Cultivating the Desire to Write: Teacher and Students Journaling Together

Kindergartener journaling in Daron Cyr's class
Kindergartener journaling in Daron Cyr’s class 

What if kids were exposed to writing in the same way a trailer exposes us to a movie that isn’t out yet? How do we create that feeling of anticipation, so that rather than force-feeding our lessons, we are quenching their thirst to communicate?

At the Brennan Rogers Magnet School in New Haven, Daron Cyr sits with her twenty-five kindergarteners on the rug, gazing up at a Smartboard image of Renoir’s painting The Umbrellas. Daron says, “Remember, we read a painting like we read a book.” She tells them to take a Think Minute: “Our eyes are on the painting. I want to know what you see, but also tell me the story that you see. Put your thumbs up when you’re ready.”

The children take turns sharing their thoughts about the painting. They focus on the weather, the characters, the details, what’s going to happen next. After a while Daron asks them to get their sketch journals. They make choices about where to sit, what art materials to use, and whether to copy the painting or make a picture of something the painting made them think of from their own lives. There is no scribbling, there are no blank pages, and the noise in the room is from the kids talking about their pictures, sharing and building vocabulary: pre-writing at its best. I record their quiet chatter in my own journal: “These are the ladders on the playground, and this is where the water goes down the slide.” “It was raining and I saw a rainbow.” “She’s wearing her party dress.” At the end, they share their work by having a Gallery Walk.

If you’ve tried this kind of lesson – especially with a challenging class of 25 four- and five-year olds – you may know how easily it can fall apart (I certainly do). Afterwards, my burning question for Daron was, “How did you introduce their journals to them?” She picked up her own journal, saying, “I started by sharing mine.” Before giving her students their own, Daron spent weeks enthusiastically showing her kids pages of drawings and writing from her own journal. She also uses her journal in class, to scribe what her students say to her, often reading their words back to them. By the time Daron gave them their own journals, “they were so excited. They knew how important they were.”

 

"Capturing the every day" from Daron's journal
“Capturing the every day” from Daron’s journal

 

"Playground" from a kindergartener's journal
“Playground” from a kindergartener’s journal

By sharing her journal with her students, Daron is teaching the most important message to children about writing: that their thinking can be captured, recorded, and shared. This is giving her tiny students the most important ingredient for writing: the desire and anticipation to be a part of the writing world.

Do you have experiences with a sketch journal to share? Please post in comments!

But I Hate Reading & Writing

After many years in education, it has finally occurred to me that I really need to market the idea of reading and writing to my remedial reading 
students. Reading and writing has always been difficult for them and at the ripe old age of 9, they don't choose either as  free time activities. 
Despite my encouragement of, “practice will make you better” or my pleas:“you’d never say this to your football (basketball/soccer/dance etc) coach," reading and writing remain on the NOT TO DO list for these children. 

So, I decided that I would bring sketch books back to the reading room this year. My goal: Let the kids discover for themselves that they ARE creative and DO have great powers of observation and ideas. For the first 15 minutes of each reading class, the students sketch, write and share ideas. 

 

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Guess what??? They LIKE it! They are beginning to buy into the idea that they are smart…just in a different way from some of their peers.

Very quickly, after the first 3 sessions, I had students requesting sketching/writing time. In the beginning, I collected images from the YCBA collection, book illustrations, and online images from various art museums. I am storing them in what is becoming a rather large power point. Each slide is an image with several writing invitations.

 

Van Gogh: Shoes 1888

Students sketch and write for equal amounts of time.

JWMTurner; The Morning After Deluge 1843

 

Two important observations over the past month:

1) Kids get right to the writing. Not one student (grade 3-5) has uttered the dreaded words, “I don’t know what to write.” Or better yet, “How many sentences does this have to be?”

2) The kids are starting to notice that their writing is getting longer and more detailed. There is pride in their voices when they share. They are excited with the language they are using and making links to literature. They are applying figurative language and making inferences (and actually know what both of those terms mean now!)

Teacher note:

This takes very little planning. Just give students time and opportunity and they will amaze you and, more importantly, amaze themselves.

I sketch and write with my students to model and practice what I preach.

