Between the Lions® Residencies
Develop Literacy Skills through Artist Residencies designed for K-2 classes
Between the Lions® Residencies reach emerging readers from Kindergarten through second grade. They are linked to the award-winning PBS series produced by WGBH, Sirius Thinking and Mississippi Public Broadcasting and presented by professional teaching artists. Each Between the Lions® Residency brings the curriculum of phonics and phonemic awareness to life while building vocabulary, comprehension, and fluency.
Between the Lions®, the Emmy award-winning PBS children’s television series, and the most widely used programming in American elementary schools, serves as the starting point for this series of literacy-focused Arts for Learning residencies for children in kindergarten through 2nd grade. Each residency uses arts-based activities and incorporates brief segments of Between the Lions® episodes to bring the curriculum of phonemic awareness and phonics to life while building vocabulary, comprehension, and fluency. Residencies can be adapted as necessary within the K-2 range.
All Arts for Learning Between the Lions® Residencies include:
- An appropriate sequence of the instruction; guided practice; independent practice; reflection and revision; and opportunities to perform and inform.
- Each residency can be done in as little as five to six sessions of 35-50 minutes in length.
- Residencies are designed for teacher participation and active student involvement.
 Kindergarten: What’s in a Name?
This five-session residency is led by a musical teaching artist. The program guides students in using techniques such as tapping rhythms and vocalizing to reinforce literacy concepts and skills. Students create and perform sound pieces based on rhythmic patterns in names or using nonsense rhymes.
First Grade: The Long and Short of It!
This five-session residency is lead by a theatre artist, accompanied in three of the sessions by a Young Audiences dance artist. The program guides students in creative movement and sound production related to vowel sounds and short action words.
Second Grade: Call It As You See It!
This five-session residency is led by a teaching artist with expertise in both music and visual arts. The program guides students in sound production and the creation of visual arts pieces related to original poetry using blended words, synonyms and rhymes. |
