Theater Class Planning and Dr. Seuss!

Not only am I a Kindergarten intern, but I am also an instructor in the Education Department at a community theater where I live. I have been teaching dance, acting, and musical theater classes at various theaters, dance studios, and modeling agencies since I was 16 years old (HOLY COW... that was 10 years ago...) and I adore it. In fact, I was originally a Theater major in college but teaching these classes for so many years made me realize that it was the teaching I loved, not necessarily the performing. Thank goodness I made the switch, because I love the track I am on right now.

Right now I am planning two after school classes that begin next week. One is a Dr. Seuss themed class for ages 4-7 and I am having so much fun putting this together. Theater classes are a little different to plan for, as the main goal is not to learn a subject area, but to learn performance skills. In this Dr. Seuss class we have some crafts (of course! I couldn't resist!!!) and some rhyming and rhythm activities that are going to be a blast! Once everything is complete, I'll be posting a really fun game that can be used in a general classroom as well.


The second class I am teaching is a Voice and Speech class for ages 8-12. This one is completely skill-based with no theme. While this doesn't sound as exciting as the Dr. Seuss class, this one gives me much more room to be creative in planning. This class is all about breathing properly while speaking and singing, using proper diction, using proper rate/speed, and using appropriate volume or projection. If you are not a theater instructor and you are reading this blog, you are probably thinking to yourself that these are all important to LIFE! Yeah... performance skills can DEFINITELY help in everyday life. I am using some fun activities, such as The Breathing Buddy (pics coming soon) and an awesome tongue twister game that is just as much fun for me as the kids.

I can't wait till next week. I start my full time internship with my kinders AND I start my first week of my first two theater courses. They are only once a week but they run for 5 weeks so stayed tuned for updates on these, because I can guarantee there will be some great pictures to share!