Learning Objectives

In this production, you’ll:

• Experience a performance of The Day You Begin, inspired by the book by Jacqueline Woodson and illustrated by Rafael López
• Consider how characters make connections to each other and explore their own identities
• Explore puppetry and using art to tell stories

Education Standards Alignment

• TH: Cr1.1.4
• TH: Pr5.1.4
• MU:Pr4.1.2

(Social Emotional Learning)

• Self-Awareness
  • Integrating personal and social identities
  • Linking feelings, values, and thoughts
• Social Awareness
  • Taking others’ perspective
  • Recognizing strengths in others

An Invitation from Jacqueline Woodson

What to Expect

Performance

• This musical is approximately 55 minutes long.
• The performance features many songs, illustrations, dancing, and puppets.
• The story follows four new classmates and their teacher as they get to know what makes each of them unique and what they have in common.

Performers

• There are five performers in this performance that portray four young students and their teacher.
• Other characters, such as the students’ relatives, are played by puppets.
• The actors that play the students also puppeteer the puppets.

Sound

• Music and sound effects are present throughout the show.
• The character Sam doesn’t speak but uses an iPad to communicate. Sometimes you will hear what Sam is thinking. Sam also uses a device called a DAWBOX to record the sounds around them, including their classmates.
• The characters sometimes have strong feelings. They communicate their feelings through the way they talk and sing.
• Sometimes the music is fast and exuberant; other times the music is slow and calm.

Projection

• Throughout the production, projections on a screen behind the actors will be used to show what a character is thinking about, or specific items or subjects the group is discussing.

Lighting

• There will be general stage and audience lighting throughout the performance.
• Lights will be used to help show the mood of the characters and how they are feeling.

Audience Interaction

• At certain points in the show, cast members may ask the audience for responses or participation from your seat. You can participate if you want.

What to Bring

• Please bring any tools that will help make the experience comfortable for you! Some suggestions are: noise-canceling headphones, sunglasses or visors, fidgets, and communication devices.
• There will also be a limited number of noise-canceling headphones and visors or sunglasses available in the theater lobby.

Resources

• Review our Pre-Visit Story: Coming to the Kennedy Center—School Performance.

Look and Listen for

Before you watch the performance, check out this list of important moments and ideas! Look out for:

• How puppets help to create the world of the play
• How ordinary objects come to life and interact with the characters
• Moments when the characters open up about their emotional worlds. How does the music in the play help us to learn about the characters’ inner lives?
• The beginning moments of forming friendships. When do you notice the characters go from just being new classmates to becoming friends? How do they connect with each other?
• Making space: One of the themes of this play is how the world can make space for you just as you are. How do the characters make space for each other?
• What the use of lighting communicates to us about the characters’ experiences. How does the physical presence of light on stage become a metaphor for our inner light?

Think About

After you’ve watched the performance, consider these questions:

• When in your life have you felt that you were in a room where no one else was like you? What did you notice about how that felt? How did the characters in the play feel in those moments?
• What are the components that make up each character’s story? What did you learn about the character’s lineage, culture, passions, dreams, relationships, and identities? What makes up your story?
• Who are the people in your life with whom you share your story? How does it feel to share your story?
• Min says that “people talk all kinds of ways.” How did characters in the play communicate without speaking? What are some ways that you communicate without speaking?
• Rigoberto and Min have different names for their grandmothers—Abuelita and Halmoni—but both names mean more to them than just the word. Do you have a name for a family member or friend that means “love” to you when you say it?

About the Author

Learn more about Jacqueline Woodson.

• Spend time on where she shares her story! (You might especially like , where Jacqueline shares with us her favorite books, favorite music, and more about what it’s like to be a writer.)
• You can also watch Jacqueline’s interview with the Kennedy Center about her inspirations and her goals as Education Artist-in-Residence.
• of author Jacqueline Woodson reading the book The Day You Begin. After you see the play, what do you notice about how the book was adapted for the stage? How did this play bring the book to life in a new way?

