The Foundation for a Meaningful Life
Kindergarten - Grade 9 in Southborough, MA

News Detail - Magazine

An Island Rivalry

Sixth graders impressed family, friends, and the Lower School community with their performance of “Two Islands” on Wednesday, March 6. The play tells the story of Greenel and Graynel, two island countries with different approaches to life and a deep-seated mistrust of each other. Inspired by the storybook Two Islands by Ivan Gantschev, the play started as a process drama exercise in Margaret McFadden’s drama class. Each student was assigned an island to live on. Greenel is lush and rural with an economy based on farming, and Graynel is developed and industrial. The students stretched their imaginations by creating characters, jobs, maps, and transportation systems for each island and points of conflict between them. In an interdisciplinary connection with their English class, Margaret asked students to write the same “I Am” poems they had written with Ms. Gleason earlier in the year, but this time as their island character. Students learned about vignettes and created short scenes about a typical workday on their island. 
 
Students collaborated over the fall and winter terms to develop characters, craft artwork, write monologues and poetry, and develop the scenes. The conflict that drives the play’s plot arises when each island needs the other’s resources to survive. As Margaret noted in her introduction, the play has a strong message about the importance of empathy and showcases the personalities and unique voices of the sixth grade students. Click here for a gallery of photos from the sixth-grade play.
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48 MAIN STREET
SOUTHBOROUGH, MA 01772
main number 508-490-8250
admission 508-490-8201