Summer Arts Integration Institute at WPU

Recently over forty teachers participated in an exciting Summer Arts Integration Institute at WPU, a two-day conference that focused on integrating art into other core subject areas. Public school teachers in all content areas were invited to this Geraldine R. Dodge funded event. Many teachers from Paterson School District attended.

Dr. Heejung An, Dodge Grant Director opened with a presentation explaining that STEAM: Science Technology Engineering Art Math is part of Arts Integration. Dr. An is interested in formally researching the impact of Arts Integration on the educational environment.

She explained:

"Arts Integration is an interdisciplinary teaching practice through which non-art and arts content is taught and assessed equitably in order to deemed students' understanding of both" (NJPSA/FEA & Dodge) (booklet pictured below)

  

In addition to the Arts Integration Guide Above, there is now a Arts Integration Think and Do Companion Workbook Available at this Link

The WPU Arts Integration Institute featured twenty proven art-integrated lessons ranging from kindergarten through 12^th grade that have been developed during the school year.

WPU Art Professors in Residence Triada Samaras and Simone Sandler gave Powerpoint presentations on Arts Integration topics as well.

A new and meaningful Memory Project: Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria

Recently Art Teacher Patty Kaminski at Don Bosco Technical Academy in Paterson and her 

students completed an arts integration project with the Memory Project: Portraits of 

Kindness featuring young children from Puerto Rico. This was especially meaningful to 

these students as several of them have close relatives in Puerto Rico who have suffered 

greatly due to Hurricane Maria. 

This Arts Integration project was created under the auspices of the 

Geraldine R. Dodge Arts Integration Grant and was supported by grant-funded Art Professor 

in Residence Triada Samaras from William Paterson University COE to create a 

collaboration between children in Paterson and children in Puerto Rico incorporating: social

studies, world language, and portraiture via the Memory Project.

The culmination is this inspiring video:

Direct Link to Video

An earlier project that Ms. Kamiski and her students did with children from the Philippines can be found here:

Memory Project Video! A gift from the Philippines to the Don Bosco Technical Academy Community!

Jan 21 2018

Students from Dodge Alumni School 29 Kindergarten Experiment with Architecture

Kindergarten students from Ms. Jeri Eslon's class in co-ordination with Art PIR Myra Winters recently experimented with an architecture project.  School 29 is a Dodge Alumni Grant School. 

First they used brainstormed with cut paper in the primary colors.  Next they arranged the pieces of paper in opened geometric forms.

Students next looked at the work of contemporary architects and noticed the correlation between this architecture and their own.  Below is a slide presentation of their project.

 

Celebrating Earth Day at NRC

The students at New Roberto Clemente School used old crayons for Earth Day.  Ms. Lauren Mandal, the art teacher and Ms. Triada Samaras, Art PIR from William Paterson University coordinated this art/science project. The old crayons that have been accumulating for the past three years were saved.

To begin their artwork, students drew and painted a cactus still life.  They gathered old crayons that have been accumulating for the past three years.

They also cut up used CDs.  They used tacky glue to attach all of the pieces.

This was a one day event for Earth Day while Mrs. Mandel was on a cart due to on-going PARCC testing making this project all the more remarkable! 

School 9 Celebrates Earth Day!

The students at School 9 collected empty water bottles for Earth Day.  Ms Dailey, the art teacher and Mrs.Sandler, PIR from William Paterson University coordinated this sculpture project. 

Using chicken wire as the base structure the water bottles were decorated by the students with permanent markers . Afterwards, the bottles were cut on a spiral and hung on the wire base.  

Presently, the students are deciding where to hang the finished three dimensional structure. 

Permanent Kindness Quilt installed at School 9

Kelly Dailey, art teacher from School 9 and Simone Sandler Professor In Residence from WPU coordinated a school wide Arts Integration project recently . 

This permanent quilt was created by grades K-8 using tongue depressors and markers.  Students used words, phrases and designs to reinforce positive messages.  

The display is situated outside the cafeteria for everyone to see.  Kindness encourages kids to help others and is a gift everyone can give.

WPU Professor, WPU Art PIR, and Paterson Science Teacher present Dodge Funded Research at WPU Research Day

On April 12, 2018, WPU Professor Heejung An, WPU Art Pir Triada Samaras and Paterson Public Schools Science Teacher Jennifer Post presented the topic, "Effective Arts Integration High Needs Approaches in High Needs School Districts" as part of the WPU symposium:

Explorations:  Research, Scholarship, & Creative Expression as part of the WPU Geraldine R. Dodge Arts Integration grant

Explorations 2018: Research, Scholarship and Creative Expression, is a presentation of research, scholarly and creative work across all five colleges at William Paterson University in Wayne, and is being held in April 2018. Events include lectures, presentations of faculty and student research and awards, Honors Week student presentations, a faculty authors’ celebration and poster sessions.

In the above image, Dr An, explained the purpose of the study:  "To examine the effect of the arts integration approach (on students and teachers), and the factors impacting on the successful implementation for the PD model that we have implemented"  (An, 2018).

Paterson School District Science Teacher Jennifer Post presented student art work done in her 6th grade science classes at Don Bosco.(Above right)

WPU Art Professor in Residence Triada Samaras explained how the WPU PDS/PIR Model has resulted in  " Increased student and teacher connections/links between the abstract concepts and external representations among other benefits.  She also discussed how this model facilitates the implementation of  of the 8 Studio Habits of Mind naturally into Paterson, NJ classrooms (An, 2018).