TTT: 2012 - 2013

For the second year in a row, a small number of fourth grade students were selected to participate in a group called the Traveling Troupe of Thespians. This group, also known as the TTT, was responsible for teaching other students in grades kindergarten through fourth about bullying and the importance of accepting people for who they are even if they look, act, or think differently than others. This year, the TTT consisted of four fourth grade students (one from each classroom), two of whom were boys and two of whom were girls. The TTT began meeting and working on their presentation in February. By the end of the school year, they had presented to all twenty-three classes in the school. The presentation involved a number of different parts, which are described in detail below.

1. After introductions, the students watched a slideshow, consisting of staff members/teachers and community members, that demonstrated ways that people are different and the different types of intelligences in the world. The focus of this slideshow was to accept these differences and realize that each person is special and unique because of these differences. The slideshow is narrated by the students in the traveling troupe. After the viewing, the TTT led a discussion on the theme and message of the slideshow. The slideshow created can be viewed below:

2. The TTT then acted out and/or read two books, which were slightly different depending on the grade level. For kindergarten through second grade students, the TTT acted out the book One by Kathryn Otoshi and read the book Howard B. Wigglebottom Listens to His Heart by Howard Binkow. With the third and fourth grade classes, the TTT acted out the books One and Zero, both of which are by Kathryn Otoshi. In between these performances, the TTT also recited an original acceptance poem and asked all of the students to repeat the lines after them. Following each of these performances, the TTT led discussions about the themes and messages of these books.

3. Students were then shown a number of different clips from kids’ movies that have to do with bullying. After being shown these clips, the TTT members asked students to figure out why the characters in the clips were being bullied and what type of bullying the characters in the movie were engaging in. The TTT discussion leaders then informed the students as to how the movies ended due to the fact that they always ended in a positive and accepting manner.

4. After these clips, the TTT presented a kids' music video to the song, Who Says by Selena Gomez, which is a song about finding your inner beauty and not believing people who try to put you down. The TTT learned the lyrics to different parts of this song and lip-synced the words while being videotaped walking around different parts of the school. Within this video, there were also clips of different classes (approximately twelve classes who volunteered to be a part of this video) engaging in simple dance movements (e.g. robot, wave, sprinkler, etc.). The TTT then led another discussion following this video about the theme of the song.

5. Finally, another music video was created by the staff at Houghton Elementary School to the song, Firework, by Katy Perry. This song talks about how each person has a light within them that should be shown to the world no matter what is going on in their life or how other people are treating them. The video was filmed and edited by one of Houghton Elementary's former students and one of our current staff member's son, David Latino. This music video was presented to all students and parents in attendance at the Family Picnic Day on May 31, 2013. The music video was dedicated to all of the Houghton Elementary School children. The video was a huge success, which was apparent by the laughter and enthusiasm of the crowd! Feel free to view this music video below: