miss nelson is missing! - actors' playhouse · james marshall interviewed by anita silvey....

Welcome to Actors’ Playhouse Theatre for Young Audiences. We hope that you enjoy the show and that attendance at live theatre will become a regular part of your entertainment activities.

We have prepared this Student Enrichment Guide to help in your understanding and appreciation of the show. We encourage teachers to make full use of this guide and to download, or print as many copies for your students as you wish. If you have further questions about this, or any future productions at Actors’ Playhouse, please do not hesitate to call us at 305-444-9293 X606.

CONTENTSThe Story Behind the Show.........................................p.2Winning Author Bios......................................................p.2Original Author Bios.......................................................p.3Interview with James Marshall..................................p.4Audience Wanted...........................................................p.5Typical Field Trip Day.....................................................p.6Poetry Corner...................................................................p.7Prop Search.......................................................................p.7Puzzle Page.......................................................................p.8Tell Us Your Day...............................................................p.9Thoughts for Discussion............................................p.10Further Reading............................................................p.11Individual & Group Projects.....................................p.12More Fun Stuff........................................................p.13-14

WHAT?Miss Nelson is Missing!

WHEN?April 23-May 30th, 2009

WHERE?Actors’ Playhouse at the

Miracle Theatre

Actors’ Playhouse at the Miracle Theatre

280 Miracle MileCoral Gables, Fl. 33134

www.actorsplayhouse.org 305-444-9293

MISS NELSON IS MISSING!

Miss Nelson is not pleased with her class!"Something must be done!" she declares.

T h e S t o r y B e h i n d t h e S h o w

What you are about to see is an adaptation of the stories; MISS NELSON IS MISSING and MISS NELSON IS BACK by Harry Allard and James Marshall. What is an adaptation? It is a new version of a previously written story. Sommetimes adaptations add new characters, or even take out a character or a story line, which may have appeared in an earlier version. You may have seen adaptations of famous stories. In fact, most fairy tales you hear are adaptations from earlier writings because many fairy tales were originally in other languages.

This witty and wacky musical adaptation of these hilarious and mysterious favorites is by Joan Cushing! It was originally commisioned and produced by BAPA's Imagination Stage, White Flint, Bethesda, Maryland. It com-bines the two books into a funny and thought provoking look at how your choice of behavior can affect your life and those around you.

The students in room 207 are known for misbehaving. They don't seem capable of following the rules and being respectful to their kind gentle teacher, Miss Nelson. One morning Miss Nelson is mysteriously missing from school and the students have a moment of satisfaction in thinking that they have succeeded in driving her away. Their celebration turns quickly to dread when the substitute, the mean and scary Miss Viola Swamp, descends upon the classroom. soon the children are inundated with homework in a military style classroom and they even have their story time taken away!

Ultimately the students realize how terribly they treated Miss Nelson and decide to take matters into their own hands. After an unsuccessful attempt to enlist the assistance of polieman Detective McSmogg the children decide it was their own behavior that drove her away and set out to right their wrongs. To the students delight the clever Miss Nelson returns to room 207 the very next day and is somehow knowingly pleased to find a newly appreciative and much more respectful version of her class!

Composer, lyricist, playwright and political humorist Joan cushing is best known fer her satirical revue, Mrs. Foggybottom and Friends! which ran for 10 hit years at the Omni-Shoreham hotel, as well as extended runs in NYC. Also in New York she performed her solo night club act, Lady Sings the News!, at the Ballroom, and appeared in Gary Trudeau's Tanner for President! series on HBO, directed by Robert Altman, and studied musi-cal theatre writing under Lehman Engel and Mary Yeston at BMI Musical Theatre Workshop. In 1997 her musi-cal Flush! won the H.D. Lewis Award for Playwright Development in the source Theatre Festival. Her 1999 musical Tussaud, based on the deliciously gruesome and dark tale of Madame Tussaud, won the Source Theatre Festival, was awarded the Pat Sheehy New Play Fund Award and The Ensemble Award, and received a staged reading at the Pulse Ensemble Theatre in New York.

