Fischer/Jung CAPE 2023-24 Planning Form

class overview

"Curious Endings" aka Creation Club uses 'zines to publish student ideas and artworks. This year has been mostly drawings and some writing. Students had a collaborative discussion to come up with the idea of "curious endings." Inspiration was drawn from the idea that some things never end - anything can be given a second life as long as people continue to talk about it. Whether it's a movie, a show, a book, a piece of art, etc., anything can be continued and there are infinite ways things could progress.

Both academic and SEL content are quite varied as the club is based on student interest. SEL comes into play heavily as students must communicate their ideas and often come to consensus (it's pretty difficult to get a group of teenagers to agree on something to watch).

Semester 1

How has your Planning Form (Big Idea/ Inquiry Question) [embedded above] changed in the classroom so far this year? What have students added to the inquiry?

Our projects/zines have been less about narrative and how stories end, and more collections of what we/students find visually interesting to draw - or just what the students select to watch. They are collecting choices that reflect their interests.

What are the specific school needs identified by your group in the December PD? How will you use the class’ Big Idea/ Inquiry Question/ Artmaking Practice to address them? Please be as specific as possible.

We have a longer class time this year (from 3 until 5:30pm) and this is helping in multiple ways. It gives the students more time together socially in a safe space and it gives us more time to make things and do entire activities, like watch an entire film, rather than breaking it up over multiple sessions. We have more students showing up this year, suggesting that our club is filling both a social and creative need.

Below, share photos and/or videos of select class activities. Specify what students are engaging with and learning (artistically, academically, and/or SEL), in reference to your Big Idea/ Inquiry Question. You may add different blocks from the right-hand side menu.

Watching and Drawing

The students picked a wide range of films and short programs to draw from. On this particular class we watched the animated film Free Birds. Many of their drawings ended up being published in their zine Curious Endings (also the name of the club). A common strategy is to photograph the screen with their phones when there's an image they like and then work on their drawings that way. Others work from memory.

ZINE Assembly

This year most of our publications were simply an 11" x 17" sheet that needed to be folded in half, so while assembly was quick, it was still exciting. Seeing their printed pages and folding and neatly stacking them always gave each issue a sense of finality and gave everyone a sense of accomplishment.

Writing on the WhiteBoard

In addition to drawing on paper, the whiteboard in the classroom was regularly called into play. The students particularly like using it because their drawings and writings become something for classes to discover the next day when they show up in the morning. In this way, other students become an audience for their after ephemeral school creativity.

Drawing doesn't always happen in the dark. Sometimes the students want to work on other ideas or try out new materials from our bin of supplies.

The students usually arranged themselves in clusters like this during this past school year - which makes it easier to share supplies...

...and snacks!

Field Trip to the Waste Shed

In thinking about Creative Endings, we started by talking about narrative in movies and TV shows but also considered the life of materials. The Waste Shed in Humboldt Park exists on donations of supplies and materials that artists and teachers can buy or collect for their projects. We brought the students there to learn about this project and pick out materials that we might use in our work.

Stop at the 606 trail

We take all field trips on public transit and often incorporate other attractions that are close to wherever we catch the bus.

The 606 trail has an entry point right across the street from the Waste Shed and many students had never been on it before so we included that in our trip as well.

Field Trip to Quimby's Bookstore

As is tradition, we went over to Quimby's Bookstore so students could see what it looks like to share their publications on a larger scale outside of the school. Quimby's is unlike any other bookstore in Chicago, as they consign hundreds of self-published titles. While we were in the store, the manage was explaining the consignment process to several other young self-publishers so some of our students were able to listen in on that as well.

As with other trips, we took advantage of our surroundings and stopped at the park playground in Wicker Park before getting back on the bus. As students experience and remember these other sites from past years, they have begun to request repeat visits to favorite places when they know we will be in the same area.

