Children’s Theater: Setting Their Spirits Free!

By Wilma Melson Grant

If you are an elementary school teacher or parent of an elementary school student who loves the theater, but has no theatrical experience. Then this book is for you.

This teacher was the student council advisor for the school and a true lover of the theater who went to the theater often and exposed her students to the theater by helping them raise money in many ways to bring a performing arts traveling theater company of a local college to the school.

When this college lost their funding and could no longer travel to perform for the various schools in the area, the children in this school asked their advisor to organize their very own theater group for the school.

Well, this teacher told them in no uncertain terms that she knew absolutely nothing about acting and would not even know how to begin a drama program. Well, the children convinced this teacher to at least try. So she did.

This book shows how this teacher through her friends and family members who knew people who knew theatrical people who guided her and showed her how she really could organize a real drama program for her school.

This book shows the elementary teacher how to teach the children to write their own script from their favorite book in their library. Then eventually write their own version of popular stories such as "The Wizard of Oz". It also shows the teacher how to organize the parents of the students into the essential needs of a drama club by assessing the various talents of the parents and interested members of the faculty.

This book also shows the drama teacher how to introduce to the students various improvisations and exercises for developing acting skills. It also includes the scripts and directions for nine different plays, including suggested music, all suitable for elementary students. In other words, it is a book of how an elementary teacher went from having no theatrical experience to how she was able to organize a very successful drama club, that was invited to perform for the D.A.R.E. conference and the governor at the capitol building in Sacramento, California.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Mar 1, 2021
• ISBN: 9781664158689

Book preview

CHILDREN’S

THEATER

Setting Their Spirits Free!

WILMA MELSON GRANT

Copyright © 2021 by Wilma Melson Grant.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Rev. date: 02/27/2021

Xlibris

844-714-8691

www.Xlibris.com

803603

CONTENTS

Foreword

The Beginning, with Edna Boney

The Tara Hills Drama Club

The Contractual Agreement

Nutcracker Rehearsals Begin

Opening Night

The Trip to see The Oakland Ballet Nutcracker"

Drama After, Nutcracker

The Clowns Production

Our Shakespeare Production of:

"A Midsummer Night’s Dream

The D.A.R.E. Program Production of:

OLIVER

Adventures In Mother Goose Land

The Wonderful World of Hans Christian Andersen

Alice in Wonderland

Elementary Summer School Drama Program

University of California, Berkeley Campus

The Beginning of the End

The Wizard of Oz

Marie’s Birthday Wish

Biographies

The Choreographer, Voice Coach and Costume Designer Carolyne Christine Melson

Memories

Acknowledgements Over the Years

Justin Cole

Robert Romero

Ellen DeCarlo

Debbie Grisso

Savannah Amina Melson

About the Author: Wilma Melson Grant

Drama in the Elementary School

Foreword

At the end, you will find that the greatest comfort in serving is in a cause that is greater than yourself. John McCain

I quoted John McCain because at this moment, I am feeling that Cod gave me the magnificent opportunity to touch the lives of many children during my career as an elementary classroom teacher. And as a drama director, I feel that there is no greater gift.

This book is being compiled to help teachers in the elementary school who are interested in theater and would like for their students to put on theatrical productions, program for students who are hungry to act without hiring someone or going back to school to gain the experience. I spent many years as an elementary school teacher who taught all grades, Kindergarten through the sixth grade. My only theatrical experience was in a song and dance group in high school and in a short class skit during my college years.

It was my experience that whether the child is a kindergarten student pretending to be Goldilocks in The Three Bears or a sixth grader longing to perform on stage in a more serious story, you as a teacher, do not have to be a theater major with acting experience to put on a successful production and organize a very functional drama program for your 6 to 12year old students. I would like to share with you how I came to organize a very successful drama program at the Tara Hills Elementary School with the help of some valuable resources. I hope it will be helpful to you and that you will enjoy your journey in drama with your students as I did.

