A ballet intensive

In a gifted program at Peterson Elementary School, students learn in-depth about ‘The Nutcracker’ ballet before attending a performance.Most units of study in elementary school don’t culminate in a trip to see the Sugar Plum Fairy.

Maggie Crain, a second-grade Gifted and Talented Education program teacher at Peterson Elementary School, wanted to expose her students to culture by taking them to see a ballet. Of course, she could not do this without somehow working in the California standards of education.

After studying the history, the literature and the music of “The Nutcracker” for two weeks, Crain’s 19 students will take a field trip to see a live performance of the holiday ballet performed by Festival Ballet at Huntington Beach High School on Friday.

Crain developed an entire study unit based on the ballet, which all second-grade Peterson Elementary students are now learning. Classes in the gifted program differ from regular ones in that the students more often work together in groups and do more philosophical examination in their studies.

“What we try to do in this program is meet the standards required by the state in a more ingenious and different way,” Crain said. “We take basic subject matter and go into it deeper and broader. We look at information in a different way here.”

Not only have Crain’s students been learning the story, they also have studied biographical information on composer Tchaikovsky as well as general facts about ballet and classical music.

In class on Monday, the students got together in groups of three to go over some of the vocabulary from the ballet. Each group had four words -- such as tutu, en pointe, czar and choreographer -- they had to define in relation to “The Nutcracker,” using a packet from the teacher and a dictionary.

“Children as bright as these enjoy the opportunity to collaborate,” Crain said. “They enjoy the opportunity to make decisions about how they’re going to present information.”

Seven-year-old Zachary Abraham said he really likes working in groups because everyone can take turns.

Crain said she has been playing the music in class for the last couple of weeks to get the students interested in classical music and familiarize them with the sounds of Tchaikovsky.

Hank Skolnick, 8, of Huntington Beach said he’s really enjoyed studying “The Nutcracker.”

“We started about two weeks ago,” he said.

“My mom’s friend is a teacher and has been letting me borrow books and music, so I’m really excited [to see the play].”

* LINDSAY SANDHAM covers education and public safety. She can be reached at (714) 966-4625 or [email protected].

20051208ir3v17knKENT TREPTOW / INDEPENDENT(LA)Jennifer Rudolph, left, and Bryn McCrystal, both 7, search for definitions to terms related to “The Nutcracker” at Peterson Elementary on Monday. The class will attend a performance of the ballet.