The arts can be used in a variety of ways to enhance the classroom experience for students in all grades. PGT offers a wide-range of possibilities for bringing the performing arts into the classroom.

Some residencies are completed in one visit: a third grade class at the Solomon Schechter School was completing a unit on advertising and the power of words. Our Teaching Artist spent two hours with these students, helping them create and film their own commercials. This was a wonderful, hands-on culmination to their studies – and the students had a blast watching themselves on TV!

Other residencies are ongoing: a sixth grade class at the Eastview Middle School did a 16 week unit, led by a PGT Teaching Artist, on playwriting. The teaching artist came to the classroom twice a week, for 16 weeks and led the students through the entire process of writing a play. They learned the skills of playwriting from finding an idea to creating characters to writing stage directions, to building an interesting plot. The residency culminated in a staged reading of the plays the students had written. These students got such a thrill from seeing their own plays performed by PGT’s young actors!

PGT’s Teaching Artists work side-by-side with the classroom teacher, to assure that the class’ needs are met, and the teacher’s vision is fulfilled. Residencies can be designed to fit a variety of thematic subjects as well as the books the class is reading. Any discipline of the performing arts can be brought into the classroom, including movement, improvisation, storytelling, theatre styles, puppetry, masks, theatre history, playwriting, on-camera, music and more.

Schools that have had a PGT Teaching Artist in Residence include:

• Eastview Middle School
• Fox Meadow
• Quaker Ridge
• The Solomon Schechter School

If you are interested in arranging a residency at your school, please contact Rachael Longo, Outreach Coordinator at rachael@playgroup.org.