1. PUTTING THE “STEAM” IN STEM Amanda Schear Withrow University High School

3. “School’s Out” 1936 Allan Rohan Crite Born: Plainfield, New Jersey 1910 Died: Boston, Massachusetts 2007 oil on canvas 30 1/4 x 36 1/8 in. (76.9 x 91.8 cm.) Smithsonian American Art Museum Transfer from The Museum of Modern Art 1971.447.18 Not currently on view

4. VISUAL THINKING STRATEGY (VTS)  VTS – a research-based teaching methodology that improves critical thinking and language skills through discussion of visual images  Developed by Housen and Yenawine at Harvard in the early 1990s.  Basic premise: you build your idea of the artwork by observing and discussing it

5. USING VISUAL THINKING STRATEGIES Core Questions  What do you observe is happening in this picture?  What do you see in the piece that makes you say that?  What more can we find? Facilitator Guide  Remain neutral – focus on each individual speaking and on the art  Use non-evaluative language (i.e. no “good job”)  PPL – Pointing, Paraphrasing, Linking  Pointing – to the art  Paraphrasing - what each student contributes  Linking – contributions together, creating class community in discussion

6. ARTFUL THINKING ROUTINES  Harvard’s Project Zero has developed an ‘artful thinking palette’  Reasoning  Comparing and connecting  Finding complexity  Questioning and investigating  Exploring viewpoints  Observing and describing  These palette components look familiar, right? Aren’t they part of our CCSS objectives?  Artful thinking routines focus on art, thinking and content – the goal is to target the sweet spot where all three intersect.

8. “The Janitor Who Paints” ca. 1930 Palmer Hayden Born: Widewater, Virginia 1890 Died: New York, New York 1973 oil on canvas 39 1/8 x 32 7/8 in. (99.3 x 83.6 cm.) Smithsonian American Art Museum Gift of the Harmon Foundation 1967.57.28 Smithsonian American Art Museum Luce Foundation Center, 4th Floor, 34B

9. PERCEIVE/KNOW/CARE ABOUT  What do you perceive or sense?  What do you know about or believe?  What do you care about?  Consider taking the questions from different stances (i.e. the artist, a person or object in the work)  It’s ok to withhold information (artist’s name, date, title) to help students focus solely on the work of art

10. MAKING CONNECTIONS Bridge art...... to history and poetry  Harlem Renaissance unit  “The Genius Child” by Langston Hughes This is a song for the genius child. Sing it softly, for the song is wild. Sing it softly as ever you can - Lest the song get out of hand. Nobody loves a genius child. Can you love an eagle, Tame or wild? Can you love an eagle, Wild or tame? Can you love a monster Of frightening name? Nobody loves a genius child. Kill him - and let his soul run wild.

11. ART AS TEXT  Visual art is a text – how do we read, decode and comprehend art?  Learning to read: decoding – introducing and observing art  Reading to learn: comprehending – making meaning from art  In today’s media and technology-driven information age, most students are reading more images than words on an daily basis  Vocabulary to classify images:  Representational – represents a real person, place, thing  Abstract – represents something real, but with changes  Nonrepresentational – not trying to represent anything  In representational and abstract pieces, look for objects. In nonrepresentational pieces, look for lines and shapes.

13. POSSIBLE PURPOSES  Build background knowledge  Students examine a Depression-era painting to create context for reading Grapes of Wrath  Point of inquiry to generate questions  Students examine a Samuel Bak painting to further discussion in a Holocaust studies unit  Assessment  Students analyze a work of art in the context of a literary or expository text they’ve been reading, using evidence of their learning to interpret the art and support their interpretation

14. WARMTH OF OTHER SUNS MINI- ASSESSMENT  Thoughtfully consider this painting. Explain, using explicit evidence from both the painting and our text, The Warmth of Other Suns, what connections exist between this work of art and the Great Migration. You are encouraged to consider both historical background and individual histories in your response.

15. ELEMENTS OF ART-INTEGRATED LEARNING  Integrating arts in content-area classes builds skills students need for college and career readiness, and supports the goals of the CCSS and 21 st century literacy learning.  Arts-integrated learning is  Actively built  Experiential  Reflective  Evolving  Collaborative  Problem-solving

16. SMITHSONIAN AMERICAN ART MUSEUM  Website is an INVALUABLE resource for integrating art in your classroom (all images from today’s slideshow were pulled from their site) – www.americanart.si.eduwww.americanart.si.edu  Excellent summer institute: “Teaching the Humanities through Art” (formerly the Clarice Smith fellowship) – see website for more details

17. QUESTIONS?  This presentation and associated handouts are available on the OCTELA Ning  Or... scan the QR code below to access this Slideshare file  Contact me via email: amanda.schear@gmail.comamanda.schear@gmail.com