary students to poetry and the performing arts, providing a quick and easy way to foster precise diction and voice projection. The article explains how to select poems, direct the activity, get started, and be creative. Includes several poems to help teachers get started. (SM)

Describes the planning, implementing, and evaluating stages of "Choices," a theatre-in-education program on intrafamilial child sexual abuse produced by the Louisville Children's Theatre for third grade students in Jefferson County, Kentucky. (PD)

After more than a decade in print, "Readers Theatre for Beginning Readers" continues to outsell all comparable books on Readers Theatre. "More RTBR" capitalizes on both the popularity of "Readers Theatre for Beginning Readers" and the emphasis on fluency due to the recommendations of the National Reading Panel.…