Early childhood classrooms are conducive to creative, dramatic play. Props, sets and even costumes are frequently available for children to use as they pretend to be someone, something or somewhere else. The stART smART Network Drama program imparts facilitation and activity-planning techniques to teachers so they can guide children's creative play to achieve a specific learning purpose, and teach children about drama itself in the process.

Participating teachers learn to create and lead developmentally appropriate lessons and activities that build children's following drama skills:

• Demonstrating simple character actions and/or traits using body and voice
• Demonstrating character feelings using body and voice
• Contributing ideas and offering suggestions that help build the dramatic context
• Transitioning between real and pretend
• Using pantomime to build fictional environment
• Understanding and using vocabulary words that pertain both to story content and dramatic terminology such as character, pretend, setting and drama
• Recalling drama elements such as character names, setting, basic plot points

Pilot Location
New York, New York

Olivia Saves the Circus

by Ian Falconer

by Ellen Stoll Walsh

Participants
Early Childhood Drama Specialist:
Karina Naumer Creative Arts Team-City University ( New York , NY )

Project Administrators:
Karina Naumer Creative Arts Team, City University New York ( New York , NY )
Andrea Dishy Creative Arts Team, City University New York ( New York , NY )

Teaching Artists:
Steve Elm
Helen Wheelock

Teachers:
Virginia Benzinger, St. Fidelis School ( College Point , NY )
Elaine Durba, St. Fidelis School ( College Point , NY )
Carole Henry, Children's Aid Society-Frederick Douglass Center ( New York , NY )
Tamarah John, Community and Family Head Start (Far Rockaway, NY)
Betty Miguel, St. Catharine of Alexandria School ( Brooklyn , NY )
Celeste Nobile, St. Catharine of Alexandria School ( Brooklyn , NY )
Serena Williams, Community and Family Head Start (Far Rockaway, NY)

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