Meryhew/Knecht/Rangel CAPE 2023-24 Planning Form

class overview

Our class covered writing, drawing, reading, sound art, dance, and performance. We worked often on the SEL standard "Demonstrate control of impulsive behavior." This was a consistent point of progress in the class. Students struggled with impulsive control throughout the entire year. We also focused on encouraging students to use their social-awareness and interpersonal skills to establish and maintain positive relationships. The collective and collaborative nature of many of our activities nurtured an environment which facilitated students' positive relationships with the teachers and each other.

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?

"Overall, the Big Idea and Inquiry Question remained the same, but it was generally difficult to find cohesion or connection between classes, which made continuing projects or building upon concepts often untenable. The nature of the class was fractured. The two teaching artists never got to see each other in person. Parents often picked up students early from our program to go on weekend adventures. The class roster was constantly rotating. The school itself was often closed on Fridays, meaning that sometimes a teaching artist would only be in the building once in an entire month. There just wasn't enough actual time with a teaching artist and the class to develop much of anything outside of one-day activities." - Jordan

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.

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.

Record Jamming

"Our first activity with the concept of 'jamming' was based around listening to music together and collectively responding. I brought in my record player and played selections of songs for the class while they worked together on large sheets of paper to make drawings together. Every time the music changed, students rotated around the paper, drawing on different sections. At first, students were reluctant to work together, but eventually they leaned into it. Since our class had K-5th graders, there were some developmental challenges to overcome in terms of the idea of sharing authorship." - Jordan

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Machine Jamming

"Our exploration of jamming continued with an activity taken from a CAPE PD. Ms. Rangel had the fantastic idea to introduce the students to the collective machine making activity that Teju had introduced to us at the CAPE HQ just a few days earlier. One person started by repeating a short action with their body accompanied by a sound. Then other participants added on, eventually making a large whirring, clunking machine. Students had a great time using their bodies and observing how their small actions could accumulate into something much larger than themselves!" - Jordan

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Machine Jamming

"Students created many different machines together, taking turns letting each other start the sequence. With each new version, students expanded further into the space around them." - Jordan

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Machine Jamming

"Eventually, students formed groups and conveyed an action or invention each using a small gesture. Rather than making an imaginary machine together, they became the machine creating a performance. In order to do this, the group had to secretly agree on what they were going to convey (making a pizza, fixing a car, etc.), then present their performance to the other group, who had to guess what was happening. It turned into a collective game of charades." - Jordan

Choreographed Jamming

"Students loved moving their bodies. I brought the record player back and asked students to imagine how they would dance to the music and draw it on a piece of paper. They then shared the papers with each other and tried to dance like each others' drawings." - Jordan

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Choreographed Jamming

"Here, some students are dancing to the music while others are drawing choreography." - Jordan

Choreographed Jamming

"One kindergarten student drew her and her friend dancing together." - Jordan

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.

What skills did students leave your class with?

"Students were introduced to a wide range of artistic mediums and concepts. Activities that they engaged in, brought together connections of style and form that might not normally intersect in class. They translated feelings into sounds, sounds into drawings, drawings into movement, etc. On some occasions, I observed students mediate problems amongst themselves. My hope was that our activities would encourage students to find ways to work with one another harmoniously. In general, students were resistant to anything that felt difficult. If they reached a challenge, they would more often that not, shut down in ways I've not encountered before. Sometimes, with enough space and/or encouragement, they would rejoin and continue participating." - Jordan

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.

Drip Art Painting Collage

This artwork was inspired by the artist Jen Stark. She is based in Los Angeles and is known for her psychedelic, brightly colored public murals, many of which feature layers of drip-like forms.

Materials: Blank paper, pencil, eraser, scissors black sharpie, and markers.

After the students learned about Jen Stark they began their own drip art.

Draw a few drippy line shapes with the pencil- outline with a thick line using black marker.
Fill in the shapes with more drippy lines using black markers.
Plan your color scheme and go!
Color in using a pattern like cool, warm, rainbow or black and white.
Cut out the bottom edge in a drippy line shape.

Sidewalk Art

Creating art with sidewalk chalk is a timeless tradition; even in the age of screens and so many other high-tech distractions, chalk art remains a family-favorite activity. That’s not to say it hasn’t evolved beyond stick figures and hopscotch. In this project the children chose a backdrop to draw, sketched it and then drew it on the sidewalk using chalk. They were then photographed playing out their scene. The shadows were not our friends that day however, the pictures still

l turned out great. Check them out.

Outer Space

Launch your child into outer space — in their imagination — imagine reaching for the stars and being able to touch them?

Arctic Friends

Travel to the coldest part of the world and play with your furry friend the Arctic fox. Imagine petting his soft silky fur and you frolic in the snow.

Sunny day at the park

Chalk your way to a sunny day — no matter the weather outside. Swing on the swing feeling the warm sun on your face as you fly higher and higher surrounded by beautiful palm trees. Never leaving your backyard.

Game Jamming

"In our second semester, students were asked to get together to invent and build a game, using a set of constraints. They were only allowed to have a limited amount of rules and a limited set of materials to build their games. Students became so inventive in what and how they invented. In this project, students had to consider the perspectives and desires of everyone participating, leaving room for everyones' input." - Jordan

"Without me knowing, this student took their game home and worked on it for two weeks in between our classes. When we came back together, they were so proud to present it to the class and have us play it together!" - Jordan

Tower Jamming

"In order to encourage students to continue to work together, we presented a challenge where they began with limited supplies, such as cardboard, tape, and scissors, and had to create the tallest tower that they could. Each time a group got the tower to stand on their own, they could get another piece of cardboard and continue building. Some groups struggled, not being able to figure out how to communicate with each other, while others worked seemlessly, creating gigantic structures. The groups that were open to communicating with each other flourished. The groups where one person wanted to dictate everything generally crumbled." - Jordan

"Ms. Rangel attempts to help a group that is struggling to work together" - Jordan

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Sequencer Jamming

"For this activity, students created a human sequencer, mimicking a mechanized sequencer. One person would spin around the room, pointing at people, who them had to try to keep up and make a single sound when they were pointed at. Students were also able to switch up their pointing strategies to make the sounds even more interesting. Students had to be accountable to one another, paying attention for their turn to make a sound. The activity also encouraged empathy. Students knew firsthand how it felt if no one participated when they were trying to conduct. " - Jordan

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