Consortium Notes

During our first visual literacy consortium meeting this year, we began with time in the galleries. Each teacher found a work of art that reflected their own experience beginning the school year. Many found that the experience helped shed new light on the work ahead. Here are some excerpts from the conversation.

Charlice Culvert, art teacher

“Given the fourth floor to explore the concept of what were our expectations for the new school year and where was it going, I knew immediately that I would focus on the abstract art in the Long Gallery. Abstract art allows me to reflect more deeply than representational art; there are no boundaries for the interpretation.

 

Untitled

 

 

Barbara Hepworth’s stone sculpture is located in front of a window, causing the black surface to seem even darker with the light behind shining through the openings. I thought about how to get through to the other side of the curriculum, expectations, students and everything the new school year brings; would there be surprises on the other side, would I be able to enjoy the journey? I could see some glimpses of what might be, but could not tell exactly what awaited me on the other side.

 

Next, I viewed John Walker’s, Untitled Collage NYC No5. With all its different textures, it reminded me of all the students who enter my classroom and all their different personalities. The complexity of one student could also be seen through this collage. We are all complex in our personalities. How do I respond appropriately to them all?

 

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The last piece of art I viewed lacked a label so I gave it the title, All Eyes on Me. Scattered all over the painted are three dimensional circular shapes which are eye-like. Red forms, reminiscent of figures, stand facing outward. Black lines move through the composition conveying the feeling of jazz music. My students’ expectations are high, they are energetic and they demand attention. I need to be on my toes at all times.”

 

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 Nick Mead, 2012

Daron Cyr, kindergarten teacher

“Chaotic best sums up my year; lots of lines and colors that seem to never come together. I view visual literacy as a “safe” place for those colors, textures, and lines to play, arrange, rearrange, mingle, change, morph into something visually appealing. The eyes in the piece … like my 4 year olds eying everything – the good, the bad, my reaction, the day, the mood … all the eyes. 

I hope to let their creativity shine unstifled with textures and tools in their desperate fingers. It’s a mindset really: That we are valuable thinkers and creators of ideas and art. 

I sought abstract art because the lines and boldness were almost soothing – a means of decompressing and a way to visualize my room as an art form even amidst the chaos. 

 

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I gave my students their sketchbooks for the first time last week and asked them to do a self portrait – which was exciting and a great first time in their books. Last friday I put up A Couple of Foxhounds from the YCBA collection and after reading the painting together (which is getting better every week) I asked them to use only pencil (which normally would be “boring”) and either try to draw the painting, focus on their favorite part, or draw what it reminds them of.

 

I was in awe of how well my young and challenging learners handled it! Many copied the shadows and shapes in the painting but even more drew their own dogs or family because the dogs reminded them of home.  Everyone was doing something and whether or not it was recognizable to me wasn’t as important as the fact that they were moved to draw something based on what they saw. 

Next week I’m getting ready to start a “Work on Art” center as part of literacy time because it fits perfectly with their need for Oral Language but also because they are engaged and will enjoy choosing a picture card and spending time in their sketchbooks.”

 

Rebecca Looney, art teacher

” The piece I chose to talk about and connect with my students was Peter Howson’s Farewell, Farewell. I felt that this work would invite the most conversations about the back story of all that I looked at. Beginning this year, I’ve noticed conflicts between students occurring much earlier in the year than in years past. Usually they are one student against a couple of others, which seemed to be exemplified by the number of people in this painting. This painting would be a great bridge to talking about relationships and communication.”

 

Karen Williams, art teacher

“The beginning of the year can be exciting and intimidating at the same time:  new students, new school procedures, new administrators, new colleagues, new materials – all new experiences to bring to a new year.

This past YCBA workshop was a reminder of what I took and want to keep from the summer institute.

The art room is a place where things can move S  L  O  W.

The art room is a place where you observe, notice, question.

The art room is a place where individuality is honored.

Although the rush of school year can cause me to overlook these very important things, the meeting served as a good “huddle” time for us, as educators, to reflect on why we are doing what we are doing: To help our students, ourselves and others to learn, to grow and to deepen our experiences not only in art but in all other areas of life as well.”

