Students in Stacey Venzel’s 4th grade class at PBE had a visit from Mr. A, Ms. Venzel’s fellow improv comedy colleague. Mr. A teaches chess and improv to students in Westchester school districts. He volunteered his time to teach Ms. Venzel’s students about chess.

 

 

Topics covered included the history of chess, how to play chess, and what improvisation is. Mr. A related the game of chess to language learning, musicality, and sports.

 

 

The demo also covered social-emotional and academic skill sets such as problem-solving, planning and organization, impulse control, accepting and learning from mistakes, calculations, predictions.

 

 

Students appreciated his patience, passion, and humor. After Mr. A’s visit, students wrote thank you cards detailing what they learned and their favorite part of the lesson. They then made their own chess sets, including the board and all of the pieces!