Lessons 3&4

Lesson 3 At a group meeting for English teachers at our school we discuss the status of the department; after listening to the Principal who is very concerned for the livelihood of the school in the next education deficit funding bill facing the State Senate; aware teacher’s careers are also at stake in the school district in an at risk arts oriented inner city high school facing probation and loss of funding sources if scores continue to fall below national standards for the NCLB in the lower grades 3 and 4 for reading and at grades 10 and 11 for below national creative writing standards.

One of our sources is an article out of The Elementary School Journal (Strickland, 2001) that cites various teacher concerns and strategies they might be using to improve the test scores of the students in the elementary classroom. One question that arises is, do the teachers feel that ‘teaching to the test specifically’ would interfere with the traditional established curriculum; but in maintaining the status quo the teachers perhaps would hinder the process of change and reform; and, compromise needed for sustained funding for the school; this is an issue affecting school closure, parents, teachers, principals, school boards and stakeholders.

When comments are asked for as the discussion comes to close, I respond that from my experience I have noticed that the majority of student responses that do not meet the criteria of an above the mean score of 2.3 on a 1 to 4 scale generally have fundamental problems with usage, grammar, and mechanics that preclude them from scoring above 2. Only once a student has achieved that minimum level of competency can that student be expected to master more complex criteria of style, organization and content.

I commented it was imperative that an at risk school district school on the verge of closure, job loss and relocation: initiate a program to teach basics of language skill develop in those three core areas of language development beginning in kindergarten through 3rd grade; as integrated strategies that include retraining of teachers to major adjustment and change not only the students but the whole curriculum to the test of no child left behind program; thereupon creating the initiative of building core skills geared for meeting national standards in language arts, and reading that will bring the school up to speed on the NCLB.

Attendees are asked to fill out a questionnaire; extra sheets will be provided if anyone feels the need to make their opinions heard: on who and what is responsible for this crisis, and what we as teachers can do to fix it. Where should basic skills education begin? Kindergarten__, First grade__, Second__, 3rd…? Please feel free to vent. Your suggestions are necessary for the survival of the school charter. Data gathered will be used on a forthcoming Lichter report.

Lesson 4.

In my second lesson I am going to experiment with the idea of sequencing a series of studies that encourage the student to write creatively about their experience upon viewing a short slide presentation about a specific painting, and the life of the artist and the culture that led the artist to represent his image of the civilization of his day. Over the next semester we will be covering the works of artists from the Renaissance to the Twentieth Century After the presentation that will consist of a visual of the painting; while some audio of the instructor accompanies the video; we are working on overdubbing and a soundtrack if need be. The video presentation will be followed by a discussion. Students can then form small groups to discuss the presentation; or, they can begin writing their paper; each student, must author his own paper, but ideas generated by the class discussion or small group can be used in the individual writing assignment.

The subject of our first lecture and video is THE FIFER by French artist Eduourd Manet, 1832-1883 that is considered to be one of the world’s most beautiful paintings. Manet eschewed formal school but was tutored by the artist Coutour; continuing his education he studied the works of old masters. He started selling his works at amateur exhibitions and art fairs. His work was viewed as controversial like Daumier for what was viewed as a pedestrian display that somewhat defied the classical tradition; but the vibrancy and energy of the dashing piper makes a profound impression that is initially deceptive in its display: the verdant olive background; a confident young musician in a vibrant parade costume; beautiful instruments; no shadow and so on. In your paper: prose or poetry, comment on the feeling you get from the Manet painting; is the music of the image pleasing and convincing for you? What do you make of the idea that Manet rebelled against the conventions of his era? Answer these questions or put it in your own words like a poem of approximately 35 lines; or, prose of at least one page. Make sure you write a critique not a report about the painting crafting in into a creative essay that expresses what you imagine of the beauty of the painting. What you did or did not appreciate, interpret our judge about the painting.

You might think of this assignment as a version 1.0 of the compound/ complex sentences Ms. J___has been teaching you in your 4th grade reading class last hour; that we have discussed the last few weeks; think of the compound sentence as your report –then add some commentary remarks, notes, explanation of how you feel as the second half of this sentence the complex part: and add that portion to the second half of the math problem. Now you have a simple basis of an essay; using that basic principle the compound leads to the complex; you have the context covered; take it as far as you want in two pages. Papers will be scored 1-4 taking into account content, organization, style, usage, mechanics and grammar: so have fun with this lesson.

The student will be asked to create a [blog] and produce a hard copy of the writing assignment that demonstrates competency in basic writing skills and expresses with clarity and simplicity the student’s impression of the painting, the artist, the context of the times and so on. We will discuss composition of that blog in a later lesson. You may also want to comment on the imitation, imagination, ideas and aesthetics; and, how these elements affect the image that emerges. Publish the assignment on your blog or turn in the assignment at our next class.