Life Long Learner

For the past month my class has been practicing our play, Henry's Freedom Box. The kids worked so hard to make it a truly moving experience for the entire school. Last Friday was the assembly for Black History Month where we were going to perform our play. The kids were excited to put on their costumes, and were even more excited when they found out we were the last part of the assembly. It felt like we were sitting for hours at the assembly before it was finally our turn. Keep in mind, we had practiced every part of this...from getting up out of our seats to sitting back down. The music began "Swing low, sweet chariot..." and the kids did a fantastic job. We decided to add a song to the end of the play where the kids would do a dance. Celebrate America, by Barry Mann It was the perfect addition and brought many of the students and teachers in the audience to tears. I was so proud of my students. For once the special ed students were the stars of the show. These are the m...

In November another teacher in my school approached with with an idea to perform a play in order to celebrate Black History Month at our school. She gave me a copy of Henry's Freedom Box, and I transformed it into a play suitable for our classes. I have a copy of it saved in school, I'll be sure to make it available to you as soon as possible. Today was our first day of practice, and the kids were eager to begin transforming this story into a play. Thanks to Jill, our students went back in time through the music and clothing she had to help them envision themselves in their roles. We need more white aprons for the girls, but for the most part, the costumes we've created are perfect for our purposes. When I was reading this story to my students I asked them to scrunch up like Henry did to fit in a box. Since the kids were sitting on the rug I told them they had to fit in one square on the rug. I thought this would help them feel more like Henry, I thought it would help them ...