Middle School Programs
During a time when students are developing their own identities and are working to feel comfortable in their own skin, SCT's Middle School programming combines the fun and imagination of hands on theatre techniques with the tools students need to learn and grow. Read on to learn more about Middle School curriculum and contact us today to bring SCT to your school.
Spotlight: Creative Drama for Mental Wellness
6th - 8th | 60 Minutes per Session | Workshop & Residency | 2 + Session Workshop Series
This program is designed to bring students and their teachers together in an immersive learning environment that is brave, active, and community focused. Guided by SCT Teaching Artists, participants engage in creative play to strengthen trust and collaboration, and then focus their energies inward using structured activities that encourage self-reflection. Research has shown that young people gain social-emotional skills when knowledge is embodied through practice. Creative Drama for Mental Wellness bridges theatre education with evidence-based strategies in SEL to help students develop self-awareness and make positive choices in addressing their mental health needs, even in situations that are unjust or outside of their control. These concepts are rehearsed using role play exercises within the safety of the classroom so that they develop confidence to advocate for themselves when faced with challenges in the real world.
Video of the Creative Drama for Mental Wellness program in development with community educators.
Additional Curriculum Options
English Language Arts
6th – 8th Grade | 60 Minutes per Session | Residency Only
Let’s ignite the power and magic of creativity through the journey of the hero! Students will learn the fundamentals of playwriting; structure, plot, character development, and dialogue through creative exercises that ignite the imagination and explore how these ingredients created everlasting heroes like Harry, Frodo, Luke, Tris, and Katniss. We recommend a residency of 5 sessions for optimal student success.
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6th – 8th Grade | 60 Minutes per Session | Workshop & Residency
If telling your truth and expressing yourself fills your soul with music, then get ready to explore the art of Spoken Word, a form at the intersection of poetry and hip-hop.
Poets are first and foremost storytellers, who add in sleek rhymes and clever intonations to bring their words alive. Students will learn how to craft their own poems and practice performing them for a group of their peers.
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Social Justice/Social Studies
8th Grade | 60 Minutes per Session | Workshop & Residency
The Dairy of Anne Frank is studied world-wide as it documents the sobering true story of eight people living in hiding during Nazi-occupied Holland in World War II, as seen through the eyes of 13-year-old Anne. Her words reach out to us over the generations, inspiring us to never forget, to never give up on the power and goodness of the human spirit, and to always “fill life with living.” This workshop explores these historical events while teaching the importance of empathy, advocacy, and disruption of othering in today’s society. If selecting a residency, we recommend 5 classes for optimal student success. Inspired by the production, The Diary of Anne Frank by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett.
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6th – 8th Grade | 60 Minutes per Session | Workshop & Residency
Westward Ho! Step back in time to explore what it was like on the Oregon Trail.
This workshop will examine westward expansion through its impacts to Indigenous communities, pioneers, animals, and land. Students will work together to ford rivers, sustain the heat and dust of the Great Plains, and make their way across mountain passes. Using empathy and connections to their own lives, students will gain both a personal perspective as well as a larger historical and contextual understanding of life on, and around, the Oregon Trail. We recommend 3-5 classes for optimal student success.
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6th – 8th Grade | 60 Minutes per Session | Residency Only
When the U.S. government forces Japanese-American citizens into incarceration camps, many Japanese-Americans must face difficult truths about the idea of home. One young person’s struggle to understand a society allowing mass discrimination against its citizens poses questions as urgent today as they were in the past. This workshop explores these historical events while teaching the importance of empathy, advocacy, and disruption of othering in today’s society. We recommend 3-5 classes for optimal student success. Inspired by the Journal of Ben Uchida: Citizen 13559 adapted by Naomi Iizuka.
6th – 8th Grade | 60 Minutes per Session | Workshop & Residency
Long before he was Muhammad Ali, Cassius Clay stood up to Jim Crow racism and
violence. With the support of his family, training from Officer Joe Martin, and his own hard work, he fought his way onto the gold-medal stand and into history books. This workshop explores these historical events while teaching the importance of empathy, advocacy, and disruption of othering in today’s society. We recommend 3-5 classes for optimal student success. Inspired by And In this Corner: Cassius Clay by Idris Goodwin.
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6th – 8th Grade | 90 Minute Session | Workshop Only
Explore interactive arts activities that empower students to reflect on their own identities while celebrating themselves and each other. This workshop is best as a preparatory introduction to engaging in anti-racism and anti-oppression work on individual and collective level.
6th – 8th Grade | 90 Minute Session | Workshop Only
Do you know your voter’s rights or about the restrictions in the United States? Come together as a class to discuss voter myths, empower political voice through theatre games, and reflect on how to remain a civically engaged individual. Students will use what they have learned, discussed, and experienced to create short responses in order to debunk common voting myths, and express the importance of voting to their peers.
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Social Emotional Learning
6th – 8th Grade | 60 Minutes per Session | Workshop & Residency
In this interactive workshop, students practice conflict management techniques that
prompt them to Stop, Think, and Act safely and responsibly. Guided by SCT teaching artists, they also role-play several scenarios and work together to identify ways to be an “Upstander” when witnessing or experiencing physical, social, and cyber bullying.
Theatre
6th – 8th Grade | 60 Minutes per Session | Workshop & Residency
In this fast-paced, creative environment, students learn the fundamentals of improv beginning with the all-important adage “yes, and…”. From there, they will practice creating stories without scripts or rehearsal using a wide variety of improv techniques, formats, and games.
6th – 8th Grade | 60 Minutes per Session | Workshop & Residency
Collaborate and strengthen skills while focusing on the fundamentals of acting: objective, conflict, and tactic. Each workshop or residency experience will be tailored to the grade and experience level of the class.
6th – 8th Grade | 60 Minutes per Session | Workshop & Residency
Learn the essential moves and skills for on-stage combat, including convincing falls, slaps, and other fight moves in a safe environment.