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Staff Workshops & Trainings. Professional Development for Teachers, Artists, and Care Providers. Online programs available. Staff Workshops & Trainings As experts in arts integration and linking the arts with classroom learning, InterAct Story Theatre provides professional development opportunities for teachers, artists, and child care providers. For information about professional development residencies, intensives and institutes, please click here . If you'd like to know about our 60-minute, 90-minute, 3 hour or full professional development workshops, please scroll down! InterAct Story Theatre is an approved provider of Core of Knowledge training through the Maryland Office of Child Care; if you are a Maryland provider or center interested in hosting a training, please contact us or request more info about which trainings are eligible for Core of Knowledge clock hours. New training workshops are being added. Please check back soon, or contact us or request more info ! REQUEST MORE INFO Professional Development for Teachers, Artists, and Care Providers Books Alive for Little Ones: Building Language and Literacy Skills through Drama and Music Grades preK-1 and early childhood care providers With Ali Oliver-Krueger Early Childhood teachers, Head Start teachers, and child care providers are asked not only prepare children for school readiness to provide expert care, but also to implement a wide variety of classroom curricula. In this workshop, participants will explore how imaginative exploration of books and stories through drama and music can help build language and literacy skills, and will learn techniques they can use to lead children in acting out stories in their own words. (OCC 3 curriculum clock hours) Creating Casual Opera in the Classroom: Building Reading Comprehension and Writing Skills through Music & Drama Grades K-5 and 6-8 With Ali Oliver-Krueger In this workshop emphasizing character traits and motivations, mood, emotions, and interior monologue (for older students), teachers learn techniques through which they can lead students in examining text, making inferences, and then applying those inferences to create casual classroom operatic scenes. This work is especially strong for Reading/Language Arts and Social Studies, and has been implemented successfully with students from ages 4 and up. Drama Games for the Student Brain Grades K-5, 6-8, 9-12 Available Online! With Ali Oliver-Krueger In this training, participants learn simple yet engaging strategies that can be implemented in the classroom and adapted or expanded to address a plethora of goals and objectives. Particular emphasis is placed on articulating the rationale for drama gaming in the classroom and on providing participants with concrete strategies they can use right away to promote learning and help develop a wide range of skills. (OCC 3 curriculum clock hours) Picture This: Creating Effective Classroom Tableaux Grades 4 & up With Ali Oliver-Krueger A hallmark among strong readers is the ability to visualize and develop mental images of the actions and events described in texts. The creative drama strategy of tableaux fosters visualization skills and encourages students to develop and present strong sensory images, thereby strengthening understanding of text and allowing students to gain a deeper connection to the text. This strategy can be adapted to a variety of content areas, and is especially valuable in working with informational text. This workshop is also available as part of a professional development arts coaching residency. Reader's Theatre for Young Readers: A Creative Drama Approach Grades PreK-2 Available Online! With Ali Oliver-Krueger Readers Theatre offers students opportunities to interact with text and build oral fluency. It provides repeated reading practice, which is a key factor in building fluency. Repeated reading practice also improves students’ and enthusiasm for reading and confidence in themselves as good readers. But how to implement Readers' Theatre with young readers whose skills are just developing? In this training, Ms. Oliver-Krueger leads participants through a creative drama-based process in which teachers develop and perform engaging readers' theatre scripts with their students. In this workshop, teachers discover how to create and host an imaginary talk show, "Books Alive!", in their classrooms. Students portray characters from a book and answer questions in role. The questions encourage the students to make predictions, draw inferences and examine the theme of the text. An amazingly fun way to achieve and assess reading comprehension! Jump Start Creative Writing Through Creative Drama Grades K-5, 6-8, 9-12, adult education Available Online! With Ali Oliver-Krueger Sometimes the hardest part of writing is just getting started! In this professional development workshop led by InterAct Story Theatre’s Executive & Artistic Director Ali Oliver-Krueger, participants learn by playing and creating stories on the spot, exploring strategies that spark creativity and address prewriting skills, oral composition and discourse, speaking and listening skills. We'll engage in warm-up activities for getting brains moving quickly and flexibly, and strategies for facilitating brainstorming and collaborative composition, and tips for dramatizing stories as a way to review and identify points of revision. These include concrete, easy-to-apply "bite sized strategies" that teachers can apply quickly in a few minutes, expand into full arts-integrated lessons and units, or even use to springboard students into creative projects and deeper exploration of content. Music Detectives: Practicing Inferencing Skills through Music and Active Listening Grades K-5 and 6-8 With Ali Oliver-Krueger The ability to look beyond what is explicitly stated in order to make inferences is one of the key characteristics of strong readers, and is consistently one of the biggest challenges faced by struggling and reluctant readers today. This powerful strategy combines active listening, movement, and music to give students valuable practice in making inferences. Participants will learn the process of a Music Detectives lesson: learning and applying basic elements of music to examine musical samples, searching for clues, reading between the lines to make inferences, and then citing specific evidence from the "text" to support their theories. By giving students a chance to practice making inferences away from written text, we help students gain skills in predicting, drawing conclusions, and hazarding educated guesses, so that they can bring those skills to written text with greater confidence. Reading Between the Lines: Building Inferencing Skills through Music and Drama Grades K-5 and 6-8 With Ali Oliver-Krueger This workshop combines the strategies of Music Detectives and Creating Casual Opera, offering teachers a comprehensive approach to building reading comprehension and writing skills through drama. Teachers learn techniques to prompt inferences through active listening, acting, and simple composition. These strategies can be learned and applied by non-musicians and music enthusiasts alike! Black Belt Tableaux: Advanced Tableaux Skills for Assessment and the Common Core Grades 3-5, 6-8, 9-12 With Ali Oliver-Krueger Tableaux and Living Statues are among the first creative drama strategies that many teachers learn for integrating drama with classroom curriculum. But are you and your students getting the most you can out of this powerful and endlessly adaptable strategy?Designed primarily for teachers who have had some exposure to Tableaux, Living Statues, and/or Artful Thinking routines, this workshop explores advanced adaptations and extensions such as Conflict Webs and Statues, Internal/External Conflict, The Human Video Feed, Tableaux games, and effective uses of Tableaux as Assessment. In the half-day and full day workshops, teachers also have an opportunity to discuss and workshop ongoing work with this strategy, to brainstorm with Ms. Oliver-Krueger and their peers for ways to fine-tune and freshen up existing plans. This workshop is also available as part of a professional development arts coaching residency. A Creative Drama Approach to Reader's Theatre Grades K-8 Available Online! With Ali Oliver-Krueger This workshop introduces simple creative-drama based techniques through which teachers can lead students in developing, planning and performing Readers' Theatre presentations rooted in literary text or content curricula. Readers' Theatre offers students opportunities to interact with text and build oral fluency. It provides repeated reading practice, which is a key factor in building fluency. Repeated reading practice also improves students’ and enthusiasm for reading and confidence in themselves as good readers. The process of developing and performing original Readers' Theatre scripts also gives students a fun, creative way to not only build their understanding of a text or topic but also demonstrate their understanding to others. Informational OPERAtunities: Exploring Informational Text through Music and Drama With Ali Oliver-Krueger Informational text can sometimes feel dry, and motivating students to dive in can seem like a daunting task. How can we inspire students to embrace informational text with the curiosity and zeal of artists? Many of the best composers, playwrights and performers dive into informational text and research to create artistic work by reading between the lines to imagine the actions, emotions, motivations and conversations. In this workshop, teachers learn techniques through which they can lead students in approaching informational texts like artists: examining sources, building knowledge, making inferences, and then applying those inferences to create casual classroom operatic scenes that breathe life into the topic through music and drama. A portion of the workshop is dedicated to brainstorming and planning practical applications for the classroom; teachers are encouraged to bring an example of informational text or curriculum planning materials they might like to explore with their students. < Back to InterAct in Schools

