This year my 3rd graders are going to perform
Song and Dance Man: George M. Cohan by Jill and Michael Gallina. I love having students perform this musical because it is both a patriotic and biographical piece.
My students love the songs and the speaking parts lend themselves to easy memorization.
This is also a great musical in terms of set design because the contents of an old attic are pretty easy to find, so you can use things that you have rather than things that have to be made.
I’m a softie when it comes to “solo” parts and tend to use “featured” singers rather than solo singers. I like to assign solo parts to 2-3 students to sing in a duet or trio which allows them to be more confident and collaborative, while rewarding them for their excellence.
With that in mind we have some students who are going to have to wear “special” costumes.
I love these vests because when made out of felt there are only two straight seams to sew! That is hardly any sewing at all and if your name is….me…. that is WONDERFUL news! I ask the kids to wear jeans and long sleeve white shirts. I provide a vest and a bow tie and hat. EASY PEASY!
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| this vest was made in felt and then covered in the shiny fabric. I can’t claim this one, my mom made it today…. She was smart enough to sew the fancy fabric onto the felt….. I’ll admit that I would have tried tacky glue first…. |
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| This is my “Yankee Doodle Boy” vest. He is going to wear this vest with some knee length shiny shorts I found at Walmart on sale. |
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| I made 4 of these out of felt and used fabric paint to “embroider” the stars onto the vest. |
