| |  | |  | | | | Exploring Our Town | |  Program Summary
Seventh- and eighth-grade students explore Thornton Wilder’s classic play Our Town from the perspectives of theater, music, visual art, language arts, and social studies.
| | | | | | | | | | | The Integrated Instruction | | | | | |  | Daniel Klatz, Education Coordinator
Arts integration is part of how we conceive of learning in our school. So we think of the arts as different ways of expressing what kids are learning. The arts teachers and the classroom teachers meet together every week to plan the curriculum so that the kids have an experience where everything is tied together as part of a whole. | | |  |  | Jane Percival, 7th- and 8th-Grade Language Arts Teacher
In language arts, we’re looking at the play as a piece of literature, and as a vehicle for learning more about drama, character development, and plot development. In social studies, they’re learning about the era of the play, which helps them “get into the character’s box,” as Thornton Wilder would say. | | | |  | Lisa Holderness, 7th- and 8th-Grade Social Studies Teacher
Researching the historical context of the play will really give the kids a better sense of the lives and the environment of their characters. It will let them feel more comfortable as they build masks of the characters in art class. | | | |  | Joy Kinigstein, Visual Art Teacher
The students are creating molds of each other’s faces to make masks for a presentation involving Our Town. Mask-making is something that’s particularly interesting at this age because people’s images are changing in adolescence. | | | |  | Milton Hanzel, Resident Musician
The students are listening to a piece by Aaron Copland that was written for the first movie production of Our Town. They are also working on hymns that are consistent with the period of the play. What we’re trying to do is offer the students a way to experience some of what those townspeople experienced. | | | | | | | | |
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