| 
  • If you are citizen of an European Union member nation, you may not use this service unless you are at least 16 years old.

  • You already know Dokkio is an AI-powered assistant to organize & manage your digital files & messages. Very soon, Dokkio will support Outlook as well as One Drive. Check it out today!

View
 

MondayCommuniqueArchive

Page history last edited by PBworks 15 years, 11 months ago

 

 

 

 

Date Images Text
5/19/08    
5/12/08    
5/5/08    
4/28/08    Frida Kahlo painted many self-portraits and usually depicted herself wearing colorful and distinctive Mexican textiles, such as the embroidered skirt trimmed with pleated lace shown at the right. Educational Materials Center has Frida Kahlo prints, Mexican textiles, and culture kits to go with a Fine and Performing Arts Frida Kahlo Integrated Arts lesson. Reflecting Frida's interest in Mexican textiles, the Arizona State Museum is offering What would Frida wear?, an online exhibit with lots of information and an opportunity to Dress Frida in Huipiles or Folklorico costumes. Coming up this week, Pima County Public Library will be celebrating El Dia de los ninos / El dia de los libros (Kids Day / Books Day) on Wednesday, April 30. Next week is Cinco de Mayo marking the victory in 1862 of the Mexican army under General Ignacio Zaragosa over the larger and better equipped French army of Napoleon III at the Battle of Puebla. Cinco de Mayo is celebrated more in the United States than in Mexico in recognition of the many contributions of Mexico to American life. For example, the Cinco de Mayo victory delayed French support for the Confederacy. Aid from the French could have prolonged the American Civil War and increased the damage and loss of life. General Zaragosa, hero of the Cinco de Mayo battle, was born in the little town of Goliad, Texas in 1829.
4/21/08    Arizona State Museum at the University of Arizona has the largest and most comprehensive collection of Southwestern Native American pottery in existence. That collection is featured in The Pottery Project, opening Saturday, May 10.  Teachers can earn 3 hours of professional development credit at this event.  Educational Materials Center and Fine and Performing Arts can help you use pottery and clay to teach content areas. Call EMC at 225-4783 for a bibliography and Carol Corvo at 225-4193 for lesson plans.  Internet Public Library also has an online exhibit of Pueblo pottery.  Our little hippo, from EMC, is a replica of an Ancient Egyptian faience piece.  Faience is pottery glazed with tin, one of the oldest glazes known.  Eternal Egypt, a spectacular online site, has examples of faience dating from 2920 BC.  Finally, don't forget the International Mariachi conference this week!

 

4/14/08    April is National Poetry Month and Thursday, April 17, is Poem in your Pocket Day.  Inspire your classes to write poetry and prose with art and artifacts from Educational Materials Center. To see some wonderful examples of student art and poetry, look over the TUSD Teenage Parent Program Gallery Show. On April 25, there will be a benefit with Native American flutist Carlos Nakai for Artworks Academy. Artworks Academy, founded in 1999, is a high school program for at risk youth created by TUSD Fine and Performing Arts, Tucson Pima Arts Council, and Tucson Museum of Art.  For students who are interested in music, performing arts and visual arts, Fine Arts Youth Academy, another TUSD partnership with ARTS Express, is currently accepting registrations.  The FAYA Junior Musical will be Pirates of Penzance and the High School Musical will be Footloose.  Our print of the week is Wheeler Opera House by American artist Red Grooms.  The original is three dimensional, a popup mounted in a Plexiglas box.  If April is getting to you and art and poetry aren't enough, try this for stress relief.

 

