Educator Mary Tigner-Rasanen teaches at Studio Academy Arts High School, a public charter school in Rochester, Minnesota. The school works to integrate the arts into all areas of the curriculum.

As part of a presentation at a preschool inservice workshop, Mary gathered projects she and others had been using and produced this matrix of ideas. The list includes these:

• Create tattoos for characters in fiction, non-fiction, or history, and write an explanation of their significance.
• Create pop up books of stories, processes, or historical events.
• Create paper or fabric ‘tapestries’ for representing historical events.
• Create Kamishibai, illustrated storytelling cards from Japan
• Create a soundtrack
• Plan a meal based on an historical period, a story, or ingredients available in a particular natural environment.
• Write dialogue between historical figures, scientists, natural elements, etc. (Carla’s note: How about “The ugly divorce of Mr. and Mrs. Uranium-235″?)

Mary plans to add to it the chart as she hears of or thinks of other possibilities. She adds that she will use this Web page as much as anyone: “Sometimes in the crush of the year my creative juices dwindle. The chart will be there as a reminder to me.”

And to colleagues everywhere. Thanks, Mary!

Posted Thu, 30 Aug 2007 00:01:59 and filed under Projects, Education, Language Arts. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.