So here's pages 33-63: Common Core's Basic Set of Concepts Adapted.
Parker- response to Common Core’s
Basic Set of Concepts Arts Adapted
This chapter, which was written to give pragmatic examples
of how to meld the arts in one’s curriculum, appeared to drift from the
previous chapter’s idea of “common habits” through mind. Perhaps this is a natural extension of the laying
out the facts, a step by step guide must have rules and weights, much like a
recipe. Having said that, there is, nevertheless, room for much creativity, a bit
more pepper, I think.
Having a background in art history, I naturally include
visuals wherever possible. As with ELA- and any discipline-the students must
have a working vocabulary. By high school, they should have a functional
knowledge of the lingua franca of literary elements and figurative language. I cannot imagine a class where at some point
these terms are not referenced, as part of a conversation. Character, plot,
dialogue, theme, tone and setting are fundamental frameworks, never mind the
figurative language devices, ranging from metaphor to oxymoron, onomatopoeia
to allusion and, of course the holistic sense experience of imagery. Frameworks
organize, construct and balance, as does the frame of a piece of art, and by
that I do not necessarily mean a geometrical, physical construct, for light,
shade, space, emotions and imagination may equally define a work of art. (Did I
catch them all?) Taylor organizes his
suggestions under key ideas, virtually all of which are easily integrated into
the ELA /social studies curriculum. I struggle with math and science. Your
thoughts? Getting back to vocabulary, he
neglects to mention that whatever artistic discipline one is incorporating as a
conduit in support of the standards needs to provide a foundational vocabulary,
be it in the visual arts, theatre, music, film or dance. Granted there are
numerous parallels among them, but in order to explain, compare and contrast,
analyze and interact, the artistic language must be taught. How can one speak
of connotations and symbolism without an understanding of the historicity of a
work, as well as color, line, shape, texture, value and form? What a student sees in the blocking of a play
speaks louder that the read text. Even
though the common core emphasizes building vocabulary through contextual clues,
the instructor must at the minimum provide the language dots, for the student
to fill in the picture.
Back to Taylor’s samples. I dare say many of these we have
employed in our classes. For those of us with Regents exams, one has to be
mindful of the data driven outcome. What is wonderful about his suggestions is
that they align so well with ways to differentiate instruction, offering a rich
pathway though understanding to synthesizing the material for all students. Our school, however, is challenged by limited
access to technology, at least for ELA teachers. As well, I attest to great
frustration with group projects, because of absenteeism, even for legal
excuses. That said, my English 111
culminated their Hamlet unit with an artistic product, as 50% of their
grade. They were extremely successful, ranging from physical artifacts, to
interpretive dance and letters of confession. I have photos to share of all of
these. I have used Ingres’ painting with the
painting of the Duke of Ferrara as a way of exposing the nefarious character in
Browning’s “MY Last Duchess”
As an introduction to Romanticism, the students first
reviewed 8 qualities associated with Romanticism, then we spent a class reviewing
an assortment of Romantic paintings. Using a graphic organizer, they describe
something they saw in the painting, then connect it to an aspect of Romanticism
and then explain why they made the connection. This was in preparation for
Coleridge’s “Rime of the Ancient Marinier”, which we partnered with Gustave
Dore’s drawings.
Final thoughts: What I would like to see is a required
course as part of the undergrad or graduate curriculum. (I know I am dating
myself, but back in the day, all future ELA teachers were required to have nine
credit hours in the arts- and a grammar course, but we don’t need that any
longer.) Ideally, the arts should be a natural part of our thinking, and most
perfectly augments the common core standards.