4/7/08    No entry
3/31/08    Does your classroom sometimes feel like a 3-ring circus?  Do you feel like you're balancing on a runaway horse while juggling standards, testing requirements, and energetic students? The Fine Arts Summer Institute can make you a better ringmaster! Learn to create integrated arts lessons that reinforce language arts, math and science standards. For Arts Integration Specialists, FASI offers a chance to train with 21st century classroom technology. For band and orchestra teachers, the Institute offers workshops with national clinicians and a chance to learn conducting skills, technology skills and creative strategies for classroom management. For administrators, FASI offers a day of interactive integrated arts workshops and a chance to meet with your School Team to support the development of dynamic OMA based arts integration lessons to reinforce academic achievement.  FASI offers a chance for your School Team to come together and jumpstart the 2008-2009 school year. Fine and Performing Arts also offers the Teaching Artists Summer Institute. For artists interesting in teaching and working with children, TASI offers the training necessary for placement as an OMA Teaching Artist. Want to know more about the daring bareback riders to the left?  The original is in the National Gallery of Art and Educational Materials Center has an art print available for checkout. The artist is W.H. Brown, an American artist of the 19th century.
3/25/08    The "Did you know?" presentation told us that the amount of new information is currently doubling every two years and by 2010 is expected to double every 72 hours. How will our students be able to process this volume of information for decision making?  Art of the Digital Age, a new book from Educational Materials Center, provides some insight. You've heard the saying, "A picture is worth a thousand words."  Innovative visual displays generated by a computer can turn a huge mass of raw information into a visual that can instantly provide decision-making context to a user. Art of the Digital Age has many examples of this kind of digital art, from artists like Martin Wattenberg who developed applications like Map of the Market, widely used by Wall Street analysts to see at a glance what is happening in the stock market. Displays developed by skilled artists and designers can use line, colors, areas, and sound to present data to an expert or to provide an easy way for a novice to access a large database. Perhaps we need to ask "Are our future scientists and leaders getting enough arts education to prepare them for this future?" and "Are our future artists getting enough science, math and history to prepare them?" If you want to explore digital art, the publisher has a website with links to all of the artist websites featured in Art of the Digital Age. If you'd like to explore some incredible student art and writing from TUSD's TeenAge Parent Program, look over their art exhibit. You can see other TUSD student art online exhibits on the same site.
3/17/08    Spring is coming and even the Arizona desert is redecorating. Wouldn't this picture by Sonia Delaunay, from Educational Materials Centerbe a wonderful decoration for your classroom for a month.  In addition to books, prints, textiles, exhibits and library panels for your classroom, Educational Materials Center has videos. You can search for EMC videos from your own school's library catalog. On the search page, just put a check in the Educational Materials Center Video box and your search will find the EMC videos and show you whether they are currently available or checked out.  All materials, except videos, check out for a month. Remember you can order nearly all EMC materials by phone and have them delivered to your school. In addition to spring flowers, Tohono Chul Park currently has a show of Native American Art including pieces by Feliciana Martinez of Fine and Performing Arts. For a glimpse of a unique local culture, the culmination of the Yaqui Lenten ceremonies will be this week. EMC has an extensive collection of material on Yaqui and Tohono O'odham culture. Education World some great spring lesson plans revolving around eggs. For older students learning to use Adobe Photoshop, here's a tutorial on decorating a digital egg.  Finally, for inspiration, here's a truly unique egg created by a Slovenian artist, Franc Grom.
3/10/08    March is National Women's History Month with the 2008 theme of "Women's Art, Women's Vision." Educational Materials Center and Fine and Performing Arts can help you integrate the arts into subjects like history, social studies, science and math.  In addition to reproductions like the one at the left by local artist Liisa Smith, Educational Materials Center has bibliographies on women artists Mary Cassatt, Frida Kahlo, Georgia O'Keeffe and Faith Ringgold. Fine and Performing Arts has an Integrated Art Lesson on Frida Kahlo. Educators, business leaders and policy makers are all beginning to agree that a 21st century school will need to nourish creativity, adaptability, and world awareness in order to spark imagination and innovation. Thorough integration of arts education in the school curriculum is one of the best ways to accomplish this. For more on this, read this conversation between Daniel Pink (A whole new mind) and Thomas Friedman (The world is flat). To see a product of imagination and innovation, click on Video Clip at Animusic. Unlike most music animations, Animusic has written software that allows them to create an animation that then "plays" the music.
3/3/08    There is still time to buy tickets for the OMA Showcase, Saturday, March 8, 2008.  Where else can you see a former backup singer for the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin?  Jim Fish, now TUSD Principal Supervisor and head of Leadership Team 5, was a student at Indiana University of Pennsylvania when he had the chance to sing with the great Aretha.  Singing has always been part of Jim's life.  He and his siblings grew up singing in church with their father.  As oldest, Jim frequently traveled with his father singing in churches in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia.  At IUP, studying to become a teacher, he continued singing in chorus and in a pickup band formed with some fellow students.  It was also at IUP that Jim had the opportunity to spend his junior year in Spain.  While in Spain, he was sitting at table in a local cafe listening to music and humming along.  His table companions said "You sing!?"  When he answered affirmatively, they grabbed their guitars and formed an impromptu trio.  The trio was so successful that he stayed in Europe an additional six months, appearing in Spain and France.  The trio sang French and Spanish songs and the most popular music of the time, songs from the Beatles.  Jim went on to become a teacher and then principal in high school and middle school in Maryland but he continuing singing.  He came to TUSD with 26 years of educational leadership experience and a great voice.  Don't miss him singing the Impossible Dream from Man of La Mancha in the OMA Showcase, Saturday, March 8, 2008. 

 

2/25/08   TUSD's Intercultural Proficiency Policy recognizes that communication and understanding across diverse cultures will be increasingly important in the world of our students.  Art forms have always transcended cultures and this is amply demonstrated by the upcoming OMA Showcase, March 8, 2008.  OMA artist Aryo Wicaksono, from Indonesia, will be performing a classical European piece written by Russian composer Sergei Rachmaninoff.  Another OMA artist, Janine Holton of Canada, will be working with elementary student dancers performing to a piece by German composer Johannes Brahms.  Juan Aguirre, from Mexico, and Kathryn Mueller, OMA opera artists, will be performing a piece based on Anything you can do by American composer Irving Berlin embellished with music with French and Mexican roots.  The OMA Honor Choir will be performing several songs including Inkpata, a traditional Lakota Souix children's song.  The full concert program is here.  In addition to the concert, there will be an exhibit of art work by OMA students.

 

2/18/08   We all want our children to develop poise and confidence, so beautifully exemplified in this painting by American painter Everett Shinn, 1876-1953.  Opening Minds through the Arts helps students develop poise, self-possession and confidence, through public performances and a solid academic base.  The OMA program incorporates performances that help students develop poise and self-possession. The OMA academic base gives students confidence in their knowledge.  The OMA Showcase 2008 coming up on March 8, is just one of the many performances given annually by OMA students.  Last month OMA ESL students at Wakefield Middle School wrote, produced and performed a bilingual opera about bullying.  Most of the students in OMA will not become public performers, however, the confidence, poise, knowledge and skills they learn in the OMA program will be invaluable to them.

