This post comes from the delightful Julianne Harper. A third-year member of Open Dream Ensemble and UNCSA School of Dance graduate, Julianne has stepped into a leadership role this season as Co-Tour Manager. The many facets of her work for Open Dream are all greatly appreciated - as is her tap dancing robot!
HELLOOOO THERE! As you might know, Open Dream works with many students at various schools across North Carolina. We focus on teaching second through fifth grade science curriculum( as Haydee has mentioned). In many cases the students have yet to start their study on such topics, so we are the introduction. With this comes great responsibility and challenge on our end -- to make sure we get things started right!
Since Open Dream focuses on teaching science through the arts, the kids get to learn about ecosystems through raps, dances, and skits they develop themselves to showcase their understanding of the material. Just having a creative outlet to explore such concepts like ecosystems is new to the children, so that paired with the new science information can present a big question…"How do you know they get it?" Throughout the controlled chaos that ensues on these explorations, I find myself often wondering if they have grasped the curriculum, if I have done my job as a teacher. Of course they are having fun and when they present their work it is filled with inventive creativity, but the question still remains. So at the end of each class, each exploration, comes review time. "What can you tell me about ecosystems?" As almost every hand raises, the classroom is flooded with information the students have learned about ecosystems, or whatever the topic is for that day. And it's not just memorized information, it is discoveries that the kids have made that has ultimately led them to a true understanding of the material…SUCCESS!
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