Arts Integration into Our Community

An Inspiration for Blending Arts
Integration Into Our Communities

As a former art educator, I have a huge passion for arts integration.

I love thinking outside the box and to consider curriculum that blends

multiple subjects together collectively, through project-based learning

and other methods to integrate the arts into the core subjects.
Most recently I wrote a course called, "Fostering Critical Inquiry
Through Arts Integration" for Teach and Kids Learn: https://www.teachnkidslearn.com/courses/fostering-critical-inquiry-through-arts-integration/

To be honest, it was one of the funnest courses I have written recently. Now I have the pleasure to facilitate participants who are taking the course and I absolutely LOVE what the teachers are sharing.

Take a moment to look at the example below from one of my students from

the New York City Public School district. I am so proud of the innovation and creativity this course inspires!

Kelly

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Originally written by Tara Silvestry

Grade Levels: Kindergarten-Second Grade

Theme: Learning About Communities

Ice Breaker Activity Description: Present photos of local murals
in our neighborhood. Here are 2 examples of local murals from
the New York City Area:

       

Ask the following questions:

• Where have you seen these murals?
• Who do you think made them?
• Why do you think they are there?
• Do they have a special meaning for you?
• How do these murals make you feel about your community?

Purpose of the Icebreaker:

The purpose of using these photos of art is to get the children
interested in learning about their community. They have most likely
all seen it many times and if they haven’t, they would be motivated to
ask their families to take them to see it. They are familiar with it and
it is something unique to this community.

What students will do for the next steps:

• Allow the children to share stories about their experiences with these murals (the neighborhood I work in has many murals including the examples I added and they are on the way to our school).
• Begin a KWL chart about what we know about our community and what we wonder about our community.
• Brain storm how we can take what we learn about our community and make art about it. 
• Learn about the community with  a neighborhood walk, visit the murals, discuss them. 
• Based on the arts interest survey- the child will works with others to create a skit, a song, a piece of art that tells the audience something important and meaningful about their community for this project. 
• There will be groups based on interests to work together in small groups. 
• The child will learn how to make a project that transfers information learned through a piece of art. The process is learning the facts and figuring out how to present them in a meaningful and interesting way through art. I will guide them through this process and they will create the product together.

Virtual Small Group Conferences

Virtual Small Group Conferences

Class Meetings Vs. Small Group Instruction
Making learning meaningful in our new virtual-learning environment!

I think it's time to have an honest conversation about the difference between virtual "class meetings" and virtual "student small group conferences."

What? You might ask?   Many teachers are conducting virtual "class meetings" with their students to check in with them and to allow for children to socialize with others, along with their teachers.  There has been a lot of discussion online on the format.  What works better?  Zoom?  Google Meet/Google Hangouts?  It depends on the teacher, the students' access to Internet and so many other factors.  Needless to say, this all comes along with some challenges.

How do we engage every child to participate, let alone show up?   My daughter is not even eight years old, and trying to get her to listen for more than 20 minutes is a real problem.  My daughter is not necessarily quiet, but it seems that the 'virtual e-learning' has allowed her to become more passive.  Class meeting after class meeting, I see her becoming less and less interested.  Typically, students just 'round robin' share their feelings, what they did the past few days, but I see very little instruction happening.  Now don't get me wrong. Some children need the virtual socializing that this fosters, but at some point, we have to inspire our children in new and interesting ways.

Making Instruction Happen Virtually!

So what are teachers to do?   Time is of the essence. Certainly they can't meet with every child individually perhaps.  However, some things can be done.

 Below are some ideas and suggestions to encourage Small Group Conferences Virtually.

• Mini-Lesson Video Excerpts-  Kick off instruction with a short mini-lesson video excerpt that can be shared with students beforehand.  For instance, if your students are working on opinion letters, you can review how to provide "reasonable supporting reasons/examples" to support their opinion.  This is great in case they need to 'go back' (rewind) or review something again for clarifications.
• Primary Grade Levels- Teachers can work with students in smaller groups to draft, revise, and/or edit their writings together.  Groups of 4-8 students would be ideal.  It doesn't have to be long, 15-20 minutes!  Allow each child to share their work, ask questions, get suggestions from their classmates or from their teacher.
• Middle School/Secondary Grade Levels:  No matter the subject (i.e. math, history, ELA), students can work in small groups to complete a group project/task.  Teachers can pop in and join the calls to guide students.   Then students can regroup as an entire class to check in/monitor where students are at in the work process.
• Partner Tasks- Depending on the task, students can work together with partners to complete assignments and projects.  

The Bottom Line:

Large groups can be intimidating and so we must begin to think about how we can manage smaller groups with our children virtually so that each child has an opportunity to talk, share their ideas, provide input and to ultimately stay engaged.  Certainly it won't be the same as the close, physical and social interactions that our children are accustomed to but we need consider what it most meaningful and can be more fun for our students as well.   Ultimately we want our students to get something out of the time we are spending together with them, whether its in person or virtually!

