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T3 Programs

The Teaching Through Theater workshops utilize dramatic activities in the classroom to teach lessons throughout the elementary and middle school curricula. In our T3 programming, dramatic activities serve as educational tools to teach across the curriculum. In addition, by utilizing drama in the classroom, we are able to explore various styles of teaching—enabling us to reach a variety of diverse learners.

In these interdisciplinary programs, teaching artists develop dramatic situations based on topics pre-selected by the classroom teachers. The students and teachers explore these issues, events and relationships using elements of theater—such as taking on roles of characters in these circumstances and reenacting situations based on historical events and places. The T3 programs enhance students’ understanding and comprehension of curriculum topics by developing their personal connection to these topics through active learning.

Each T3 program is a five-day lesson, in which First Stage teaching artists visit the classroom twice during the week. Classroom teachers are supplied with comprehensive lesson plans to continue the learning experience in between the teaching artists’ visit.

The fee for this program is $350 for the first classroom of a particular grade level, $250 for each subsequent classroom of the same grade level and program content. The fee for development of a new T3 Program is $500.

Bringing the program to your school

The T3 Programs that are available for you to book at your school include:

Letter Detectives (Gr. 4K-1)
Students become detectives in this mystery of the lost letters as they discover specific letters missing from words in all the picture books throughout the classroom. Students work together to sound out letters, discover words that rhyme, and eventually put the words in the books back together.

Bully Ban (Gr. K-8)
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Frog and Toad (Gr. 1-2)
Using story drama the teaching artists will guide students through an exploration of friendship, theater and the elements of story.

Our Stellar Solar System (Gr. 1-3)
Come along on a supersonic adventure through the Earth's solar system, as students actively learn new and exciting information about space travel, the planets, the sun and meteors. By journeying through the solar system, students will discover how the Earth differs from other planets and the elements that make each planet unique.

Differences (Gr. 2-3)
Students experience the importance of accepting differences in others through the use of creative drama connected to the book Zink the Zebra and an ancient myth from the Philippines about how the first monkeys came to be.

The Oregon Trail (Gr. 3-4)
Working in family groups, students plan their journey and then set off on the trail. In order to survive they must work together to solve the many problems that arise as they travel.

Invention Convention (Gr. 3-5)
Students become fantastic inventors from around the world. They are asked to convene in order to aid in the development of a museum of invention. Suddenly a mystery ensues and they must learn how to apply simple physics in order to solve the dilemma!

Journey to the Center of the Earth (Gr. 3-4)
Students participate in a dramatic journey to the center of the earth. Along the way they must work together to solve problems including the identification of the various layers of the earth and it's corresponding types of rocks and minerals.

Life of the Lumberjack (Gr. 4-5)
Explore Wisconsin history as you travel back in time to experience life in a turn of the century lumber camp.

Immigration (Gr. 4-5)
Students explore immigration through dramatic role playing--from the reasons people left their homes behind to their travels in steerage, from the dreams of America to their arrival at Ellis Island.

Communication (Gr. 4-5)
Cast as experts in communication, the students travel through time to witness and participate in important events in the history of communication including Early Man, Ancient Egypt, the Romans, the Pony Express, Radio Drama, and a visit with Thomas Edison.
Super Creative Writing! (Gr. 3-5)
Students will create and become their own Super Heroes, all while exploring adjectives, verbs, prepositions and other rules of grammar, along with different writing styles in this action-packed workshop! Students will devise and play out adventures of protagonist heroes and antagonist villians and write their own Super Hero comic adventures!

Colonial America (Gr. 5-6)
Life in the colonies wasn't easy, especially with the rumblings of a revolution beginning.

The Civil Rights Movement in the U.S. (Gr. 6-8)
Students will explore Rosa Parks and the Bus Boycott, the Brown vs. Board of Education decision, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech, along with additional events and influential people involved in the Civil Rights Movement in the U.S. Students will have the opportunity to learn about and develop a deeper understanding of this important time in history through role play, debate, hot-seating, and other dramatic activities.

Purely Poetry (Gr. 6-8)
Through activities involving music, movement, visual art and dramatic devising, students will explore a multitude of styles of poetry, from rhyming verse to free verse, while looking at some of the great poets of our time. Students will make interpretations, create their own poetry, and develop a personal connection to this artistic style of writing.

Einstein (Gr. 6-8)
Participants explore the world of scientific discovery with special emphasis placed on the ideas and theories set forth by Albert Einstein. Students follow a history of physics, from Galileo through Sir Isaac Newton, and finally to Einstein's role in the creation to the atom bomb.

Design Your Own T3 Program
The First Stage Education Staff can also work with you to customize a T3 program for your school. If you have a unit in your curriculum that you are interested in adding some more "life" to, consider having a conversation with the creative staff of First Stage Children's Theater to discover just how much we can bring to you and your students. The fee for the development of a new T3 program is $500. Please call for more information.

To Book a T3 Program
To book a T3 from either from the menu listed above or to talk about designing you own program, please contact the Education Department at (414) 267-2970 or workshops@firststage.org.


Photo by Maureen Hartjes
Copyright 2006 First Stage Children's Theater. All rights reserved.