Students in Communication Studies Lecturer Melanie Mason’s Oral Interpretation of Children's Literature class are participating in a service learning project this semester with Theatre Arts classes at Watauga Middle School and Grand Prairie Fine Arts Academy.

The Communication students are working with sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders on a reader’s theatre presentation. 

Mason says the students are connecting on a project for International Dot Day, a global celebration of creativity, courage and collaboration, according to the group’s website. http://www.thedotclub.org/dotday/get-started.

“My students have provided these middle schoolers with a Reader's Theatre version of the book and a set of questions based on Burke's Pentad Dramatism Analysis so that they can better understand the script for performance,” Mason explained. “These students will then perform for us and have a discussion together on the experience.”

The COMS students have been Skyping with the younger students during class time. The Grand Prairie students visited the UTA campus for  presentation of the group’s collaborative project in September.

“This project gave my students an opportunity to further explore interpretation of Children's Literature, both from an individual perspective and to watch the target demographic in action,” Mason added.

“We also provided some great resources to these middle school teachers and exposed these kids to a university experience at UTA. Go Mavs!”