Her first children's musical, based on the popular Miss Nelson is Missing! books was commissioned and pro-duced by Imagination Stage in Bethesda, Maryland. Miss Nelson is Missing! has received numerous productions around the country since winning the 2004 National Children's Theatre Festival here at Actors' Playhouse. She has also written the musical Miss Nelson Takes a Field Day! among others.

Actors’ Playhouse Student Enrichment Guide P 2

Author, Composer and Lyricist JOAN CUSHING

HARRY ALLARD

Biographical Statement from1983 Biography from Fifth Book of Junior Authors and Illustrators --1999 update: Harry Allard was born in Evanston, Illinois, on January 27--the same birthday, Allard notes, as Mozart and Lewis Carroll. After growing up in California, Long Island, and Chicago, Allard graduated from Northwestern University in 1948. After college he entered the Signal Corps of the U.S. Army and was sent to Korea. On his release from active duty, he lived and worked in Paris for three years before returning to the United States, where he earned his master’s degree in French from Middlebury College in 1960. After another year in France, Allard came back to teach, first in Virginia, then in Texas. From 1965 to 1968 he attended Yale on a fellowship, then moved to Massachusetts, where he has lived ever since. Allard received his Ph.D. in French from Yale in 1973. Upon his arrival in Boston, Harry Allard met James Marshall, author and illustrator of the “George and Martha” books. It was Marshall’s art that was the inspiration for Harry Allard’s first book, The Stupids Step Out. James Marshall provided the illustrations for the story and this collaboration paved the way for the publication of several other Stupids books. Documenting the adventures of the dimwitted family, the stories are perennial favorites with young library borrowers. In 1996, director John Landis made a feature film entitled The Stupids based on the exploits of these hapless characters. The Stupids Step Out was followed in 1977 by Miss Nelson Is Missing which was highly praised. Booklist said of it: “Rarely has the golden rule been so effectively interpreted for children.” The book was a runner-up for a 1977 Edgar Allan Poe Award. Like the Stupids series, the adventures of Miss Nelson and the students of Horace B. Smedley School have been continued in Miss Nelson is Back and Miss Nelson Has a Field Day. Miss Nelson is Missing! won the Colorado Children’s Book Award in 1985. In the same year as Miss Nelson Is Missing, Allard’s own favorite, It’s So Nice to Have a Wolf Around the House, was published. Eventually, this book was made into a full-length cartoon feature for television. Three of the books on which Allard and Marshall collaborated have been recognized with honors. The Stupids Step Out was included on the School Library Journal “Best of the Best 1966-1978” list (December 1979); I Will Not Go to Market Today was exhibited in the 1980 American Institute of Graphic Arts show; and The Tutti-Frutti Case was named a New York Times Best Illustrated Children’s Book of the Year 1975.

James Marshall

James Marshall was born in San Antonio, Texas, and grew up sixteen miles outside of the town on the family farm. His father, who worked for the railroad, had his own dance band in the thirties and appeared on the radio. His mother, also musical, sang in the church choir. So it wasn’t surprising when Jim considered playing the viola for a career and received a scholarship to attend the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston. But during an airplane trip he was jerked out of his seat and injured his hand, and that was the end of his musical career.He returned to San Antonio College and later Trinity, where he studied French under Harry Allard, his future collaborator. After moving East, Jim graduated from Southern Connecticut State University with a degree in history and French. The French major somehow wound up trying to teach Spanish in a Catholic school in Boston. Before long he was looking for a new profession.On a fateful summer afternoon in 1971 James Marshall lay on his hammock drawing pictures. His mother was inside the house watching Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf on TV. The strident voices of the movie’s protagonists, George and Martha, split the quiet air, and as the sketches began to take shape, history was made . . . and James Marshall never had to look for another profession.And so, with “tongue-in cheek,” Jim Marshall began his career and became one of the most pro-lific and successful author/illustrators of children’s books. He is best known for his series on the mischievous exploits of Fox, a debonair, lazy showoff; the uproarious adventures of the two Cut-Ups, Spud and Joe; George and Martha; and the misadventures of the Stupid family. The Washington Post said in a review of his work, “There are few better writers and illustrators for children now than Marshall. Certainly there is no one else working today who more successfully captures the child’s point of view than does the creator of George and Martha and the Stupids.” The New York Times said about the Fox books: “The miracle of Mr. Marshall’s work is that so often his stories are as profound as they are simple.” He illustrated new versions of many children’s classics including Goldilocks and the Three Bears, for which he received a Caldecott Honor, Red Riding Hood, The Three Little Pigs, and Hansel and Gretel.In an interview with Texas Monthly, Jim Marshall said about his work: “People have very odd ideas of what a children’s writer should be like. Children always expect me to look like a hippopotamus and adults assume that by nature I have to be a little off the wall.”James Marshall died in October of 1992. He divided his time between an apartment in the Chelsea district of New York and his home in Mansfield Hollow Connecticut. (Copyright © Penguin Putnam Books for Young Readers. Reprinted with permission from Penguin Putnam Books for Young Readers.)


Famous Authors' Books Come to Life

James Marshall interviewed by Anita Silvey. Horn Book Radio Review

Anita Silvey (AS): I’m Anita Silvey, editor in chief of Horn Book Magazine. If you’ve been reading any picture books to three-, four-, or five-year-olds recently, you may be very familiar with my guest today, James Marshall. About fifteen years ago, Jim Marshall started his publishing career with a series of books about two best friends, George and Martha, who just happen to be rather endearing but quite ungainly hippopotami. Jim has gone on to create about sixty books and some other marvelous characters: the members of the Stupid family; Miss Nelson, everyone’s favorite teacher; and Miss Viola Swamp, everyone’s most dreaded substitute teacher. Jim, I’m pleased you can be here with us today. How did you get started as an illustrator?

James Marshall (JM): I was sitting in a hammock at my Mama’s house in Hilotus, a little town outside of San Antonio, and I was doodling on a page. Actually, it was just a blank page and there were two little dots already in the paper and I recognized them as eyes and I started developing around the character that has become Martha, my hippo. And inside at that time -inside the house -my mother was watching a televised version of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf. And the characters are George and Martha. And I thought to myself, “well, those are two pretty good names,” so I borrowed from Edward Albee, who I’m told is not amused by this.

AS: work? Now, the books are a great deal of fun to read, and children have a great deal of fun to read. Are they as much fun to create, or is it a lot of hard work?

JM: No. No. Sometimes -it’s a law of nature -actually, it’s a law of art, I think ¬sometimes when I’m working on a book -and I think this is true of a lot of people, because I have a number of friends who are illustrators and authors -if you think the book is going very, very well, and you’re creating a masterpiece, nine times out of ten it will be just the opposite. The books that I’ve done that look -I hope look like they’re fun to do, are the ones that made me throw up ten times a day. I mean, the Miss Nelson books: I really thought I was going to die doing those books. Very, very hard stuff. Because humor, which I do -comedy -is very tricky. You can’t show how hard you work. You can’t call attention to your-self. You can’t show the wheels turning. It’s got to be like a balloon that floats up into the air. You don’t make the reader, the viewer aware of anything but the story

AS: What are the favorite characters that you’ve created, of your own world?

