Did You Know...
 American Sign Language (ASL) is the fourth most-used language in the United States.

Gail McKay
 Gail McKay is a Master's Degreed, Certified Teacher of the Deaf, as well as a Certified Independent Instructor for Baby SignsŪ Classes, Parent Workshops, Sign, Say, and Play™ Classes and Baby SignsŪ Child Care Provider Training. She has been qualified by the North Carolina Division of Child Development as an In-Service Trainer, and the Professional Training Sessions are authorized for Staff Development credit.


Gail McKay

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Art Infused Educational Programs

Gail is a Teaching Artist who works with ArtsTeach in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, and with Blumenthal Educational Institute, a program of the Blumenthal Performing Arts Center in Charlotte. Gail has created lessons which coordinate with the Language Arts and World Cultures Curriculum, which infuse the Art of Puppetry into activities to teach required North Carolina Standard Course Objectives. Puppetry is a great vehicle to stimulate and motivate learners to improve their writing, and can help them develop their understanding of core curriculum in an enjoyable and creative way. Talk with Gail about how Puppetry can be used in this way to stimulate your students.

The Language Arts lessons are offered to school-aged students (3rd – 5th grades) to promote better writing skills; lessons on developing character, writing good problem/solution plots, elaborative with sensory vocabulary, adding details to setting, character, and plot development, adding humor and suspense to your story, and writing good beginnings and endings are some of the lessons she offers.

Boys creating panel theatres

Language Arts lessons to improve Reading Comprehension are developed for PreSchoolers through 2nd graders. Lessons include: identifiying main ideas, sequencing events, retelling stories, as well as creating original stories from different character perspectives.

Gail with students creating hand puppets

In World Cultures, Gail is developing a program comparing Chinese and/or Indian culture to American, with shadow puppetry and hand-puppet format. Spring, 2008 is the Pilot Project, with a grant being sought for 2008-9 school year. An expanded curriculum that can be modified to other cultures is projected for the following year.

Puppetry is a great vehicle to use in any subject. Talk with Gail today about how you can utilize this wonderful art form in lessons to stimulate and motivate learning.






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