 

2/11/08  (OMA logo) Did you know?  44 TUSD schools, 700 teachers and 19,000 students are participating in a program that has significantly raised test scores on both the AIMS and Stanford 9 tests and has narrowed the "achievement gap."  Did you know?  The same program has been recognized by Harvard as an exemplar of quality education.  Did you know that program is Opening Minds through the Arts?  Did you know only 45% of TUSD parents know about the OMA program?  Did you know that OMA works because it is based on research on neurological development in children?  Find out more about the OMA research on the OMA website.  To see some of the OMA teaching artists and OMA students in action and to honor outgoing Superintendent Roger Pfeuffer and current Deputy Superintendent Dr. Patricia Lopez, get tickets for the annual OMA Showcase which will be Saturday, March 8.  The Showcase will include original music composed by TUSD's own Rueben Loya for the film score of the Bottleneck Company production Burr filmed in Tucson last summer as a part of the OMA project.  Tucson Magnet High School's Mariachi Reyes del Sol, directed by Rueben Loya, will perform this music.  Special appreciation is extended to Carole Marlowe for her coordination of this exciting project. OMA is a program you can proudly tell your friends about, so spread the word.  Let people know about some of the wonderful things happening in TUSD.

 

1/28/08   Let the objects speak.  Artifacts can take your class back in time to study ancient cultures, around the globe with modern cultures, and forward to learn the math, science, reading and writing skills vital for the 21st century.  Educational Materials Center has a new exhibit featuring Clay through the ages.  The tiles and pottery church shown to the left are from just one of the panels available for checkout.  Contact Educational Materials Center, 225-4783, for a complete bibliography.  Fine and Performing Arts has lesson plans for working with ceramic clay with elementary students.  Contact Carol Corvo, 225-4913, for details.  Textile Museum of Canada and Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art have a wonderful online Cloth and Clay exhibitArizona State University has a great online unit on Navajo pottery.  Maybe you'd like to try making a clay whistle?  Find out more about clay musical instruments from Japanese Ocarina maker Kenji Ogawa.  More and more educators are recognizing that art in the classroom has a synergistic effect on learning basic reading and writing skills.  This spring's Teaching Tolerance has an article about Catalina High School's use of photography with refugees learning English.

 

1/22/08   We know the arts enrich our lives.  There is increasing evidence from programs like Opening Minds through the Arts that arts education contributes to learning in other disciplines.  In a new book from Educational Materials Center Harvard researchers examine ways in which visual arts education can foster habits that apply to all disciplines.  Studio Thinking: The Real Benefits of Visual Arts Education delineates Studio Habits of Mind and Studio Structures discusses analogous habits of mind from other disciplines.  Lavarne Ross, who painted Enchantment shown to the right, exemplifies Studio Habits.  To see dance education in TUSD, come to the All-City Dance Festival, February 7, 2008, at 7:00 pm in the Santa Rita High School Auditorium.  The All-City Dance Festival is free and open to the public.  The theme for the Festival is Encounterpoint: Harmony coordinating with In Perfect Harmony: Culture, Dialogues and the HeartTo learn more about exploring cultures through literature, the University of Arizona is offering a workshop Saturday, January 26, 2008 for 5 hours of professional development credit.  The workshop provides a curricular model for engaging students in inquiries of other cultures, using the Korean culture as an example.  Why will we need intercultural and technological proficiency in this century?  Watch Did you know?  from Karl Fisch and then see the rest of the fischbowl presentations

 

1/14/08 Educational Materials Center has some great new books to help Arts Integration Specialists, classroom teachers, and librarians connect stories and subjects with music and dance.  Something Musical Happened at the Library has detailed plans for 30 minute story lessons using picture books and music and also includes detailed resource lists of books and recordings. The book follows Children's Jukebox: A Subject Guide to Musical Recordings and Programming Ideas for Songsters Ages One to Twelve which has detailed lists of children's music organized by subject. Most of the material used in the two books will be available from your school library or other TUSD libraries, however, the two books also include other sources.  At the middle and high school levels, the curriculum for In Perfect Harmony: Cultures, Dialogue and the Heart, jointly developed by University of Arizona and TUSD Fine and Performing Arts, makes connections between cultures, history, social studies, language arts, and music in the context of the Arab-Israeli conflict.  You can download the full curriculum from Pima County Public Library.  For more information on the free student matinee of the In Perfect Harmony concert, February 15, call 225-4911 or email carole.marlowe@tusd1.org.

 

1/7/08 The average quilt involves two very useful metaphors. Teachers incorporating ideas from different sources into a lesson plan are creating a harmonious and useful patchwork, like the piece shown here from Educational Materials Center.  Engineers designing data structures, interior designers creating rooms and writers of prose or poetry are creating quilts of multiple layers.  You can use real or metaphorical quilts to integrate visual arts, science, math, history, and language arts in your classroom.  For both artists and teachers, transformation is also an important theme. Textile artist Eldrid Røyset Førde creates transformable quilts. Quiltingassistant.com has an elementary lesson on fractions, a middle school lesson on proportionality and a high school lesson on polynomials all using quilts and quilt patterns.  Here's a math and quilting webquest that teaches match concepts using quilt patterns.  For language arts, Literature Circles Resource Center has good story quilt project which can be used for any grade level depending on the complexity of the chosen book.  Finally, it's not too late to see the quilting display at Educational Materials Center and pick up a bibliography of books, videos and exhibits available for use in your classroom.

