Program Overview Bringing Classics To Life is a K-8 supplemental reading program that enables all children, regardless of reading level, to delight in play versions of classic fairy tales, legends, adventure stories, historical events, poems and novels such as Treasure Island, The Prince and the Pauper, A Tale of Two Cities and many more wonderful tales. Classics have a unique educational value. They offer ways for us to understand a complex world. They introduce us to unforgettable characters, compelling plots and fascinating themes that stay with us throughout our lives. They make us fall in love with literature. The plays in this program have been used in over 200 schools across the United States. Designed to be used in whole-classroom settings where every child plays a part in the play, the program can also be used in small- group settings. Even reluctant readers enjoy acting the plays out and become more confident and fluent in their reading skills in the process. Many continue acting out the plays with friends and family at home. The program is aligned to the Common Core standards . Each play has a skills book featuring grade-appropriate Math and ELA exercises that are based in the story the students have just read. There are over 40 plays available for grades K–8, including:
Little Red Hen Mother Goose Rhymes The Gingerbread Man The Lion and the Mouse The Ant and the Grasshopper The Tortoise and the Hare The Boy Who Cried Wolf Johnny Appleseed Harriet Tubman John Henry Cinderella Yeh-Shen (Chinese Cinderella) The Magic Anklet (Indian Cinderella) The Emperor’s New Suit
Sleeping Beauty Jack and the Beanstalk Hansel and Gretel Puss in Boots
Florence Needs a Dome The Snow Queen Casey at the Bat Treasure Island Eleanor of Aquitaine Athens: The Birthplace of Democracy Cleopatra: The Will to Rule
Little Red Riding Hood Beauty and the Beast The Princess and the Pea Molly Malone: An Irish Folk Tale The Golden Touch Scheherazade Robin Hood Marco Polo and the Silk Road Sherlock Holmes and the Red-Headed League The Prince and the Pauper
The Necklace Julius Caesar The Vikings Attack Ireland A Tale of Two Cities The Constitutional Convention The Case of the Missing Diamond
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The Power of the Spoken Word Bringing Classics to Life brings theatre arts into the ELA classroom. The program’s technique accelerates children’s reading development. Through repeated dramatic readings of beloved stories, children strengthen every subskill within literacy: from decoding all the way to literary analysis. The end result goes beyond reading proficiency; it produces a fully literate individual with well-developed analytic, expressive and imaginative skills.
COMPREHENSION
FLUENCY
LITERARY LANGUAGE
COMPLEX SYNTAX
PHRASING
VOCABULARY
PRONUNCIATION
DECODING
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CREATIVITY
A RICH REPERTOIRE OF CLASSIC STORIES
INTERPRETATION/ANALYSIS
THEME
PLOT DEVELOPMENT
TONE
CHARACTER TRAITS
STORY ELEMENTS
EMPHASIS
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K
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5
6–8
FOLK TALES, LEGENDS & MYTHS
PREDICTABLE /POETRY
FAIRY TALES
HISTORICAL FICTION
COMEDY
FABLES
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Building Genre Fluency Through Classic Stories The quality of the stories that children read matter. Through Bringing Classics to Life , children build a rich foundation of classic stories. They encounter a wide range of genres from fables to fairy tales to folk tales to mysteries and more. In an age when many children arrive at school without a knowledge of fairy tales, fables and even Mother Goose rhymes, Bringing Classics to Life helps create a level playing field. These stories build the spirit as well as the mind; evoking wonder, fostering a love of storytelling, and building the imagination. The program ensures that students will read: • Mother Goose rhymes • Fables • Fairy tales from around the world • Folk tales including tall tales and legends • Myths • Classic novels • Mysteries • Short stories • Biographies • Historical dramas A solid foundation in these genres builds confidence and creativity as readers and writers.
