The studies are in: there’s no better way to learn math than having fun! With Theatre Counts!, students will review skip counting, counting forwards and backwards orally, identify shapes and be able to rationalize which shapes would assist best in problem solving scenarios. Embark on a quest with the Master of Multitudes, who needs your students’ help in order to save the land from Sir Subtraction. In order to complete the quest, students must become Keepers of the Count through a series of tasks, adventures and encounters with evil-doers that will challenge their numerical expertise and amplify teamwork, confidence and imagination throughout your classroom. In this new, on-your-feet residency, young people will be cast as our main characters, allowing every student a chance to show off their mathematics skills and learn new abilities: all within one hour!

What better way to learn about the water cycle and states of matter than to become the water? The Water Cycle allows youth to enhance their science comprehension skills by experiencing learning in a creative and hands-on method. Using reading, improvisation, music, rhythm, movement and choreography, students will learn about the Water Cycle and the States of Matter in a fresh and tangible way. Students are also introduced to important aspects and tools of theatrical performance, including body language and movement. The Water Cycle reinforces SOL - based classroom curriculum and exposes students to the Arts!

Students will learn all about bringing a script to life by putting on a radio play! VCT Readers Theatre allows youth to enhance their literacy skills by experiencing learning in a new and creative manner. While playing with the script, youth can try reading words in different ways, using pitch, stress, and intonation, readers study the text while practicing reading out loud, clearly and expressively with attention on enunciation, diction and volume. VCT Readers Theatre is a highly motivational strategy that connects oral reading, literature, and drama; requiring only a script and a few creative theatre elements, students read aloud and discover that using only their voices, facial expressions, and bodies, they interpret the emotions, beliefs, attitudes, and motives of the characters all the while impacting reading fluency and improving sight-word vocabulary and reading comprehension.

What better way is there to learn about Jamestown and the history of our state than to jump in on the action yourself! With Jamestown, your class will spend an hour creating a play and bringing the New World to life in their classroom. Students will be introduced to the key concepts of a well-formulated play by applying the History of Jamestown and the First American Settlement as the foundation of the story. Virginia Children's Theatre will lead the students through a short review of the History, followed by interactive, theatrical methods to apply formula storytelling, objective and obstacle to the Jamestown Colonists. While exploring the professions of theatre and careers in the arts, students will embark on staging a play about Jamestown in the classroom. Together, utilizing literacy skills, historical and contextual knowledge and newly gained performing arts abilities, students will feel unstoppable in their ability to create high quality work at an efficient speed.