Wheaton Family Theatre Series, Online/virtual learning, community performances, and ticketed events Scroll Down InterAct in the Community Wheaton Family Theatre Series InterAct Story Theatre’s Wheaton Family Theatre Series is a free, monthly performing arts series that runs October - May each year. Originally launched in 2015 through a generous Wheaton Cultural Projects Grant by the Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County, the goal of the Series is to present a variety of performing arts programs that celebrate the rich diversity of our arts community and offer our Wheaton kids and families a window to the world around us through family programs and arts learning activities in theatre, storytelling, music, dance, puppetry, fusion arts, and more! InterAct Online InterAct Story Theatre’s most popular programs are also available online and in the virtual classroom! In response to requests from parents and teachers, InterAct has our most popular arts education programs for the online classroom and for kids and parents at home, including workshops, residencies, and performances for PreK - 12; family arts and literacy workshops; and professional development webinars for classroom teachers and teaching artists. InterAct On the Road (or On the Web ) and in Your Communit y InterAct Story Theatre tours plays, performing arts programs, family arts workshops, community dialogue events, arts education programs and lecture/demonstrations to community venues and festivals across the country, both in person and virtually/online! How can we bring the power of arts and learning together in your community? Contact us or fill out our form and we’ll get the ball rolling! Ticketed Events: Bobtail Bong Bong We look forward to our our next ticketed event, Bobtail Bong Bong: A Monkey's Tale weekends, September 26 through October 5 at the Montgomery College Cultural Arts Center in Silver Spring. Join our mailing list to stay updated on our events for kids and families! Click Here for more information about Bobtail Bong Bong

