CPS Visits Oak Lane Day School

On February 12, 2009, the second and third grade classes visited our friends at Oak Lane Day School in Blue Bell, PA for the first of what will hopefully be many “class exchanges,” with each school taking turns sharing, listening, and learning from each other over the course of a school day. Our relationship with Oak Lane provides an opportunity for city/country exchanges where we can share similarities and differences in a friendly, open way.

The theme for our part of the morning focused on African culture and storytelling as a mixture of second and third graders shared a bit of a West African-inspired dance they’ve been learning in the CPS After School program. Third grade then performed a play based on the book The Old Hermit and the Boy Who Couldn’t Stop Laughing. (The story is about a young boy who made fun of an elderly man and experienced a peculiar consequence as a result.)

The third graders wow the audience with their adaptation of The Old Hermit and the Boy Who Couldn’t Stop Laughing

The second and third graders perform an African dance routine for the Oak Lane students.

Following our presentation – and a little outdoor play time in the school’s expansive play area – our students watched as Oak Lane second and third grade students performed their Reader’s Theater play, "A Promise is a Promise." Readers' Theater is an Oak Lane tradition where students learn to work together, take themselves seriously, and create and perform a play for their school community. Our students were fantastic audience members as they watched actively and asked sharp questions at the end of the presentation.  Our students were even invited up on stage to recreate some of what they’d observed in the play.

The experience ended with CPS and Oak Lane students eating lunch together, and as soon as we got back on the van to return to CPS, the first question asked by many students was, “When can we do that again?"