 

12/10/07

At the presentation of the Purpose Prize to OMA founder H. Gene Jones, Gene and Fine and Performing Arts Director Dr. Joan Ashcraft learned about design thinking from the design firm IDEO.  Tim Brown, CEO of IDEO, describes design thinking as "a broad and powerful approach to solving problems and creating new solutions."  The power of design thinking is illustrated by the 1977 short film, Powers of 10, created by the design firm of Charles and Ray Eames.  That film and the related book still expand the way we think about ourselves and the world and help us create new solutions to problems.  In addition to the Powers of 10 website, the film has inspired many scientists to create other online powers of 10 experiences such as this one from CERN particle physics laboratory in Switzerland. Educational Materials Center has Powers of 10, both the book and the film, as well as some powerful new books. The New Earth From Above, 365 Days has outstanding aerial photographs and a wealth of information.  The author's website has similar images from an earlier book.  Another investigation of scale, Nanoscale Science Activities for Grades 6-12 will be the focus of an upcoming free NSTA web seminar on December 18.  Finally, artist Jennifer Maestre has different view of pencil points.

 

 

 

12/3/07 It's the winter holiday season, a time for giving gifts in many traditions.  One of the most precious gifts of all is creativity.  The libraries in Tucson Unified School District have over 200 books on creativity.  Pima County Public Library has another 194.  To find out what TUSD has, on any TUSD computer with intranet access, bring up the web browser and type destinyweb or http://destinyweb into the address bar.  Pick your own school or Educational Materials Center.  Click on the Catalog tab.  Below the search bar, you will see the name of your school library with a pull down arrow to the right.  You can search just your school library or use the pull down to change the search to Tucson USD to access all TUSD libraries.  See what you can do to nurture creativity in your classroom with material from your school library or Educational Materials Center.  In addition, your school librarian can help check out material from other school libraries.  To see some examples of creativity, here are pictures of radish sculptures from Noche de Rabanos in Oaxaca, funny vegetable art, incredible digital art, and beautiful fractals.  To rev up your own creativity and earn professional development credit, Arizona State Museum is offering Culture Craft Saturday on December 8.  In Lee Instructional Resource Center, Educational Materials Center is featuring a Currier & Ives exhibit in the Library Review Area and a Native American exhibit in the Letrado room.  One final creativity resource for teachers is the Creativity Portal from International Child Art Foundation.

 

11/26/07 It's the week after Thanksgiving and there are some wonderful Thanksgiving leftovers for teachers.  Many common primary and elementary level books provide an inaccurate historical view of Thanksgiving.  The Native organization Oyate challenges that view.  From Teacher Leaders Network, here are some Teaching Secrets: Delicious Leftovers.  Look over the Learning Page from American Memory at the Library of Congress.  Features and activities has fun learning activities.  Lesson Plans has a large number of lesson plans and information on constructing lessons using primary sources.  Educational Materials Center has great primary sources such as this Vermeer print of Girl Asleep.  Even this simple scene together with its date and place of production contain information about era, culture and customs.  Two new books at EMC can help you use their materials. Teaching and Using Document-Based Questions for Middle School by Edward O'Connor has examples of using documents and Eyewitness to the Past: Strategies for Teaching American History in grades 5-12 by Joan Brodsky Schur can help you go beyond those examples and create your own lessons.  For inspiration, see what artists can do with inedible leftovers.

 

11/19/07 May your Thanksgiving be as bounteous and merry as this group portrayed by Jacob Jordaens.  Educational Materials Center has this and 1876 other fine art prints that you can use in your classroom.  They also have 470 library panels and 421 exhibits, costumed figures and Art and Man packets. Fine and Performing Arts and Educational Materials Center can help you integrate art and artifacts into your lesson plans to make learning more meaningful for your students. Celebrating and giving thanks for the year's bounties is one of the oldest and most universal of human celebrations. In the spirit of that universality, celebrate World Hello Day on Wednesday, November 21, by greeting 10 people.  IPL Kidspace has hello in 30 languages and information on many moreEducation World has Thanksgiving links ranging from quick craft projects to cross-curriculum lesson plans. Does Thanksgiving Day find you worrying about when the turkey will be done?  Use Alice's Foolproof Turkey recipe. Want to add a global touch to your Thanksgiving dinner?  New York Magazine has Thanksgiving recipes from 5 top ethnic chefs.

 

