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I’ve always loved teaching theater, but what I love even more is using theater to teach everything else. Whether students are writing a monologue, creating a tableau, or improvising a scene, theater has a way of unlocking creativity and deepening understanding. We teach that every story needs characters, setting, and action. Those same story elements become a natural entry point for teaching theater, because you simply can’t teach theater without teaching story. Start With Story: The Picture Game One of my favorite ways to reinforce story elements is through the Picture Game, a fast-paced tableau activity that works beautifully in any classroom. Five students line up in front of the class. One at a time, they step forward, say “I am a…,” and create a frozen picture with their body. By the end, the group has built a complete image that includes character, setting, and action. It’s quick, it’s collaborative, and it requires real listening. And here’s the part teachers sometimes forget: let them fail. The arts thrive on trial and error. When the first few groups struggle, have them restart. That moment of “try again” is where the learning really happens. This simple game reinforces story structure while giving students a chance to be bold and imaginative. Theater Games Teach Life Skills Theater games may look like pure fun, but they teach essential life skills: listening, focus, creativity, and cooperation. These skills can be taught, practiced, and assessed through structured play. One of the most important habits you can build is the ritual of the warm-up. Warm-ups teach skills, create ensemble, and build trust. I like to start by getting the class into a circle. It doesn’t matter how big or small your space is; a circle always works. My students head to the perimeter of the room and sign our contract, based on Sean Layne’s Actors Tools. Then we play a circle game like Pass the Clap or Zip Zap Zop for older students. Build Trust - Begin With the Mirror Game Once students are warmed up, I love moving into the Mirror Game, a theater classic. Partners face each other, and one leads while the other follows. It teaches cooperation, confidence, eye contact, and the balance between leading and following. I always connect these skills back to the classroom. How do we show we’re listening? By watching. How do we follow directions? How do we work as a team? Sometimes you lead and sometimes you follow, and both roles matter. Add Give and Take After mirroring, I introduce Give and Take, which is really just taking turns with intention. One person moves while the other stays frozen, and then they switch. You can also use this structure with words during pair-share activities. Pair-share is one of my favorite tools because it can be a warm-up, a brain break, or a purposeful moment for students to talk and think. Try “Makes Me Think Of” One of my go-to pair-share games is Makes Me Think Of. One student says a word, and the partner responds, “That makes me think of…” and adds a new idea. They go back and forth, building connections and stretching their thinking. It’s simple, energizing, and fantastic for vocabulary development. Teach Verbs and Adverbs With “Yes, Let’s!” Another wonderful game to integrate into academic content is Yes, Let’s, a classic improvisation activity that’s perfect for teaching verbs and adverbs. One student suggests an action, like “Let’s jump,” and the whole group enthusiastically responds, “Yes, let’s,” and performs the action. Once they understand the rhythm, you can layer in adverbs. “Let’s march slowly.” Teacher Tip: perform this in a circle and once the action is introduced, give a countdown at the end of each action so everyone freezes together and is ready for the next suggestion. Small Steps, Big Impact These activities are just the beginning. Small, simple steps like warm-ups, tableau, and pair-share games can have a big impact on student engagement, confidence, and understanding. Theater doesn’t have to be a separate subject. It can be woven into everything you already do. And once you start, you’ll see just how naturally it fits.
