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From http://hechingerreport.org/theater-helps-english-learners-master-common-core-but-can-it-close-the-achievement-gap/

Theater helps English learners master Common Core: But can it close the achievement gap?
by Margaret Ramirez
June 23, 2015

Inside Kelly Budde’s language arts class at Thomas A. Edison Elementary School, 11-year-old Carlos Vazquez was starring in the lead role of the Hairy Frog in the original production, “Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow.”

…In this riotous classroom filled with budding thespians and English language learners, the goal of this lively theater exercise was to teach literacy, boost vocabulary and help students master the new Common Core language arts curriculum. It has proved popular with most of Edison’s more than 430 students, but principal Ivan Tolentino says it is particularly beneficial to the 40 percent of the student body who are English learners (as many as 95 percent of Edison pupils speak another language at home).

Read the full article at http://hechingerreport.org/theater-helps-english-learners-master-common-core-but-can-it-close-the-achievement-gap/