11/12/07 November is Peanut Butter Lovers month.  Make some peanut butter goodies to take along to El Tour de Tucson coming up on Saturday, November 17.  This year El Tour de Tucson is part of the National Bike Rally which also has events on Thursday and Friday. This week is also Children's Book Week. Read a good children's book to celebrate. Use the Children's Picture Book Database at Miami University to find a good book and check TUSD's school libraries to see if it's available. Hint: You can pick any school, click Catalog, and change Look in to search Tucson USD to search all TUSD schools. If you missed the Educational Materials Center Open House display of El Dia de los Muertos altars, pictures of the event and altars are on the Fine and Performing Arts wiki. Thanksgiving is coming up and Teachnology has Thanksgiving lesson plans as does Education World. Here's a November Holiday site with lots of Thanksgiving links. Try Textured Turkeys to explore texture as an element of art. From LessonPlansPage.com, here's a Grade 3 Thanksgiving multidisciplinary Expressionism Lesson. Scholastic has a Thanksgiving webquest to try. Finally, let's kick it up a notch with this Thanksgiving singing card.
11/5/07    
10/29/07    Let Educational Materials Center deliver the cultures of the world to your classroom!  EMC now has delivery service. Check the Online Catalog for the material you want and call EMC at 225-4783 or email emc@tusd1.org to order.  Deliveries will be made every Wednesday starting October 31.  EMC's El Dia de los Muertos bibliography lists the wealth of material for use in your classroom.  Even though EMC now delivers, make sure you stop by to see the Dia de los Muertos Altars in the Library Review Area of Lee Instructional Resource Center, 2025 E. Winsett. The Tucson Museum of Art is creating a communal altar and will be accepting flowers, photographs, or other mementos on Friday, November 2.  On Sunday November 4, the annual All Souls Procession will be held through downtown Tucson.  This is a very festive time of the year with El Dia de los Muertos and Halloween this week. Diwali, the Indian Festival of Lights, is coming up soon.  If you'd like to introduce your class to Diwali, EMC has a bibliography on IndiaTucson Children's Museum has activities and curriculum guides, following Arizona standards, for both El Dia del los Muertos and Diwali.  For middle and high school lessons on India, visit mrdonn.org. Here's a sample of Indian dance with a hip-hop slant videoed at the 2006 Diwali Celebration held by the India Society of Southern Arizona!

 

10/22/07 Check out the new look at Educational Materials Center.  In addition to a new internet face, Educational Materials Center has a new fully searchable Online Catalog and a new fully searchable Online Video Catalog.  Because the online catalogs are currently only on the TUSD Intranet, print versions in Word or PDF are available on the internet for Art Prints, Costumed Figures, Exhibits, Art & Man, Library Panels, and TextilesEducational Materials Center currently has El Dia de los Muertos Ofrendas (Altars) on display through November 2.  Come in and see the altars created by departments in Lee Instructional Resource Center.  A color copy of the painting on the left, a sample of student work from Cholla High School, is used in one of the Ofrendas.  More of the Cholla Student Art Show can be seen on the Fine Arts wiki.  The use of a color copy rather than an original illustrates how ubiquitous the copier, first invented October 22, 1938, has become to our life.  Copiers have created a whole new genre, photocopy art.  There's a sample here and some suggestions for use with a class here and here.  Not interested in photocopy art?  Check out the Fine and Performing Arts website with integrated arts lessons on several traditional artists.  Also, look over the new Recognitions page, recognizing Tucson High Mariachi Director Rueben Loya.

 

10/15/07 Would you like to explore the art of Japan?  Come to the Art of Japan workshop at Lee Instructional Resource Center, Saturday, November 10, 9am-12.  Attendees will create four pieces of artwork and a Kabuki mask, and will receive a Japanese paint kit, a color Hokusai print, and an OMA integrated Lesson plan for Math, Geography, Science and History.  You can earn 5 hours of increment credit if you complete the take home project.  The cost of the workshop is $25.00.  Call 225-4900 to reserve your seat.  Would you like to find out more about Japan before the workshop?  Educational Materials Center has a Japan bibliography.  In addition to books, EMC has art prints, library panels, textiles, exhibits, costumed figures, and videos, all available for check out to TUSD teachers. Want to do some web research?  JapaneseArt.org has some lovely exhibits.  Look over the activities and information on Japanese art at Thinkquest.  See Japanese art online at the Smithsonian's Freer and Sackler Galleries.  Did you know that TUSD was chosen as a Smithsonian Affiliate for providing comprehensive arts experiences for teachers and students through Educational Materials Center, Fine and Performing Arts, and Opening Minds through the Arts?  Want to know more about how Educational Materials Center and Fine and Performing Arts can help you in your classroom? Come to 2025 E. Winsett between 8 and 5 Monday through Friday for a mini-tour of Educational Materials Center or call 225-4783 for more information.  The Day of the Dead Exhibition will still be on display in Educational Materials Center through November 2.

 

10/8/07    
10/1/07 What do Rafe Esquith, Los Angeles fifth grade teacher, and Pablo Picasso, master artist, have in common?  They both exemplify work.  In his second book, Teach like your hair's on fire, Esquith says "If I want my children to work hard, I better be the hardest working person they’ve ever met.  If I want the children to be nice, I better be the kindest human being they’ve ever met."  Picasso said "Inspiration exists, but it has to find us working.  "Rafe Esquith's book is available from Educational Materials Center and you can learn more about him and his classroom from the Hobart Shakepeareans website.  To appreciate Picasso's effort, visit the On-line Picasso Project, which has images of 13,300 of Picasso's works, including sketchbooks and notes.  Click on Artworks and look particularly at 1907 and 1908, when he was exploring Cubism. Read about the project, itself a testament to hard and fulfilling work.  Finally, make plans to visit Educational Materials Center for the Dia de los Muertos Open House on Monday, October.

