Eleanor and Teddy Roosevelt

Musical plays have been a passion of mine since the beginning of my teaching career. In fact, when I was in graduate school, my masters thesis was centered on the importance of musical plays in elementary school classrooms. Team building, language acquisition, critical thinking, public speaking, creativity, and more are skills involved in the production of a musical play. Each year I look forward to producing a musical play with the kindergarten class. Our play this year is adapted from a book we used during Swooper Citizens….we will unveil more information soon!

Last week, the Lower School was treated to a musical play performance by the third graders as part of a unit of study. First, the class researched an famous inventor, Walt Disney. In addition to traditional research, the third grade class also took a field trip to Disneyland to learn more about Walt’s life accomplishments. They then became inventors themselves, engineering something to use at home that will make their lives easier. The culminating activity for this unit was a performance of the musical play, Greatest Americans of the Twentieth Century. Through this play, we learned about Americans who made notable contributions to our country.  Included in this were the Wright Brothers, Rosa Parks, Albert Einstein, Eleanor Roosevelt, Babe Ruth, and many more. Here are a few videos from this educational and entertaining performance:

It was definitely fun to see the third graders personalities shine through!

Not only do musical plays provide students with opportunities for team building and expressive interactions, but students internalize and remember history, in this case, through active learning. Musical plays help students take their learning to the next level! Well done third graders and Mrs. Green!