“Why Not Let Them All Act?”

The language arts visionary James Moffett once asked a very proud teacher, “Why not let them all act?” (Moffett, Drama: What Is Happening, NCTE, 1967). Two groups of four fourth graders had just acted out a scene from Cinderella, as the class sat as the audience. The famous observer thought they did well but wondered why the others had not had a chance. For the next scene from Jack and the Beanstalk, the entire class split up into groups of three and acted out the scene in spots around the room. Upon returning to the large group, most groups wanted to perform the scene for the class. From this day on, all improvisation of scenes from literature included every student. Later when the teacher worked with the class to construct with them a theory of improvisation, one usually reticent third-grade child said, “It was like swapping bodies.”