JM: Oh, Viola Swamp. Viola Swamp is my second grade teacher who laughed at me. When Harry and I were doing Miss Nelson is Missing, we devised the scenario so that a wicked substitute arrives on the scene. And Harry said, “I want you to draw the most awful teacher you ever had.” Well, it took me five seconds to get Viola Swamp down. She’s the spitting image of my second grade teacher, who is still alive in San Antonio, Texas. In April I saw her in the super-market in San Antonio. I was pushing a cart and around the corner came Viola Swamp! And I felt my knees weaken. There she is! She has seen the book and she finds it very amusing, so I don’t feel too terrible. And of course I’mvery fond of the George and Martha duo.

AS: And she was starred in, what, Yummers?

JM: She starred in Yummers and I’m doing now Yummers 2, the Second Course. AS: Thank you, James Marshall for being here with us today. For reviews of Jim Marshall’s books, who’s the author of George and Martha, Miss Nelson has a Field Day, and Stupids Step Out, and other fine children’s books, check your September/October Horn Book which is available at your local public library, your school library or your favorite local book store. I’m Anita Silvey, editor in chief of Horn Book Magazine.


Interview with James Marshall

Want AdsAUDIENCE MEMBERS WANTED!

The Director has requested that you, the audience, play the following important part in the show!

1) Respect the actors and other audience members by listening quietly during the performance.

2) Laugh (like crazy) when something funny happens--it's okay to respond to the show!

3) Show your appreciation to the actors and crew by applauding at the end of songs, scenes and espe-cially at the end of the show, they will appreciate it.

4) Remember any questions you might have during the show so you can ask the actors and the director at the end of the play.

5) Stay in your seat until the play is over and the actors have taken their bows. Then, wait for your teachers to tell you where to go.

6) Food, drinks and candy are for the intermission or for after the show. We don't allow eating or drinking in the theatre, only in the lobby.

7) Now that you know your part, ENJOY THE SHOW!

Thanks,

Earl Maulding, Director

P.S. The classroom is a great place to rehearse all of the above.


YourvisittoActors’Playhouse!

1. Prior to the performance date, teachers can go to our website; www.actorsplayhouse .org and print an Enrichment Guide which contains Show Synopsis. Author & Composer biographies. Theatre Etiquette Guide. Puzzles and Games Reading List. Questions & Ideas for Pre & Post Activities.

2. Students enter the beautifully restored Miracle Theatre at 280 Miracle Mile.

3. They are escorted to their seats and each child receives a program with a cast list and actor photos to help them identify the performers while they listen to pre-show music.

4. In a funny and zany Good Theatre Etiquette speech, Earl Maulding, Director of Theatre for Young Audiences, reminds the audience to respect the actors by sitting quietly, laughing, and applauding at the appropriate times.

5. Students view a fully staged professional production of a musical directed, written and designed specifically with young audience members in mind.

6. The actors and director introduce themselves after the show and a lively question & answer session ensues where the students can ask any questions at all that they might have. 7. Students return to school and utilizing the Student Enrichment Guide they further dis-cuss and critique the morning's performance.

TRAVEL SECTIONActors’ Playhouse Student Enrichment Guide P 6

POETRY CORNER

WE LOVE OUR TEACHER, SHE TREATS US NICESHE LETS US RAISE HAMSTERS AND FEED THE MICE.

SOMETIMES WE ARE NAUGHTY AND MISBEHAVE,BUT SHE ALWAYS FORGIVES US THE VERY NEXT DAY!

Create your own poem about your teacher and class!


Look For These Props

The tools an Actor gets to use on stage to help them tell their character’s story are called PROPS. A PROP is anything an actor carries or uses onstage. During the course of ALICE IN WONDERLAND look

for these PROPS and try to remember who uses them!

Paper airplanes, spit balls, trash can, fancy pens, magnify-ing glass, a wig, jump rope.

Puzzle PageFind the following words in the puzzle below and circle them. The words can go up, down, across, diagonally or backwards. Good Luck!

