Tonight are the Tony Awards, which honors theater professionals for distinguished achievement on Broadway! The Tony Awards are named for Antoinette Perry (1888-1946), an actress, stage director, and philanthropist who was a founder of the American Theatre Wing. She staged the original production of Mary Chase’s comedy Harvey. The awards are given for Broadway productions and performances, plus a Special Tony Award, the Tony Honors for Excellence in Theatre.
Here are some ways to incorporate theater and performances into the classroom:
- Listening to a story is fun, especially a Mother Goose story like “The Farmer in the Dell” and “Little Miss Muffet”. Add even more fun by acting out the story after reading it. Work together to create a script and make costumes and props. Then invite others to watch and hear your story!
- The middle school theater teacher in this article from Voices from the Middle discusses the importance of arts programs for middle schoolers and provides some concrete suggestions for adding theater to any curriculum in any discipline.
- Learn from other teachers what playwright (other than Shakespeare) has been especially effective with students.
- After taking a virtual tour of the Globe Theater in Elizabethan London, this lesson plan guides students to compare attending a performance at the Globe to attending a current professional production (such as a play on Broadway) or to viewing a movie at a local theater.
Will you be tuning into the Tony Awards? Let us know if they spark any new teaching ideas for you!