Hartford Stage Brings Reading to Life
J
ohn F. Kennedy Middle School
is in its second year working with
the Hartford Stage’s Connections
program. The Connections program
involves artist instructors going into
classrooms at JFK to engage students
in five days of pre-reading activities.
Through the use of theatre techniques,
these pre-reading activities strengthen
students’ reading comprehension and
build excitement about reading. These
sessions also help develop students’
ability to collaborate with others, as
well as reinforce grade-level
Connecticut Core Standards in
Speaking and Listening.
It is the belief of the Hartford
Stage that students’ involvement in
these activities will increase their
interest in the book. At the end of the
five days of lessons, the Hartford
Stage provides students with the text
that is the focus of the unit. Students
read the book within their classes and
then engage in interdisciplinary
projects that focus on the themes
presented in the reading.
Last year, the artist instructors
introduced the sixth grade teams to
the book The Man-Eating Tigers of
Sundarbans. Teams were able to
engage students in projects that
related to science, social studies,
math, and english/language arts
topics. This year, the eighth grade
teams will be working with the artist
instructors through the Connections
program. The focus of the unit will
be Diary of a Young Girl.
This program was well-received
last year by the sixth grade teachers
JFK 6th Grade students
acting out a scene.
and students at John F. Kennedy
Middle School. The student
engagement observed during these
lessons was extremely high. The
time EPS spends involved in the
Connections program will benefit us
for years to come, as the units
developed will be used each year
and the techniques learned by
watching the artist instructors
engage in pre-reading activities will
add new tools to our teachers’
instructional practices.
A Hartford Stage Artist Instructor
introducing content through role play.
Continued from page 2
campus programs that allow students
to earn college credits while still in
high school. Our two largest
programs are with ACC and UConn.
Th r o u g h o u r d u al- en r o llmen t
partnerships with ACC’s College
Career Pathways program and the
University of Connecticut’s Early
College Experience program,
students can earn college credit
while taking qualified high school
courses in science, mathematics,
English, business, social studies,
child development, and more. For
both programs, our Enfield teachers
are screened, trained, and certified to
teach college-level courses to high
school students.
inSights - Winter 2015
Students who successfully
complete the courses are awarded
college transcripts for their work
while earning high school credits.
Like many Advanced Placement (AP)
courses, students can use these
credits toward earning an associate’s
or bachelor’s college degree at a
variety of different colleges and
universities.
Another avenue for earning
college credit while still in high
school is available through ACC’s
High School Partnership. This
program, available to juniors and
seniors, enables qualified students to
take one class per semester for free at
ACC.
Adam Mitchell facilitates
student work in SolidWorks.
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