On Thursday evening, Julia and I met with our project partner in order to go through the policies and expectations of Higher Achievement. We learned that we could have up to 25 fifth graders in our elective, which will probably be a challenge. That being said, I think it would be a good idea to begin our first rehearsal with an introductory game, like a name game or passing around a beach ball with get-to-know-you questions. Depending on how long this takes, we could play another game with the group, like Zip Zap Zop or Froggy Murder (a personal favorite). Following the games and introductions, we will introduce our part of the play, introduce the characters in Act I, and set expectations for the rehearsals that are in line with Higher Achievement’s expectations for the scholars. We could then ask the scholars whether they would like to audition for roles, have us decide, or just try roles out until they find a dynamic that they like. With a group of this size, hopefully some of our scholars will want to help us with staging things like the storm or Ariel’s magic. If we have time after discussing the characters, we can have some students go through some of the monologues if they like. However, with such a big group and such little time, it might be better just to end with a quick wind-down game. Overall, I am excited to meet our scholars and get started!