Arts Enhancement and Arts Integration Tableau
Tableau means frozen picture. It is a way for students to act out what they have learned through body placement and facial expression. Students learned about and practiced body control in order to maintain a frozen position for a given amount of time. We also looked at facial expressions and what emotions they portray as this is a key component of tableau. Students were able to perform tableau after reading the excerpts Ten Mile Day, A Day at the Beach and The Ch'l-in Purse. The reading objective was to retell the story in sequence. Each student was put into a group; each group was given part of the story to perform. One person per group was the narrator. This person had to read aloud the scene being protrayed fluently and with accuracy. The other members of the group had to hold the tableau position for that scene. We videotaped the tableau and watched it as a class.
Perspective/Placement/Sensory Imaging
Students wrote personal narratives. During the final stages of revision, students found the heart of their story, or an important turning point. We then read the book Crow Call by Lois Lowry. This book is an example of a personal narrative. Together we identified a pivotal scene and looked closely at both the sensory images in words and in the illustration. We looked at the clear descriptions the author used to help us mentally create a picture in our minds, and then we looked at those same minute details in the illustration. We also looked at colors the illustrator used to set the mood, the way the main character was centered on the page, and how the reader's eye was drawn there first. We also read Two Bad Ants by Chris Van Allsburg, specifically to look at perspective and how point of view is defined by who is telling the story. Students then reread their own scenes and added detailed sensory images and vivid description. Finally, by using this revised writing, they created illustrations of the scene focusing on color, placement and perspective.
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The Velveteen Rabbit
Students from Mrs. Dittmer’s 3rd grade class, Mrs. Babbitt’s 4th grade class, Mrs. Brown's 4th grade class, and Mrs. Bahmer’s 4th grade class attended a production of the classic children’s story, The Velveteen Rabbit at the Wharton Center, East Lansing. The play was performed by the Enchantment Theatre Company; a non-profit arts organization based in Philadelphia. The story literally comes to life on the stage in a creative, theatrical, and visually imaginative way through the use of masks, puppets and beautiful stage sets. Classroom teachers were supplied with information and educational activities for use before and after attending the performance. Mrs. Dittmer’s class wrote essays about their favorite toy and illustrated them, integrating writing, visual art and theatre. The opportunity for the children to attend a live theatre production not only exposes them to the performing arts, but also teaches theatre etiquette and introduces many children to a wonderful educational resource, The Wharton Center. The play was an Act One School Series offering through the MSU Federal Credit Union Institute for Arts and Creativity at Wharton Center, Arts in Education programming. Students had a great time at the Wharton Center, enjoyed the performance, and represented E.R.P.S and G.I.S. well with excellent behavior and manners. BRAVO!
Happendance Workshop
Students from Mrs. Dittmer’s 3rd grade class and Mrs. Martell’s 5th grade had the opportunity to learn about movement and dance with Happendance founder, Diane Newman. Ms. Newman is a veteran arts educator in the Lansing area, teaching dance at Happendance studio in Okemos. The students were introduced to the use of basic elements of dance applied to standards-based dance and movement activities. The workshop is offered through the Ingham ISD and focuses on “creative thinking, kinesthetic awareness, interdisciplinary learning, physical activity and fun” as described on the IISD website under Arts Education. Ms. Newman took the students through a series dance and movement exercises. The students (and teachers!) enjoyed themselves thoroughly and learned a new means of expression in the process. Ms. Newman is a dynamic educator and the students were engaged throughout the workshop. Happendance is a well-respected “treasure” in the area and GIS students benefited from Ms. Newman’s expertise.
Happendance & Emotion Masks in 5th Grade
We were fortunate to have Miss Diane from Happendance come to our school as an artist in residence. Students had lots of fun on our stage learning about dance movements and dance directions. We learned about the use of space-high, medium and low, as well as body control. After we read Weslandia in our Reading Street text, we performed a silent retell. We watched a Charlie Chaplin short and analyzed how he was able to convey a message without talking. We paid particular attention to body movement and facial expression. This summer during the institute at Wharton, teachers were gifted with a performance by Doug Berkey. He does a lot of work with masks and he gave teachers resources that we could use in our classrooms. We tried them out with this silent retell. Students were put into groups of five. Each person in the group had to be one of five characters from the story: Wesley, Mom, Dad or the tormentors. Each student was given a packet of nine masks. They had to think about their character and how that character’s emotion changed during the story. They then had to choose two masks that conveyed those emotions. Next we watched a movie that Mrs. Shoup, our art teacher, told us about that teaches students the emotions of color. Students then colored their masks based on the emotion their character was feeling. In order to apply what we learned from Miss Diane, students were also given a dance requirement. Students had to incorporate a dance movement and a dance direction as a visual cue to the audience that a scene was transitioning. Students had to have three scenes in the retell: beginning, middle and end. In this one retell, we had elements of dance, theatre and visual arts, as well as the academic objective of retelling the most important parts in a meaningful sequence.
Drumming
Lincoln Center trained Teaching-Artist, Paloma Rosales visited G.I.S. to teach the students about drumming. Ms. Rosales introduced the students to various hand drums and hand percussion instruments, demonstrated various fundamental drumming techniques, and informed the students about cultural origins of each instrument. Students had the opportunity for hands on experience in a drumming circle, applying basic techniques. Ms. Rosales also performed for the students. She has performed and participated in many drumming circles and has conducted workshops with drumming students of all ages. Students and teachers enjoyed the experience very much.
Performance Poetry
Award winning poet Glenis Redmond visited G.I.S. and conducted workshops on Performance Poetry. Ms. Redmond is a Kennedy Center trained Teaching Artist and has written and performed her poetry across the country. She believes that poetry is meant to be spoken and performed. She performed some of her award winning poetry for the student. Students learned about metaphor and similie, and created their own Praise Poems or Passion Poems. Students were highly engaged and enjoyed Ms. Redmond’s energetic style.
"Where I'm From" 5th Grade Poetry
Visiting Arts Integration artist Glenis Redmond spent an evening presenting to teachers. One of the poems she taught was “Where I’m From”. This poem form comes from the poet George Ella Lyon. This list form of poetry reaches deep to discover what makes us the people we are. Students took their poems and put pictures and music to them to create a visual experience of ‘where they are from’.