 

Patti Darragh, reading specialist

Launching the Year

“As I wandered the galleries, thinking about starting the school year with my reading students, this painting jumped off the wall at me. 

 

The Sense of Sight, Philippe Mercier

It emphasizes the power of a visual image. Just as the characters in this narrative are intent on studying this map, my students stretch and move their seats to get a better view of images I present to them.

Looking does not put my challenged readers on the spot. Everyone can look and looking naturally leads to thinking and talking.

I don’t know who is more amazed at students’ responses to art; me or the students themselves.

My advice- try it and be amazed!”

 

Please share your own experiences “launching” visual literacy this year.

Sky Lessons: Using Paintings to Teach Setting

CloudDance

Illustration from Cloud Dance by Thomas Locker

 

“The sky settles everything – not only climates and seasons but when the earth shall be beautiful.”

E.M. Forster, A Passage to India

The background of a painting is much like a setting in writing: it pulls you in, and puts you somewhere specific. We tell our students that “setting” is the time and place in a piece of writing. But it is more than that: it is an anchor for the reader. I like teaching setting by focusing on the sky. The sky is a great equalizer: we all see it, at all times of day and night, in all kinds of weather. It affects our moods and our actions. The collection of  paintings selected by Sara Torkelson in this pinterest board are a perfect way to show students of all ages how powerful the sky can be.

Continue reading Sky Lessons: Using Paintings to Teach Setting

Why Making Pictures Should Be Part of the Writing Process

 

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When a teacher makes the decision to bring art materials into the classroom and actually devote precious writing time to making art, that teacher is showing two things: 1. courage, and 2. a clear understanding of what makes a good writer. Susan Sontag said, “A writer, I think, is someone who pays attention to the world.” We ask children to use “visual imagery” in their writing on a daily basis. We tell them to “paint a picture with words.” The one thing we often forget, however, is how abstract words are for children, and how little experience they actually have with writing them down.

Words are a second language to all of us, if you consider the pictures in our minds to be our first language. When I ask you to remember your favorite childhood toys, do you picture the words “slinky” and “Legos?” More likely, you picture a silver coil climbing down the steps, and multi-colored blocks snapping together. As adults, we barely notice the steps we take to describe the pictures in our heads with words. But for children, the task of translating what they are thinking about into words is a challenge. Add to that the added task of forming the letters and sounding out the spelling, and you are asking for a lot of invisible steps to be taken.

Allowing time for making pictures in the writing classroom gives students – and teachers – the opportunity to see what they want to write. This provides opportunities for building vocabulary (“What do you call that color?” “What time of day is this taking place?” “Will you write about that moon?”). It also invests the students in their work, so that they desire success. It’s not always easy to get a student to describe what she wants to write, but ask her to describe her drawing and it is a different story. The time a teacher invests in allowing students to draw (before – not after – writing with words) is more than made up for when the students’ words flow more easily and confidently. Drawing loosens up the inhibitions, opens the lines of communication, and gives the student a voice.

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 “In my  picture I see a yellow spider resting on a cool leaf. The leaf touches the moonlight and the stars. The wind dancing with the sky suddenly dies down into a cool winter breeze. Good night sleeping yellow spider.”

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Columns

Seeing Cores

by James Shivers

Summary/Goals

Views. Perspectives. Students. Teachers. Lessons. Classroom space, digital space, spaces to explore.  The purpose of Seeing Cores is to provide practical, reflective resources for the 6-12 teacher.  These practices are attempts from and in a current classroom.  Seeing Cores is a space that seeks vibrant, challenging and engaging ways of bringing the Common Core into the classroom.