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At J Paul Truluck Creative Arts and Science Magnet School, we believe that learning is more meaningful when students are encouraged to make cross-disciplinary connections. My Physical Education students regularly engage in Arts Integration with their PE content. Most recently, I challenged my students to use the creativity of the visual arts and the energy of volleyball to create artwork that demonstrated both. The task was simple: students were asked to create an original piece of art featuring volleyball as the subject, using any artistic style of their choosing. I front-loaded this by exposing the students to numerous pieces of artwork, in different styles, focused on volleyball. The students were free to utilize any art style that they wanted to. Some explored edgy graffiti art designs, others leaned into impressionistic brushwork, while a few captured the essence of volleyball in abstract and contemporary forms. The project didn’t end with the creation of the art itself. We also examined the importance of an artist statement and each student wrote their own, explaining their creative choices, the style they chose, and how their work connects to the sport. These reflections give the viewers a glimpse into their thought processes, allowing the students to take on the roles of athlete, artist, and storyteller. To showcase their efforts, exemplar works were carefully selected and curated into a virtual, interactive art gallery. Visitors can “walk through” the gallery virtually, view the pieces up close, and read each student’s statement in their own words. The gallery highlights the diverse ways students approached the project while also celebrating the powerful link the students created between volleyball and visual expression. Projects like this serve as examples that physical education doesn’t have to be just about physical activity—it can, and should, also be about expression, personal connection, and creativity. By joining together art and athletics, my students learned to see volleyball not only as a sport to be played, but also as a source of inspiration and a subject worthy of artistic expression. My students and I are incredibly proud of the work that they produced, and we invite you to step into our Virtual Volleyball Art Gallery to experience it for yourself. We hope that you enjoy it! When you open the Google Slide Show just click on “Slideshow” on the top right or the “view” tab and then “slideshow”. Once you start the slide show please feel free to click around and see the art (and a couple “Easter Eggs” on the start screen. You can click on the individual art and the student’s name and artist statement will appear. You can then click on the screen to return to the gallery.
 We all get those holiday jitters when there is a holiday break coming up—students and teachers alike. It gets hard to focus and the chaos starts to take over. Movement supports self-regulation, increases oxygen flow, and gives jittery bodies a productive outlet. Instead of fighting it, channel the energy into some quick, fun, low-prep movement activities to boost engagement, strengthen focus, and (hopefully) deepen learning in these last few days. 1.Vocabulary Statues: Play some winter or holiday music and let students move or “float” around the room like snowflakes. Stop the music and show a vocabulary word (have it on a card that you hold up, write it on the board, unhide it on the smart board, etc.). Students must freeze in a statue that represents the word’s meaning. It’s silly, memorable, and academic! 2.Holiday Theme Pantomime: [First, pantomime is telling a story using body language and movement without using your voice.] Pick a topic you’re teaching -theme, plot structure, states of matter, place value, etc. and challenge students to work together to create a 15-20 second pantomime to show the topic related to some holiday theme through movement without words. (Ex. States of matter-build a snowman, then it melts into a puddle of water.) Students can talk while they create, but not when they present. 3. 12 Days of Mystery Moves: (or however many days you have left until your break) Create an advent calendar type display (envelopes in the shape of a tree work great)-it could also be some sort of digital reveal on your smart board. Have a “Mystery Move” to be revealed each day and students do that move first thing in the morning, then periodically as they or you need a quick break throughout the day. You can even have them repeat previous days’ movements a la “12 Days of Christmas” style. Examples: 12 jumping jacks, A silent (tip toe) walk through the snow (around the room and back to their seats), 10 candy cane twists, 5 reindeer kicks…The possibilities are endless, and it can be used repeatedly as needed. 4.Merry Stretch-mas: Play a slow instrumental holiday song (instrumental so they won’t sing along) and lead a 1-minute stretch. Have students stand behind their desks (push chairs in to allow a little more room). Lead a slow, full-body stretch, holding each stretch for 5-8 seconds. Reach up to the ceiling, touch toes, shoulder and arm circles forward and back, lunge stretch (front leg bent and back leg straight then reach for toes, repeat on both legs), torso twists (stand with feet slightly wider than shoulders, hold arms out straight at shoulder height, twist to right wrapping arms around torso and look over right shoulder without moving feet, repeat on left; you can also reach right hand down to left foot and reach left arm straight up, then repeat that on the other side as well). 5.Merry Math Human Number Line: Turn the hallway into a giant number line. Students solve problems and move to the correct spot. You can step it up a bit by using comparison problems, fractions, integers, or place value. In other subjects, you can order events in the plot of a story or put historical events in order on a human timeline. Bonus Simple Solutions:
Don’t dread December. It doesn’t have to feel like a marathon sprint to winter break. Use creativity and movement to help your classroom become festive, focused, and fun. Embrace the wiggly energy—it’s part of the magic of the season! 