Embracing Cultures

• Rigoberto loves soccer, and the sport is popular in Venezuela, where Rigoberto and his family are from. about another popular sport in Venezuela, baseball.
• Min’s Halmoni is right—rice really is in the world! In , an author spends time in Japan and learns some new things about the importance and beauty of this food staple.

Self & Social Awareness

• Angelina and her sister may not have traveled over the summer, but they discovered so much about themselves and the world through reading. Learn more about some of
• During the show, Sam uses an iPad to communicate and wears headphones to help lessen the noise around them. In , you’ll meet Chloe, a young adult with autism who shares how she uses headphones, an iPad, and other supports to navigate the world. You’ll also learn from Chloe about how you can be a good friend to a person with autism.

Become a Puppeteer

In the world of the play, the magic of imagination can create puppets out of ordinary objects. Find an object in your space that you can turn into a puppet! Choose an object that holds some significance for the kind of puppet character you want to create. For example, the puppet of Min’s mother was a clock, a metaphor for the way in which time is a focus of that scene. After you’ve chosen the object you’d like to turn into a puppet, think about how you can bring it to life in these ways:

• Breath: Just like us, puppets are always breathing! How does your puppet breathe? How do we see breath moving in its body? From what part of its body does it breathe?
• Movement: What part of the object directs this puppet’s movement? How do movement and breath interact with each other? What is this puppet’s natural pace of movement? Is the quality of their movement fluid? Bouncy? Choppy?
• Focus of gaze: Where is your puppet’s gaze directed as it moves and interacts with their world?

Once you have this down, the next step is to create a short scene with your puppet. Create a scene in which your puppet:

• Wakes up in the morning
• Moves around in their environment to get something they need
• Does something surprising or unexpected

For more puppetry ideas, check out the Puppetry collection in the Kennedy Center Digital Resources Library!

Share Your Story

The characters in The Day You Begin learn the importance of sharing their stories, and now it’s time to share your story through art! Consider writing, drawing, dancing, photographing, or making music to express your story. Here are some questions that may guide you as you create:

• Where do you come from?
• Who are the people you love?
• What are the things you love to do?
• What makes you feel at home?
• What makes you who you are?

For more storytelling ideas, check out the Storytelling collection in the Kennedy Center Digital Resources Library!

Kennedy Center Education

The Vice President of Education is generously endowed by the

Generous support for educational programs at the Kennedy Center is provided by the U.S. Department of Education.

Gifts and grants to educational programs at the Kennedy Center are provided by The Paul M. Angell Family Foundation; Bank of America; Capital One; The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation; Carnegie Corporation of New York; The Ednah Root Foundation; Harman Family Foundation; William R. Kenan, Jr. Charitable Trust; the Kimsey Endowment; The Kiplinger Foundation; Laird Norton Family Foundation; Lois and Richard England Family Foundation; Dr. Gary Mather and Ms. Christina Co Mather; The Markow Totevy Foundation; Dr. Gerald and Paula McNichols Foundation; The Morningstar Foundation; Myra and Leura Younker Endowment Fund; The Irene Pollin Audience Development and Community Engagement Initiatives;

Prince Charitable Trusts; Dr. Deborah Rose and Dr. Jan A. J. Stolwijk; Rosemary Kennedy Education Fund; The Embassy of the United Arab Emirates; The Victory Foundation; The Volgenau Foundation; Volkswagen Group of America; Jackie Washington; GRoW @ Annenberg and Gregory Annenberg Weingarten and Family; Wells Fargo; and generous contributors to the Abe Fortas Memorial Fund and by a major gift to the fund from the late Carolyn E. Agger, widow of Abe Fortas. Additional support is provided by the National Committee for the Performing Arts..

The content of these programs may have been developed under a grant from the U.S. Department of Education but does not necessarily represent the policy of the U.S. Department of Education. You should not assume endorsement by the federal government.