Oct 05, 2022
How do you start your day? Wolf Trap Teaching Artists like to use short, artful “energizers” in both professional and classroom settings to promote mindfulness and help prime students for learning. Energizers also help students reflect on what they’ve learned, and can be a useful tool for self-regulation and classroom management. “An energizer serves to focus and connect the energy of the group, whet our creativity,...
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Jun 03, 2022
New Category for Wolf Trap Grants for High School Performing Arts Teachers Encourages Students to Channel Commentary Through Artistic Expression How does one define peace? What does it mean to be culturally responsive, and how does one address the struggle for human rights? These questions form the basis for three compelling new projects for this year’s Grants for High School Performing Arts Teachers. Each grant,...
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Jun 03, 2022
In the Lazy Days of Summer, Set Aside Some Reading Time to Build Literacy For many families, summer means beach vacations, park playdates, and pool days. For educators, it means a much-deserved break from the rigors of the classroom. But as educators and parents are stuffing their beach bags and children’s backpacks with sunscreen, goggles, and snacks, why not consider adding a book to fill...
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Jun 03, 2022
The end of school year countdown is on, and soon children will be at home looking for things to do. Wolf Trap has composed a list of arts-integrated projects that parents can do at home with their children to extend learning opportunities for them outside of the classroom. Teachers, you can also try them out while they are working on their lesson plans for the...
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May 10, 2022
Fairfax County Public School Teacher Kristin McClure Brings a Musical Twist to STEM Learning Some people are lucky enough to find their calling early on in life. Centre Ridge Elementary School Kindergarten teacher Kristin McClure, who has been teaching with Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) for more than 15 years and who was once a student there herself, is one of those individuals. “Growing up,...
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May 05, 2022
Wolf Trap Welcomes the National Science Foundation and Partners for the 2022 “Brain Dance Workshop” How does creative movement influence the brain’s ability to adapt? This April, a team of scientists, engineers, artists, educators, and choreographers from around the world gathered at Wolf Trap to explore the connection between dance and neuroplasticity for the 2022 International Workshop on the Neural and Social Bases of Creative...
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Apr 22, 2022
Recently, Wolf Trap Institute for Early Learning Through the Arts added five new professional artists from the DC-metro area to its roster of 255 teaching artists. From a bilingual clarinetist to a children’s book author, these new teaching artists come from a wide array of backgrounds, experiences, and disciplines, but what unites them is their love of the arts, and their desire to share that...
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Apr 22, 2022
As a young parent, there is often no moment more gratifying than seeing your baby light up. Whether through a smile, a giggle, or a wiggle, your child is demonstrating through a non-verbal movement or expression that he or she has made a connection. Research shows that in the first years of life, the brain forms one million new neural connections every second. Those connections...
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Apr 22, 2022
Wolf Trap’s Valerie Carroll Helps Establish Bedtime Routines for Prince George’s County Families with Baby ArtsPlay!™ It’s the end of the day, and you’re exhausted from a hard day’s work. You’ve just finished cleaning up the dishes, and now it’s time to get your children ready for bed so you can have a few minutes for yourself. Down the hall your children go to gather...
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Oct 04, 2021
Wolf Trap Master Teaching Artist Wincey Terry-Bryant traces her love of music back to a small Pentecostal church in Jersey City, N.J., where she first learned to sing. “We didn’t have musicians,” she says, “so our choir sang a capella.” Their choir director, Carolyn Dale, had perfect pitch and drilled them regularly on harmony. One Sunday morning, Terry-Bryant was asked to fill in for one...
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