 I became a Cool Teacher! I found a unique way that connected me with students and it is still paying off today. I am a teacher with 25 years of professional teaching experience in the visual arts, but it was not my skills in teaching art that truly connected me with my students. It was when I shared my hobby with them that I was more relatable. I shared that I was a teacher who played the video games they played. I did not just start talking about video games while teaching my content area, even though video games are visual art. It happened organically. You see, during the brief activity called “Good Things,” a component of the Capturing Kids Heart system, I would ask my students to share any personal good news they had with the class. However, I observed that most students were unwilling to talk and share their experiences. So, to demonstrate that good things can be an acknowledgement of something simple but positive in one’s life, I sometimes broke the ice and shared my own good things, which, at that time, involved news about popular video games. The effect was students in the class who related to video games began to open up and share their good things about video games, and other students began to share about things that were good and positive in their lives. However, my story does not end there. Encouraged by the students’ reception to the good things I would share with them about video games, I got the idea of starting an Esports club/program at the school, and with interested students made it happen. Esports are video games played in a highly organized competitive environment. These games can range from popular, team-oriented multiplayer online battle arenas to single player first person shooters, to survival battle royales, to virtual reconstructions of physical sports. Since its inception, the Esports club/program at Fort Dorchester High school maintains membership of twenty plus students each semester. Each semester, participating students sign up and represent the school in online and in-person Esports competitions against other high schools. Recently, a graduating student who had been a participating member in Esports at Fort Dorchester High school was awarded an Esports scholarship at the college of her choice, and in May of this year I was awarded Cool School teacher, an award given by WCBD News 2, Charleston's NBC affiliate. The award recognizes schools in the Charleston area that are excelling in innovation, among other things. Taking a moment to connect with my students changed the way I was perceived by my students and, eventually, the way they perceive themselves. Being a Cool Teacher is more than just a title. It is how I live and breathe into my students.
DonorsChoose, founded over 20 years ago by Charles Best-a NYC Public School teacher now turned CEO, has been a fuel source for classroom teachers successfully funding 85% of projects created since it’s inception in 2000. Multitudes of classroom projects spanning from flexible seating for your average Joe’s ELA classroom to replacing an entire high school drum have been fulfilled thanks to the widely-known crowdfunding source. Teachers and students alike have acquired resources beyond their wildest dreams thanks to the generosity of community members, family and friends, and benevolent donors across the globe. Why, just 26 years later, have we forgotten about this amazing funding source in such a short amount of time? The easy answer? Out of sight- out of mind. Let’s revive an interest in this amazing alternative to spirit nights at your local fast food joint, loyalty punch cards, and car washes with some exceptional project ideas donors can’t ignore! Teachers work hard, and let’s face it- sometimes spend our own funds on our own classroom needs because our students need us to in order to learn best. The truth is, the community wants to help us do what’s best for our youth but just doesn’t know how. Let’s let them in! Let’s lean in to the generosity of our community locally and globally and be courageous enough to ask for our needs. The key to capturing your audience’s attention? Be authentic and take a proactive approach! Here’s some tips for successfully, and quickly, funding your project! Time Your Project Launch and Identify Targeted Donors.
Just like any other funding platform, there’s a science to it! The great thing about science is there’s a method to the madness. These helpful tips are proven to help you develop your own method for successful fundraising on the DonorsChoose platform. With the right timing, story, and strategy, your DonorsChoose project won’t just get funded—it will inspire a wave of generosity that transforms your classroom dreams into reality.
Arts education is an essential component of a well-rounded K–12 curriculum. Beyond fostering creativity, it nurtures critical thinking, problem-solving, collaboration, and communication skills that are vital for success in the 21st century. Whether it’s visual art, music, theater, or dance, the arts provide students with meaningful ways to express themselves, explore diverse perspectives, and build confidence. Research consistently shows that students involved in the arts perform better academically, are more engaged in school, and have improved social-emotional outcomes. Despite these benefits, arts programs are often among the first to face budget cuts. This is where teacher advocacy becomes crucial. As educators, we have a unique opportunity and responsibility to speak up for the value of the arts. Advocacy can take many forms: presenting data to school leaders, sharing student success stories, collaborating with core subject teachers to integrate the arts, and inviting community stakeholders to student exhibitions or performances. These efforts highlight the impact of arts education and help stakeholders see it as an essential part of student development.Teachers can also empower students to become advocates by involving them in community art projects, public showcases, and discussions about how the arts connect to real-world issues. By doing so, we amplify student voices and demonstrate the value of creative education. Ultimately, advocating for the arts means advocating for equity, access, and opportunity for all learners. When we stand up for arts education, we affirm that every student deserves the chance to discover their creative potential and thrive.
