Literature at Play

Several children emerged as leaders. Our English language learner was able to solve problems effectively in her group. One child went quite far in expressing her character’s emotions, which helped other children take risks. A very shy child has since emerged as an inquisitive thinker willing to ask insightful questions when others won’t.

I like the teamwork our class showed during the practices. You could tell they were having fun and in control of what was happening. They were working together so nicely. They were taking it seriously and holding each other accountable.

I liked watching everyone read, enjoy themselves, and be engaged with the story! The workshop helped the students to be engaged all together in one thing and also to understand what the book was about.

I love this program! Mindy created materials and activities that were appropriate to my students’ varied needs and levels. They were engaged through music and sensory exploration. We hope to participate in the program again next year!

We made lots of connections between our lives in the book. I loved how we were able to create the song using what we do in class. Using the main idea in the chorus, and using text evidence to write the chorus. I loved how it connected to our curriculum.

I have been doing the some of the theatre games with the students – particularly having them make physical pictures of the beginning, middle, and end of the story and having them put them in the proper order. I have noticed an improvement in reading comprehension when I do this.

They were so engaged with Piper and they still talk about him. They loved being so involved in the show. They really responded to the story and traveling through NYC. The interactive, hands on, multi-sensory experience kept them involved and engaged. It was an incredible experience for our students. It introduced students to theater in a fun way that was tailored to them and their needs. We still watch the videos.

It supported my student’s learning in many ways. They learned about teamwork, following directions, activating the imagination, determination in spite of each child’s circumstances and the importance of staying active.

It was a great experience for the kids to not just to be exposed to literature but see how a book could be put into action, into a performance.

I always look forward to working with Mr. Max because he gets so much out the kids.  It’s fun to see how much growth happens from the beginning when everyone is shy to the end when everyone is having fun and doing their best.

Thank YOU so much for joining our class these past 2 months! It’s been so wonderful having you all come and teach the kids how to sing and act out the book! The kids always enjoyed having you here! Having you all teach the kids acting really helped some of my shy kids come out of their comfort zones! I’ve definitely seen them grow and become more comfortable speaking out, and on stage…as well as during everyday lessons! It’s been absolutely wonderful having you!

The program exceeded our expectations. Other programs have come in and we’ve had a really bad experience because they didn’t really connect with the kids. You guys really did. We hope we can get you back next year.

I believe that the New York City Children’s Theater program was essential in getting our students to learn how to work together.

Our teacher teaching artist was amazing with the children. Her enthusiasm was contagious. The children felt comfortable sharing and performing on stage. I hope this partnership continues for years to come.

The program was a great learning experience for my students. They became more confident and articulate by participating in the program. It was a pleasure watching the children grow and learn in a unique and interesting way.

The work that they did in theatre translated into reading fluency and you saw it on the stage. They learned how to be community members and notice other people around them and their needs. It’s shared writing in action.

It has been a great pleasure having this program. My students love it and looked forward to every day that Alec came. All students engage in the activity by performing the moves, verbally interact with Alec by answering questions and participating in dance. Overall, I think it is a wonderful program, which helps our students develop a wide range of skills and have fun at the same time. Thank you.

We all got to add our own move and that was fun. It meant we got to do what we wanted and not what someone told us to do.

The program was very engaging and had the children’s attention. The children were always excited to see Alec and the activities got us dancing and singing. Great to act out scenes from the story and lots of shy kids really came out of their shells.

The kids really liked working with instruments and were really engaged throughout. It was great to talk about each character and the feelings of the characters- finding different perspectives. I really liked the music and interaction- Alec asked engaging questions for kids. The music helped explain the story for the ELL students.

I cannot thank you enough for joining my class today. As I need not explain to you, the kids were THRILLED to have a chance to see and work with you again. They had the best time!!!

These are ELL students, and it was great for them to think about how characters feel in a kinesthetic way. For speaking, it’s good too, since in the medium of the play, it encourages them to speak.

Every week we look forward to visits from Mrs. Mindy. The music, visuals, materials, and songs have made every child in my class overjoyed to participate. I really appreciated how we were able to collaborate and make the program even more accessible for our students with varying needs.

This is a different approach to storytelling that is fun. The project used their voice and ideas.  That meant a lot to them and got them engaged. They were able to understand story structure in a new way.  They can identify what the climax of a story is.

This program was great for them to try something new and expressive. So much of the time they must work on their own. This was new, and they appreciated that.

The students loved it. They looked forward to every session. I was very impressed with the way the students came up with the lyrics for the song. I thought it was amazing the way Mr. Garry got them to do that.”

The students were engaged! The video and sensory aspects were aligned with technology and hands on learning, which helped the students stay engaged because they had an active role in their learning!

The children love the book, they look forward to ‘theater day’ each week and the activities are age appropriate and very interactive. We notice that now the children get more excited when reading a read aloud book in the classroom.

It opened them up socially. Some kids were quiet as a mouse and this stirred up something expressive in them and gave them a new way to respond.

Being part of this program helped our kids learn to work together, which is something they have had trouble with. Being on stage definitely has helped them with that.

We are very grateful to be the recipients of your creativity and talent! Every year we look forward to your program.

I just wanted to share how amazing your staff was with our students for the fall residency.  The students loved working with Marcela, Max, and Khalia!  The teachers have all great things to say about the program as well and have noticed a change in their students self-esteem.