CLASSIC NOVELS
SHORT STORY
MYSTERY
TRAGEDY
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OPTION 1
Implementation Models There is more than one way to use Bringing Classroom to Life . Classroom teachers can use the plays with the entire class as a supplemental reading program and fluency builder. Targeted Assistance teachers can use it with small groups of striving readers. The program also works beautifully in academic enrichment settings, including after-school programs, Saturday academy, or summer school. And for teachers with an interest in performance, the program can be used to produce dramatic reading performances or even a fully-dramatized school play. The program’s consultant will provide support in any implementation model that works for the school or teacher.
CLASSROOM READING
How it works: The whole class reads the plays out loud together. Each child gets a ‘character card’ with an illustration of their role. They read each play 3 to 5 times to build fluency, vocabulary and comprehension.
Home-School Connection: Students practice their lines in the play at home, becoming ever-more fluent readers. Our online library provides access to all our plays so that budding dramatists can act them to their heart’s content.
ELA and Math Skills: Each play comes with a
CCSS-aligned ELA and Math Workbook. Teachers can use this to provide extra practice in a wide range of core ELA and Math skills from vocabulary to writing to word problems. It even includes Test Prep practice for state exams. Outcomes: Greater fluency and comprehension; Increased love of reading; Improvement in writing, vocabulary and math word problems.
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OPTION 2
OPTION 3
OPTION 4
PERFORMANCE
EXTENDED DAY
TARGETED ASSISTANCE
How it works: The program is used in After School, Saturday Academy or Summer School as a highly enjoyable way to improve reading skills and expose children to a wide range of stories and genres. Depending on the goals of the program, plays can be read as an end in themselves or performed as full productions or dramatic readings.
How it works: Students read the plays in
Targeted Assistance sessions. Repeated readings help students to consolidate their decoding, pronunciation, vocabulary and comprehension skills. When these students return to their classroom, they read their part in each play with
How it works: Schools perform a play before an audience in a full theatrical production. With the help of a consultant, students learn how to memorize their lines, project their voices and perform on stage. They also learn how to make costumes and props. Home-School Connection: A school play brings the community together. Parents love watching their children perform on stage.
much greater enjoyment, confidence and fluency.
Home-School Connection: Striving readers especially benefit from access to plays at home for extra practice and reading fun. Many striving readers are promising actors and love acting out the plays with siblings and parents at home. Little do they know they are becoming stronger and stronger readers in the process. Outcomes: Stronger impact of Targeted Assistance, consolidation of decoding skills; much greater confidence; a love of reading; interest in reading the stories in the plays in book form; a remarkable increase in enthusiasm for independent reading.
Home-School Connection: Students are free to bring scripts home with them for added practice.
Outcomes: Much stronger verbal skills, practice in following complex procedures; confidence in public speaking; deeper creativity and understanding of a creative process from beginning to end; pride in a job well done.
Outcomes: Stronger reading skills, broader vocabulary, better “story sense”, a love of books, a deeper imagination and greater likelihood of reading classics in their original form.
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Professional Development Bringing the Classics to Life is offered with on-site professional development. We work closely with each school to tailor PD to the school’s instructional priorities. Areas in which we provide professional development include:
PD FOR CLASSROOM INSTRUCTION • Teaching Classic Stories: The Bringing Classics to Life Instructional Model • The Play’s the Thing: Building Fluency through Repeated Reading • Teaching Students to Read Dramatically • From Decoding to Reading with Expression • What is phrasing? Why does it matter? • Teaching features of literary language • Vocabulary • Syntax • Figurative language • Questioning and Discussion Techniques • Teaching Genre and Genre Features
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PD FOR TEST PREP • Using the program for ELA Test Prep • Using the program for Math Test Prep with a focus on word problems
PD FOR TARGETED ASSISTANCE TEACHERS • Applying the program in Targeted Assistance
PD FOR PERFORMANCE • Preparing a Dramatic Reading Performance • Integrating Technology with Bringing Classics to Life • Producing a Full Performance of a Play
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Bringing Classics to Life is located in New York City. We provide on-site professional development to schools in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Bronx, Queens and Staten Island. We provide on-line professional development to schools outside of New York City. Phone: 617 710 8746 Email: contact@lepage-miller.com
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