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  • I loved working on the projects during the morning to have something to use in my class. One thing that really came to my attention was how difficult it was to authenticate an image. Kristen and I really had to spend some time looking for the names of painters and trying to figure out the image's purpose. I love looking at art with my students to start a unit but I think you could use art to end a unit especially to assess the student's understanding of major themes within content. I think that I'd like to use some images (poems/music) for that purpose.  The use of images, music, and poetry is a very natural way for our students to learn and I think that they will love it.

  • I am inspired to incorporate historical art into my lessons, especially in the context of the historical fiction that we read in Storytown. I also plan on using more music clips to capture students' interest and imagination.  

  • The instructional practices demonstrated in today's class have inspired me to find a topic in the upcoming lessons that I can sink my teeth into. As a new teacher with a weak background in history content, it is inspirational to see Greg and Kent's passion for the content. Their knowledge and stories are what has allowed them to enrich the student learning in such an engaging way. 

    As we are start into the Early American Civilizations, I am currently thinking about identifying specific stories about the Olmec Empire and then searching for pictures that would visualize those story. However, I could see the use of images and stories being a little easier during the Renaissance unit... I personally would like to find a way to give the students more opportunities to work with art and create things that they can keep. It is my rough idea now to introduce paints and pigments during the Early American Civilizations unit (the color wheel activity would be a great introduction) and then use those skills during the Renaissance unit to create something for the classroom. 

  • Amazing presentation of primary sources and how to use them.  Obviously, Greg and Kent have a huge combined knowledge of the subject of history.  I can see myself using the CD provided in my social studies classes.  I also walk away from the presentation with ideas on how to better organize lessons to include more primary sources.  It is more labor intensive, but it gets us away from the textbook and is so much more meaningful and exciting for students and teacher.  I will definitely use the period timeline of American art work and the Academic Plan.  I would like to hear more about how Greg incorporates the color wheel into his history lesson.  How do you approach the activity that has students doing replicas of art pieces?

  • In my World History we are currently studying China's commerce and effect of maritime trade.  Using techniques we have seen today I can really infuse my lessons with photos, music, and video clips to help students really have a better understanding of the content.  It is extremely difficult for my students to "see" such a different culture, especially in a completely different era. 

    I would also like to pick out particular photos and have students look at them and see what they notice in the photos after we discuss the chapter.  Then they can work in small groups answering questions pertaining to the photo in relationship to the chapter. 

  • Throughout the course of the day, we have examined and discussed several methods for incorporating the arts into social studies.  We've investigated paintings, movie clips, sculptures, photographs,music and more.  Each activity we've done has challenged me to think about how I can use these methods in my 6th grade classroom.    

    A challenge that we are continuously faced with is making the content we are teaching accessible to our students that have varying levels of language proficiency, different background experiences, etc.  I think that using artwork as "hook" creates a more meaningful learning experience for the students. It draws them in and gets them interested.  It opens up the creative thinking process by starting with an image and asking students open-ended questions, lessing the fear of "the wrong answer," and promoting discussion and inquiry.  As an educator, it also helps me understand what my students know and what connections they are making to the idea depicted in the art.  

    I noticed several units in the resource book that coincide with the topics we cover in our classroom.  I look forward to looking at these topics more in-depth to discover which resources I can use or adapt for use in my classroom.  I have used photographs and paintings in my classroom, but I haven't really incorporated music, movie clips, and the other arts as much.  However, I think that incorporating these will help create the whole picture of history.    

  • I really like the idea of using music and other recordings of a period with pictures from the period being studied. I'm thinking of the lumber industry around the first half of the 1900s. Pictures of tree trunks so big that 12 or 15 eight and nine year old students can stand on. Pictures of log rafts, connected to blips of old Disney movies showing log rafts and wayward mountain lions. Yada, yada.

    Music from the period, and maybe quotes from lumber barons, from sawyers, and from lumberjacks. Use of music won't include anything from Monty Python. Paul Bunyan... Other tall tale heroes...

    My thoughts are bouncing around, thinking of many issues and concepts to share with third grade students...

  • I'm currently doing a project with my fifth graders where they are creating multiple aspects of a regional project.  One of the components is for the group of students (they are broken into groups of four) to create a flag representing each of the states in their region, a map detailing the resources of the region, an information board with general facts of the region, and a brochure representing three historical sites people could visit within the region.  Students get to have full artistic creativity for this project, though they have project requirements for each component.

    I'm hoping this will be successful this year.  It hasn't been in the past, but I'm kinda slow that way...  The projects seem to be going really well and I'm hoping to send some of the projects to Julie for the Festival of the Art and Academics.

  • I would like my students to increase their visual literacy skills by analyzing historical photos. I teach a photography class and I would like them to focus on elements of composition. I would like them to observe how framing, pattern and shapes are used to draw the eye to the events or theme captured in photos. You have shared some great examples.

    The photo you shared of the suffragette next to the actress in the movie figure gave me another idea. I would love to get a collection of historical portraits and then ask the students to take a portrait that replicates the theme portrait. They would have to research the context and history of the character and then design and stage a modern portrait that would represent the original portrait.

  • We have been fed a wealth of information today from some pretty savvy history buffs. Currently, I am teaching a Greek Myth unit in language arts and am using clips from youtube to show myths before we read them. Now, I will go back and look for some art from the myth and characters or Ancient Greece. I am planning on having the kids create their own myth after reading a plethora of stories and then paint or draw their character. 

    Another thought.... Biographies. 

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