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鈥淎 prince! And can someone with a quiet hand tell me what our main character the prince鈥檚 name is?鈥�

Dozens of tiny arms shoot into the air. Peter McNerney, who is moderating the performance, chooses one. He leans in and waits encouragingly for the kindergartner to whisper an answer. 鈥淐hicken Breath?鈥� McNerney confirms softly. Then, in a booming voice to the 100 other 5- and 6-year-olds sitting on the gym floor, 鈥淵es, that鈥檚 it! His name is Chicken Breath!鈥� Uproarious laughter fills the room. A 20-something actor steps out from behind the curtain wearing a paper crown and blue cloth cape over his t-shirt and jeans. 鈥淕ood day! I am Prince Chicken Breath!鈥� he declares, to even more laughter.

This 鈥淚dea Storm鈥� at Little Falls School No. 2 is the first of four such live shows the performing arts group known as the Story Pirates will put on in New Jersey public schools that day. Just watching these talented actors and improv comedians jump, yell, dance, sing, and throw their bodies about on stage can feel like a workout. But they are indefatigable. The improvised performance they do for the upper elementary students later that afternoon will be just as dynamic and amusing as the one for the kindergartners.

And at each show, along with garnering laughs, the actors will be accomplishing another goal鈥攖eaching kids to write.

The New York- and Los Angeles-based non-profit Story Pirates began as a simple idea: Kids write stories and professional performers act them out. While that鈥檚 still at the heart of what the group does today, eight years after it was founded by graduates of Northwestern University, the Story Pirates has added a variety of programs to its repertoire, including in-school and after-school writing workshops, assemblies, teacher professional development, and long-term school partnerships.

Overall, the Story Pirates programs aim to inspire kids to use their imaginations and to write. 鈥淚f there鈥檚 anything we can give kids, it鈥檚 that it鈥檚 worth putting your ideas on paper,鈥� says McNerney, who is the program鈥檚 full-time associate artistic director. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 an essential skill that bleeds into so many other life skills.鈥�

During classroom workshops, the group鈥檚 performers and 鈥渢eaching artists"鈥攚ho have both teaching and acting experience鈥攗se games, chants, and puppets to create a safe space for students to express their most outlandish ideas. Over four classroom sessions, they instruct kids in the elements of storytelling, using curriculum created around that particular grade鈥檚 state standards.

The students draw on those lessons to compose their own stories. They submit their pieces to the Story Pirates members, who read and respond to each one with notes known as 鈥渟tory love,鈥� then choose a few of those stories to adapt into short plays. A group of Story Pirates performers鈥攎ost of whom are striving actors with several other jobs鈥攔eturn a few weeks later to perform the selected stories in front of the entire school, with silly costumes, music, and accolades for the author.

鈥淚magine you hand in a paper and the next time you see it, it鈥檚 adults making it real on stage. You learn that, 鈥極h, I鈥檝e communicated this to people on a piece of paper,鈥欌�� says McNerney. 鈥淚f we can validate a kid鈥檚 ideas, it goes a long way.鈥�

Student-authors can also bring their relatives and friends to a repeat performance, which is open to the public, at a small theater in New York City. 鈥淲e set up stakes for them in their writing鈥攖hey might get to see their story performed,鈥� explains Lauren Stripling, a producer and teaching artist. 鈥淲e give writing a purpose beyond writing class.鈥�

Staying Faithful to the Text

According to Rekha S. Rajan, an assistant professor at National-Louis University in Chicago and a senior research associate with the Center for Arts Education Research at Teachers College at Columbia University, one commonality among the most successful arts-education programs is that they give students ownership of what they鈥檙e doing. The kids are 鈥渢he ones contributing the lyrics to the song or choreographing the dance,鈥� says Rajan, who has no connection with the Story Pirates but consults with other arts programs. 鈥淏y giving them ownership, they鈥檙e more invested when they see the end product.鈥�

That鈥檚 very much the premise behind the Story Pirates鈥� workshops and shows. The group takes adherence to student work seriously. 鈥淚f there are clarity issues [in a story] we鈥檒l change the words to communicate something,鈥� McNerney says, 鈥渂ut for the most part we stay super faithful to that text. And it ends up being awesome and super funny without being condescending to the material.鈥�

The Idea Storm assembly is the shortest鈥攁nd least expensive鈥攐f the Story Pirates鈥� programs for schools. In this setup, the Story Pirates cast members visit a school only twice, once for the assembly and a second time to perform student-written stories. During the first performance, the actors describe the basic components of a story, adapting their vocabulary for the grade in front of them. They explain that every story has a beginning, in which the characters and setting are introduced; a middle, in which a problem is encountered; and an end, in which the problem is (or is not) solved. Then the performers improvise a play using suggestions from the students.

McNerney says that the goal of an Idea Storm 鈥渋s to blow kids鈥� minds and capitalize on the energy and excitement to get them to create something.鈥� Teachers are sent back to their classrooms with instructions for submitting students鈥� stories. 鈥淪ome teachers will [write stories] as a class,鈥� says McNerney, 鈥渁nd sometimes they鈥檒l just send a letter home so kids will do it on their own.鈥�

After an Idea Storm at Little Falls School No. 3, 3rd grade teacher Tiffany Selitto鈥檚 students returned to the classroom buzzing about their favorite moments from the show (鈥淩emember when Flame-O the tiger scared the guy at the glasses shop!鈥�) and eager to come up with stories of their own. Selitto says she didn鈥檛 know what to expect going into the assembly but was 鈥減leasantly surprised鈥� and found the performance quite funny. 鈥淚 was most pleased that the entire audience of students was engaged,鈥� she says. 鈥淭ypically that doesn鈥檛 happen.鈥� Four of her 20 students were called on to offer their suggestions during the performance, she says, and even some of her more reticent kids were involved. In addition, she says, the content presented 鈥渁bsolutely meshed well鈥� with what she鈥檚 been doing in the classroom.

Even when the content parallels classroom work, however, the Idea Storm leaves teachers with the weighty burden of figuring out how to incorporate performance takeaways into their instruction. While some teachers will be able to capitalize on students鈥� energy and inspiration鈥攑erhaps even jumping into story writing as soon as they return to class鈥攐thers may feel ill-equipped to do so and simply return to business as usual.

But McNerney says that the Story Pirates tends to get a big story return after Idea Storms. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 have an opportunity to go into classrooms, but the major piece is to get kids crazy excited,鈥� he says. 鈥淲e never have a problem getting stories.鈥� Sometimes they even have to hire extra volunteers to read through all of the submissions.

Selitto of School No. 3 says she plans to integrate the Story Pirates鈥� material through scaffolding鈥攆or instance, creating an 鈥渁nchor chart鈥� with her students to help them recall what they learned during the show, and then composing at least one story with the whole class before giving them independent writing time.

The Story Pirates鈥� methods also gave Selitto a brainstorm of her own: Why not have her students act out their own stories in class? 鈥淭hey already love doing Reader鈥檚 Theater,鈥� she says, and the chance to portray characters they鈥檝e written about would be even more motivating. 鈥淚t鈥檚 almost like, 鈥楧uh, why wasn鈥檛 I doing that already?鈥欌��

鈥業nspiring Curiosity In Writing鈥�

The Story Pirates has also ventured into doing longer-term, more intensive school programs. For example, through arts grants and fundraising, Bronx Charter School for the Arts in New York raised $20,000 to hire the group to do a school-wide residency for the second year in a row. Under this arrangement, one teaching artist and one actor lead five sessions for each grade level, kindergarten through 5th grade, in writing as well as science and other subjects. The artists work closely with teachers to determine individual class鈥� needs. They also participate in school festivals, after-school programs, and professional development, and put on performances throughout the year.

