Week 3: Art and Literacy

Integrating the arts and literacy turned out to be a blast!

 First, educators created "complementary puppets," using pairs of complementary colors. Complementary colors are the two hues directly across from one another on the color wheel. The complement of each primary is the secondary created by mixing the other two primaries. 

Next, they joined  in groups and collaboratively wrote "complimentary" dialogues for their puppets to enact, using vocabulary like "lissome" and "redolent."  

Finally, they performed their plays, which touched on themes like "non-attachment," "feather land," and "resurrection."

We revisited some of the challenges we'd listed at the previous session and did a "carousel," in which educators spent five minutes adding solutions to each challenge.   Brainstorms addressed how to work with prescriptive teachers, unsupportive institutional cultures, and how to find the time and resources necessary to successfully integrate the arts.  

Finally, the rest of the session was spent swapping some excellent resources.

Websites:

Visual Thinking Strategies  -- A research-based teaching method that improves critical thinking and language skills through discussions of visual images.


Stanza Break-- Poetry in Education

Newspaper Blackout-- An example of the subtractive writing process you could share with students.

Songdrops --These YouTube videos show only text and music and kids can read along with the songs.

Reader's Theater -- Turning books into scripts, engages kids in literature!  Check out the following sites for script ideas:

Reader's Theater Script Ideas
Reader's Theater Edition
Teaching Heart Scripts and Plays
Stories to Grow By 
The Best Class 
Reading Lady 
Reader's Theater Links

Videos:
If I Should Have a Daughter V.O.I.C.E. founder Sarah Kay's TED Talk about Spoken Word Poetry


Books:

Integrating Art in Language Arts through Children's Literature  by Debi Englebaugh 

Ideas:

Alphabet books--Looking at a variety of alphabet books in several languages and then making an alphabet book of your own, could use a Fonts Generator

Shape/Picture Poetry--Creating images composed of words.

ASCII Text The American Standard Code for Information Interchange, numerically represents symbols.

Using Movies as a starting point for discussion, asking students to discuss why certain choices were made, ie colors or music

Combining videos to further understanding of quotes.

Akanska teaching modules-- Such as making origami cranes and then tackling your attitude towards those instructions--self-reflection

Start with a book, ie Miss Muggle Goes to Mumbai, and base projects off of book.  ie "friendly monster sculptures" or t-shirt decorating, stained glass painting.  Or Very Hungry Caterpillar and create your own creatures!