Residencies and Workshops

Exploring Figures from U.S. History through Drama

2009-10-07T02:03:06Z

This residency integrates Theater with Language Arts and Social Studies curricular goals. Students explore dramatically, kinesthetically, and imaginatively the impact of a period in American history on the lives of historical figures. Then they write monologues or letters by key figures that explain their points of view on the events they influenced--for example, the Revolutionary War or the Civil War. They write about the motivation of historical figures, the obstacles they faced, and their hopes for and influences on the future. They work in collaborative groups to create mini-performances from the monologues. Students gain skills and awareness of group dynamics and practice their skills in collaborative creative processes. Finally, students perform their monologues or letters.

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Curricular Connections

English Language Arts 3.01 Respond to fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and drama using interpretive, critical, and evaluative processes by: examining the reasons for characters' actions; identifying and examining characters' motives; making inferences and drawing conclusions about characters, events and themes; Goal 4 The learner will apply strategies and skills to create oral, written, and visual texts. 4.07 Compose fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and drama using self-selected and assigned topics and forms (e.g., personal and imaginative narratives...). 4.09 Produce work that follows the conventions of particular genres (e.g., personal and imaginative narrative...

Theatre Arts: Goal 1 The learner will write based on personal experience and heritage, imagination, literature, and history.

Exploring Figures from North Carolina History through Drama

2009-10-07T02:01:03Z

Students explore dramatically the impact of periods in American history on the lives of historical figures. Then they write monologues or letters by key figures in history that explain their points of view on the events they influenced--for example, the Revolutionary War or the Civil War. Students work in collaborative groups to create performances from the monologues.

]]> Students integrate Theater with Language Arts and Social Studies curricular goals. They write about the motivation of historical figures, the obstacles they faced, and their hopes for and influences on the future. Students gain skills and awareness of group dynamics and practice them in collaborative creative processes. Finally, students perform their monologues or letters.

Curricular Connections

Social Studies 4.05 Identify and assess the role of prominent persons in North Carolina, past and present.

English Language Arts 3.01 Respond to fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and drama using interpretive, critical, and evaluative processes by: examining the reasons for characters' actions; identifying and examining characters' motives; considering a situation or problem from different characters' points of view; making inferences and drawing conclusions about characters, events and themes.... 4 The learner will apply strategies and skills to create oral, written, and visual texts. 4.07 Compose fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and drama using self-selected and assigned topics and forms (e.g., personal and imaginative narratives...). 4.09 Produce work that follows the conventions of particular genres (e.g., personal and imaginative narrative....

Theatre Arts: Goal 1: The learner will write based on personal experience and heritage, imagination, literature, and history.

Mime and Poetry Writing

2009-10-07T01:58:10Z

How can we bring poetry to life? How do we use inferencing to write and interpret poetry? How do we write a poem? This residency is team-taught; Ms. Kerrigan teaches the drama and the classroom teacher teaches the poetry forms such as diamante, quintain, haiku, and free verse. Students engage in dramatic, imaginative activities that provide sensory-kinesthetic experiences that give the impetus to write poems using sensory details, descriptive language, and figures of speech. They practice performing their poems aloud with expression and movement.

]]> Curricular Connections

English Language Arts Reading 3.01 Respond to fiction, nonfiction, poetry, & drama using interpretive, critical & evaluative processes by... considering main character's point of view, participating in creative interpretations... Writing: 4.01 read aloud...; 4.02 Use oral and written language to: present information...; 4.03 Share written and oral products in a variety of ways...; 4.07 Compose a variety of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, & drama...; 4.09 Produce work that follows the conventions of particular genres...

What third grade students said about this residency:

"Mime totally rocks!"

"I learned that using mime and body language helps people to understand our poem better."

"My favorite things were focusing on something to show that it is actually there and how you taught us to see from a different point of view with the robots and puppets."

"Now my inferring skills are much better."

"It was so very fun. Can you try to come to 4th grade next year? Then 5th. ...Do you teach Middle School?"

Communicate! Cooperate! Mime!

2009-10-07T01:47:17Z

This residency emphasizes the communication and collaboration skills inherent in mime and drama. Students, through imaginative movement explorations in pairs and small groups, learn basic skills like: focusing attention on a partner, leading and following and switching from leading and following, working with a partner without bossing, listening, rotating group roles and responsibilities, and practicing positive critiques of the work of their peers. They conceive, develop, and perform their own mime pieces as they are guided through a group collaborative process.

]]> Objectives: Students will:

Know the definition of mime and pantomime;

Be able to clearly communicate imaginary objects, characters, places;

Improve their ability to focus on, listen to, lead, follow, and work with others;

Know strategies for working collaboratively such as: agreeing on guidelines, assigning roles, taking turns, sharing power, and brainstorming in various ways;

Use positive speech when critiquing work; and

Work in groups to create original mime pieces and show them.

