The Arts Discussion Cards

How do I get Started in the Arts?

You will see that there are a lot of questions on the discussion cards. Therefore, students must learn to prioritize which question or questions are the best match between the reading and their intended learning outcome. Inspired by the Right Question Institute's Question Formation Technique, students and teachers would know if a question is the right question for a particular text and at a given particular point in the learning if it satisfies all three of the following criteria:

• Is it important or interesting?
• Will it help with my research or understanding?
• Can it be answered by closely reading, viewing or listening to the text (e.g. the reading, the performance, the sounds, movements, objects, artifacts, etc)?

The point is for students to have rich discussions and as a result enrich their understanding of the text. These questions are great for students to use both while they make sense of the text and when they demonstrate their current understanding after the reading and the discussion.

Literacy in the Arts:

Teaching students how to build knowledge from reading, viewing, and listening in addition to supporting their use of discipline-specific language can enhance traditional understandings of text, reading, and writing. In the arts, text goes beyond the printed page and encompasses both technical and expressive objects, sounds, movements, and artifacts. Text refers to the artwork itself or texts about the artwork or arts discipline (e.g. reviews, critiques, explanations, program notes, etc.).

Developing literacy in the arts disciplines includes developing skills, vocabularies, and approaches to read, write, and understand a variety of texts. Because “reading” is defined as deriving meaning, when one reads within the arts, one is making meaning from their experience with the work (e.g. a performance, or work). “Writing” within the context of the arts disciplines entails expressing meaning through making art, creating a performance, or writing about artwork.

In addition to reading and writing, discourse and language development are equally important aspects of literacy development. Because the Discussion Cards are specific to each discipline, the questions prompt thinking, discussion, and vocabulary development in ways that will prepare them for college, career and civic life.

How to Use the Cards

While it is possible to write a question on the board, or hand the cards to students for them to choose a question or two to discuss and write about, using the cards with talk structures is more effective. Talk structures ensure that all students have more equitable access to the conversation and the thinking.

Examples of Oral Discourse Structures to Use While Students Make Sense of the Reading: Save the Last for Me, Reciprocal Teaching, Think-Ink-Pair-Share, Inside-Outside Circles, Jigsaw. Take a look at the arts protocol that we developed, “Choosing the Right Question in the Arts.”

Examples of Brief Assignments for Students to Use to Demonstrate Their Understanding of the Reading: oral or written reflections or explanations, one-page arguments, 1-2 paragraph constructed response, charts, graphs, data visualization sketches, narrative pieces to describe phenomena or process, etc. Try these as independent or shared writing experiences.

Adapted from California Department of Education (2019). California Arts Framework October 2019 Draft, Chapter 1 (page 40-41).

Examples of Texts in the Arts Disciplines

From Table 1.1 from the California Arts Framework.