Teachers Act Up!

Below is a list of books that helped me enhance the work in Teachers Act Up! for a course I teach titled, Theatre for Reflective Language Practice:

• Unscripted Learning: Using Improv Activities Across the K-8 Curriculum by Carrie Lobman and Matthew Lundquist (Jul 2007)
• Theater Games for the Classroom: A Teacher’s Handbook by Viola Spolin (Dec 1, 1986)
• On Stage: Theater Games and Activities for Kids by Lisa Bany-Winters (Nov 1, 1997)
• Why Our Schools Need the Arts by Jessica Hoffman Davis (Dec 14, 2007)
• Games for Actors and Non-Actors by Augusto Boal, translated by Adrian Jackson (1992)
• Theatre Games & Activities by Lynda A Topper (2008)

see also this incredible video:

Suggested Children’s Books for use with Theatre Games:

(see “Theatre Games” tab)

My recent adage is ” Learning to Speak in an L2 ; Learning to See Different Points of View”–these books and games reinforce the concept that language learning is also about learning how many different ways there are to name our worlds:

• The Perfect Square by Michael Hall (Mar, 2011) – Complete the Shape, How Many A’s in an A, Yes, No, Stop, Dude
  
• A Very Brave Witch by Harry Bliss – Complete the Image, How Many A’s in an A, Yes, No, Stop, Dude
  
• Taback_S_Joseph Had a Little Overcoat by Simms Tabak – This is My [Blanket]…, How Many A’s in an A, Yes, No, Stop, Dude
• Crimi, C_The Louds Move In! by Carolyn Crimi – Do you like your neighbor? & Echo (also to teach scientific concept of volume, pitch, and sound vibrations)

These books and games help students to develop landscape of language to describe where they are and what they are doing as well as to embody a wide vocabulary:

• Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs by Judi Barrett, Illustrated by Ron Barrett (Aug, 1978) – Landscapes
• The Marshmallow Incident by Judi Barrett, Illustrated by Ron Barrett (Aug, 2009) – Landscapes
• The Lost Ball/ La pelota perdida by Lynn Reiser (Aug, 2002) – Peruvian Ballgame, Play Ball

Materials

• Images and names of a variety of balls – Peruvian Ballgame, Play Ball
• Images, names, and descriptions of shapes – Complete the Shape