According to the school鈥檚 arts director, Ann Ledo, the group鈥檚 method fits in perfectly with the school鈥檚 art-integration mission. 鈥淚t鈥檚 so important to have the arts be part of a child鈥檚 development, and they鈥檙e supporting that,鈥� she says. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e inspiring curiosity in writing, in being an expressive self, in communication.鈥�

For the year-long program format, the Story Pirates teaching artists bring in and use their own materials in classes. 鈥淭hey have amazing graphic organizers that they鈥檝e created for each residency,鈥� Ledo says. 鈥淭hey have fabulous tools that teachers [can] modify and use for other things.鈥�

Ledo has also been impressed by the group鈥檚 behavior-management techniques. She recently had the Story Pirates conduct professional development with the teachers on using active warm-up activities, such as songs, to engage students in class from the start. 鈥淐reativity is key in classroom management,鈥� she says.

As with any instructional approach, some students connect to the Story Pirates鈥� lessons more than others, Ledo acknowledges. For the most part, though, the students and teachers at Bronx Arts love the guest artists. 鈥淭hey have enriched our lives in the way they鈥檝e engaged kids. 鈥� They鈥檝e inspired kids to write more and talk about writing.鈥�

Alternative Measures

But these days, as most schools try to balance an increase in accountability with a decrease in cash flow, an outside program needs to be more than just fun and inspiring to merit implementation鈥攊t needs to work. Hard evidence of effectiveness is not easy to find with a time-limited, push-in arts program鈥攁nd some say it鈥檚 impossible to find in the form of student-achievement measures. 鈥淭here are too many other factors to be able to say an artistic experience is directly linked to test scores,鈥� says Rajan, whose book is scheduled to come out in May. 鈥淵ou cannot make that connection.鈥�

The Story Pirates recognizes a challenge there as well, says Stripling. 鈥淚f we come in four days a year 鈥� it鈥檚 difficult to differentiate that from the work that teachers are doing the other 176 days of the school year.鈥� Further, standardized tests require non-fiction writing and focus on grammar and syntax, while the Story Pirates, above all, rewards creativity and effort. Ledo of Bronx Arts says her school does not even attempt to tie the Story Pirates鈥� teaching to student achievement, instead using teacher feedback to gauge progress on objectives laid out at the beginning of the year.

When evaluating arts programs, Rajan recommends looking for student growth in other areas鈥攆or instance, self-esteem, self-expression, artistic aptitude, and social interactions with peers. Increased attendance can be a positive outcome of an arts program as well, she says. At Bronx Arts, Ledo says, 鈥�100 percent of kids come to school when we have a Story Pirates performance.鈥�

For the first time this year, the Story Pirates will undergo 鈥渞igorous data collection,鈥� both internally and through outside consultants, looking at student writing samples with a variety of rubrics. Up until now, Stripling says, the Story Pirates has relied on鈥攁nd easily found鈥攁necdotal evidence that its programs are working. 鈥淲e have teachers saying, 鈥榊ou see that student? He鈥檚 never picked up a pencil.鈥� And yet he鈥檚 written three pages for us.鈥�

Indeed, another sometimes overlooked benefit of arts programs is that they can be game-changing for kids who are struggling or have special needs, says Rajan. The arts can offer a time for students who are not on grade level in core subjects to shine, she explains. Arts programs can also be an outlet for improving social and communication skills.

Rhona Silverbush鈥檚 8-year-old son Jack Nierenberg, who has language and communication challenges, has taken classes with the Story Pirates at a local community center over the last year. Not only does her son now have a greater grasp of story structure, says Silverbush, but he also has moved away from strictly literal interpretation toward more imaginary and abstract ideas. And suddenly he loves writing stories. 鈥淔or him, to see his words acted out encourages him to use his language in more and new ways,鈥� she says. Kids who learn from the Story Pirates 鈥渇eel that what they do can have an impact, that their words can have ripple effects. It sets the stage for them to imagine what they鈥檙e capable of doing in the world.鈥�

Stripling contends that the Story Pirates also fills a gap left by the testing and accountability movement: Many students these days have never written fiction before. 鈥淲e鈥檒l ask a class, 鈥楥ould I write the story of a flying monkey who loves watermelons?鈥� And the kids are like, 鈥楴oooooo,鈥欌�� says Stripling. 鈥淏ut that鈥檚 the thing鈥攜es you can! That鈥檚 why we鈥檙e in schools.鈥