 

9/24/07 Come and celebrate Autumn and El Dia de los Muertos with Educational Materials Center and Fine and Performing Arts!  Monday, October 15, there will be an open house at Educational Materials Center in Lee Instructional Resource Center, 2025 E. Winsett.  The exhibits will include El Dia de los Muertos altars decorated by the departments housed in the Lee Instructional Resource Center.  Would you like to know more about El Dia de los Muertos?  Educational Materials Center has a wide variety of materials.  Here's the bibliography.  You can read more about El Dia de los Muertos at this Iowa State site and check out the activity packets for teachers and photos from azcentral.com.  Inside-Mexico.com has a great article on the history of El Dia de los Muertos and an outstanding display of folk art.  The schedule of activities for the EMC and Fine and Performing Arts Open House will appear shortly.  Stay tuned!

 

9/4/07 Our Opening Minds through the Arts program has won national recognition for narrowing or eliminating the achievement gap by integrating arts education with the curriculum.  Based on brain research, the OMA program creates powerful learning experiences at each grade level through music and the allied expressive arts. In first grade, students in OMA schools work with opera and create and perform original works. Their teachers report increased language proficiency and vocabulary. Their parents comment on increased confidence and poise. Everyone notices the joyful atmosphere at OMA schools. You can now share that joy. Donating triggers the brain's reward center. Donate to the OMA Foundation through a payroll deduction and feel a little bit of joy with every paycheck. 
8/27/07 In addition to being a foundation of civilization, weaving is an incredibly powerful metaphor for create a coherent whole out of disparate threads.  Fine and Performing Arts and Educational Materials Center can help you weave standards, subject content, and arts activities into integrated lessons that will boost test scores.  EMC Art-a-Fact is currently featuring Threads of History with displays, bibliographies and lessons on textiles and weaving. Weaving provides a window into the distant past, a bridge between cultures, and a door into the exciting future of electronic interactive textiles. To look into past read about the high tech tools used the analyze the fabric of the Dead Sea Scrolls.  To see the future, read about machine-washable computers. To bring it all together, use integrated arts lessons from Fine and Performing Arts  or the Threads of History Lessons from Educational Materials Center or check out a Braiding and Weaving Dance lesson.
5/21/2007    Another school year is ending and it’s time to graduate, celebrate and hand out honors. Opening Minds through the Arts founder Gene Jones is one of 15 finalists for the $100,000 Purpose Prize given annually by Civic Ventures.  On April 19, 2007, Opening Minds through the Arts received the Governor’s Arts Award for Arts in Education.  On May 16, Superintendent Tom Horne presented TUSD with a Spotlight on Success Superintendent’s Special Recognition Award for the implementation of the Opening Minds through the Arts program.  Joan Ashcraft and Rick Wamer of TUSD Fine and Performing Arts were invited to present on the OMA professional development component at the annual National Staff Development Council conference. To find out first hand why our professional development is being nationally recognized, register for one of the two Fine Arts Summer Institute sessions. Take some time to visit Educational Materials Center, a treasure house of educational resources.  EMC’s new Mercado exhibit is shown above.  (Sorry, it’s too big to check out.)  EMC will be open all summer with summer hours 7:30am to 4:00pm from May 29 to August 8.  To further improve the intercultural proficiency resources available through EMC and Fine and Performing Arts, the OMA Foundation just received $8000 grant from the Southwestern Foundation for Education and Historical Preservation.  The grant will be used to add culture kits, costumed figures, library panels, musical instruments, and fine art prints representing the five local Native American cultures, Yaqui, Tohono O’Odham, Hopi, Apache and Navajo nations. The new material will then be available for checkout through EMC. In conclusion and in lieu of throwing tortillas we offer you fireworks and fractal puzzles.  Have a great summer!
5/14/2007 School is almost out and summer days are coming fast.  It’s time for looking back over the accomplishments of this year and looking forward to relaxed summer days for dreaming of the future.  The Legacy Project has a number of activities and lessons for helping students reflect on the past year and look forward to their future.  While you are planning for your own summer don’t forget the Fine Arts Summer Institute with sessions in May/June and July/August and Fine Arts Youth Academy in June.  Educational Materials Center has materials to inspire you, like Summer Days by Georgia O’Keeffe, and information to help you plan lessons for next year.  EMC also has a Georgia O'Keeffe bibliography to help you pick out related materials and Fine and Performing Arts has an Integrated Arts Lesson on Georgia O'Keeffe to go with the materials.  Call 225-4900 to have Carol Corvo mail you the Georgia O'Keeffe lesson. EMC’s summer hours will be 7:30am to 4:00pm Monday – Friday from May 29 to August 8.  For even more ideas, look over the Arizona Learning Interchange with examples of lessons and programs presented by Arizona teachers and educational leaders.  For a little exploring of your own check out the Museums of the Mind and rhizome.org, websites at the intersection of art, technology and the mind.

 

5/7/2007 This week we are looking at Folk Art.  Cornhusking, this vibrant picture from Educational Materials Center is by Blanche Bolduc, a self-taught Canadian artist.  Folk art is tied to culture, community, and tradition.  Our area is a rich storehouse of folk art, both traditional and contemporary.  Start out by looking at Southern Arizona Folk Arts and the companion site, La Cadena que no se Corta.  Take some time to explore the Museum of International Folk Art in Santa Fe and the American Folk Art Museum in New York.  Here’s a site devoted to Folk Art Environments like the yard of Jerry Hall at the corner of Water and Highland in central Tucson.  Pay a visit to Educational Materials Center to see the new Mercado exhibit with folk art from Mexico.  Check out the lesson plans at this Smithsonian site created by the University of Arizona.  A search for “folk art” and “mexico” in the EMC online catalog will show the supporting materials available.  Also, remember that the OMA INFORMances from the Opening Minds Through the Arts schools will be happening from now through the end of school.

