A free literacy program, for 303 at-risk 3-to-5-year-old children from five local Head Start Centers, which uses in-class workshops led by a teaching artist to help students explore characters and themes of plays through interactive activities.

Workshops, offered four times per year to each class, prepare students for fieldtrips to live performances and help students come away with a better understanding of literary characters, story lines and themes.

Following each performance, each participating child is given a free copy of the book on which the play was based.

Since its inception, one goal of this program has been to expand it to an additional Abbott district each year. The five districts currently served by this program are Asbury Park, Howell, Neptune, Keyport and Red Bank.

The 2011-2012 season features the following books/plays:

• Fancy Nancy & Other Story Books (Lesson: Expression, Confidence, Hygiene)
• Fish Face (Lesson: Sharing, discovering, respect, bully-prevention, courage)
• Are You My Mother? (Lesson: Rhyming, Family values, Relationships)
• SkippyJon Jones (Lesson: Imagination, dreams, creativity, adventure)

To inquire about involving your school in a similar program, please visit our Classroom Workshops page.