 Charleston Stage’s Out of the Box initiative is transforming school-based education across South Carolina—bringing theater, creativity, and curriculum-aligned performance directly into classrooms. Its mission is simple yet powerful: to support student learning through arts‑integrated storytelling, movement, music, visual arts, and theatre. At Charleston Stage, we believe every classroom can be a stage—and every student can be a storyteller. Our Out of the Box program puts the power of theatre directly into the hands of classroom teachers, providing high-quality, curriculum-based arts experiences through easy-to-use teaching kits. Designed with flexibility and creativity in mind, each Out of the Box kit includes lesson plans, scripts, video tutorials, and interactive activities that integrate theatre into subjects like history, language arts, financial literacy, and STEAM. These kits are tailored for K–8 classrooms and align with South Carolina state education standards, making it simple for teachers to incorporate the arts into everyday instruction—no previous theatre experience required. Across the state, educators are using Out of the Box kits to bring academic content to life. Whether it’s exploring habitats through storytelling, learning about historical figures through dramatic reenactments, or reinforcing reading comprehension with performance-based activities, these kits transform passive learning into active engagement. Each unit includes everything a teacher needs to guide their students through a collaborative and creative learning journey. The goal is not just to teach theatre—it’s to teach through theatre. By inviting students to act, move, create, and reflect, Out of the Box supports deeper understanding and helps build essential skills like empathy, communication, and teamwork. It also empowers teachers with new tools to reach a wide range of learners, especially those who thrive with hands-on or movement-based instruction. Teachers across South Carolina have embraced these kits as a dynamic way to enhance their curriculum. The resources are designed to be plug-and-play, making it easy to adapt lessons to fit class schedules, subject areas, and student needs. Some schools use Out of the Box for enrichment or arts integration days, while others weave it into weekly classroom routines. Charleston Stage is proud to support educators with resources that make learning fun, meaningful, and memorable. As we continue expanding access to Out of the Box kits throughout South Carolina, we remain committed to building creative confidence in students—and providing teachers with powerful tools to inspire the next generation of thinkers, leaders, and artists. To learn more about how to bring Out of the Box into your school, visit our website! AuthorRylee Coppel (she/her/hers) is Charleston Stage's Director of Education and Engagement. Rylee is originally from Pennsylvania, but arrived in Charleston through New Jersey. Rylee has a Bachelor's in Vocal Performance from Ramapo College of NJ and a Master's in Integrated Arts and Education from the University of Montana, and over 15 years of experience teaching voice, music, theatre, and dance.  As a parent, educator, or anyone who cares about kids’ well-being, you’ve probably noticed how many children are struggling emotionally these days. The mental health crisis isn’t just a headline—it’s real, and it’s showing up in classrooms, at home, and in everyday interactions. But a recent study at the Medical University of South Carolina offered a refreshing, hopeful approach: group art therapy delivered directly in schools. This isn’t therapy as we typically think of it. There are no couches or long waits for appointments. Instead, it’s a 7-week program* where students come together during the school day with a certified art therapist to process their internal landscape through art—something most kids naturally gravitate toward. In the first year of the initiative, 280 elementary students participated, and the results were powerful. The children showed noticeable improvements in their emotional well-being, especially those who had internal struggles like anxiety or sadness. On average, symptoms dropped by nearly two points, which is significant in clinical terms. What stood out even more was that every child finished the program, and nearly every parent and teacher wanted it to continue. Kids had a safe space to express themselves, and parents felt relief knowing their child was getting support—without jumping through insurance or referral hoops. This model makes these services affordable and scalable. But more importantly, it meets kids where they are. In a world where so many barriers stand between families and mental health care, this model feels not only smart—it feels right. To see how art therapy can be implemented in your school or learn more about the Creative Arts Therapy Initiative (CATI) contact MUSC Arts in Healing at [email protected]. *Notes: Since the article, the program has expanded to 10-weeks and has impacted over 1,500 students. Source: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/389751837_Addressing_Gaps_in_Pediatric_Mental_H ealthcare_by_Removing_Barriers_A_School-Based_Integrated_Model_for_Group_Art_Therapy AuthorMichelle Robinson is the program manager for Arts in Healing the Medical University of South Carolina. Follow the program on socials @muscarts!  