Online Workshop Submission for MSAC review: Mr. Brown Can Moo! (for PREK SPED/PEP) Thank you for reviewing this online performance for addition to InterAct Story Theatre’s AiE Roster listing! InterAct Story Theatre has visiting performances for a wide range of educational and family audiences. About this workshop The first version of this workshop was originally designed for an summer school class with MCPS PEP preschool education program, for students age 4; the majority of students were largely nonverbal but who were engaged by song, simple puppets, and animals. This program was loosely inspired by the book “Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You?” While a video was taken of the workshop in the classroom as it occurred, only one family came to school on that day…we had a wonderful, fun session, but so that you can see workshop design more clearly, we have recreated the workshop with a mock audience. A technical rider outlining the program coordination and tech rehearsal process is uploaded here; in addition to this tech packet, partner organizations also receive an electronic parent-educator resource/study guide and a link to a feedback form. Our website is currently being updated so this information will be easily accessible online. CLICK HERE FOR TECHNICAL RIDER CLICK HERE TO WATCH VIDEO RECREATION WITH MOCK AUDIENCE CLICK HERE TO WATCH VIDEO OF THE ONE CHILD WHO CAME TO SCHOOL ON WORKSHOP DAY

Online Workshop Submission for MSAC review: The Monster Year (grades 2 - 4) Thank you for reviewing this online performance for addition to InterAct Story Theatre’s AiE Roster listing! InterAct Story Theatre has visiting performances for a wide range of educational and family audiences. This workshop is a recreation of a story dramatization workshop inspired by the Chinese folk tale “The Monster Year”. This workshop was conducted this year for 2nd - 4th graders; it has been recreated for this video submission with a mock audience of educators, actors and teaching artists. A technical rider outlining the program coordination and tech rehearsal process is uploaded here; in addition to this tech packet, partner organizations also receive an electronic parent-educator resource/study guide and a link to a feedback form. Our website is currently being updated so this information will be easily accessible online. About this workshop CLICK HERE FOR TECHNICAL RIDER CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO

Online Out of School Time for MSAC review: Mama-San Stories Thank you for reviewing this online performance for addition to InterAct Story Theatre’s AiE Roster listing! InterAct Story Theatre has visiting performances for a wide range of educational and family audiences. This program was designed for students in grades PreK-1, some of whom are with a teacher in a classroom, and some of whom are at home with a family member. A tech sheet outlining the program coordination and tech rehearsal process is uploaded here; in addition to this tech packet, partner organizations also receive an electronic parent-educator resource/study guide and a link to a feedback form. Our website is currently being updated so this information will be easily accessible online. CLICK HERE FOR TECH PACKET CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO

