Speaking Out! Literacy Skill Development through Theatre and Storytelling

This program offered by: Speaking Out Collective

Speaking Out! Residency & Workshops (grades 2-6) are facilitated by teaching artists with over twenty years of arts learning teaching experience. Sessions include interactive storytelling, improvised story-building, and theatre arts exercises to create connection, joy and build literacy skills. Aligned with state and national ELA, Theatre Arts and SEL standards, each in-class Speaking Out! session uses story as a way to question and transform stories from an anthology of over 150 tales (fairy tales, fables, legends and more).

Each participating classroom teacher is invited to work with their Speaking Out! teaching artist to select a theme or genre to explore together through story, creating a personalized residency or workshop to meet the needs of each unique classroom or community.

Speaking Out Collective uses storytelling and story-making to spark the curiosity and imagination of children, educators and communities. Rooted in the arts, we question, create and reimagine narratives.

Details

Program Model: In Class

Art Form: Theatre and Storytelling

Curriculum Connections: Character Education, Community Building, Language Arts, Social Justice, Social-Emotional Learning, World Cultures

Grades: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

Program Requirements: Space to move our bodies and create a stage/audience area in the room.

Instruction Language(s): English

Min. Residency Sessions/Classroom: 3

PLEASE NOTE: Arts for Learning NW has paused its support of all residencies, workshops and performances outside of Right Brain Initiative contracts. We encourage you to work directly with the teaching artists. If you're interested in being connected directly with this artist, please email [email protected] with your request and we'll forward your message.

Speaking Out Collective

About the Artist

Speaking Out Collective

Tessa Flynn Henderson (she/hers) is a teaching artist and performer with a Master's in Literacy Education and for twenty years has utilized theatre arts and storytelling in Prek-12 public school classrooms and community spaces. She uses storytelling games, oral storytelling, theatre arts, simple puppet-making, and creative writing to engage learners in telling stories from their own imagination, rewriting familiar fairy tales and fables, and reimagining the world around us. Tessa believes that by creating a culture of storytelling in our classrooms through these playful strategies, students begin to see themselves as capable, confident tellers of their own stories beyond the walls of our schools.

"Tessa has a way of bringing out my students' authentic selves through play. After her residency they are more confident using their own voice, whether that's speaking in front of the class, writing their own stories, or asking a question during our lite…

Learn More about Speaking Out Collective

Program Costs

Program costs are based on a variety of different factors including number of sessions, planning hours needed and material costs. Please contact Arts for Learning NW for help determining the actual cost of your programs. Email us at [email protected] or call 503-225-5900, ext 705

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