 

4/30/2007 What is May?  Spring flowers, school’s out, May baskets, May Day parades, May Day marches, May Day protests.  Let’s explore some of the varied aspects of May.  We’ve talked about art as communication and conversation, now let’s look at art and activism.  Look at Social Realists like Ben Shahn, Jacob Lawrence, and David Alfaro Siqueiros.  Educational Materials Center has prints by all three.  Then look at some contemporary artists who create graffiti by cleaning walls.  Here’s a graffiti gallery from Los Angeles. Have a secret desire to draw graffiti on walls? Try virtual graffiti with glyphiti.  Click on the big glyph to see a black wall.  Click at any point to allow you to modify a little square.  Click to change a black pixel to a white pixel.  Watch how the black wall changes as you and others draw.  These cats from Safford Magnet Middle School are clearly thinking of relaxation, not activism.  See the cats and more at the new shows of TUSD Student Art at the Superior Courthouse Gallery and the Juvenile Courthouse Gallery.  Finally, let’s have some May flowers.  Click anywhere for a single flower, click and drag for more. Refresh for blank space to start over.

 

4/23/2007 April 30 is El Dia de los Niños/El Dia de los Libros, a day for children, families, and reading. Texas State Library has a great Dia page with activities, songs, and bookmarks to print.  Colorín Colorado is another great site.  Check out the Dia events at PCPL.  You could also celebrate Dia with Frida Kahlo, a Latina artist who was passionate about Mexico, art, children, and life.  This wonderful 1940’s photograph of Kahlo is from George Eastman House.  Educational Materials Center has prints of four of Kahlo’s self-portraits.  To go with these, Fine and Performing Arts has an integrated arts lesson on Frida Kahlo, which includes a bibliography of the materials available from EMC.  For the high school level, here’s a Frida Kahlo Webquest.  Education World also has a Cinco de Mayo Webquest as well as information on creating your own Webquest.  Get out there and share books and art and joy with kids!!

 

4/16/2007 In celebration of Earth Day, April 22, we have Cattleya Orchid and Hummingbirds by Martin Heade from Educational Materials Center.  An excellent observer and naturalist, Heade's many paintings of South American birds and flowers seem to constitute his own vision of EdenEducational Materials Center also has Science Adoption Bibliographies such as Populations and Ecosystems to use for Earth Day lesson planning.  Explore World Book's Living Planet.  The American Chemical Society has hands-on activities in Recycling: Chemistry Can.  Check out the Wilderness Society's Earth Day in the Teacher's Lounge.  Save Saturday, April 21, for the Tucson Children's Earth Day Festival especially the results of the R.U.M.B.A (Re-Used Materials Becoming Art) contest.  Get inspiration for next year's RUMBA with the links at trashtopia.  Take a look at This Into That.  After the Children's Festival Saturday, you might look in on the North America Cup Junior Fencing Tournament at the TCC.

 

4/10/2007    Art is communication.  Is it also conversation?  This week's fine art print from Educational Materials Center is "I saw the figure 5 in gold" a response by Charles Demuth to the William Carlos William poem "The Great Figure".  Robert Indiana then responded to Demuth with "The X-5", also in EMC's Fine Art Print collection.  Linked poetry and visual art is frequently called ekphrastic but art as conversation goes beyond this.  Consider this conversation with Robert Rauschenberg. (Click on Start Program, then What's the big idea? then on the orange arrow.) New Horizons for Learning has a plethora of links to conversations about the arts in education.  Want to start some conversations in your classroom?  Here's a site for generating art ideas.  And now the quiz -- The arts... a) improve test scores, b) narrow the achievement gap, c) teach core curriculum.  Check Opening Minds through the Arts for the answer.

 

4/2/2007 It's time for spring flowers, like Georgia O'Keeffe's White Trumpet Flower from Educational Materials Center.  EMC also has a Georgia O'Keeffe bibliography to help you pick out related materials and Fine and Performing Arts has an Integrated Arts Lesson on Georgia O'Keeffe to go with the materials.  Call 225-4900 to have Carol Corvo mail you the Georgia O'Keeffe lesson.  O'Keeffe's white trumpet flower is also known as Jimson Weed or Sacred Datura, which is a beautiful but deadly poisonous plant native to this part of the world.  Here's a photograph of a Jimson Weed to compare with the painting.  Tucson has lots of interesting native flowering plants growing by sidewalks, streets and playgrounds.  Here's a site to help you identify those plants, still more information about local desert flowers, and more pictures of common Arizona wild flowers.  Take a walk in the nice weather and enjoy the natural world!

 

3/26/2007 It's time for coloring Easter eggs.  We colored ours with art from Educational Materials Center.  You can search for Easter materials in the EMC Online catalog.  EMC also has a wealth of material on Yaqui Easter.  The Native American Artsmobile also lists other Yaqui Easter resources available locally.  Registration in the Fine Arts Youth Academy 2007 could be a lovely egg in someone's basket.  Faya 2007 will have classes June 4 - June 29, 2007 with a wide variety of fine arts classes in both morning and afternoon.  The FAYA Junior Musical will be "Into the Woods" and the Senior Musical will be "My Fair Lady".  For information and registration call Arts Express at 520-319-0400.  Did you know that little surprises hidden in computer software are called Easter Eggs?  Here's one from Google.  Also from Google, a silly Easter game.  Here's a whole page of different ways to decorate eggs, a page of intricate Ukrainian eggs and the most intricate eggs of all, Faberge eggs.

