IEA Newsletter for Wednesday, April 25, 2007

Welcome to the Institute for Education and the Arts weekly newsletter for April 25, 2007. The newsletter is published each Wednesday morning to the IEA listserv and is archived here on the IEA blog.

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REPORTS
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CREATIVE COMMUNITIES INITIATIVE SUMMARY REPORT
National Guild of Community Schools of the Arts, 4/11/07
The Creative Communities Initiative Summary Report “summarizes strategies for successful arts education partnerships with public housing communities. Findings were gleaned from an extraordinary three-year, $4.65 million partnership between the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and National Guild. Many of the findings are relevant to a wide range of cross-sector arts education partnerships. ‘The Creative Communities Initiative did what many of us hope to do—broaden, deepen and diversify participation in the arts,’ said Jonathan Katz, CEO of the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies (NASAA). ‘This helpful report summarizes the lessons learned from this three-year project to build a sustaining connection between community schools of the arts and people living and working in public housing.’ Coordinated by the National Guild, the Creative Communities Initiative channeled resources from the NEA, HUD and 10 corporations and foundations to partnerships between community schools of the arts and public housing communities in 20 cities. The Initiative was successful in delivering high-quality arts instruction to more than 7,000 children and youth. Of these students, 94% reported feelings of safety and belonging in their classes, more than 90% reported wanting to learn more about the arts, and more than 75% felt that their capacity for self-expression increased.”
Learn more

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REFORMING EDUCATION
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WORK FOR REAL EDUCATION REFORM
Commentary by William Spady, Denver Post, 4/7/07
”The new education reform report called ‘Tough Choices or Tough Times’ is the first national report of its kind in recent years to truly address and challenge the deeply entrenched and systemic factory-model nature of our educational system. Our traditional time-defined paradigm of "school" has become so legalized, institutionalized, internalized and continuously reinforced that it is ingrained in our culture and way of thinking. That's why virtually all other major educational reform reports or initiatives have either reinforced this outdated and counter-productive paradigm or simply tried to apply Band-Aids to it. Since most Americans love the image of the school they attended, they can't imagine anything else and don't want to see it changed. That's a key reason why real educational change proceeds at a snail's pace, gets blocked or never really materializes … But, in spite of containing some far-reaching ideas, this report is entirely too one-dimensional to serve as a template for addressing educational change in a truly visionary and comprehensive way. Its rationale and proposals focus exclusively on ‘economic man’ - but not social man, humane man, creative man or any other metaphor we might use to characterize a complete, fulfilled and empowered human being.”
Read more of the commentary
Read the “Tough Choices or Tough Times” report

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ARTS IN THE CURRICULUM: NATIONAL POETRY MONTH
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POETRY IN MOTION:
QUICKMUSE.COM SHOWS THE CREATIVE-WRITING PROCESS AS IT UNFOLDS
Damien B.M. English, Edutopia, 4/07
”[T]here may be no art form more perplexing, and less yielding in an anatomy lesson, than poetry. Even the ability of the Internet to unlock secrets would seem inadequate to demystify the poetic process. Enter QuickMuse.com, the brainchild of Ken Gordon. Gordon's original idea … was to capture the poet's creative process online for the world to see and to add an element of improvisation to the procedure. To accomplish this, he employed a clever piece of technology devised by a Web wizard named Fletcher Moore … The remarkable site pits prominent poets such as Robert Pinsky, Charles Bernstein, and Mary Jo Salter against one other and the clock in what Gordon calls an agon, from the ancient Greek word meaning ‘contest’ or ‘challenge.’ In an exercise of literary improvisation, two poets are given a topic, a quote, a picture, or some other prompt and then have fifteen minutes to compose a poem. The process is recorded and posted online.”
Read more of the Edutopia article
Experience QuickMuse

POETRY RESOURCES FROM THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
In Honor of National Poetry Month, browse the Library of Congress’ poetry resources, including former Poet Laureate Billy Collins’ Poetry 180 project, which provides a poem a day for high school students.
Learn more