Sincerely,

Wilma Melson Grant

The Great Announcement

The Beginning

I was teaching the fifth grade and my students were studying the U.S. Constitution. We decided that we should organize a Student Council for the school and that we should develop a constitution and pattern it after our country’s constitution. During its development, we decided to take a trip to the city hall and visit the office to experience what it felt like to be on the city council. The mayor rnet with the children and invited them to sit in the chairs of the council members. After we back to school, we had a clear idea of how we should organize. We invited two representatives from each class in the school from first to sixth grade. Since there were two classes at each grade level in the first through third grades and three classes per grade level in the fourth through sixth grades. We had thirty students on the Student Council. The officers were selected from the fourth, fifth and sixth grades after a schoolwide election.

One of the activities organized by the student council was to bring a cultural activity to the school. The students decided to sell cupcakes/cookies to purchase a pencil machine and to raise money to bring a cultural activity to the school. I found out that the drama department of San Francisco State University, my old alma mater, had a traveling theater group that performed at various elementary schools. We decided to use some of our proceeds to invite them to perform for our school. Our students thoroughly enjoyed the troupe. They came to our school each year in the spring for around three years until I got a call from their director informing us that they had lost their funding and would not be able to come back again. The children were thoroughly disappointed and was devasted… Finally, one of the student council officers had a bright idea and said to me, with excitement, Mrs. Melson, why can’t we form our own drama club and do plays for the school? ‘I My response was, We need a director! We just don’t have the money to hire a director. Their response to that was, How about you, Mrs. Melson? My response was, "I CAN’T DO THAT Then they all shouted together with so much excitement! YES YOU CAN…..YES, YOU CAN DO IT !!!

The Special Meeting

When I got home that night, I started thinking, I really do have to start thinking about how I’m going to do this thing that the students of the council were so certain that I could do. After contemplating on it for a while, somehow, I started thinking about an essay that I wrote in one of my education classes when I was studying to become a teacher. The assignment was, What do you think is the role of a teacher? I remember describing a teacher as a director. The curriculum was the script that was written to fit the performers, the audience was the people who they would encounter along the way and the stage was their life. I never got that essay back, but later found that metaphoric idea written by that professor in a doctoral thesis that was published a few years later.

Oh, I know I thought, as I was driving myself home from school, I should call my sister. She has a friend whose mother is a member of the San Francisco Actor’s Guild. Even though she was very I’ll at the time, I just knew she could give me some ideas because at this point, I just didn’t know how to get started. So, I called her. I was so happy that I did. I had not talked to her for a long time.

When I told her about my dilemma, she invited me to come for a visit. I was so very happy. This was just what I needed, someone in the theater who felt that it was the best part of their life. Well, I went to visit her and brought her favorite flowers. She was so very happy, especially since I wanted to talk to her about the theater which was her life…. well, let me share a bit of her wisdom with you.

1%23%20001%20Edna%20Boney_edited.jpg

My Visit With The Actress, Edna Boney

This is a summary of what she imparted to me. She told me to ask the children to find a simple story that they all liked and could agree on, then show them how to re-write the story into script form. Be sure to describe the setting and the characters. If there are not pictures of the setting, help them create their own drawings of what they imagine the setting to be. Next, have them draw pictures of how the characters should be dressed. Once they have a clear picture of the setting, characters, and how the characters are dressed, then they are ready for the next and most difficult part.

You should involve the parents on a large scale to commit and come to meetings concerning:

• Funding: try to find grants or have fundraisers

• Skills: How many parents can sew, construct scenery, etc.

• Prepare programs to hand out

• Help on production night (Helping to dress the children, makeup, stage crew, music, etc.)

• Prepare programs to hand out.

She said to me that the costumes should be very basic and simple. For example: Make simple shirts with long sleeves with elastic at the neck and wrist for the boys, and the same for the girls except make some short and some long.

You should make simple pants for the boys with elastic at the waist and at the knees, and for the girls, make simple skirts with elastic at the waist. Be sure to make some long and some short.

These costumes should be in various colors. When they are all done you have basic costumes that can e accessorized in every way. These basic costumes can be used again and again, depending on the story that you are doing.

