Bel Canto concert "Open the Stars to Me"

I attended the Bel Canto Choir concert this last Saturday night. I enjoyed the variety of songs from show tunes, movie themes to Gaelic and Scotish folk songs which demonstrated changes in rhythm and feeling all by students. Like most concerts it wasn't just about singing, the simple but effective costumes (all black with neon coloured wide ties) and interesting stage movement (I particulary like when they came down the aisle to sing - it was true surround sound) also contributed to the success. When I help with school concerts I will need to incorporate these strategies including variety in the performance, simple costumes and if possible having the students use the auditorium as part of the stage to include the audience. If you want the opportunity to see the Bel Canto Choir check out their schedule... they have a Christmas concert coming up. http://members.shaw.ca/bcnvchoir/pages/BccSchedule.html

Bill Reid

Dawn and I did a research platform on Bill Reid. We choose Bill Reid because we though our students would be able to experience his art either by looking at his banners at UNBC Admin. building as a field trip or if they are from a more affluent neighbourhood at the Vancouver Airport. We found some interesting videos on Bill Reid that were short and user friendly. Check out this NFB film : http:///www3.nfb.ca/enclasse/doclens/visau/index.php?mode+theme&theme=30660&language=english It is a good choice for an elementary classroom as it is only 2 minutes long, and it is a primary source since Bill Reid offers his views on carving and his source of inspiration. He introduces the 2 world views which could be used as a great starting off point for some interesting class discussions. One of our research questions " How did Bill Reid learn about Haida art traditions" looked at how Bill Reid learned to be a Haida master artist. I like this question as it gets students to understand that you learn to be an artist and it takes time, attention to detail and love of a material and enquiring mind. A bonus: here is a picture of his jewellery which started his career.

Song source

I found a good site for when you are looking for the classic song lyrics that you sang around the Girl Guide campfire. Visit: http://dragon.sleepdeprived.ca/songbook/songbook_index.htm
There I found some of my favorite songs including KookaBurra, If you're happy and you know it, Do Your Ears Hang Low and Hello, My Name is Joe. The last 3 songs have good actions for the kids to try. You do have to know the tune, since its only the words and actions that are posted.
One of the TOC's in my K-3 practicum class sang songs with the class which they really enjoyed. She sang the Bow Legged Man and Do Your Ears Hang Low. She had been there before and they remembered singing them with her, even though it wasn't part of the regular class. So something else to put in your TOC bag.

William Kurelek

My mother has copies of William Kurelek scences of rural Canada that were done late in his life. An example is this picture is titled "Winter" and is from Alberta's heritage website: http://hermis.cd.gov.ab.ca/AFA/ArtistIndex.aspx . Kurlek's scenes of children's activities convey the children's fun in the outdoors. Kurlek also painted life on the Prairies which would fit well in a Social's Unit on the diversity of Canada. However, when I learned more about William Kurelek's life I found out he suffered from schizophrenia. Many of his early paintings were painted while he was being treated for schizophrenia and express his feelings of paranoia. From the website: http://www.bethlemheritage.org.uk/gallery.asp is his image of what is going on in all the compartments of his brain.

Kurlek's skill in expressing himself through art probably helped him understand his illness as well as helped the doctors who were treating him. It makes me realize how important it is to celebrate everyones special talents.

Art Show

I enjoyed working together with my class creating a welcoming event for the students and parents from our practicum schools. I liked how everyone pitched in and helped. There was a large variety of artwork which I took photos of to add to my list of teachable art projects. Thanks for the great ideas. The Art Show provided a transition from practicum and back-to-school assignments for me.
For the Art Show, I helped hang artwork, greeted students at the door and wrote thank-you letters to the UNBC Arts Council and the Dept. of Education for the funding support. Holly gracefully reviewed the letters before I printed and delivered them.

Reader's Theatre

I had a great opportunity to try Reader's Theatre during my practicum. The novel study groups were finishing and my teacher suggested I teach Reader's Theatre with "There's a boy in the girl's bathroom". I found information on how to teach Reader's theatre on the ReadWriteThink website http://www.readwritethink.org/lessons/lesson_view.asp?id=172 in particular I used the tips from Aaron Shepard. These are good tips as the lesson and presentation went well. The section of the story I chose was a highlight with a basketball game and almost a fight, but not the climax. The section had lots of speaking lending itself to theatre but it still took time to organize the scripts. Following the tips from Aaron, I had every student act more than one character and deleted quite a bit of the naration. On each student's script their parts were highlighted with a different colours for each character they would read. For less extravert students I had a couple of scripts with less speaking parts.

When we read the scripts the students suggested actions, and staging. The students added voice changes and facial expressions. One narrator volunteered to ask the lesson closure question. It was great to see the student's take control.

The Right Side of the Brain

I would like to share the resource that I have used to plan my lessons. The book is called Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain by Betty Edwards. It provides way to teach children and adults how to make realistic drawings. I have tried and really like the introductory activites of drawing without looking at the paper, drawing an image when it is upside down, and drawing the negative spaces. There are lots more ideas too. I would appreciate it if anyone else in the class has a good how-to book for other "arts" that could provide scaffolding lessons for me as a teacher and artist. Willow has shared with me another book about drawing; "Drawing with Children" by Mona Brookes.