Outline & Direction of Posts

  • Explore the new content demands of fiction, non-fiction, and media can be facilitated by working directly with the visual arts
  • Provide ongoing snapshots into the day-to-day workings of visually integrated classroom
  • Discuss practical issues that arise –from supplies to technology—when embracing multimodal discourse
  • Discuss the pilot program framework and results of Expanding Literacies, Exploring Expression

Contributors

 Patti Darragh

Patti Darragh is a reading specialist and the Reading/Language Arts coordinator, at the K-5 level in North Branford, CT. Patti began integrating visual literacy strategies as a first and second grade teacher and continues to use them to make literature and writing more meaningful to the remedial reading students she works with today. Patti has shared her beliefs and knowledge about visual literacy through various professional development workshops with the teachers in North Branford and an instructor at the University of New Haven MAT program, training new teachers. She is a liaison for the Museum/School Partnership with the YCBA and is an instructor at the YCBA Summer Teacher Institute. Additionally she had presented visual literacy workshops at Yale Center for British Art, New England Museum Association, and American Alliance of Museums, and Examining the  Intersection of Arts Education and  Special Education. She holds a B.S. in Elementary Education and Advanced Certification as a Reading Specialist from Southern Connecticut State University and an M.S. in Education from University of Connecticut.

Darcy Hicks

Darcy Hicks was an elementary classroom teacher and art teacher in Massachusetts and in Connecticut for ten years. She has since worked as an educational consultant and teaching coach, with a focus on the integration of art and writing. Hicks uses art in the classroom to help children discover their own topics, and to develop skills in reading and writing. She developed a literacy approach called Doorways to Thinking, which integrates all the senses into the writing process. For the last three years she has been part of the Visual Literacy team at the New Haven Public Schools and the Yale Center for British Art. She conducts workshops for teachers, coaches one-on-one, and this year worked with a small group of children to explore the use of art as a way to develop their writing voices.

Publications:

Hicks, Darcy. Choice Matters. Teaching K-8, pub. NCTE October 2001

Hicks, Darcy; Levenson, Cyra. Opening the Door: Teaching Towards Creativity. Creativity in Art Education, pub. NEA 2013.

Presentations:

National Conference of Teachers of English,1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2003.

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Cyra Levenson, Ed.M., is Associate Curator of Education at the Yale Center for British Art. Prior to Yale, Ms. Levenson held positions at the Seattle Art Museum and the Rubin Museum of Art focused on gallery interpretation. She has worked closely with schools and teachers throughout her career and has researched and published on the topic of visual literacy in museum practice. Ms. Levenson is a also the co-curator of the upcoming exhibition, Figures of Empire: Slavery and Portraiture in Atlantic Britain and is author of the article, “Re-presenting Slavery: Underserved Questions in Museum Collections”. Ms. Levenson has a degree in Art Education from Teachers College, Columbia University and has been working in the field of museum education for 15 years.

James Shivers Image

James Shivers (Ph.D.) is a poet, visual artist, and literary critic.  He teaches at William H Hall High School in West Hartford, CT.  In 2012-13 he developed with YCBA a visual based pilot program called Expanding Literacies, Exploring Expression for students in lower level English Courses.  At Hall, he also co-developed of a senior level media course, 21st Century Studies: Media and the Critical Eye which receives college credit through University of Connecticut’s ECE program where he serves on the English advisory board.  He also teaches courses at University of Hartford and University of Connecticut.

Hallie Cirino is engaged in a teaching career that has spanned over three decades and has included students from the ages of two to ninety-two. Currently, Hallie is working as a 5’s teacher at CHT Preschool in Westport, CT.  While working on her masters in teaching, curriculum, and learning environments at Harvard, Hallie conducted and published research about young children learning to write for the first time. This led to her emphasizing the incorporation of visual arts into literacy learning with her classes, and the process of doing so with her current 5-year-old students has a very natural, organic quality. Hallie firmly believes that all students, regardless of age, can enhance their learning while improving their writing through the use of visual supports such as fine art.

Yinan Eva Song

Yinan “Eva” Song is a senior at Yale University. She majors in Art (with a focus on Graphic Design) and Political Science. She worked as a Nancy Horton Bartels intern at the Department of Education of Yale Center for British Art for the 2012-2013 school year, and continues to work as a student assistant at the Department.

Sara Torkelson

Sara Torkelson is a junior at Yale University majoring in American Studies with a concentration on visual art and literature. She is a student assistant at the Yale Center for British Art in the Education Department. Sara will be posting on the YCBA Pinterest page; these posts will explore the British Art Center’s vast collection and focus on specific themes with each post.