*     *     *

When our meeting finally came to an end, I felt energized and a little more hopeful. We said our good-byes and I asked her if I could call her if I had more questions and she said to me, By all means, I would love for you to. If I can help in any other way, please don’t hesitate to call me. No, just come for another visit. It has been such a joy just knowing that I have helped you. Then I said to her, When it is all done, you will be our guest of honor. We hugged and said our good byes and I left.

As I was driving back across the Bay Bridge, I kept saying to myself, "I can do this. I really can. Now, I was feeling so excited that I could barely wait to tell the children that we really were going to do our own production and I knew just how to do it.

When I got to school on that Monday, I went straight to the principal’s office and told him that we needed to talk and that I was going to start a drama club for our school. However, our first production was going to be performed by the Student Council and if it went well, we would invite the other interested students in the school to join, too.

The Great Announcement

On the loudspeaker during the daily announcements, the principal announced that there was going to be an unscheduled Student Council meeting and that all council members were to go to room 10 right away at the end of the last period.

As soon as school was out, the council members were outside my door before my class could be dismissed. When my class finally left, the council members came rushing in. What did your friend say, Mrs. Melson? Are we going to have our own Drama Club? When are we going to start it? There were so many questions…They were all talking at once…

Come on, Mrs. Melson, tell us! They kept coming at me with the questions with so much excitement….So, finally I said to them, Children, come on, slow down so that I can tell you, I said to them. You’re taking too long, they responded.

So as soon as they settled down, I said to them, YES, WE ARE GOING TO ORGANIZE A REAL DRAMA CLUB.

They screamed so loudly that I could hardly calm them. The teacher in the next room came over to see what all the excitement was about. Finally when they settled down, I proceeded to share with them my meeting with my friend. When they heard of how much work it was going to be, they kept interrupting me with comments like, We can do it Mrs. Melson.

I then told them that they should go to the library at school or to a public library and find a simple story that we can turn into a script. We will then find simple music to add and make simple scenery.

I told them that I will be calling for a parent meeting because we need to involve the parents in this project if we were to really do this. We will need money to buy fabric for costumes, scenery and other supplies.

As they were leaving, they were so excited and were discussing their many ideas with each other. Then one of the students said to me as she was leaving, You see, Mrs. Melson, I told you that we could do it. I gave her a big hug and said to her, We will see, we will see!

When the children left, I sat at my desk to check the papers of the day and make plans for the next day. Since the 4th, 5th, and 6th graders were the Student Council officers, two of the students were in my class and stayed back to help. After a few minutes, their parents came for them and I left shortly afterwards.

On my way home, I was thinking and said to myself, "Where do I apply for a grant for our drama program? I really do have to do some research.

The Parent Meeting

After the announcement to the Student Council, we had to come up with a date so that the parents of the students could meet. I needed to share with them the information that I had and invite their input. We finally came up with a date and time. It was decided that we should meet in the evening so that the parents could attend including their young siblings. We made sure that we had activities at all levels. The Principal was invited and other interested faculty members.

The meeting went very well. I shared with them the information that was given to me by my actress friend. It was really a wonderful meeting.

The children on the council had already done some research on stories that they felt could be easily turned into a script. They met in another part of the auditorium.

I shared with the parents the idea of simple shirts for the boys with elastic at the neck and wrists and simple blouses for the girls with elastic at the neck and at the mid upper arm of various sizes and colors.

I also shared with the parents my friend’s idea of the simple pants for the boys with elastic at the waist and just below the knees. When I told them about the girls short and long skirts with elastic at the waist of various sizes and colors, I could see the excitement on their faces. I could see that they were getting even more ideas. These costumes were simple….I illustrated the ideas on a chart that I had prepared earlier. The parents were excited. I found out that quite a few of the parents knew how to sew and volunteered to help before I could even ask.

Since I come from a family of seamstresses, I shared with the parents that I could draft a pattern and they could trace it on butcher-paper to help make patterns and, I knew that my mom and sisters would help with the sewing.

