Artist/Researcher Partners 2020-2021:
Marisol Ceron & Renato Ceron

Grade Level: 2

Teacher Name: Marisol Ceron

Artist Name: Renato Ceron

Big Idea:

Inquiry Question:  

How can we find, analyze patterns in the visual arts and translate them into music using math as a common denominator?

Where do we see patterns in nature and in our everyday lives?

How are patterns helpful? 

—1—

How did your team conceive your project? 

Our team conceived our project by thinking of ways to incorporate three content areas: visual arts, music and math.  We had seen other activities using mandalas in visual arts however we wanted to focus on patterns found in math and music.  

How was inquiry introduced to students and how did you integrate the inquiry process into your project?

We introduced inquiry to students by encouraging them to wonder about things that the three content areas have in common.  We observed works of art and asked what patterns they saw and to imagine what (musical) sounds  these patterns would make.    

—2—

From the initial proposal, to the midyear report, to the project conclusion, how did your team’s project change over the course of the school year? What motivated each change?

The project evolved from the time we conceived it to the time we presented the idea to the students and towards the end of the year.  At first we were focused on getting through a set timeline in order to complete the project.  We later realized that we needed to relax the timeline and focus more on what students seemed to be interested in.  We also needed to take time in teaching students how to break down the task down into steps that were manageable for them.  For example when asked to create patterns using a 2x2 pattern some students would become frustrated and continued with no pattern.  We met with each student and found compromise in their own creation by giving students options and changing from the given pattern into zero pattern and back to the given pattern.  

—3—

How did the project end? Considering the goals you set for yourselves in your proposal, did you achieve what your team sought out to do?  

At first we wanted students to consider their own community when creating their musical mandalas.  Later we realized that students wanted to focus on how they were feeling or what was happening in their families during the pandemic.  When they were presenting they would talk about how each pattern represented how they were feeling.  At times they discussed how each symbol in the mandala represented a family member and even family pets. 

—4—

Choose 1 standard that you worked on and discuss how the standard intersected with a part of your project.

We worked on the math standard that focuses on generating  a number or shape patterns that follows a given rule. This standard intersected with the visual art standard that explores inventive art making and the standard where students generate musical ideas (such as rhythms, melodies).  

—5—

What did you learn about your students and how they learned? 

We learned that students were really looking to make connections with each other as well as with us, the instructors.  We learned that our students learned in varied ways and we also learned to adapt to the best of our abilities to each individual student whenever possible.

What did you learn about the way you teach?

We learned that we teach in a way that focuses more on the way the students feel about the content and how they interact with it as opposed to focusing on the actual content.  We feel this year's experience has taught us invaluable lessons on how we depend on community especially in uncertain times such as the ones we experienced through the pandemic.