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HURRICANE KATRINA DVD AVAILABLE
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SPIKE LEE HURRICANE KATRINA DOCUMENTARY FREE FOR EDUCATORS
’Teaching The Levees’ is a curriculum that uses Spike Lee's movie, When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts, from HBO Documentary Films, as a text to encourage democratic dialogue about race and class in America. The curriculum asks participants to consider what they understand about these topics, to test their understandings against other points of view, and to formulate a response through civic engagement. The documentary, is rated TV-14. The curriculum lessons are aimed at three audiences: high school social studies students, … college students in history-related courses, and adult learners in civic, religious, and community groups. The curriculum package is currently being developed at Teachers College, Columbia University. Through the generous support of the Rockefeller Foundation, free copies will be made available to teachers, schools, libraries, and community groups. The package will include copies of the When the Levees Broke DVDs and the curriculum book.”
Request a copy (available in late Summer 2007)

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SUMMER FESTIVALS
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41ST ANNUAL SMITHSONIAN FOLKLIFE FESTIVAL
This annual festival, held on the National Mall, will focus on three cultures this year: the Mekong River area, Northern Ireland, and the Roots of Virginia Culture. Festival dates: June 27 – July 1 and July 4 – July 8, 2007.
Learn more

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THE LAW FOR ARTS & ARTISTS
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THE LAW PORTAL: LAW PRIMER FOR THE ARTS
“The goal of The Law Portal is to present legal primers – relatively brief summaries of the law for non-lawyers - on matters that affect the arts, artists, and arts institutions. The materials have been created by a wide variety of non-profit organizations, government entities, and for-profit businesses. The site was created by Sandra Braman at the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee, with support from the Rockefeller Foundation.”
Learn more

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GRANTS, FUNDING, CONTESTS, AND AWARDS
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AIRBORNE TEACHER TRUST FUND
The Airborne Teacher Trust Fund awards funding to projects promoting art, music, drama, and crafts. The maximum award is $10,000. K-8 teachers in public and private schools are eligible; however, check the Web site to see if grants are offered in your state. Grants are awarded quarterly; the next deadline is 4/30/07.
Learn more

PARTNERS IN EXCELLENCE / PARTNERS IN ARTS EDUCATION GRANTS
“The National Guild of Community Schools of the Arts and MetLife Foundation will award grants of up to $20,000 to support exemplary community school of the arts/public school partnerships. The application deadline is Friday, May 25, 2007.” Consult the Web site for eligible communities.
Learn more

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IEA Newsletter for Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Welcome to the Institute for Education and the Arts weekly newsletter for April 18, 2007. The newsletter is published each Wednesday morning to the IEA's listserv and is archived here.

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REPORTS
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STUDY GIVES TEACHERS BARELY PASSING GRADE IN CLASSROOM
Greg Toppo, USA Today, March 2007
“The typical child in the USA stands only a one-in-14 chance of having a consistently rich, supportive elementary school experience, say researchers who looked at what happens daily in thousands of classrooms. The findings, published today in the weekly magazine Science, take teachers to task for spending too much time on basic reading and math skills and not enough on problem-solving, reasoning, science and social studies. They also suggest that U.S. education focuses too much on teacher qualifications and not enough on teachers being engaging and supportive. Funded by the National Institutes of Health, educational researchers spent thousands of hours in more than 2,500 first-, third- and fifth-grade classrooms, tracking kids through elementary school. It is among the largest studies done of U.S. classrooms, producing a detailed look at the typical kid's day.”
Read more from USA Today
Read the abstract from Science Magazine (full article requires membership)

EVERYBODY READY FOR SCHOOL:
HOW CAN WE ENSURE HIGH QUALITY EARLY CHILDHOOD PROGRAMS?
Public Agenda, 2005
“Many families choose to place their children in some sort of preschool program. Perhaps they need childcare while they work. Or, they believe that children have social and learning experiences in preschool that are important to their development. Finally, many educators, parents and researchers agree that high quality ‘school readiness’ programs can help youngsters be more successful later on in school and in life. But preschool programs vary widely in quality. How can we make sure that all preschool programs provide safe and enriching environments that do a good job preparing children for school? In other words, how can we make sure all preschool programs are of the highest possible quality? To help get our conversation started, we’ve created a framework describing several approaches to ensuring quality for all preschool programs.”
Read more