Next came the scenery. By this time, the children had come up with a simple storybook that they could turn into a viable script. It was called, CINDER-REILEY. It was a comical male version of the well-known story of Cinderella with fun twists and turns. After the children presented the story to the parents at the meeting, the parents who had artistic talents, shared that they could help the children construct simple scenery. Next, one of the teachers on the staff who was very musical said that she could find simple music to compliment the story. We were surely on our way.

When I got home that night, I sat down at my dining room table and made a drama schedule to pass out to the children. This was a very simple story that only had four parts. So, I decided to give the children a very simple rehearsal schedule. Chapter One on Monday, Chapter Two on Tuesday and Chapter Three on Wednesday. We would spend Thursdays on scenery and Fridays on Music.

The Drama Club Meetings

We were scheduled to have a Student Council meeting on that Monday so after we were done with the council business, I passed out the drama schedule and discussed the reasoning behind the schedule then asked for their input. The council was very pleased and excited with the schedule and with the drama class that was starting that very same week.

After some discussion, we decided to meet and discuss some ideas for scenery and start the drama classes the next week. We spent some time discussing what the drama classes would entail. I told them that I had to type the script that they developed with some minor suggestions. They agreed with my suggestions.

We had to come up with thirty parts so that everyone had a part. We decided that the main characters with the most lines should go to the fifth and sixth graders who were the Student Council Officers and so forth and so on down to the first graders. After reading the script/story, the council surprised me and casted themselves, reading the script and getting into their characters.

Meanwhile, I met with the music teacher at school to decide what music we could come up with. We finally came up with three songs that fit perfectly in the production. We went to a Walt Disney production and used three of their songs, substituting princess with prince. I then decided to wait and see what music the children would suggest. By this time, they had come up with some popular music of the time that neither the music teacher nor I was familiar with. It fit perfectly into the story so we just agreed to it. We were now ready to start the drama schedule.

I made enough copies of the script so that each student had one. I gathered the music that had been decided by the students, the music teacher and myself and made copies for everyone. On my way home, I stopped and bought folders for everyone and placed in it the script, music lyrics and the schedule. This became their drama folder where everything that pertained to drama went into it.

We were off, and on our way to becoming a real drama club. We met for around three weeks and were really feeling good about our progress. It was now time to schedule another parent meeting.

Costumes, Props and Scenery

I scheduled a parent meeting every other Friday until our production date that had been set and placed on the school calendar. It was to be performed in the evening so that the working parents could attend. But, now, we still had to make the costumes and props and, the parents were as excited as the children.

At this meeting, we were to cut out the costumes. One of the parents and I had gone shopping for the fabric with the small budget that the PTA had given to us. The Student Council had raised money by selling pencils and cupcakes as they did when the San Francisco State University Traveling Drama Company came to our school before they lost their funding.

So, we had almost enough money to purchase the fabric and notions that we needed. I added the amount that we were short on. I could always deduct it at tax time as a donation. So, I was not worried about the finances.

When the parents arrived, they were all excited, with their sewing scissors and straight pins in their hands. The tables were already set with rolls of butcher paper to cut out patterns for the shirts, blouses, knicker pants, knee length and long skirts.

We had a short meeting. I had made simple sketches of how the costumes were to look. (I am not an artist so the sketches were very crude. We decided on color, and sizes and how many of each. We had to make sure that there was a costume for each child in the production. We would think of the accessories at our next meeting. We decided that we would take home and sew everything that we cut and bring to the next meeting for the children to try on and assign costumes.

Meanwhile, the dads, the non-sewers and drama students were busy at another part of the room designing scenery and props. As I stood back and observed the room, I could see lots of excitement.

It was really a feel-good moment for me. I was very happy that I let the students talk me into doing this. I could see them going through the simple illustrations in the book and deciding how they would make their scenery and props.

When it was almost time to close the meeting, we all shared what we had done that evening and what we would do for the next meeting. We planned to meet again in two weeks and bring to share what props we had made and how we were to involve the children in helping to make or paint the scenery. Two of the parents decided to come to the school during our drama class to paint scenery and involve the students who were not in drama class on that day to help. We adjourned the meeting for the evening and everyone went home very excited including myself.

The Drama Classes

Every day I barely dismissed my class when outside my door were the primary children ready