Sophie Rich
Sophie Rich

Curriculum Consultant

Creative drama in the classroom has pull and potency; it is a pedagogy in which play is part and parcel to the process.

 
 
Sophie Rich Curriculum Consultant

Play is the entry point for learning, the mechanism through which skills are developed, and the way in which students display competencies. I am particularly inspired by the ways that integrating creative drama practices into other disciplines and subject areas has the power to increase access – by providing new means of engagement and validating kinesthetic, embodied, and creative ways of knowing – as well as rigor – by challenging students to communicate in new ways – and relevance – by implicating the self as a tool in learning and connecting to material. 

 

I am offering my services as a curriculum consultant and professional development leader around creative drama integration in classrooms with students of all ages in all disciplinary areas, whether bringing to life long-ago narratives in the humanities, embodying concepts in math and science, or unraveling social challenges. By encouraging teachers to reconceptualize classroom structures through a creative drama lens and take risks in their classrooms by integrating performing arts structures, I aim to challenge teachers to explore inclusive and affirming practices and to engage students in material kinesthetically, emotionally, creatively, and playfully. I look forward to working with you to embed the principles of performing arts that make them so valuable – self-expression, creativity, collaboration, empathy, play, embodiment – towards academic, social, and emotional goals. 

Sophie Rich Curriculum Consultant

I offer my consulting services through…

 

  • Teaching a creative drama-based workshop in your classroom to your students to model its application firsthand

  • Leading professional development workshops for teachers focusing on concrete drama integration strategies appropriate to your school or classroom setting

  • Advising on drama integration ideas for a unit you have already planned

  • Developing drama-integrated lesson plans for an upcoming unit you have yet to plan or have partially planned

Please reach out if you are interested in working together!

My most recent curriculum consulting project, a collaboration between HGSE and iThrive games, can be found here.

 Testimonials

 
 
“[Sophie and her team] brought and levied their considerable classroom experience and creative drive to challenge and push my students. They asked difficult but essential questions about Boston and the tragedy of the marathon bombings several years ago. I was impressed with their ability to make this difficult subject matter something that high school students could tackle in a creative way. They used an impressive combination of image and performance skill to mold what was ultimately student work. I believe this kind of work is some of the most important that theatre has on offer.”
— Andy Short, MATCH Charter Public School
Sophie Rich Curriculum Consultant
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“I had the pleasure of working with Sophie on a visiting artist series in order to incorporate theater into our third grade Peter pan ELA unit. Our class is inclusive and contains emergent bilingual as well as wheelchair users. Sophie’s activity allowed for every single student in the class the ability to access, engage, and have fun. The students talked about their experience recreating Peter Pan for weeks afterword. It was a fantastic experience and we look forward to working with Sophie again in the future. I have told many people about the amazing visiting artist who included and was able to engage every single student in my class.”
— Stephanie Luette, Northeast Elementary School
“Sophie was fantastic with our students! It was so neat to see them become aware of how much they already understood about Hamlet, and then to add deeper layers of understanding to the work through Sophie’s guidance… wow! I know this was an experience our kids at Smith Vocational & Agricultural High School will remember fondly! Thank you Sophie!” … “I did not expect to find the tableaus that the students created so symbolically rich and even beautiful. Sophie noticed and brought out the best in our students, and I am convinced that we need as much theater in our schools as we can get. A big thanks to Sophie for her work and for coming to our school.”
— Teachers from Smith Vocational & Agricultural High School
“It made me feel as if I had lived in that period of time and knowing I could speak that language and understand it. It was amazing.” ... “I really loved this workshop. I’ve been in many acting classes and these exercises were new and refreshing. The teachers’ enthusiasm, knowledge, and talent was obvious and this made it even more enjoyable. I liked the way the exercises included everyone, even people who don’t normally volunteer, and also how they allowed us to really go into depth with the physicality of the characters, something we haven’t done as much in class.”
— 11th grade students from The Hartsbrook School
Sophie Rich Curriculum Consultant
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