Creative and Language Arts

Acting: People from the Past

Learn acting and public speaking skills as you bring famous historical figures to life with drama and humor. We’ll investigate historical figures such as George Washington, Ghandi, Martin Luther King, Dolores Huerta, Abraham Lincoln and others, learning about their speeches and lives. Then deliver a historical or original speech in character.

Acting: Yesterdays News

Extra! Extra! Read all about it! “Titanic Sinks,” “Japan Attacks Pearl Harbor,” “Men Walk on Moon.” Ever wonder what it was like to live in America during the Great Depression or during World War II? Find out as we re-enact famous newspaper stories from the past. Learn history, writing and acting skills as you edit, write and perform your own living newspaper!

Acting: Witches

Lets go on a witch hunt and investigate the historical moments in time when people were accused of being witches. What was the atmosphere at the time and what led to these often bizarre accusations? We will examine the Salem Witch trials and take a look at The Crucible, Arthur Miller’s play about the trials. Then we will write, direct and perform our own trials!

Anatomy and Art through Time

Develop your artistic skills as you gain a better understanding of human anatomy. You will learn the basic structure of the adult human skeleton, with emphasis on joints and how they move. Then use your knowledge to draw the static forms as well as the skeleton during movement through space and time.. We will also consider changes in the skeletal structure between infancy and adulthood and learn how to depict humans at different stages of life. Finally, we shall consider changes over millennia, from early man (barely upright) to modern forms.

Create a Graphic Novel

If you could travel backwards, forwards, or sideways in time, what would you do, and how would you draw that? If you built a time machine, what would it look like, and how would it work? This class is a chance to work out your time travel theories and story ideas in words and pictures while creating your own cartoon, or graphic short story. We'll work on basic visual and verbal story-telling skills such as drawing, revision, page design and composition, plotting, pacing, and dramatic effects. We'll also consider examples of the many and various ways time travel has been depicted before, to help you examine, develop and refine your own ideas.

Critical Thinking

Put on your thinking cap! Where is the only place where you can see the past, present, and future all in one glance? (Hint: It's there all the time but you can't always see it.) Boost the speed and clarity of your thinking as you join young adventurer Harry Stottlemeier in solving the mysteries that he encounters every day. In the process of reading "Harry Stottlemeier’s Discovery" and solving such mysteries, you will develop reasoning and critical thinking skills that will assist you in facing your own past and future dilemmas.

Science Fiction & Fantasy Writing

“A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…” Science fiction and fantasy often travel into the past or the future, as the opening line from the Star Wars Saga illustrates.
Learn to create a believable alternate world as you let your imagination explore the future, journey to distant planets or visit the halls of your own Hogwart’s Academy. You will learn how to generate exciting ideas and bring them to life with strong characters, vital plots and vivid settings.

Writing and Art: Myth-Making

Explore the earliest forms of story-telling: myths, fairy tales, and fables. Then create your own mythological creature, hero, or villain and write their story. Invent a history and a moral for your myth and learn the process illustrators use to make thumbnail sketches and story-boards. You will finish with a 5-10 page picture book or comic book. .

Writing Historical Fiction

History is full of stories.
Learn how to turn stories from the past into rich, imaginative prose and poetry. Historical fiction needs to be both good writing and good history. Find out how you can combine the two. You will develop your characters, settings and plots with an eye to the past as you practice the basics of good writing, weaving carefully crafted sentences into an engaging story.

A Pop Art® Production