Peter Pan characters drop in on students’ mock ‘Today Show’

Posted

On cue, a hush came over the audience. The theme music started, the camera went live and the announcer said, “It’s the ‘Today Show’ from Rockefeller Center in New York, with hosts Matt Lauer and Savannah Guthrie.”

Well, it wasn’t really the “Today Show,” but to the parents and teachers of third-grade students at Sarah Dyer Barnes Elementary School in Johnston, it was just as entertaining and twice as much fun.

Teacher Debbi Sgambato said the mock broadcast was part of a three-month program designed to teach young students reading, writing, listening and speaking skills.

Since November, she said, students have been studying the story of Peter Pan. As part of their learning project, they wrote about the different characters, telling how they moved the story forward, why they are important and how they helped create story action.

Then, each student wrote their opinion as to who their favorite character was and the reasons why.

“They have worked so very, very, very hard on this, I thought it was time to celebrate,” said Sgambato.

To do so, the students presented a make-believe broadcast with Maylin McAteer playing the role of Savannah Guthrie and Nathen Zalisk as Matt Lauer. The two interviewed the characters of Peter Pan, including Wendy (Ava Melo), Peter Pan (Anthony Sevigny), Tinkerbell (Jahzara Asenzio), Captain Hook (Matthey Leddy) and Tootles (Hanna Calabro). The exercise taught the youngsters speaking and listening skills.

Others played a role in the production as greeters, servers, announcers or technicians.

And while they did not have a nationwide audience, they did play to a classroom packed with smiling parents. The reviews, of course, were all positive.

Comments

No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here