STUDENTS ARE BORED, MANY SKIP SCHOOL, LACK ADULT SUPPORT:
HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS FROM 110 SCHOOLS IN 26 STATES PARTICIPATE IN IU STUDY
High School Survey of Student Engagement (HSSSE), Indiana University, 2/28/07
“Today's high school students say they are bored in class because they dislike the material and experience inadequate teacher interaction, according to a special report from Indiana University's High School Survey of Student Engagement (HSSSE). The findings … show that 2 out of 3 students are bored in class every day, while 17 percent say they are bored in every class. More than 81,000 students responded to the annual survey. HSSSE was administered in 110 high schools, ranging in size from 37 students to nearly 4,000, across 26 states. According to the director of the project, the reasons high school students claim they are bored are as significant as the boredom itself. Ethan Yazzie-Mintz, HSSSE project director for the Center for Evaluation and Education Policy (CEEP), says the finding that nearly one in three respondents (31 percent) indicate he or she is bored in class due to "no interaction with teacher" is a troubling result.”
Read the press release from Indiana University
Read the survey results
Learn how to administer the survey at your school

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SUPPORT FOR NEW TEACHERS
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SUCCESS FOR NEW TEACHERS
Hal Portner, American School Board Journal, 10/06
“It’s the same old story, year after year. Your district spends thousands of dollars to recruit, hire, and train new teachers. Then, after a year or two, the district has to repeat the process because those same teachers have left their jobs. How much does this cost? It’s been estimated that each teacher who is recruited, trained, and lost can cost districts up to $50,000 … One proven way to improve teacher retention is through induction and mentoring programs, a professional development process that supports new staff.”
Read more

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ARTS IN THE CURRICULUM
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STUDENTS REQUIRE ARTS SMARTS
Rick Martinez, Columnist, Charlotte (NC) News Observer, 3/28/07
“Nowhere is creative thinking, and the communication skills needed to convey it, better taught than in the arts … Under North Carolina's proposed plan, arts education would be relegated to second-class status -- just one of many "endorsements" or suggested courses of study. This lack of vision reflects just the dearth of innovative thinking the state's proposed core would instill in generations to come. Too many of us think of the arts strictly in terms of the medium, such as a painting, a play or concert. We forget about the conceptualization that's required before an artist picks up a brush. We don't appreciate the mental rigor an actor must exercise to memorize lines and interpret a script. We overlook the discipline and hard work required for a recital. We undervalue the attention to detail shown by directors, lighting technicians, makeup artists, set designers and scene builders. These traits are often glorified when displayed on the high school athletic field, yet for some reason are often marginalized when they show up on a stage or a canvas.”
Read more

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IMPORTANCE OF CREATIVITY IN EDUCATION AND BUSINESS
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CREATIVITY’S ESSENCE EXPLORED
Pawtucket (RI) Times , 3/27/2007
”A high-powered panel discussing creativity in education seemed to conclude Tuesday that while it's not something easily defined, creativity is something you know when you see it and they'd like to see more of it in schools' daily curriculum. Orchestrated by the Arts & Business Council of Rhode Island, an offshoot of the A&BC of Americans for the Arts, the forum, moderated by Rhode Island School of Design President Roger Mandle, is among 40 being sponsored around the country by the MetLife Foundation as part of its National Arts Forum Series to better link the arts and business."
Read about the panel’s conversations

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LEARNERS WITH SPECIAL NEEDS
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A PRIMER ON DYSLEXIA
PBS Parents
“Most people think of dyslexia as a problem in which people see letters backwards. It is commonly believed that people with dyslexia see "b" as "d" and "was" as "saw." Decades of research have begun to dispel this myth. People with dyslexia do not see letters backwards. In fact, they see things in the same way as other people. Dyslexia is simply a term used to describe a specific kind of reading difficulty in which children have unexpected difficulty learning to read. This is because they have trouble perceiving differences among sounds and remembering how letters and sound go together. Having dyslexia does not mean that children are not bright or can't learn; in fact, many children with dyslexia possess above average intelligence. This … article will help you learn the facts about dyslexia, how it is diagnosed, and how it can be treated. In addition, this update provides you with resources, including books for children, books for parents, Web sites, and organizations so that you can learn more about dyslexia.”
Learn more

