In May of 2011, our teaching artists entered the Special Ed classroom at Carter G Woodson Middle School to produce an original performance that addressed the issues of ecology and global warming.

We worked with these children throughout the month to create an original performance of the book, The Great Kapok Tree: A Tale of the Amazon Rain Forest by Lynne Cherry, emphasizing collaborative work and relying on student choice as much as possible.

The students created their own backdrop as well as animal character masks, and at the end of the month they performed their work for the K-2nd grade classes at the adjoining elementary school. An interactive discussion period with the lower graders followed.

City Lit also donated a performance of Dr. Seuss's The Lorax to the school, from which we are now developing another full-fledged Real Live Literature workshop that will include planting seeds with the kids!