ALMA MATER PERILOUS PHILOSOPHY RESPECT GROTESQUE CONSCIENCE SANITY HISTORY TARANTULA SUBSTITUTE OBEDIENT PRINCIPAL LAVAPRANK UNSELFISH SWAMP TIMBUKTU

Q R U S A N I T Y Z G P S

S P E R I L 0 U S L R T E

R U N S E L F I S H 0 N C

J H B P M A W S N M T E N

R E S P E C T K 0 U E I E

M D F V T L P M A W S D I

P R I N C I P A L C Q E C

I P S H I S T 0 R Y U B S

T I M B U K T U W N E 0 N

D G K T A R A N T U L A 0

R E T A M A M L A E H K C

A Q X Y H P 0 S 0 L I H P

L N E L E M E N T A R Y K

NOTE: For even more fun, time everyone, compete head to head with your best friend or compete in groups and give the definitions of each word as it is found!


Kids Speak OutActors’ Playhouse Student Enrichment Guide P 9

THE DAY MY TEACHER, ,DISAPPEARED.

Today is and my name is . When Iwoke up this morning I felt . I put on my shirt and my pants and I had forbreakfast. My was grumpy and my was cranky. I rode in the to school. When Iarrived in my classroom everyone was . Our teacher, , was not there yet and it was almost time for the to ring. When the rang everyone took their .

Then our principal, , came into the room wewere all very . Our Principal told us that ourteacher, , was and would not be comingtoday. Instead we would have a teacher whosename was . Everyone was about havinga different teacher. What if this teacher was and gave us alot of . We all sat aswe waited for our teacher to arrive. the door to our room opened and in stepped our substitute teacherwho looked and . The substituteteacher was but not near as as ourreal teacher . The entire class wrote a that we sent to our teacher. The day ourteacher and we were all very .


Post-Show Thoughts Discussion.......From the Editor

1. The Musical version of MISS NELSON IS MISSING is based on a book of the same title . Howdoes the show that you saw at Actors’ Playhouse compare with what you imagined when you readthe story? What did you like better and what did you miss? Did the music help the story and how?Was there anything that you did not understand?

2. How do the children of Room 207 treat Miss Nelson? Why do you think they behave this way?What is respect? How do obedience and being unselfish relate to respecting others? How doesRoom 207 leam to respect Miss Nelson? What is the true identity of Viola Swamp? What are someother ways Miss Nelson could have gained the respect of her students besides tricking them?

3. Have you ever known students like those in Miss Nelson’s class, who tried to influence you andmake you do things you knew were wrong? How did you deal with these kinds of people? Try actingout a scene where one of you tries to convince the other to do something you know is wrong.

4. Who was your favorite character and Why? Which character in the musical is most like you andwhy? Which actor do you think could have done better and why? Did you notice any mistakeswhen you saw the show? Is there anything about the story that you would change to make it better?Did the costumes, scenery and lighting do their job in helping to tell the story and why?

5. What are the rules in your classroom? Write them down. What rules does your class always follow?What rules does your class need to work on? What rules do you think the children of Room207 were supposed to follow? What rules did they consistently break? How did their breaking therules affect the class as a whole? How does it affect your class when you break the rules?

6. Two actors in the show play multiple roles. How do they disguise themselves as new charactersin a short amount of time? What do they change about their appearance (hair, makeup, costume)?What do they change physically (voice , movement, posture)? Try it yourself! How much can youchange your appearance by changing your body movements, facial expression, and voice?

7. Read Miss Nelson is Missing a second time and have students locate the places where theywould have been angry, annoyed , upset, or happy if they had been in Miss Nelson’s class. Create achart on the board to fill out with the students.