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MAKING ART “FINDABLE”
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ONE PICTURE, 1,000 TAGS
Pamela LiCalzi O’Donnell, New York Times, 3/28/07
”Strolling through a museum, a painting of a shipwreck catches your eye. You are struck by the dominance of blue in another work. Yet another painting, featuring a silvery moon, seems sad. If you try to find those paintings on the museum’s Web site you will probably fail unless you know the title or artist. You can’t search based on what you see … [M]useums are rethinking their online collections. They are experimenting with one of the hottest Web 2.0 trends: tagging, the basis for popular sites like Flickr. In social tagging, users of a service provide the tags, or labels, that describe the content (of photos, Web links, art), thus creating a user-generated taxonomy, or folksonomy, as it’s called. Museums plan to encourage the public to annotate their collections by supplying descriptive tags that could exist alongside professional documentation, creating a new shared vocabulary. Van Gogh’s ‘Starry Night,’ for example, could elicit tags like ‘stars,’ ‘planets,’ ‘swirls’ or ‘insanity.’
Read more

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GRANTS, FUNDING, CONTESTS, AND AWARDS
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REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS TO EXAMINE EFFECTIVENESS OF DIFFERENT WAYS OF DELIVERING PUBLIC SUPPORT TO U.S. MUSEUMS
Institute of Museum and Library Services
“The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) invites proposals for a cooperative agreement to examine the effectiveness of different mechanisms of delivering public support to museums in the United States. The Institute is supporting this study to provide data that can be used to help enhance current methods of delivering federal and state funds to the nation's museums. For thirty years, federal funds have increased the capacity of the nation's museums to provide educational, cultural, and civic benefits to the American people. The Institute has developed an array of national discretionary grant programs to fulfill its statutory role. There is currently no program in place to leverage the federal investment in museums by encouraging similar efforts at the state and local level. This study will identify a representative sample of states and identify and assess the impact of current methods of delivery of state and federal funds in those states.”
Learn more

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IEA Newsletter for Wednesday, April 11, 2007

Welcome to the Institute for Education and the Arts weekly newsletter for April 11, 2007. The newsletter is published each Wednesday morning to the IEA listserv and is archived here.

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REPORT
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STUDY EYES EFFECT OF EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY
Nancy Zuckerbrod, AP Education Writer, in the Boston Globe, 4/5/07
“Going high-tech doesn't lead to higher math and reading scores, according to a federal study. The study on the effectiveness of education technology was released late Wednesday by the National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance, a research arm of the Education Department. The study found achievement scores were no higher in classrooms using reading and math software products than in classrooms without the new products.”
Read the AP/Boston Globe article
Read the report


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ARTS CONFERENCES
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THEATRE COMMUNICATIONS GROUP NATIONAL CONFERENCE:
ARTISTRY IN A NEW CENTURY
Minneapolis/St. Paul, 6/7 – 6/9/07
“A new world, a new country, a new audience, new art - the 2007 TCG National Conference turns its attention to creating theatre for today and tomorrow with Artistry in a New Century. The conference will engage master artists and creative thinkers in the quest to craft theatre that resonates in our communities - locally, nationally and globally. The two and a half days of the conference will investigate the creative process, new models of developing work and the artist as a catalyst for social change.”
Learn more

SEE ALSO … MetLife Foundation announcement in the Grants section of this newsletter.