Are your students wiggly? Are they full of energy? Are you ready to pull out your hair? Try these easy dance activities to help diffuse some of the energy your students are exhibiting. I am Cyndi Waddell and I have been teaching dance education in SC for 30 years. I feel your pain and understand that this time of year is stressful, to say the least. I have developed some easy to implement dance activities to use up some of the energy found in every classroom right now. All activities can be used on multiple days by increasing the difficulty. In each activity feel free to add more or less locomotor skills, create patterns with the skills, increase or decrease the speed at which you call out the skills. Not only will these activities get the wiggles out, but increase focus and stamina. First and foremost, set some parameters for the dance activities. One of the main reasons dance activities fail is lack of clear expectations. Just like you manage student work and behavior during a lesson for the classroom, you must do so for movement and energy levels during dance, as well. Managing movement takes observation and immediate feedback for positive and negative behavior. Do not be afraid to have someone sit out of an activity to observe specific classmates who are moving safely and reflect on how to move appropriately while dancing. The reflection spot is a wonderful motivator since most students really want to move. Your expectations should specify that energy levels should be at a 4-5 on a 10 point scale. Discuss appropriate energy levels for inside vs. outside. This discussion should include expectations for appropriate noise levels, as well. Now, for the fun stuff. Try out Level Up Rock, Paper, Scissors (RPS). Level one is a round of RPS with the teacher vs. the class. As students lose, they sit down until all are beaten. Level two is similar to level one, but instead of sitting down when out, students “blurt” out a locomotor skill and everyone in the class does that skill. You determine when you want a round to end by saying “Ready, Set, and Freeze”. Then, you can begin RPS again and have new students “blurt” out skills. I will list locomotor skills at the end of this post. Level 3 involves partner work. Students pair up and play RPS while a piece of music plays. The loser chooses the locomotor skill that both partners will perform in space. Students will play multiple times until the song ends. These activities work well for students in Kindergarten - 4th/5th grade. Another fun activity is The Birthday Game. You will be using locomotor skills again in this movement game. Call out a month in the year. Students who have a birthday during the chosen month stand up and choose a locomotor skill that everyone will perform. Play some music and let all students move around in the space performing the chosen skill. If there are more than one person with a birthday in a month, use this opportunity to make a pattern with several locomotor skills. Eventually, your students will be able to choose from several different designated skills and make a pattern themselves. Play until you have gone through all of the months of the year. This activity works well for Kindergarten - 4th/5th grade. You can make this activity more or less challenging by increasing the number of skills chosen and whether patterns are designed by you or the students. Finally, Freeze Dance is a winner every time. I have added several things to make this activity more challenging. Instead of just freezing when the music stops, I have students sit down. The last one seated is out. I usually play multiple rounds and don’t get students out so they have a chance to get some energy out. Eventually, I get students out and quickly complete the game so students can start moving again.This activity is appropriate for all ages. With older students, I would challenge them to complete multiple tasks before I stop the music, eg., before I stop the music, alternate hopping on one foot 4 times each, jump across the room, gallop and alternate the lead foot 4 times. If you have some shy movers, let them create the challenges reminding them that safety is first and foremost in this activity. The possibilities for dance in the classroom are endless as long as clear expectations are set prior to the activities. I have years of fun and engaging activities to share, whether it be a simple movement activity or a fully planned dance integration lesson. I would love to share my knowledge with you! Feel free to reach out via phone or email and happy dancing! Cyndi Waddell [email protected] AuthorCyndi Waddell is a native South Carolinian and graduated from Columbia College in 1986 with a Bachelor of Arts degree and a major in Dance. She also holds a Master of Education degree from Converse College. After graduation she danced professionally in Cleveland, Ohio and New York throughout the late 1980’s. After returning to South Carolina in 1990, she began teaching dance education in the public schools and currently is the dance specialist at Stone Academy of Communication Arts in Greenville County. In the course of her career she has supported arts education through service on the writing committee for the South Carolina Dance Standards, as the President of the South Carolina Dance Association, as South Carolina Dance Educator of the Year, as a grant reader for the South Carolina Arts CommissionSouth Carolina Department of Education and as a participant and facilitator for the Curriculum Leadership Institute in the Arts and the South Carolina Arts Leadership for Success Academy, and as a member on the National Dance Education Organization’s Mentorship Committee.