FIeld Trip to the Art Institute

Students explored all different kinds of art styles from many different cultures at the Art Institute. There were many connections to this year's work in "Curious Endings" as students got to see how artists explained their works and took inspiration away to apply in their own art. For many students, the Art Institute is a place they visit once a year at most, if they have ever been there at all, so the temporary exhibits are almost always completely new to them, and many things in the permanent collection have likely changed since their last visit as well.

Students really enjoyed the Picasso drawings special exhibit beause they saw drafts done with materials like pencil and paper, just like their own drawings!

Field trip to Museum of Contemporary Art

While the Art Institute is impossibly large and no one can ever see everything in one trip, the MCA is considerably smaller and only features a few exhibits at a time. This provides the students with a feeling of truly being able to explore everything on all levels. For those that have been to the museum in the past, whatever is on view will be completely different any time we visit with CAPE.

A stop at the local park to push each other on the swings is a must.

We often encounter extraordinary weather as we head back to the school at the end of field trips. This photo was taken in Humboldt Park, after we transfered from the train and walked for a while before catching the bus. Look at that golden light after a big rain storm!

Field Trip to Harold Washington Library

We love to explore the 9 stories of Harold Washington Library, including the teen YouMedia area where students got their fill of manga. Students left with heavier book bags then when they arrived and made plans to return in the future!

Field Trip to Jerome Huppert Woods

Another fan favorite field trip is to get out in nature at Jerome Huppert Woods. After a few cancellations due to weather, the rain finally stopped and we were able to ride the 72 North Ave. bus all the way to the end of the line. We saw approximately five deer and watched each other skateboard and climb trees. Again, this is a place most of the students had never seen, and learning how to access it on public transit and on foot, is as much the lesson as anything we might see in nature.

SEMESTER 2

How did students respond to their involvement in the Perspective(s) exhibition? This may include: artmaking, curation, visiting CAPE Family Days or Teen Night, discussing their experience, or other.

Students thoroughly enjoyed their involvement with artmaking for the Perspectives exhibition - we like to let students know about the exhibition at the beginning of the year so that they can have a goal to keep in mind and a sharing event to look forward to. Throughout the year we continued to watch different movies and shows, as well as explore random spurts of creativity, such as paper swords and clay figurines. All of these things contributed to our themed 'zines, of which we created 8 issues.

In terms of curation, we asked students how they would like to showcase their work in the exhibit. Students agreed that they wanted visitors to be able to take copies to take. They also wanted to make sure the publications were also displayed in order to show the progression of our year's journey.

Most of our club members attended Teen Night where they were able to actually see and celebrate and share their art with other teens from other schools. Students shared that they really enjoyed this experience because they got to see people discussing their work right in front of them.

What skills did students leave your class with?

As aforementioned, SEL skills are a crucial development in our club. Disagreements are inevitable and it takes of lot of emotional intelligence to navigate those differences. We had to make a lot of group decisions, such as where to go on our next field trip, what to watch daily, and what color ink and paper to use for the next 'zine.

SEL skills include identifying and managing one's emotions and behavior, recognizing personal qualities and external supports, recognizing the feelings and perspectives of others, and using communication skills to interact effectively with others.

As such, students are learning more about the art-making and publishing process. Coupled with our field trips to Quimby's and art museums, students can see how the public might interact with their art. They have learned about how much pre-thought and planning it takes to curate a publication, an exhibit, and a presentation. Many drafts, iterations, and ideas are explored and sometimes thrown out before arriving at the "final" (and possibly still evolving) product.

Show evidence of this learning through photos and/or videos of select class activities. Specify what students are engaging with and learning (artistically, academically, and/or SEL), in reference to your Big Idea/ Inquiry Question. You may add different blocks from the right-hand side menu.

Students decided to engage in a collaborative game where they switched papers every few minutes to build on the previous drawer's idea.

Creatively making an "interactive art installation" together, they got physical by changing positions and using their bodies to express ideas too.

Lizbeth pretending to lie still as a piece of art.

Clay was also a fan-favorite material. At one point, students were inspired by the board game Clue and were making pieces for their own version of Clue, set in North-Grand High School.

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