More Books by Harry AllardBumps in the Night , 1996The Cactus Flower Bakery, 1991Crash Helmet, 1977The Hummingbirds’ Day, 1993It’s So Nice to Have a Wolf Around the House, 1977Miss Nelson Has a Field Day, 1988Miss Nelson Is Back, 1986Miss Neison Is Missing! , 1977The Stupids Die, 1985The Stupids Have a Ball, 1984The Stupids Step Out, 1977The Stupids Take Off, 1989There’s a Party at Mona’s Tonight, 1999The Tutti-Frutti Case: Starring the Four Doctors of Goodge, 1975I Will Not Go to Market Today, 1979

More Books Written & Illustrated by James Marshall:

The Cut-Ups at Camp Custer. Puffin, 1991 ISBN 0140508171.The Cut-ups Carry On. Viking , 1990 ISBN 0670816450.George and Martha . Houghton, 1973 ISBN 0395166195 .George and Martha: The Complete Stories of Two Best Friends. Houghton , 1997 ISBN0395851580. .Rats on the Roof and Other Stories. Dial, 1991 ISBN 0803708343.Wings: A Tale of Two Chickens. Viking, 1988 ISBN 0140505792.

James Marshall’s Fairy Tale Renditions:

Cinderella. Little Brown, 1992 ISBN 0316483036.Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Puffin, 1998 ISBN 0140563660.sHansel and Gretel. Dial, 1990 ISBN 0803708270 .Red Riding Hood. Dutton, 1987 ISBN 0803703449.Three Little Pigs. Dutton , 1989 ISBN 080370591 3.

Read all about it!


1. This show is an adaptation of a previously written story. Divide up into groups of four or five people, chose an old, familiar story and create your own adaptation . It can be set in olden times, now or in the future. Try to remember the main themes and lessons of the original story and make surethey are still clear. Once you are ready your group can perform it for the rest of class .

2 . An exercise to celebrate diversity. Have the students bring in music from their families culturalbackground. Prepare by asking the students to write their name, a description of their family back-ground and how it is their cultural heritage is celebrated by their family. Place 6-8 chairs in a semi-circle facing the “audience.” Play their music, softly, as each student reads or ad-libs what they havewritten . Costumes may also be wom to enhance the experience. They might also dance to the dif-ferent styles of music presented.

3. Using the above idea have each student select another country or culture and also create a char-acter when they read. This will encourage research and imagination. If costumes and props are notavailable, make them from paper or materials on hand. Repeat presentation to “audience.”

4. Compare and contrast the difference between seeing a “liven play and a movie. How are they dif-ferent and how are they the same. In your opinion does one medium do a better job of making thestory realistic? Which one is more personal and gets you involved?

5. In a movie the designers can use real houses, boats and trees but in a play we use scenery torepresent theses things. Using a shoebox and items from around your house create a scenic designfor one of your favorite stories. What colors, textures and line help to communicate the emotionsand location of the story?

6. How do costumes and props help you to know something about the characters you see on stage?First, pick a characte r from Miss Nelson is Missing and describe in writing, or draw a picture of, their costume. Then explain how the colors and pattems used make you feel and think about a person that would wear that type of clothing. Finally describe and list the props, that’s anything the actor might carry onstage, and descri be what clues these th ings give about the characters.

7. This version of Miss Nelson is Missing uses music to help tell the story. It allows the characters toexpress their inner emotions in a fun entertaining way. Break into groups and write your own songabout a story or idea that you think is important. Try writing the words or lyrics first then say them ina certain rhythm . Finally try choosing a melody that will help communicate whether this is a sad,happy, confu sed or thoughtful song. You can also start with a tune and then write words that fit thatrhythm. Perfonn your masterpiece for your classmates. Remember there is no wrong or bad answerto this project. What your group creates is yours and you should be proud of it!


THINKTHINKTHINK

INDIVIDUAL & GROUP PROJECTS AND ACTIVITIES


MORE FUN STUFF!CREATIVE WRITING

1. What if the kids discovered that Miss Nelson was pretending to be Viola Swamp? Write an alternativeending to the story.

2. The students of Room 207 write a letter to Miss Nelson apologizing for their bad behavior andbegging her to return. Imagine you are stuck with Viola Swamp as a substitute and write a letter toyour own teacher, asking her to come back to your class.

