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Arts and Education: Teaching life lessons with Drama

Posted at 10:06 AM, Dec 06, 2018
and last updated 2018-12-06 12:06:16-05

MISSOULA – We headed over to Chief Charlo Elementary School for this Arts and Education report where educators are using drama to teach life lessons.

Drama was on full display in one fifth grade classroom when we stopped by, where Teresa Waldorf, an artist with SPARK! Ignite Missoula was teaching reader’s theater.

It’s a type of drama where instead of memorizing their scripts, these kids are reading them, a technique, that allows their brains to work in many different ways.

“They are constantly through repetitions and through looking at their scripts, building fluency, they are building word recognition, they are building reading competencies and they are having fun and using their imaginations,” Waldorf explained.

The class — along with most all SPARK! Ignite Missoula integrated classes — allows kids to learn skills that they will be able to take with them and use well beyond the classroom.

“We are always working on all those life skills as well.  Like learning to cooperate, learning to be a caring team member, learning to take risks in a safe environment, learning to use our imaginations and then ultimately building a sense of self, so that the next time we get up in front of a group, maybe it won’t be so scary.,” Waldorf told MTN News.

Click here to learn more about SPARK! Missoula.