Watson third-graders put on series of plays

Neighbors | Natalie Scott.To read their parts, students in Dana Elias' third-grade class at Watson Elementary School walked up to the microphone and spoke slowly and clearly so that everyone would understand them.

Neighbors | Natalie Scott.Students in Dana Elias' third-grade class that were not performing waited patiently on stands for their turn to go on stage.
By NATALIE SCOTT
Watson Elementary third-grade students put on a series of small plays Dec. 18 in the cafeteria, reading their parts into a microphone from books and acting out their parts.
The purpose of this lesson, according to third-grade teacher Dana Elias, was for students to have a way of working on their reading and performance skills that the class had been working on in the first part of the year.
Elias wanted students to be comfortable reading on a stage in front of their parents and peers.
She wanted them to work on speaking slowly and clearly when talking to a group of people and to not let nerves mess them up.
The students were divided into four different groups that performed four different plays. The first group read “The Gingerbread Man,” a classic portrayal of the fairy tale about that character. The next group to perform presented “Castaway Pines,” a story about trees that are being cut down by a logger, but are pleased when they find out that he is actually taking them to be Christmas trees.
“Graduation Day at Elf School” was a story about the merits of perseverance, even when it seems that you have failed.
The final story, “Red-Headed Robbie’s Christmas Story,” was a tale of friendship and working together to help each other discover the true meaning of Christmas.
All of the children in Elias’ class read their parts clearly and with confidence and each of the plays they performed gave a great holiday message to the audience.