3. Make up a story about the worst substitute teacher you can imagine.

ART

1. Make a mural. On a piece of butcher paper, draw the progression of events that happen to thestudents of Room 207 over the course of the play.

2. Mr. Blandsford shows the students slides of his pet goldfish. Draw a series of pictures of your owr(real or imaginary) pet that you could present to your class as a “slide show”.

3. Mr. Blandsford also tells the students about his ballpoint pen collection. As a class or in smallgroups, decide on an item to collect. See how many different varieties of your item your group canfind. Make an artistic display of your items for others to view.

4. Using crayons, markers, and or construction paper, create a new disguise for Miss Nelson(besides Viola Swamp). Display your pictures on the bulletin board.

5. Create Papier-Mache Puppets and Masks of the two main characters in Miss Nelson is Missing,Miss Nelson and Miss Viola Swamp. Then have students act out the story. Their classmates canplay the roles of Miss Nelson’s students.

HISTORY/GEOGRAPHY

1. “Miss Nelson is Missing” is a musical. Several of the songs are written in very distinct musicalstyles. Research the musical styles of Waltz, March, Ragtime and Rock and Roll. In which time perioddid each style originate? Are the styles still popular today? Find examples of each style andshare them with your class.

2. What is an Alma Mater? What is your school’s Alma Mater? When was it written? Who wrote it?Why do schools have Alma Maters?

Actors’ Playhouse Student Enrichment Times P 14

3. Pop Hanson likes to reminisce about the past. Interview a person older than you (a teenage sibling,a teacher, a parent or grandparent) about what school was like when they were your age. Howwas school different back then? How was it the same?

4. Draw a map of the town Miss Nelson lives in. Include Horace B. Smedley Elementary School,Miss Nelson’s house, the Police Station, and the Kids’ Houses.

5. Detective McSmogg sings about the exotic locations in which he will search for Miss Nelson.Choose one (or more) of the following and research the history, geography and culture of the historiclocation/area. Prepare a presentation for you class based on what you have learned.

ANCIENT RUINS OF PERU ARABIAANTARCTICA BAVARIAN CASTLESCATACOMBS OF ROME EGYPTIAN PYRAMIDSENGLISH CHANNEL HIMALAYAS OF TIBETJUNGLES OF BOTSWANA SEVEN SEASSEVEN WONDERS OF THE WORLD SIBERIATIMBUKTU

SCIENCE

1. One of Room 207’s favorite ways to disrupt class is by throwing paper airplanes. What is aerodynamics?Explore how different shapes move through the air by making several types of paper airplanes.Which airplanes fly the fastest or smoothest? What makes some fly more efficiently thanothers? Look at http://www.stemnet.nf.ca/CITE/paper.htm for different paper airplane designs.

2. Mr. Blansford demonstrates bird calls for the students of Room 207. Go to the library or on theinternet and research the calls of several different birds. Try to recreate the sounds yourself.

THEATRE/PERFORMANCE

1. The play takes place in several different locations: the School, Miss Nelson’s house, the PoliceStation, and Lulu’s Ice Cream Parlor. How does the set designer of the play change the scenery toshow the audience that we have moved to a new location? How would you do it differentIy? Draw pictures of your own set for “Miss Nelson is Missing”.

2. Put on your own musical! In small groups, choose a song to learn. Make up your own choreography(movement or dance) to go with your song and perform it for your class.

DEDUCTIVE REASONING

1. Use a Venn diagram to compare and contrast the story’s two main characters, Miss Nelson andMiss Viola Swamp. Students can draw a character in each side of the diagram and fill the rest of thespace with words that describe each woman.

2. Students will probably figure out who Miss Viola Swamp really is. Brainstorm with them the cluesthat led them to that conclusion. Use the book as a guide for clue-seeking.

miss nelson is missing! - actors' playhouse · james marshall interviewed by anita silvey....

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