Curricular Connections

English Language Arts Gr. 3-5, 4.07 Compose a variety of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and drama selections using self-selected topics and forms....

(Photo by Steve Clarke)

Mime

2009-10-07T01:45:54Z

In this residency, students learn to create invisible objects and imaginary worlds. They work with partners and learn to: focus on a partner, accept a partner's offers, lead and follow. They develop kinesthetic awareness, tune into body language, and non-verbally communicate ideas, characters and feelings. They learn the basics of creative thinking. They explore ideas in groups through improvisation and discussion. They create and perform original mime skits that incorporate their new mime skills.

]]> Objectives: Students will:

Know the definition of mime and pantomime.
Be able to clearly communicate imaginary objects, characters, places, and situations using physical expression.
Collaborate in groups to invent original mime pieces and perform them for their classmates.
Understand and practice appropriate audience etiquette.
Give positive critiques of their peers' work.

Collaborative Creative Processes

2009-10-07T01:43:28Z

This residency leads students through a collaborative creative process from setting group guidelines, choosing an initial idea and gathering material about it to performing their finished piece. They follow a structure for making progress on the piece. They create original performance material by improvising, writing, discussing, researching, and re-writing. They practice positive critiques. They learn about group dynamics and healthy group practices such as equitable power-sharing, trust-building and consensus decision-making. As they progress from a simple idea to a composition in time and space that communicates intellectually, kinesthetically, and emotionally with an audience, they learn the fundamental, liberating truth that they can create their own worlds using their bodies and imaginations. They contact and release the power of their imaginations. People who rely on others to create and perform together learn that they can recreate their lives together.

Exploring Figures from History or Literature through Drama

2009-10-07T01:36:43Z

This residency, geared for students in grades 3-8, integrates Theater with Language Arts and Social Studies curricular goals. Students explore dramatically either the impact of periods in history on the lives of historical figures or the motivations of fictional characters in literature. Then they write monologues or letters from the point of view of key figures in history or fiction that explain their motivation, the obstacles they faced, how they overcame or failed to overcome them, and their hopes for and influences on the future. Students work in collaborative groups to create informal performances using the monologues or letters. Finally, students perform their monologues or letters.

]]> Curricular Connections:

English Language Arts Gr. 3-8 1: The learner will use language to express individual perspectives drawn from personal or related experience.

Theatre Arts Gr. 3-12, 1 The learner will write based on personal experience and heritage, imagination, literature, and history.

Social Studies Gr. 4, 4.05 Identify and assess the role of prominent persons in North Carolina, past and present.

Gr. 5, 4.05 Describe the impact of wars and conflicts on United States citizens....

Gr. 6 4.02 Examine, understand, and evaluate conflicting viewpoints.

4.03 Recognize and analyze values upon which judgments are made.

Gr. 7 4.01 Describe the patterns of and motives for the migrations of people....

Gr. 8 4.04 Evaluate the importance of the roles played by individuals at the state and national levels during the Civil War and Reconstruction Period.

What the Ramsey St. Alternative School (Fayetteville, NC) Seventh Grade Teachers Team said about this Residency:

"We enjoyed working with you and the students had a great time."

Movement for the Actor

2009-10-07T01:35:15Z

Tailor-made for each acting class or performance ensemble, this can be a workshop or residency. It can include body language analysis and practice, kinesthetic awareness and control, mime, image work, safe stage combat, breath and energy work, ensemble building, juggling, improvisation, and individual coaching for actors working on characters in plays.

]]> What the drama teacher at Smith Middle School (Chapel Hill, NC) said about this residency.

"Ms. Kerrigan's residency was very beneficial and enriching for my eighth grade Movement class. It complimented our unit on gesture and made valid in very obvious ways how vital gesture and expression is to movement and choreography. Sheila presented very well and maintained a good rapport with the students. I was impressed with her clarity, humor and thorough approach to the material."

Creating Original Performance

2009-10-07T01:28:10Z

Especially geared for youth-at-risk and reluctant writers, this residency begins with setting guidelines for behavior together. The group brainstorms and discusses hot topics for a performance. Students write short pieces on topics that are important to them in genres that make sense to them. They collaborate on taking their writings from the page to the stage. If all goes according to plan, the residency culminates in a performance conceived and created by the performers about the issues that keep them awake at night and get them out of bed in the morning.