Season 4 of Wheaton Family Theatre Series Wheaton Family Theatre Series Season 4: October, 2018 through May, 2019 Season 6 Season 5 Season 11 Season 3 Season 2 Season 1 To keep up on the latest news about InterAct’s Wheaton Family Theatre Series Season 11 and get reminders about our next program dates, join our mailing list . We also invite you to check out our past seasons by clicking on any of the season buttons! < Back to Community Page Season 7 Season 8 Season 4 Season 9 Season 10 Voytto Tech: a scifi fable October 2018 An interstellar play for kids and families about bullying, conflict, and doing the right thing when the universe goes wrong. Klipp Casey travels from a planet far, far away to study at Voytto Tech, the most famous science magnet school in the galaxy. Right away, Klipp has trouble fitting in at his new school, and becomes a target for bullying. What can Klipp do? Who can he go to for help? Best for ages 5 and up. Jack and the Beanstalk November 2018 Victorian Lyric Opera Company presents a family-friendly adaptation of this classic fairytale set to the toe-tapping music of Gilbert & Sullivan. Little ones will love Jack’s adventures up the magic beanstalk, while parents will enjoy the witty lyrics. Both Jack and the Giant learn an important lesson about how to treat others in this happy ending performance. Best for ages 3 and up. Pinot and Augustine December 2018 Happenstance Theatre is a classic, family-friendly clown duo inspired by the golden age of Circus. Pinot is the authoritarian clown in fancy clothes and white cone hat. Augustine is the appealing red-nosed bumbler who punctures his pomposity. Their show bubbles over with physical comedy, virtuosity and musical surprises from the sublime to the ridiculous: from lyrical melodies on a musical saw to pratfalls and a whoopee cushion. Best for ages 3 and up. A Family Literary Fiesta: Books Alive! January & February 2019 InterAct Story Theatre's Artistic Director Ali Oliver-Krueger leads kids and adults alike in a fun-filled, interactive afternoon bringing stories to life through drama. We'll act, sing, and dance our way through a rollicking story, and maybe even create some stories of our own! Christylez Bacon & Wytold Classical Hip-Hop Remixing the Classics March 2019 A collaborative musical program featuring Grammy nominated Progressive Hip-Hop artist Christylez Bacon (pronounced: chris-styles) and six-string electric cellist, Wytold (William Wytold Lebing). Traditional elements of hip-hop such as human beatbox, rhyming and storytelling are blended with classical compositions of composers like Bach, Vivaldi and Pachelbel. Best for ages 3 and up. Marian Licha: A Magical Journey Through Latin America April 2019 Puerto Rican-born actor and storyteller Marian Licha weaves alluring and interactive folktales in both English and Spanish, including Puerto Rican “Juan Bobo” stories, her own personal anecdotes, and short bilingual songs in an engaging program that lifts the spirit with humor and life-lessons from the oral tradition. Best for ages 3 and up. 3rd Annual KidStory Theatre Festival May 2019 A theatrical celebration of stories written by kids for kids! All year long, InterAct Story Theatre artists create stories with kids, and invite kids to share their epic stories with us. Each May, we choose the best of the best and transform them into short plays, musical numbers, and vignettes performed by our InterActors. We can’t wait to see what kids dream up each year! Best for ages 3 and up.

Marshal Bailey Teaching & Performing Artist Back

Pete Oliver-Krueger Pete Oliver-Krueger is a master carpenter, set designer, director, actor, and classical singer ...plus a product consultant and software engineer. As Technical Director for InterAct he is tasked with constructing the traveling sets for InterAct's main stage performances, designing special effects, and overseeing anything else with a technical component. As a product consultant and software engineer he mentors startups, large organizations, and non-profits in the DC metro area, teaching them how to do more with the resources they already have. He got his start at Carnegie Mellon's Robotics Institute, and his software architectures power multiple government agencies including the FDA, NASA, and the Pentagon. He has led many high-profile teams, including the relaunch of TD Ameritrade's new online trading platform, and the first DC Metro Trip Planner. Theatrical & Product Design, Multimedia Design CTO / Technical Director Back

Lenore Blank Kelner Lenore Blank Kelner is an author, educator, educational consultant, keynote speaker and teaching and theatre artist. Lenore has presented her work in all 50 states and abroad and has been a presenter with the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts for 29 years. She was a Master Artist for the Wolf Trap Institute for Early Learning through the Arts for 25 years. Lenore is the author of The Creative Classroom (15th printing) and co-authored with Rosalind Flynn, A Dramatic Approach to Reading Comprehension (Heinemann, 2006, 5th printing). Lenore was awarded the 2004 Creative Drama Award from the American Alliance for Theatre and Education. In addition to conducting staff development residencies through InterAct Story Theatre, Lenore also works widely through her own company, Lenore Blank Kelner & Company and is the Director of the Creative Kids afterschool Drama Program. Drama, Creative Drama Founder Back

Bobtail BONG BONG: A Monkey's Tale Click Here to read the review by Theatre Bloom Five Stars! October 29, 2019 “It’s quite the experience, an honestly beautiful learning endeavor that engages young audiences while they think they’re having nothing but fun and games in this great theatrical show. Bobtail Bong Bong: A Monkey’s Tail Tale is the exact theatrical experience InterAct Story Theatre has been attempting to achieve in years of late, and this new highly immersive and involved format is really working toward their overall company mission.” < Back to Press

InterAct artists conduct arts-based workshops for child care providers and extended learning programs throughout our Maryland, Virignia, and Washington, DC. Available Online! Out of School Time Programs Many of our residency programs are available not only during the school day, but after school as well. InterAct artists conduct arts-based workshops for child care providers and extended learning programs throughout our Maryland, Virignia, and Washington, DC. Please contact us for more information! We also frequently design workshops by request to fit the theme, content area, or skillsets being taught at an event. If you'd like us to design a unique experience for your family learning event, please contact us or request more info ! REQUEST MORE INFO Sample Programs Grades PREK-K, GRADES 1-2, GRADES 3-5 Available Online! Books Alive Students have fun diving into an array of children’s books and folk tales—acting, moving, dancing, singing, and playing their way through books! Students build language and literacy skills as they have fun learning to use their acting tools and skills and sharing stories. Grades 6-8 Available Online! Improv for Actors In this exciting and fun-filled residency, one or more InterAct teaching artists lead students in a variety of increasingly challenging improvisation and activities over the course of the session. The program can include an optional culminating event showcasing original scenes developing from our improvisational work. Students explore character and scene work as they engage in a program designed to promote concentration, collaboration and teamwork, cooperative learning, critical thinking and creative problem solving. GRADES 3-5, GRADES 6-8 Available Online! Devising and Playbuilding After School In this drama-based writing residency, students use creative drama techniques and group writing strategies to write and perform original stories and scenes. In doing so, students learn and apply basic acting tools and elements of story structure as they practice collaboration and appropriate peer review. This process builds prewriting skills, oral language and presentation skills, problem solving skills, and teamwork. Themes can be drawn a variety of character education topics or curriculum content. GRADES PREK-K, GRADES 3-5, GRADES 7-8 Creative OPERAtunities Students learn how opera combines music and drama to tell stories by transforming stories and events into original musical scenes of their own! By using acting tools and skills along with the basic elements of music, students create their own original operas. Students explore a preselected topic, story, or book and transform their ideas into musical scenes, from solos to ensemble songs for the whole group. See how much fun storytelling with music can be! < Back to InterAct in Schools

Parent-Child Workshops & Family Literacy Events. Available Online! Parent Workshops & Literacy Events InterAct Story Theatre's Parent-Child workshops and Family Literacy events offers parents and caregivers ideas they can use at home to build literacy and language skills through the arts. Parents observe teaching artists work with their children, and then learn how they can play, sing, and act with their children at home. A fun and educational experience for all! We are currently developing and piloting several new family programs rooted in drama, music, dance, and puppetry, so please check back! REQUEST MORE INFO Parent-Child Workshops & Family Literacy Events PARENT-CHILD WORKSHOP FOR GRADES PREK-1 Available Online Story Can Theater Parents and children participate in a delightful workshop in which a story is told through miniatures and toys (see Story Can Theatre Workshop description above). The children dramatize part of the story and the parents make several effective storytelling activities that they can use at home to promote literacy and thinking skills. This popular program is being used in schools nationwide. AN INTER-GENERATIONAL STORY SHARING EXPERIENCE FOR CHILDREN GRADES 3 AND UP AND ADULTS Building Dialogue and Community One Story At a Time Telling stories is a meaningful way to transmit history, values and cultures in families, schools and communities. In this workshop, participants tell, listen, and retell stories in a process designed to celebrate our stories and build community across the generational divide. This workshop enhances oral language, listening skills, prewriting skills, and builds bridges between storytellers from ages 8 to 108. PARENT-CHILD WORKSHOP FOR GRADES PREK-K Songbuilding Parents and children share in a rich music experience as they sing songs and learn about various musical instruments (See Songbuilding Workshop description above). The parents then create their own personal lullaby for their children. The lullaby focuses on their wishes, dreams and hopes for their family. A CD of both the songs sung in the workshop and the melody of the lullaby is given to each family. A warm, rich and meaningful family event. A LITERACY WORKSHOP FOR PARENTS AND CHILDREN Available Online Literacy Fiesta! Bringing Read-Alouds to Life Research shows that reading aloud with our children is one of the most important things we can do to help build strong readers. But how can we make read-alouds fun and engaging for you and your children? And what if we’re not so comfortable reading for ourselves? In this workshop, parents participate with children in fun arts-based activities with a book, then learn tips and techniques for engaging children in lively and fun read-alouds at home—even if you don’t love reading for yourself! Different workshops are available for early childhood, primary, and elementary school-age children and their families. < Back to InterAct in Schools