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Welcome! The student work on these pages explores themes of bullying, conflict and courage using original plays created by Mrs. Shaffer's sixth grade English classes at Woodland Elementary School as they explored how the arts can create meaning and communicate a theme. The students wrote these plays during a theatre arts residency sponsored in part by [|Arts Erie] of Erie, PA. Mrs. Shaffer worked closely with teaching artist [|Ms. Cory Wilkerson], who was in residence in the school for several weeks in the spring of 2011. (If you would like to see our residency plan, including the connections to Language Arts and Theatre standards, click here.) In the film clips below you can watch the students create their plays through brainstorming, theatre games and improvised dialogue that brings to life the characters. The lines they are saying belong to their fictional characters, who are students like themselves, dealing with difficulties with friends, arguments, and school issues and trying to do the right thing.

media type="custom" key="9701566" align="center" We welcome all visitors, parents, teachers, staff, kids- you're going to love it here! And if you are a kid, and you would like to see plays about characters that could be kids just like you working through real problems you might have - you will find a lot to see.

Mrs. Shaffer's students have taken seriously their role as artists. On these pages you can witness the everyday struggles of a sixth grader come to life, in their voices, their words, their characters. You'll find stories of friendships gone wrong, stories showing how tough it is to be the new kid, stories exploring cliques, cheating and more. Listen to the radio plays, watch videos of the kids creating art or experience the first ever cyber space Forum Theatre with our Problem Machine. Stop by often and browse the pictures, watch the videos, listen to the radio plays and don't forget to add your ideas, because together we can figure it out.


 * If you are a student who made these plays- congratulations! You did something wonderful that can help others.**
 * If you are a parent of one of the students visiting- enjoy watching your child in action and be proud!**
 * If you are Mrs. Shaffer- congratulations and a huge thank you- you are an amazing teacher and you deserve to be proud of your kids!**

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