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SUPERVISION OF D.C. SCHOOLS
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DC SCHOOLS TAKEOVER GETS INITIAL APPROVAL
Nikita Stewart & Theola Labbe, Washington Post, 4/4/07
”The D.C. Council granted preliminary approval yesterday for a dramatic shift in power for the city's public schools, giving the mayor control over the budget, key administrative functions and the blueprint for modernizing every dilapidated building in the 55,000-student system …After final approval from the council, which could come as early as April 17, and Congress later this spring, parents could see the first changes in the fall. As part of the new structure, the council would have line-item budget control, and the school board would set academic standards. In one of the biggest departures from the plan … announced in January, the council would have the authority to rescind the mayor's control over the schools if he did not show ‘sufficient progress in education’ within five years.”
Read more

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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS
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CALL FOR COVER ART AND ARTS-BASED SUBMISSIONS
Journal of Curriculum and Pedagogy
“The Journal of Curriculum and Pedagogy is positioned at the intersection of curriculum theory, teaching studies, and arts based research. Each issue of the journal features a cover image from an arts based researcher, an art student, or a contemporary artist. Such images can include, but are not limited to visual artworks, documentations of performance artwork, ethno-dramas, musical performances, or stills from videos. The submission process is comprised of four strands:
1) Arts based research accompanied by image(s); …
2) Full manuscripts submitted through the online peer review process that also have a visual component; …
3) Text based forms of arts based research; …
4) Student artwork (K through 12).
Learn more

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RECOGNIZING IMPROVEMENTS IN STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT
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BROAD FOUNDATION NAMES SCHOOL SYSTEM FINALISTS FOR AWARD
Boston Globe/Associated Press, 4/4/07
“Bridgeport, Conn., public schools and four other urban school systems around the nation were named as finalists Wednesday for the Broad Prize for Education, an annual competition with awards totaling $1 million. The award honors school districts making the greatest progress in raising student achievement.” The other four finalists are the Long Beach, Calif., Unified School District, Miami-Dade County Public Schools, New York City Department of Education and Northside Independent School District in northwest San Antonio. The winner will be announced on Sept. 18 at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. The winning district will receive $500,000 in scholarships for graduating seniors and each of the four other finalist districts will receive $125,000 in scholarships.”
Read more

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RESOURCES FOR TEACHERS
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PBS DEBUTS COMPREHENSIVE NEW ONLINE PORTAL FOR TEACHERS
eSchool News, 4/1/07
“PBS has formally launched a comprehensive new web site for K-12 educators, called ‘PBS Teachers’ … [T]he site [includes] thousands of free lesson plans, teacher professional development opportunities, videos, blogs, and more.”
Read more of the eSchool News preview
Visit the PBS Teachers site

THE BLUES CLASSROOM
PBS.org and the Experience Music Project
A series of resources focusing on the blues as an art form, as well as well-known blues musicians.
Learn more

GETTING TO KNOW WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
PBS Teachers
“Who was William Shakespeare and why do we still study his works? These are questions that students of all ages ask when presented with the prospect of studying about this famous bard. In order to better understand why we study the works of this famous playwright, students should become acquainted with the man who penned some of the most used quotes in all of history!”
View the entire lesson plan


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GRANTS, FUNDING, CONTESTS, AND AWARDS
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METLIFE FOUNDATION PARTNERS IN ARTS EDUCATION PROJECT
National Guild of Community Schools of the Arts and MetLife Foundation
Announcing “the renewal of the MetLife Foundation Partners in Arts Education Project. The project’s goal is to improve teaching and learning in the arts by advancing high-quality, sustainable partnerships between community-based arts education organizations and public schools. In 2007, the project will:
-- Award grants of up to $25,000 to support exemplary CSA-public school partnerships during the 2007/2008 school year. The application deadline is May 25, 2007.
-- Distribute Profiles in Excellence, case studies of exemplary arts education partnerships, and
-- Present a two-day arts education partnership training in conjunction with the 2007 Conference for Community Arts Education in Los Angeles, 11/9 & 11/10.
Learn more about the grant application guidelines
Learn more about the November conference

GRANTS FOR CREATIVE, INNOVATIVE PROJECTS THAT DIRECTLY IMPACT CHILDREN
Mattel and the Mattel Children’s Foundation
“Mattel and the Mattel Children's Foundation are pleased to continue for the third year our Domestic Grantmaking Program. Through this effort, unsolicited applications for funds from organizations benefiting children in need are accepted, pending the eligibility requirements and guidelines listed below. Charitable organizations that demonstrate that they directly serve children in need may be eligible for grants of $5,000 up to $20,000. Funds may be applied to programs or general operating costs.” 501(c)3 organizations are eligible; schools and school districts are not. Deadline: 6/15/07
Learn more

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IEA Newsletter for Wednesday, April 4, 2007

Welcome to the Institute for Education and the Arts weekly newsletter for April 4, 2007. The newsletter is published each Wednesday morning to the IEA listserv and is archived here on the IEA blog.

