Tons of teachers are getting in touch to ask how they can use our materials during school closures. It is wonderful to see how many folks are mindful of copyright issues! in this post, we'll recap what's allowed and share some ideas for how to use our plays.
- YES, you may share the script and audio recording with students during school closures. Please upload them only to password-protected sites like Google classroom, never to the public Internet.
- YES, you may do Zoom performances, turn our plays into videos or radio shows, or do anything you want with our materials during this time. If our plays can continue to be part of your school year, we say go for it! Teachers are sharing ideas in this Facebook post.
- As with many other businesses, our sales since March have been down around 95%. We are determined to stay alive, but if you can afford it, help out a small business and stock up! ;) Gift certificates are also available. You can buy stuff here.
But you may not want to produce a whole play. Maybe you have technical limitations, maybe you never got to introduce the play to your class before all this happened, maybe it's just...way too much. Well, no problem! Here are some other ideas for incorporating our plays (or songs) into your distance learning curriculum:
- Simply have the kids listen to the music at home for enrichment, dance practice, singing practice, or fun.
- Play the music during a videoconferencing and have kids dance/sing along.
- Practice fluency and expression by using the play for Reader's Theater during a videoconferencing session.
- Have kids write new lyrics to a song (either on the same topic or a different one) and record themselves performing it.
- Have students look up unfamiliar vocabulary words from the script.
- Have students research a historical person or event mentioned in the script.
- Visit our YouTube channel and find clips of the show you are working on. Ask students what they liked about other schools' performances and what they would do differently. (And send us links to other performances if you do not see them in our playlist!)
- Have students re-write a scene from the play or write an extra scene.
- Have students create costumes, props, backdrops, or choreography from home, either for use in a recorded performance or just for fun.
- If family members are available, have students record a scene from the play with their parents/siblings/etc.
- For those who were further into their play practice, have kids discuss the differences between live theater and recorded performances. What would have to be done differently to convert a play into a recording (even if you don't actually do it)?
We'll keep adding to this list, so please share your own great ideas! You can add a comment below this post, contribute to our discussion in this Facebook post, or email us!