Art and Science at Don Bosco Technical Academy

Above:  Science students from Ms. Jennifer Post's class look at their pendulum painting.

Don Bosco Technical Academy science teacher Jennifer Post used pendulum painting to teach Newton's Laws. of Motion to her 6th grade science students.

Above:  Ms Post with her class

In doing so, Ms Post used an art integration lesson that she learned last summer at the William Paterson Annual Summer Arts Integration Institute.

Above:  WP Art PIR Triada Samaras teaches "Pendulum Painting" to teachers in all content areas

 at the Annual WP Summer Arts Integration Institute

Ms Post began by showing students a TED Talk. Students learned about the artist Tom Shannon (see below images) who has turned to pendulum painting following a serious health diagnosis. Shannon can no longer hold a paintbrush. LINK  Ms. Post also showed the students several YouTube videos that explain various ways to create pendulum paintings using the simplest materials in any science classroom. LINK In addition Shannon uses powerful magnets in his work and wire that make his work look like it can levitate.

Above and below:  DB Students watch artist Tom Shannon 

share his pendulum painting techniques and rationale on TED Talks

Students were interested by the fact that pendulum painting is both an artistic act of creation and a scientific reality.  They were amazed by the potential of creating dazzling artworks AND doing relevant science experiments at the same time.

Above and Below:  Ms. Post and her students create pendulum paintings in their class

Above and below:  With more and more experimentation with the paint viscosity and colors,

the students found that the pendulum paintings increased in complexity and beauty. 

After the pendulum painting part of this lesson was over, Ms. Post asked the students to write about what they observed and learned using specific vocabulary words from Newton's Law of Motion including: force, gravity, motion, and reaction.

Next WP Art PIR Professor Samaras will assist Ms. Post to conduct a mini art critique with these students during which they will learn to judge their creations based on the Feldman Critique Method, the Elements of Art, and the Principles of Design. The goal of this critique is to help students understand the formal analysis of art.

Also in the classroom during the pendulum painintg lesson were: WP PIR Triada Samaras WP PIR Robin O'Brien and WP art practicum teaching student Carissa Kelly. Ms. Kelly assisted Miss Post in the afternoon with these paintings and lesson. At lunchtime Art PIR Triada Samaras met with several members of the Don Bosco “Steam Team“ and explained the activity and its potential for use in the classroom. 

In addition Professor Samaras prepared two blog posts on her Professor Samaras blog about the artists to inspire the teachers to create arts integration lesson plan connections at Don Bosco together with Professor O'Brien. These two artists being studied this fall have been: El Anatsui and Ben Shahn focusing on the themes of diversity and social justice.

By going to these links on El Anatusi and Ben Shahn teachers have easy access to learning about them and can be on the look out for connections to their curriculum.
Ben Shahn and Don Bosco Technical Academy
El Anatsui and Don Bosco Technical Academy

Ms. Post exhibited both the Pendulum Paintings and the student responses on Report Card Delivery night for parents and school staff to see.

Coming up very soon will be a field trip with three teachers and their students from the Don Bosco "Steam Team" to William Paterson University and the Ben Shahn Galleries galleries where the artist and his works are being celebrated on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the WP Ben Shahn Galleries.  Professors Samaras and O'Brien have been coordinating this trip for several weeks.  
Stay Tuned!

Welcome to Arts Integration, School 21!

School 21 is the latest Paterson Public School to be added to the group of Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation Arts Integration Grant schools in Paterson.  Recently, Principal Joanne Riviello met with Dr. Heejung An, WP Art Professor Triada Samaras, and WP PIR Darlene Rankin to discuss arts integration plans for the coming school year at this location.  

A collaborative, large scale mural for the entryway has already been discussed.  Many materials are being considered for this collaborative mural including:  ceramic tiles, masonite, plywood, and paper. In addition, much consideration is being given to the eventual, permanent installation of all the pieces that will make up the final art work and how that will occur.  Principal Riveiello has been an enthusiastic supporter of this project.  Different names are being considered for this project including, “Many Cultures, One Heart.” Stay  Tuned!

Art teacher Raquel Ford has been working closely with Professor Samaras to make this vision of a large-scale student generated mural a reality.Keeping within the Dodge Grant theme for the school year: "diversity," this mural will be made of the hands of the many students in the school put together.  The smaller hands will become two large hands that will indicate the symbol of "love" with a heart shape.  An example is below.

In addition to the theme of "diversity", a great deal of math goes into the planning of a project this size.  In the photos below, Ms. Ford and Professor Samaras have built a scale model of the project for the purpose of using 4 x 4"  or 8 x 8" square pieces for this mural which will measure roughly 55" x 182". 

In addition the budget must be considered when the number of pieces is known.  Students have expressed a great deal of enthusiasm for this project already embracing this "real life" math/art problem.  They are studying the grid method of artist Chuck Close and will apply this to their self portraits.

Above:  Self-portraitt by artist Chuck Close who uses the grid method.

School 9 and Arts Integration: Art and Literacy

First graders at School 9 are learning about beginning sounds and sight words. With PIR Mrs. Simone Sandler students had to create a monster creature that had some specific characteristics.  Students gave their creatures a name and had to describe what makes their monster “special”.  The classroom teacher elaborated on this project by helping the students with specific descriptive words. 

School 12 Arts Integration: Art and Literacy

At School 12, the fourth grade monster project was created with WP Art PIR Simone Simon in conjunction with the literacy teacher.  The focus of the lesson was on sequencing.  Students were given a chronological list for the assignment.  After the project was completed student wrote stories about their monsters