Taking It One Day At a Time

Taking It One Day At a Time

Impromptu Explorations:

I will have to admit, some days are better than others when it comes to e-learning with my own children.   The other day, my 4th grade son and 2nd grade daughter got lost in time with a science lab project. My son was learning about sound by making a hand made telephone out of string and cups.  What started out as a simple science project turned into a self-paced experiment.  Hours later, they had created a 25 foot long hand made telephone that worked!  Their self discovery and excitement was priceless and even caught the attraction of pedestrians passing by on the street.   When he didn't know what oscillation meant, he called grandma who is a retired audiologist to explain.  The connections to family through e-learning can happen now at any moment!  And that is an opportunity to embrace. 

                                            Ryan making his man made phone

New Challenges:Yet, some days, e-learning is starkly contrasted by the lack of productivity from my children.  For instance, yesterday, my daughter only wrote  one paragraph of text written for a non-fiction book about dogs and drew a small sketch. Nothing more.  That was it.  And that is okay.   

The take away message for me, is that we, as parents and educators, must consider how e-learning is the new way of learning for our children and it's imperative we do the following:

• Remember that learning should be fun!  Allow kids some choice, whether it's what they write about, what they read, or what they investigate for a science task.
•  Make Tasks Engaging!  Kids need opportunities to create things, whether it's a  hands-on model of a cell structure or an architecture scale model. 
• How Can We Help Keep Children Engaged During Video Calls?  
• Allow for students to meet in small groups through video chats that allow them to connect with their peers.
• Pose engaging questions that require students to respond.  
• Employ strategies to make sure that each child participates during video chats and calls, whether it's they answer questions orally or in the message section during the call.
• Reach out individually to children who stay 'radio silent' to help figure out how to make them feel more confident and comfortable in the new e-learning environment.

•  Don't Forget the Arts: Kids need opportunities to express themselves creatively through the arts, whether creating their own songs, completing art projects, or design their own mime performance and video tape it. 
• My son had to create a model for his study of one of the California Missions.  It was one of the most gratifying tasks thus far during this "quarantine."

Santa Cruz Mission

Taking It One Day At a Time:  Once again, it's good to remember, whether you are a teacher or a parent, that our children are resilient and we can take it one day at a time! Life will forever be changed because of COVID-19 and it's a great time to remember there is no judgment here, and that it is something that brings everyone together on a common ground for understanding that we are in this together!

Creating a Child Led Time Management Tool

Creating an Independent Work Time: Menu Board

What is this?  In the time of e-learning, children need strategies to help monitor and pace themselves with more independence.  This is really important to develop self-monitoring skills and to prioritize completion of tasks as needed.  This is one great way to help students develop these skills while gaining some independence and options for personal choice with their e-learning experiences.

Method:  Draw a table- t chart with two categories.  One side is labeled "Must Do."  The other side is labeled "May Do."  List one or two activities/work that your child must do on the "Must Do" side.   On the other side, the child can list other activities or 'may do's' that they may work on when they are done with the "Must Do" tasks. When they are finished with the 'Must Do' activities, they choose an activity from right menu and work on it. This can be both parent/teacher directed and child selected. 

Keep in mind that the "Must Do" activities usually rank most important things and the "May Do" tasks that may be tasks that children may practice or choose to do on their own afterwards. The goal is to get their must do's done first before the children proceed to the "May Do" tasks. 

Variations:  This can be modified in many different ways, such as, by subject area only or even choice of words.  For instance, for more flexibility the "May Do" list may be entirely free choice /fun activities, or it can be more structured around academic focus.  "May Do" options may be theme based or activity based to support the arts or creativity!

The Bottom Line:    What is it that we want at the end of the day for our children?  Certainly we want them to learn new information and knowledge but how that is structured structured may depend on many different factors.  This is just a quick and easy strategy that can help keep children motivated by given them choice and options, while them to prioritize their time independently. 

INDEPENDENT WORK TIME MENU

MUST DO:	MAY DO:
1. Publish your personal narrative (type final draft).	1. Watch a video of your choice- science focus.
2. Illustrate your personal narrative using drawings and pictures.	2. Practice your multiplication facts.
	3. Silent read a book of your choice.

Who is the Teacher?

As a parent who has been thrown into the world of e-learning with my children one of the biggest questions that keeps coming up is who is the teacher, or rather who is responsible for providing the instruction?

Is it my child’s teacher?

Is it me?

Is it the tutorials and online lessons that are posted by the teacher?

Is it a combination?

For many of us we were all (teachers, students, and parents alike) thrown into this e-learning world for an extended time without fully understanding how this would work and without being about to clearly define our roles and responsibilities. The reality of the situation is that we all will have to work together because the role and instructional responsibilities is likely going to shift from week to week, day to day, child by child based on a multitude of variables. While this can be challenging, the good news is that there are things that we can do to make it easier and to help our children continue to be successful.

Tips for Teachers

• Finding video tutorials for students to complete are great, but when you can either go live and record it or record and post videos of yourself doing the instruction. It does not have to be perfect. Be the same person you are in your classroom. That is who your students have a connection with and that is who they want to see. And trust me, as a mom of three in elementary school they want and need to see you. These videos will also help parents understand better what you say to students, how you say it, and provides us with a model to reinforce the learning for students. Think of us parents as being an extension of that video. We can all be talking with one voice.

• When you cannot do some form of direct instruction, provide parents with some notes and/or background information that will be helpful for the upcoming lessons. For example, if there are common mistakes or misconceptions that students might have on a specific lesson outline those so that if we see those come up in their work we can address those right away.

• Explain the overarching goals and intended outcomes of the lessons. You know why you assigned a specific video, reading or writing assignment, workbook pages, etc. Let us know so that we can make sure that our kids are ‘getting it’.

Tips for Parents

• Communicate BEFORE you get frustrated. I know that is not always easy because if you are like me you may be juggling lessons for multiple kids along with your own work. One thing that I have started doing is going looking over the lessons and having a ‘meeting’ with each of my kids on Monday so that we can figure out where we have our initial questions, makes sure we can find and access all of the lesson parts, etc. If we cannot find something in the weekly plan we email right the teachers right then because we learned the hard way that to not be able to access/find something when it is needed can quickly cause our little e-learning school to crash and burn.

• Communicate when your child is struggling. If you have played the video lesson over and over, have tried your own explanation, have read and reread the passage and they just aren’t getting it, stop. Here is where communication is key and its not just the act of communicating that your child is struggling, but it is also important to try to communicate in detail what they are struggling with. If it’s a math problem, send the teacher a picture of the work. If its reading, send them a video. If its something that students are supposed to be doing send a written explanation of what exactly they did and what happened. Since the teacher cannot see nor hear what is taking place, give them enough information to be able to diagnose the problem more quickly.
• Don’t be afraid to not know. If you are trying to check your child’s work and aren’t sure if you have the answer correct, ask the teacher for the answers. If you need to see one or two examples worked out, as to see those. I had to ask for an explanation and an example of a RACE writing assignment because 1) I had no clue what RACE stood for, and 2) I had no clue what that should look like so there was no way I could help/reinforce/check my child’s work if I did not have an example. Trust me when I say that most teachers would gladly provide you with the tools that you need, they just need to know the need.

 So, with all of that being said, back to the original question, who is responsible for providing instruction? 

Some days it will be the teacher.

Some days it will be me.

Some days it will be the tutorials and online lessons provided by the teacher.

Some days it will be a combination.

And, because some days we just need a little grace all around, it is no one, and that is okay.

All About Student Choice

Why Student Choice Matters: 

Students need to build their own sense of responsibility and take ownership when it comes to e-learning. Why?  Because they are accountable for their own actions and choices and have the power to learn new organizational and planning skills to help them become independent learners.

In times like this when parents and teachers alike are in a situation when they can't realistically be with any given child necessarily at the same time, during every single moment of e-learning instruction, student choice empowers children and makes the learning process more meaningful!

Benefits with E-learning:

Student choice...

• ignites independence, curiosity, and creativity.
• teaches children that their opinions matter.
• builds trust that so every child can make their own decisions.
• allows children to develop autonomous skills, like “how should I spend my math e-learning time constructively?” 
• builds self-confidence and develops personal cognitive and problem solving skills.

A Student's Perspective: 
Ryan's 4th grade perspective sheds light on benefits of student choice for his own e-learning!

• Video Excerpt: Ryan's Experience with Student Choice!

How Can YOU Make it Happen for your Child?

• Student Driven: Let your child dictate his own schedule for each e-learning day when it makes sense.
• Choice Boards: Use a tic-tac-toe board (choice boards) to structure e-learning time visually. Click HERE for more information about tic-tac-toe boards (many teachers use these too!).
• E-learning tic-tac-toe instructions:
• Complete 3 activities from a tic-tac-toe choice board. 
• Use the drawing tool to "X" each activity as it is completed.  
• Take a picture of the completed work.
• Send the picture of the completed and signed activity to your teacher.
• Provide Question Ques
• What do you want to write about?
• Which math task do you want to solve first?
• What read-aloud video do you want to watch next?
• Incentives: Use choice incentives as a reward after completing more difficult tasks.

Building a Child's Voice:

This is a great article from Edutopia that gives educators and parents alike practical ideas to support student choice!  - A Student Voice

Final Thoughts
Student choice should be a balance between what a child wants to accomplish while considering the ultimate learning goals.  

If the goal is for a child to understand their times tables, when it comes to e-learning options, the possibilities are endless!

Consider what will make it most meaningful for your child?  

Most likely, probably a combinations of many choices- whether its watching a video, practicing with flash cards, using beans to organize the counting,or creating drawings, it doesn't always have to be a worksheet.   

Student choice can help make learning fun! And isn't that what we want for our own kids?