Tamara Griffith
Mattie Kelly Arts Center Field Trip
"The purpose of theatre is to put the audience in a better position to understand the world around them."
~Mark Fortier
Many of my students come to me reading several years below grade level; as a result, many of them often have difficulty accessing grade level texts, causing some students to feel negatively toward reading. In order to help bridge this gap and to better promote a love of literature, I sought to expose my students to a new experience that would make literature come alive for my students. The way that I found was through orchestrating a field trip to see a theatrical performance. While traditional literature and plays differ in format and presentation, they share many of the same literary elements, and the visual nature of the play enhances students' understanding of a story, thereby allowing students to better navigate academic course content.
In organizing this access opportunity for my students, I also considered the fact that none of the middle schools in my district have a theatre and almost none have a theatre group. Moreover, even though the theatre I took my students to was only a 30 minute drive, because most of my students fall below the poverty line and have minimal access to transportation or disposable family income, many of my students may never have gotten the opportunity to see a live performance at a theatre had I not presented them with this opportunity and had they not taken advantage of it and the sponsorships available. So, in addition to the academic benefit of this opportunity, planning a field trip for my students to see a theatre performance exposed many of them to a new genre and experience, which, for some, sparked an interest in theatre arts.
Logistics
During my initial research, I found two theatres to which I could potentially take my students: the Chamber Theatre and the Mattie Kelly Arts Center. Ultimately, I decided not to take my students to the Chamber Theatre because none of the showings aligned to my curriculum. Taking my students to the Mattie Kelly Arts Center was a better option since it is situated on the campus of Northwest Florida State College. I liked the idea of taking my students to the Mattie Kelly Arts Center for this reason because even if we did not get the opportunity to explore the college campus, students would at least be exposed to a collegiate atmosphere, exposure that could potentially ignite student interest in attending college. Additionally, my students were exploring social justice issues at the time of the play, to which the performance Four Score and Seven Years Ago aligned.
Once I had some of the preliminary research done for this access opportunity, I submitted the necessary paperwork to get approval from my principal. During this time frame, I decided to extend the access of this trip to the other 6th grade English classrooms, resulting in a field trip opportunity for the entire grade level. A sample of the field trip paper work submitted to my principal is included below.
Once I had approval from the principal, I was able to truly begin planning this access opportunity. During this initial planning phase, I composed a letter to send home to parents notifying them of the field trip taking place. Because my school has a high population of English Language Learners, with the majority of those ELLs' primary language being Spanish, I used Google translate to translate my letter into Spanish, which I later had Mrs. Baker, our campus translator, proofread to ensure that my letter would also be accessible to Spanish-speaking parents and students. A copy of the letter sent home to parents regarding this field trip is included below.
There was much paperwork and correspondence that needed to be done to ensure that everything ran smoothly on the day of the field trip. Because I extended this field trip to all of 6th grade, I had to keep track of more than just my own students. To ensure that this field trip ran smoothly, I created an excel spreadsheet to keep track of the different aspects of the field trip, such as whether or not students paid or needed a sponsor, if they were ordering a lunch, if their parents were chaperoning, etc. In addition, I exchanged several emails with Suzanne Flood, the director of the Mattie Kelly Arts Center, and several staff members at Pryor, including several secretaries and the bookkeeper, and chaperoning parents. Doing so ensured that, logistically, everything was in place prior to departure. Examples of some of this logistical planning is included below.
I created this spreadsheet to keep my paperwork organized.
Sample correspondence checking on the status of chaperones' background checks.
Here, I am corresponding with Ms. Flood to finalize our details and reservation to attend the show.
I created this spreadsheet to keep my paperwork organized.
Images from the Mattie Kelly Arts Center Field Trip
While taking photographs of the performance itself was prohibited, I was able to document many aspects of the trip, which are included in the slideshow below.
Students smile as they prepare to leave Pryor Middle School.
Students get on the bus to travel to the Mattie Kelly Arts Center.
Students smile as they prepare to leave Pryor Middle School.
Student Surveys
After the field trip, I sought students feedback. Reviewing students' feedback allowed me to consider what students' valued about the trip as well as their suggestions to improve the trip for subsequent years. Samples of students completed surveys are included below.
After reading students' survey responses, I realized that my students benefited from exposure to this opportunity, exposure that opened doors of interest in theatre/ performing arts and college for many students. While students' previous experience with plays and visiting a college campus varied, the majority of students' felt that this access opportunity would have improved had there been a college tour included, a suggestion that demonstrates that students are interested and invested in further exploration of this access opportunity.
Teacher Reflection
Through the Mattie Kelly Arts Center field trip, I was able to provide almost the entire 6th grade with the opportunity to see a theatrical performance at the Mattie Kelly Arts Center located on the campus of Northwest Florida State College. Since we did have sponsorships available through Title 1 funds, every student had the opportunity to navigate and access this opportunity; some students chose not to go, or they did not obtain permission from their parents. But, every 6th grader had access to this opportunity, and the majority took advantage of it.
Prior to my planning this access opportunity, there was not a grade level field trip for the 6th grade. As a result, students would not have had access to any outside extension of their learning. Moreover, due to the high level of poverty among many of my students and the associated cost of attending a play at the Mattie Kelly, most of my students would not have had the opportunity to be exposed to this type of experience outside of school, either. As a result, not only my students but also the students of the other 6th grade English teachers were able to take advantage of this outside opportunity, an opportunity and extension of learning that opened doors for students in terms of understanding academic course content and newfound interests in theatre and performing arts.
In reviewing students' reflections and considering how I can continue to connect students with opportunities and gateways, I could improve the access potential of this field trip by taking advantage of the fact that this theatre is located on a college campus. When I plan this field trip in subsequent years, my goal is to extend the field trip per the suggestions of my students by also including a tour of the college campus. Additionally, many of my students rated the play as only being somewhat connected to our school work, even though they were able to clearly articulate the connections between the play and our social justice unit. The play was not a work that we had read and analyzed in class; instead, it was an additional text used to supplement the prior work that students had done. In order to maximize the benefit of this access opportunity, I could ensure that clearer connections between the content and the performance are established.
In addition, parents expressed their gratitude for my presenting students with this opportunity:
