PROGRAMS for STUDENTS and ADULTS
(Professional Development below)
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Revolutionary Women (4th Grade to Adult)
Revolutionary
Women is a one-woman, interactive play that explores the issues and
events that led to the American Revolution. The play examines women's
rights and roles in colonial America, and their contributions to
Revolutionary War effort. Audience members meet and converse with three
women;
- Jane Walker, a camp-follower, forced by poverty to accompany her husband to war (fictitious composite character)
- Elizabeth Thompson, loyalist spy (actual person)
- Deborah Samson, who disguised herself as a man, enlisted and fought for 1.5 years before she was discovered (actual person)
Revolutionary Women™ can be booked as a half-day or whole day program. CLICK HERE for more information. |
"You have an incredible presence on stage, both as teacher and
storyteller. I found your history lesson before the show enjoyable and
informative, and loved how you involved (and handled) the children.
Your piece is so well written, and your performance of it so skillfull.
I was amazed at how rapt you held all of us, kids and adults alike."
Antonio Sacre, storyteller, solo performer, author
Character Interpretations (4th Grade to Adult) Meet a person of the past. Characters include, but are not limited to:
| 1750s: | Indentured
servant Elizabeth Spriggs | | 1760s: | John Clayton, internationally known colonial botanist
Eliza Lucas Pinckney, who, as a teenager, established indigo production in
South Carolina
| | 1770s: | The three characters listed under Revolutionary Women, above, can
appear individually for more in-depth discussions.
Will Springate, a gardener and convict servant
John Farquarson, gardener to Virginia's last Royal
Governor, Lord Dunmore, and Virginia's first elected Governor,
Patrick Henry
Frances Carter, wife of a member of the Virginia Governor's Council
| | 1811: | Ann Hill, wife of a merchant-sailor who was pressed into the British Navy
| | 1863: |
Cornelia McDonald, wife of a Confederate officer
| | 1870s: | Alice Grierson, whose husband commanded the 9th
Cavalry, a Buffalo Soldier regiment | | 1880s: | Frances Roe, wife of an Army officer on the Western frontier | | 1928: | Amelia Earhart
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| CLICK HERE for more detailed descriptions of the characters |
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| That's My Story (Grades K to Adult)
Participate in
stories from a variety of cultures and learn about the uses of
storytelling throughout history to teach morals, values, manners, and
survival skills.
Program can be tailored to your curriculum, and can include:
- folk tales from many cultures
- personal stories about growing up
- ghost stories
"From your wonderful storytelling I learned something about myself,
too. I need to be more open to girls doing boy things. Thanks."
Zack, Los Angeles 5th Grader
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Dress for Success (4th Grade to Adult)
Participants examine 18th century fashion, fabrics and trendsetters, and participate in a fashion show of 18th century styles.
Dance or Die (4th Grade to Adult)
When
an 18th Virginia boy was afraid bad weather would spoil his party, his
tutor, Philip Fithian, wrote "blow high, blow low, he need not be
afraid; Virginians are of genuine Blood; They will dance or die!" In
this program, participants examine colonial Virginians' passion for
dancing and learn the importance of music, dance and deportment skills
in 18th century Virginia. By comparing European and African music and
dance, they will discover traces of both in today's culture. |
Now and Then (Grades K-3)
Aimed at very young students, this
program compares the 18th century world with the present. Young
students handle artifacts of both eras and draw their own conclusions
about how life has changed.
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Darci Tucker, Teaching Artist and owner of American
Lives: History Brought to Life has been training teachers since 1995.
She has an extensive background in Colonial and Revolutionary-era
Virginia history, having taught history at the Colonial Williamsburg
Foundation for almost 20 years. She is on the faculty of the Colonial
Williamsburg Teacher Institute each summer, and spends the school year
traveling the country performing in schools nationwide. She is a
frequent presenter at conferences and teacher workshops, and her
clients include:
* The State University of New York, Cortland, School of Education
* The Mount Vernon Teacher Institute
* Los Angeles County Office of Education
* Cal State Long Beach
* Alameda County Office of Education, CA
* Hillsborough County Office of Education, FL
* San Diego County Office of Education |
"Many teachers told me that this was the best and most informative
inservice workshop they had ever attended (and the most fun!)."
West Virginia Principal | m
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Acting Up: Character Interpretation in the Classroom
Enhance
student understanding and retention though biography-based teaching.
When either teachers or students take on characters during a unit of
study, student interest in that topic improves.
Storytelling in the Classroom
Improve
literacy and increase interest in the classroom through folk tales,
tall tales, anecdotes and personal stories. Learn how to tell, and how
to get your students to tell, and write, stories!
Teaching Literacy Through Primary Sources
Kill
two birds with one stone! Combine history/civics and literacy by using
primary sources to teach literacy. Learn valuable techniques to choose
appropriate sources and edit more difficult ones, so that even basic
readers can tackle historical documents and win.
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