Art for Critical Thinking

Good evening my beauties,

I just wanted to share a great idea that my coworker and I came up with! Glynis (3rd grade ELA) and I worked on our RTI/WIN plans today during our professional development. Our school is starting a new schedule next week to include time at the end of each day for RTI time. Our middle and high groups will be focusing on improving reading and writing skills to better prepare them for the upcoming standardized test. One thing we decided to do was use artwork to encourage critical thinking skills.

We are going to show student's Jan van Eyck's Portrait of Giovannia Arnolfini and his Wife (1434). As students are looking at the image we are going to probe them with questions. After having a class discussion on the piece, we will show a video of art historians discussing the work. The video is great because even historians don't know the exact meaning behind the painting. This leaves it open for interpretation--a great tool to allow students to think/imagine for themselves.

Students will also read Portrait with a Thousand Secrets: The Mystery Behind a Masterpiece by Carola Hicks. This article was published in Daily Mail. The students will discuss the article.

Then students will write an essay answering the following prompt: What story is being told in this painting? What details are used to tell the story? How does the artist capture the importance of the event? The students will have to use history (What they already know and learned from the article and video) and evidence to support their writing.

I think it is so important for students to be exposed to art, history, science, poetry, music, culture, etc. This is a great way to do something a little different with your students, open up their minds, allow them to imagine, and utilize their critical thinking skills!

I hope you have a wonderful night! Sleep well!

I'm an Artist

Good evening,

As I was sitting here working on some artwork, I realized that I don't think I've mentioned that I'm also an artist. I create artwork on the side and sell it on my Etsy site. If any of you are interested in checking it out you can visit my store! Here are just some of the pieces I've created:

"The Joker"

Acrylic on Canvas

Untitled Vase

Mixed Media

Love Sketch

Pen and Paper

"Writer"

Mixed Media

"Gator"

Tempura Paint and Paper 

"Safari"

Acrylic on Canvas

"Feathers"

Mixed-Media

"Timid Giant"

Acrylic on Canvas

"Hogwarts Starry Night"

Acrylic on Canvas

Copyright © Kataclysmic Kreations 2015, All Rights Reserved

Kataclysmic Kreations 

Hope you have a great night! 

Building Reading Stamina

One thing I've started working on this year is building my students' reading stamina. With the upcoming state test, students are required to read 3 passages and complete an essay in 90 minutes. That's a lot to ask of a 10 and 11 year old child. In order for the students to be successful at completing this time intensive task, they need to have stamina. So how do you build stamina exactly?

Here are some things I'm doing in my classroom to build reading stamina:

1) I use a timer for most tasks in my classroom. That way students know how much time they really have, and can build autonomy by completing the task on time. To build reading stamina, start small. Set a timer with a 3-minute focused, no question time of reading. From there, grow the minutes slowly. Let studnets know if they achieved the goal, missed it, or exceeded it.
After students have become successful with reading for longer periods of time, begin adding questions to the reading. I use cold reads from multiple sources (Readworks.org, Reading Warm-Ups & Test Practice, Common Core Nonfiction: Activities for Informational Text Practice, Paired Passages: Linking Fact to Fiction, Comprehension Practice at 3 Levels, 25 Complex Text Passages to meet the Common Core) All of these books I found at my local teacher store.

I created this little graph to show our improvement with reading silently. I started small at 8 minutes, and moved them up slowly. The sock monkey climbed the stairs.

2) Vary the amount of time students are required to read silently.

3) Allow students time to read a book of their choice for enjoyment.

4) Be consistent-  Have a designated silent reading time.


For more information on the importance of reading stamina, visit these websites:
http://www.smekenseducation.com/keep-track-as-students-build-reading-stamina.html
http://www.literacysolutions.com.au/blog/2012/05/07/reading-stamina/
http://www.ohiorc.org/adlit/inperspective/issue/2006-09/Article/ogt.aspx
http://www.shelbyed.k12.al.us/instruction/elementary/Plans/Building_Stamina_For_Reading.pdf

Readworks has passages for building reading stamina!
http://www.readworks.org/passages-building-reading-stamina

Thanks for stopping by! Let me know what you think!