ArtSpace+second+group+(site+C)

1st Visit: We got to know a little bit about the school, from a lady that gave us a short tour around the classrooms. She explained to us the idea of their art curriculum and how they try to teach general subjects through art. We sat at an art class, and they were drawing the human skeleton. It seems interesting because they were learning about the names of bones, how they look like, and also by drawing it they are learning it twice. The teacher wanted to put music (which would've been good) but they didnt have the equipment available. After this we were able to see the drama class in its process of creating a play. I actually sat in a group and saw them interacting very democratically. Very interesting interactions.
 * Natalie:**

2nd Visit: We went to a drama class. It was very interesting because they were trying to put together the play. They started writing the scripts for their play. The teacher helped them in the process by using the board to tell them in which phase of the process they were in. What I liked the most is that at the end of the class they all started playing this game in which they had to follow the directions the teacher would give, really fast. I think high coordination is needed for this and its a great and fun way to learn it. They were all so happy, and I think that's a key element in learning. 3rd Visit: We were split and I sat in the drawing class again. This time they were analyzing a painting. It was a kind of abstract Dali-like painting. They all had to explain what they saw, think about why the artist would have drawn it, its meaning, etc. Then, they sat to draw something dreamy and crazy that they could think of. I was invited to draw too. They were all eager to share their drawings and among the most creative things I saw was a square shaped sun drawing with square rays coming out of it.

Heather - I guess we don't have specific questions this time, so I'll just write some observations I suppose. Visit 1: At the start we went to an art class, and the students were drawing skeletons. So apparently they were learning about the bones as they were drawing them. They had to draw every bone, and one girl was crying because it was hard for her. The teacher once said "Let's have 10 minutes of quiet drawing, starting now," and the kids drew in silence without complaining. After that we went to drama, and there were 3 groups of 6-7 kids all working on writing plays. Visit 2: We went back to drama for the whole time today, and the kids had started writing scripts for their plays. There were, of course, some kids who wanted to be in charge and others who just wanted to spin around in the floor, but overall I thought the children were engaged and cooperated very well with each other. The room was a little loud and crazy, but I don't think it interfered with anyone's ability to write a play. Visit 3: I went back to drama by myself today and the class actually did run-throughs of their plays for each other. I noticed one group seemed to have it memorized while one had barely finished writing the script. They seemed excited to be performing but the performances were difficult for most of them. After the performances the teacher had them play an ABC sentence game where two people went at a time and had a conversation, but each sentence (and they alternated turns) began with consecutive letters of the alphabet. I thought the kids were surprisingly good at this (I would have had trouble) and that after class, it was that game and their success that they were talking about, rather than their plays, which seemed a good way to get their minds of mistakes they might have made. Kaite M Visit 1: When we arrived at Artspace, they placed all three of us in a third grade art class room. We found out that the art lessons match up with the lessons they are leaving within the classroom. The children were learning about the skeletons, they each were given a picture of a skeleton and had to draw a copy of it. This was hard for some of the children, and the teacher to help would talk about the shaped and describe how they look. Also when the class got to loud, she started ten minutes of silence working, this helped kid’s consecrate. With the last remaining few minutes we sat in on a third grade drama class; the children were learning the basic structure of a play and how to write one. The teacher used a diagram to help the children get the idea. Visit 2: On our second visit, we all three were in drama in the same third grade class. The class was divide into three groups of four or five children, and they each had to write a play with a rise and fall. In the groups there was the children who did all the writing and ideas, and the other who were goofing off and not paying attention. To redirect the children, the teacher would either call out the child's name and say to him/her "rude", or make a class check-in time and have each group tell where they are on the process. This had a very minimum effect on the children. By the end of the class, each group had a finish play with a rise and fall. Next class they are to expand on their ideas and create detail. Visit 3: This visit, we were each spilt up, I went into the fourth grade dance class. The children were learning about fold dances and were learning a form of contra dance. The class was all girls and they each enjoyed dancing. I stood as a replacement for a student, and learned the dance with the students. The students pay attention pretty well, and when they got off task the teacher had a saying. The girls by the end of class, had the dance down and was able to change partners and do it correctly with little to no problem. A very fun class to be in.