Grade 1 Production Takes Audiences on Emotional Journey

How do little monsters understand feelings and emotions? First-grade students turned that question into a vibrant and fun production as they performed their own telling of the book, The Color Monster, by author Anna Llenas. First-graders performed on the stage in our Taylor Performing Arts Center in front of their families and fellow Lower School students.

As the lights dimmed, the students gathered on stage wearing custom monster-inspired T-shirts and headbands. Students were divided into groups with different colored shirts of red, blue, yellow, pink, gray, and orange, which represented all of the different emotions. The performance began with a narration about how the Color Monster is confused about his emotions and not sure how to define them. To help him better understand how he is feeling, each group one-by-one joined him to explain how emotions come in all different colors and what they mean. In the end, the Color Monster learned how to sort out and define his emotions and most importantly understood how having friends can help you get through any challenges.

The performance culminated with a song accompanied by Lower School music teacher Rachael Jungkeit on the piano before concluding with a talk-back. According to theater teacher Lisa Daly, the students created their own scripts to mix into the performance and even added their own emotion, excited, which was not discussed in the book.

Following the performance, students and their families headed to the cafeteria for an art show and reception. On display across several tables were easels showcasing the colorful artistry of sword lions that students created in the Lower School art studio with teacher Sue Bennett 1973. The art show also served as a cross-curricular demonstration as the students learned the history of the sword lions in Mandarin class with instructor Chien-ju Lin. It was a special project as Ms. Lin brought the swords back to the students all the way from Taiwan.