Post 7- The Arts Bridge Experience

Hello everyone!

This has been such a great experience for me this semester. I got to meet a bunch of amazing new people and learn so many new things. I'll forever be grateful for this program for what it did for me, and the students and teachers who are a part of it. I wanted to go over a few of these moments that occurred during this time.

Impact

The biggest source of impact for me was learning just how to integrate art into Core classes. It was tricky trying to solve this problem but I had great assistance from my teacher, Miranda Schoenfeld, and my mentor Cindy Clark. Luckily for me, the subject I was trying to integrate and bridge was one of my favorite topics: Social Studies. We had the children learn about the Ancient Greeks, Maya, African tribes, and Japanese cultures. We also learned about a current culture and tradition during our Dia de Los Muertos activity. The students grew in understanding about these cultures and traditions and in art as well.
This experience will impact my life for the better, helping me to understand how to integrate art with any subject, and learning to do this so that it is fun and educational for students.

Changes

The biggest change I noticed was in the students creativity and confidence. On the first day of class, they were nervous to get started on their assignments. They hesitated because they were worried that their pieces wouldn't look "good". This confidence in not making perfect art, but art itself grew over the weeks. I am so happy to say that by the last class, when I threw an assignment at them, they simply tackled it and begged for more time to finish. It was very gratifying and exciting. And mostly this had nothing to do with me as a teacher, or the other teachers or assistants involved. It came from them, and that makes me incredibly happy.


I learned a lot this semester. I learned how to integrate art. I learned how to build a students confidence in their work. I learned to work with other teachers in forming and planning lessons. I learned to ask for help from my support system of teacher and mentor. But most importantly, I learned how to teach art in such a way that will inspire and excite students. I'm very grateful for this program, and am so glad I got to be a part of it.

To the students at Vineyard Elementary, Miranda Schoenfeld, Cindy Clark, and everyone in the Arts Bridge Program: Thank you!

-Amber Arnoldsen

Post 6- Leonardo da Vinci

This past Friday was my last time teaching at Vineyard Elementary. It was bittersweet. I've grown close to these students and to their teacher who has been so helpful and awesome and engaged! I just wanted to say thank you to all of them! They were so great and hardworking.
For my last lesson, the students were getting into the middle ages in Social Studies. To understand one area of this time period in particular, we chose one artist from the Renaissance to talk about. Of course, we chose Leonardo da Vinci. After learning briefly about his life in the middle ages as a painter, sculptor, botanist, anatomy expert, scientist, and architect, we focused on mainly his inventions.
They learned that in his later years, da Vinci worked for France developing weapons for their army. He came up with early concepts for the helicopter, airplane, tank, and crossbow. We looked at these blueprints to discover his thought process. We identified that for each invention, there was a problem he needed to solve. With the tank, it was getting people onto the battlefield without getting hit. It's basically a moving turtle shell. With these thoughts going through their heads, I passed out a problem to each group. They were given this problem, then told to create an invention to solve the problem, painting a blueprint as a team. They were so creative!
Here's an example of a problem: There is a boy who likes to go play with his Frisbee in the park after school every day. Pretty often, the Frisbee will get stuck in a tree. He can't get them down however, because he's afraid of heights. So he can't climb the tree, or bring a ladder. Invent something that will help him get the Frisbee down without making him go up!
The solution the students came up with for this problem was something they called the "Super stick" it was a glove with a pole coming out and a hand on the other end. This pole was thirty feet long, and could fold up neatly in their backpack. The hand on top could flex it's fingers by doing those same motions in the glove down below.
My goal for this lesson wasn't for the students to create working inventions. I wanted them to stretch their creativity muscles. I wanted them to brainstorm and work in groups and create. And they did so well! At the end of the time, each group presented their invention to the class and answered questions about them.

 These guys were working on a rapid fire snowball maker!

This group made a backpack rocket that could carry a tired girl and her Great Dane home after a walk.

 Here is the group who made the super stick!

                           

     And these students were making a backpack 
                                                                                         bear repellent for nervous campers.

Here are several groups presenting their inventions to the class. They all did so well!









I just wanted to say again how much I appreciated these students. They worked so hard and stretched their minds in great ways! And to their teacher, Miranda. Thank you!
I'd also like to express my appreciation for everyone in the Arts Bridge program. You all made this so fun and fulfilling and possible! Thank you for everything!
-Amber Arnoldsen

Post 5- Ancient Mask Cultures

A few weeks ago, we did one of my favorite lessons! I've used this in my own teaching dozens of times, so it was fun to use this lesson plan that I know students love.
They were learning about Ancient Cultures at the time in their Social Studies classes. To help highlight the ideas of the similarities and difference between cultures, we learned about masks around the world. We learned that in ancient Greece, the people used masks for the theater. They used them to play a bunch of different characters. They also used them to amplify their voices as the mouths were hallowed out to make an echo so that people higher up in the amphitheater could hear them down below.
Next we learned about one of the masks from old Japan. Specifically the "Oni" mask. These masks were pattered after one of their mythological monster's, Oni. We would call them giants or trolls. The village elders would wear these masks to keep the villages safe from other monsters.
For the ancient African mask, we learned that they were primarily used for religious ceremonies, namely gaining strength before a hunt. Each design would translate to something different. Like the red coloring meant bravery. And dashes down the forehead were for intelligence.
Lastly, they learned about the Ancient Maya masks. These were used as portals. The king would wear them in the temples to access other worlds and speak to the gods. They were brightly colored, and the more detailed a mask was, the more power it had.
Once we had learned about different masks, the students were then asked to create their own masks using watercolor paint and paper plates. Miranda, their teacher, and I commented to one another that they had never been more quiet during an assignment as they were during this one. They were so intent and excited and focused! It was really fun to see. And I was really glad that I had brought a lot more plates then were needed, because almost all of them made two. Several students made five or more. I really liked introducing them to a concept and then letting their creativity take them where it would.