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IMPACT OF NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND ON EDUCATION
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INTEGRATING THE ARTS
Loren Moreno, Honolulu Adviser, 3/26/07
“Kehaulani Nakamoto's fifth-grade class at Kailua Elementary worked as a team on a set of batik wall hangings, donated to the Hawai'i State Hospital in Kane'ohe. But if not for a grant sought by parents and the school's community, her students might not have gotten the lesson from local artist Karen Kiefer that sparked the project. ‘Thank God for this grant,’ Nakamoto said. In an era of content standards, adequate yearly progress and test scores, art education is sometimes overlooked, she said. Visual art, dance, music and theater are often seen as nice rather than necessary.”
Read more.

SOCIAL STUDIES AND SCIENCE FEEL SQUEEZE:
SCHOOLS FOCUS MORE ON READING, MATH TO MEET NO CHILD MARKS
Lindsay Kastner, Richmond Times-Dispatch, 3/26/07
”The schedule on Butler's classroom wall allots two hours each day for reading instruction, an hour for math and about 55 minutes for science and social studies combined. But many days, science and social studies lessons are compressed even more, into five- or 10-minute capsules at the end of the day. ‘With science and social studies, that's about as much as you can get in, five or 10 minutes,’ Butler said after school one day. ‘Our main focus is reading and math.’ Science and social studies are being squeezed out of many elementary school days … In March 2006, the Center on Education Policy found that 71 percent of school systems reported reducing elementary school instructional time in at least one other subject to make more time for reading and math, which are the only subjects that must be tested in accordance with No Child Left Behind. The center is a nonprofit that releases annual reports about No Child Left Behind.
Read more.

MORE TEACHERS PUSH FOR CIVICS EDUCATION
Lucas L. Johnson II, Associated Press/Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 3/26/07
“Since the federal No Child Left Behind law was passed in 2002, schools have focused on reading and math, and that has squeezed out other subjects like arts, music and civics, educators say. So lawmakers in Tennessee and other states have proposed bills this year to save civics.”
Read more.

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DANCE EDUCATION
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DANCE LESSONS INSPIRED BY MERCE CUNNINGHAM
Pbs.org
Follow this lesson plan and learn how to use a movement journal to create a vocabulary for use in a student-created movement activity.
Learn more.

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BOOSTING THE ARTS IN SCHOOLS
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MPS ART PROGRAM GRANTS HITTING ALL THE RIGHT NOTES
Alan J. Borsuk, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 3/25/07
“About 25 third- and fourth-grade students move in a circle in a large room at the Milwaukee Youth Arts Center while an adult calls out the rhythmic count. It's part of learning how to keep time in music. It's part of learning to play string instruments, the actual subject of their lessons after school. It's part of bringing out the best in them and enriching their education, in the eyes of those behind the program. And it's part of giving low-income and minority children in Milwaukee opportunities to learn to sing, dance, act, play instruments and create visual art at a time when teaching the arts has been on the decline in schools in the city.”
Read more.

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JAZZ APPRECIATION MONTH
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JAZZ RESOURCES FROM JAZZ AT LINCOLN CENTER
Jazz at Lincoln Center, under the artistic leadership of Wynton Marsalis, offers many resources to educators.
Learn more at Jazz at Lincoln Center or Jazz for Young People

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NATIONAL POETRY MONTH
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30 WAYS TO CELEBRATE NATIONAL POETRY MONTH
April is National Poetry Month. ”National Poetry Month (NPM) brings together publishers, booksellers, literary organizations, libraries, schools, and poets around the country to celebrate poetry and its vital place in American culture. Thousands of businesses and non-profit organizations participate through readings, festivals, book displays, workshops, and other events.” On this site, learn 30 ways to celebrate poetry, ranging from slipping a poem into someone’s lunch to carrying a poem in your pocket.”
Learn more.