]]> Curricular Connections:

English Language Arts 3.02, Express an informed opinion that: states clearly a personal view, is logical and coherent, engages the reader's interest or curiosity. 3.03 Support that informed opinion by: providing relevant and convincing reasons, using various types of evidence, such as experience or facts, using appropriate and effective language, reasons, and organizational structure for the audience and purpose

What the Director of Partners for Youth (Durham, NC) said about this residency:
"She was able to coordinate performances on topics including suicide, and growing up without a father....I observed students who were reticent in other settings to talk about issues confronting them, openly express their feelings through these productions. It's Sheila's openness and respect for young people which made them willing to share their thoughts and experiences with others."

What the psychologist at Meadowbrook Alternative School (King, NC) said about this residency:

"The response of the students was incredible, in fact much better than we had anticipated. They were involved, worked hard on the project with Ms. Kerrigan. In addition they showed improved attendance and in-class behavior in other classes as well."

Juggling for Beginners

2009-10-06T21:39:14Z

For adults and children age 9 and up, this two-hour juggling workshop features juggling performance pieces that point up the importance of failure as part of learning something new, the value of setting a positive mental attitude to attain success, and the virtue of persistence in achieving goals. Participants learn a basic juggling pattern and some variations, and they learn how to juggle with a friend. This workshop offers a fun way for families to play together and for anyone to improve coordination.

]]> What a beginning juggler said about the workshop:

"After I took my first juggling class and dropped balls and scarves on the floor repeatedly, I was reminded of a simple lesson. Basically, if you try something and fail, just do it again. Before the class, I had the trying part down because I'd try new things all the time. However, I was complaining (like clock work) the whole journey. Yeah, I was getting things done, but by the time I reached my destination I was mentally tired as hell! LOL!! Since that juggling class though, I have curbed a few buckling duffel bags of drama."

What a mother of a 10-year-old said about the juggling workshop:

"Your workshop was so charming. We loved your energy and your message."

(Photo by Kathy Hopwood)

Mime Workshops

2009-10-06T21:35:07Z

Learn mime technique (how to create invisible objects, respond to invisible forces, and endow an imaginary world), physical characterization and improvisation. Discover how working kinesthetically frees up the imagination. Explore how to compose original mime pieces for performance.

What a professor at Lees McRae College said about the mime workshops:

"What great work you got from those students in such a short time frame. Some of them looked like they had been doing it for years!"

Creating a Cooperative Classroom for Learning through Drama in Grades 4-8

2009-10-06T21:30:45Z

Sheila Kerrigan demonstrates how to guide students to move in the classroom safely and with control. She includes techniques that build collaborative learning skills into a classroom norm. Teachers gain an understanding of how to lead movement-based exploration of curricular objectives in their classroom. They take home a guide to leading the activities they take part in during the workshop, including a script. This workshop was developed during a Kennedy Center training.

]]> What a Kennedy Center evaluator said about this workshop:

"Well-planned, fabulous, engaging, with the right touch of humor--you got tired teachers up and excited."

Integrating Theatre Arts, English Language Arts & Social Studies in Grades 4-8

2009-10-06T21:25:05Z

Teachers experience practical methods for using drama and movement to teach Social Studies and English Language Arts curricular content. They choose figures from history or literature and explore them through movement and imagination; they write from the point of view of the characters they choose and create a brief, informal readers' theater presentation. Teachers take home a guide to leading the activities they take part in during the workshop, including a script for leading similar activities in their own classrooms. This workshop was developed through a Kennedy Center training.

]]> What a teacher from Mount Vernon Alternative Middle School (Raleigh, NC) said about the workshop:

"This was the best professional development session we had all year!"

Integrating Your Art with the Standard Course of Studies

2009-10-06T21:20:34Z

Artists who work in school classrooms need to adapt to the current standards-based, testing-intense culture. Teachers don't have time to deviate from their curriculum. In this workshop, teaching artists find natural connections that match what they do in their art workshops to goals and objectives teachers must teach in the core curriculum. They become aware of how they already teach to multiple intelligences. They create a residency plan that speaks to teachers in the language they understand. They experience a fully-integrated, arts-based activity, and construct assessment tools so students and teachers know and can demonstrate what they have learned from the residency.

]]> This workshop originated with the Durham Arts Council (NC) and evolved with my work with the A-Plus Schools Program in NC and MD.

What teaching artists have written about this workshop:

"Excellent workshops! Great planning."

"I learned a great deal of information that I didn't know about school's educational requirement."

"I appreciate your engaging facilitation skills and your continuous focus on the artists' needs."

Body Language and Non-verbal Communication

2009-10-06T21:19:39Z

For students of theater and communication, this workshop breaks down and demonstrates the elements of body language and non-verbal communication. Participants observe and qualify movement in others, learn to bring their unconscious reactions to body language into consciousness, change specific aspects of their own movement and observe how their feelings and thoughts change, create a character by making physical choices, and improvise in character.