its pathways are overgrown with all the knowledge you have to have already acquired just to figure out in which direction the road goes. You can get lost in Poetry. And, in fact, Poetry is designed to lose you. As Marianne Moore—the famously thorny and difficult poet of American Modernism—says in her poem “Poetry,”: “I too, dislike it: there are things that are important beyond all this fiddle.” Poetry, says the dominant culture all of our students have grown up in, is not for you. Or: Poetry is not for you. It’s hard to tell which is worse. Even the students who think they might be poets are suspicious of the word Poetry. “I just like to write what I feel,” they say. They shrug. They dismiss Poetry in favor of…what?...not the poem (they haven’t met the poem, yet) but maybe the act of writing. Of making the shape of the word that gets the feeling out of their body and onto the page. Many students when they first come into my class tell me that writing a poem is a kind of therapy for them. “I take everything I’m feeling and put it on the page,” they say. “Ok, yeah,” I answer, “and then, just like in therapy, all your feelings make more sense, right?” They blink at me at this point, because the answer to that question is no, of course. After art, we do not feel better so much as we feel more. Ok, but so, here’s the point: as Marianne Moore (who was also famously tongue-in-cheek, was a huge baseball fan, wore unironic tri-cornered hats and suggested naming the new Ford Edsel the Utopian Turtletop, The Anticipator, The Intelligent Whale) goes on to say in “Poetry”— “if you demand on the one hand, in defiance of their opinion—/the raw material of poetry in/ all its rawness, and/ that which is on the other hand,/ genuine, then you are interested in poetry.” The they Moore refers to here—the “half poets,” “autocrats,” and “literalists of the imagination”—are everyone who would tell you what Poetry is, rather than just show you a poem. So, that’s where we start; I show my students a poem. Usually a short poem. Something concrete about bats or geese or getting lost and then seeing the moon. Sometimes the poem even rhymes, but most of the time it doesn’t. Rhymes don’t matter when you can speak rhythm out loud. That’s what we do. We read it out loud. “Oh,” they say, “yeah, I know what that is, my teacher in third grade, or my mother at bedtime, or my granddad when he can’t get the car started and we have to wait for the tow truck, used to say something like that to me.” And that’s it. What they recognize is something they used to do to while away the time after recess or before bed when there was nothing more to accomplish than the practice of being human. They recognize something that came to them when they were most themselves and made them more. The antidote to Poetry is the poem. A child knows a poem with their knees and elbows. They know a poem with their earlobes and with the way it makes them wiggle or want to look out the window and see if they can spot some more. Our job as educators is to help them recognize what it is they already see and give them the vocabulary to describe it. Look, there! A wild poem—let us observe its habits; let us speak about its dappled skin. What does it eat? How does it go? When it lies down to sleep what dreams fill its head and why are they so very much like our own? A real toad in an imaginary garden, as Marianne Moore would call it. Let’s all spill out into the sunshine and see if we can mimic how it hops. AuthorSarah Blackman is a poet, fiction and creative non-fiction author originally from the Washington D.C. area. She graduated from Washington College, summa cum laude, with a BA in English, minor Creative Writing, and earned her MFA from the University of Alabama in 2007 with a primary concentration in fiction and a secondary concentration in poetry. Her poetry and prose has been published in a number of journals and magazines, including The Georgia Review, Denver Quarterly, Crazyhorse, and American Poetry Review among others. Blackman is the co-fiction editor of DIAGRAM, the fiction editor of Cherry Tree and the founding editor of Crashtest, an online magazine for high school age writers which she edits alongside the students at the Fine Arts Center. Additionally, she is a fiction reviewer for Kirkus. Her story collection Mother Box was the winner of the 2012 Ronald Sukenick/American Book Review Innovative Fiction Prize and was published by FC2 in 2013. Her novel, Hex, was published by the same press in April, 2016. In 2018 she joined the board of FC2 and in 2020 she was awarded a South Carolina Humanities Individual Artist Fellowship. She is represented by the Wylie Agency. |
Arts Chat: Weaving the Threads of Arts in Education is a monthly blog that features insights on arts education from educators from across South Carolina! Interested in contributing a blog on your area of expertise? Check out the link below!
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