VOICES & VISIONS VIDEOS FROM LEARNER.ORG

“The lives and works of 13 renowned American poets are interpreted through dramatic readings, archival photographs, dance, performances, and interviews in this inspiring series. Illustrative poems in each program are accompanied by insights into their historical and cultural connections. The series covers the terminology of poetry and the larger role of poets in American and world literature studies. Poets include Langston Hughes, Robert Frost, Emily Dickinson, and Elizabeth Bishop.”
Learn more.

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BOOK ON ARTS-INTEGRATED LEARNING
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ACTIVE LEARNING THROUGH DRAMA, PODCASTING, AND PUPPETRY
“Contrary to the trend to do away with arts education as an unnecessary expense in schools trying to boost student test scores, this book promotes and explains the value of integrated arts instruction in furthering the accomplishment of curricular objectives and fostering student achievement. Accomplished library media specialist and arts instructor Kristin Fontichiaro discusses how drama, shadow puppetry, and podcasting can be used as tools to meet curriculum objectives in the K-8 media center. By concentrating on the process of creating a piece of drama or puppetry or a podcast, as opposed to the goal of performance, and by infusing the arts with curriculum objectives in story or research, these techniques can intensify a child's learning and provide context for classroom curriculum objectives. A discussion of the affective and academic benefits of this process-based work as well as sample lessons are included. Photographs and examples of student work illustrate the techniques. Grades K-8.” Ms. Fontichiaro is a consultant for the Institute for Education and the Arts.
Learn more at Amazon.com or Greenwood Press/Libraries Unlimited.

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CONFERENCES
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THE ESSENTIAL CONFERENCE – 8/3/07
Oklahoma A+ Schools
“Oklahoma A+ Schools hosts its not-to-be-missed statewide conference on August 3, 2007, at Oklahoma City University. Educators across the state should make this experiential, arts-infused conference a top priority. Expect integrated workshops facilitated by top educators in Oklahoma, dynamic sessions “from the field” of teachers in our A+ schools, and arts-for-YOUR-sake experiences. Howard Hanger Jazz Fantasy emcees the day adding that vital thread of energy and feedback for participants. The $75 registration covers refreshments, lunch and all conference materials. Throughout the day, attendees will enjoy exhibitors that espouse the A+ philosophy.” Online registration opens April 2, 2007.
Learn more: http://www.okaplus.ucok.edu or (405) 973-4779

BIOLOGY AND ART: TWO WORLDS OR ONE?
The New York Academy of Sciences
Apr 14, 2007, 8:00 AM - 7:00 PM
7 World Trade Center, 250 Greenwich Street, 40th floor, New York
Sponsor: The William A. Haseltine Foundation for Medical Sciences and the Arts
“This conference will explore the nature of the science-art interface, the inspiration this interface provides to scientists and artists alike, and the impact of these interactions on art, research and other human endeavors. More specifically, the conference will focus on how biological objects—whether viruses, animals, plants, cells, or organelles—become an inspiration for certain artists' work, and how scientists—ever so particular about accuracy and specificity—respond to such artistic representations. The Belgian conceptual artist Wim Delvoye, creator of the Cloaca Project, will give the keynote lecture. The rest of the day will be organized as a series of four conversations between artists and scientists. For each conversation, an artist will appear with a scientist who works with the biological objects that inspire that artist. Short talks and extensive discussions will provide a forum where ideas generated in these two very different spheres of creative endeavors—science and art—are expressed, elaborated and deliberated.”
Learn more: (212) 298-8600 or NYAS Web site.

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GRANTS, FUNDING, CONTESTS, AND AWARDS
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TARGET GRANTS FOR ARTS AND EDUCATION
Target gives 5% of its profits back to the community via grants for the arts, education, and social services.
Learn more about its various grant programs.

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