 

3/19/2007 You're invited to the OMA Showcase 2007 on Saturday, March 24, 2007, at Rincon/University High School Auditorium, 3:00 pm.  Arizona Daily Star political cartoonist David Fitzsimmons  will host the program which will feature OMA Artists and students from the 34 schools involved in the OMA Program.  This year's Showcase will honor Dr. Carroll Rinehart for his outstanding contribution to the OMA Program and the arts in our community. Immediately following the concert is our "Meet The Artist" reception in the cafeteria.  Enjoy delectable delights from many of Tucson's favorite eateries including Café Terra Cotta, Feast, Blue House Catering, and Lerua's while you visit with our many OMA Artists.  Tickets are $40.00 each for the concert and reception and are fully tax-deductible.  All proceeds will go to the OMA Foundation in support of TUSD's OMA Program.  It's not too early to be making summer plans.  Fine Arts Youth Academy 2007 will have classes June 4 - June 29, 2007 with a wide variety of fine arts classes in both morning and afternoon.  The FAYA Junior Musical will be "Into the Woods" and the Senior Musical will be "My Fair Lady."  For information and registration call Arts Express at 520-319-4900

 

3/12/2007 Wednesday is National Pi Day!  You can celebrate Pi Day all day Wednesday or for a closer approximation, celebrate at 1:59pm.  Pi Day activities include memorizing Pi, reciting Pi, or eating pie.  Educational Materials Center's online catalog has prints by mathematically inspired artists like Leonardo, Mondrian, and Vaserely.  Visit an online Smithsonian Exhibition "Science and the Artist's Book"  Design a tiled pattern online.  Branches of mathematics like knot theory require visualizations like these.  Go to the OMA website to see what the arts have to do with math.  Plan to come to OMA Showcase 2007 on Saturday, March 24, 2007 at Rincon/University High School Auditorium, 3:00 pm.  Arizona Daily Star political cartoonist David Fitzsimmons will host the program which will feature OMA Artists and students from the 34 schools involved in the OMA Program.  This year's Showcase will honor Dr. Carroll Rinehart for his outstanding contribution to the OMA Program and the arts in our community. Immediately following the concert is our "Meet The Artist" reception in the cafeteria.  Enjoy delectable delights from many of Tucson's favorite eateries including Café Terra Cotta, Feast, Blue House Catering, and Lerua's while you visit with our many OMA Artists.  Tickets are $40.00 each for the concert and reception and are fully tax-deductible. All proceeds will go to the OMA Foundation in support the TUSD's OMA.

 

3/5/2007 In addition to Youth Art Month and Music in Schools Month, March is National Nutrition Month.  Let's put it all together and celebrate a happy, healthy month with art, music and food!  Educational Materials Center has art prints to delight the eye, like this healthy breakfast by Henk Bos.  The University of Mississippi has a very thoughtful article with lots of suggestion for classroom activities involving food and culture.  Get the kids moving with USDA (sung to the tune of YMCA) from Food Safety Music at University of California, Davis.  Can't get your kids excited about food, music and art?  Try dogs!  The Iditarod started Saturday, March 3.  Education World has lots of great March activities, including the Iditarod.  Finally, check out what Bering Strait School District is doing with a wiki!  Read about what you can do with a wiki or a blog in Blogs, Wikis, and Podcasts by Will Richardson, available from EMC. The Fine and Performing Arts Wiki, a pbwiki, is used to coordinate information and produce this paragraph of information for you every week.

 

2/26/2007

March is national Music in our Schools Month (MIOSM).  Music and the arts open new learning pathways in the brain.  Read about the impact of arts education on achievement at Opening Minds through the Arts (OMA), TUSD's own nationally recognized arts education program.  Incorporate more music into your classroom with these suggestions from a teacher.  Visit Educational Materials Center for materials on music and dance around the world.   Then consider rhythm and movement in the visual arts like this example of student work from Tully Accelerated Elementary Magnet School.  This work and others from Tully students will be on display in the Juvenile Courthouse Gallery February 27 to April 27.  Finally, for a chance to see even more student work and performances, the OMA Showcase will be Saturday, March 24.  Call 225-4656 for more information.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2/19/2007 In honor of National Youth Art Month, we bring you collaboration by three talented students from Catalina High School.  Celebrate by making art from Educational Materials Center a part of your daily classroom life.  Fine and Performing Arts has Integrated Arts Lessons to help you. The lesson on Claes Oldenburg (of the giant clothespin) is always fun.  Then to see what Oldenburg is doing now, visit the Oldenburg - van Brungen siteEducational Materials Center has Gauguin bibliography to go with the Paul Gauguin lesson.  Then you have to visit the Van Gogh / Gauguin Online Experience which goes really well with reading The Yellow House from your school library.  Then for some artrageous fun, look over the Art Room from the University of Florida.

 

2/12/2007 Whoopee Ti-yi-yo!  Git along little dogies!  Time to celebrate living in the New West with contemporary western art, music and poetry.  Fine and Performing Arts has an integrated art lesson on Fritz Scholder, a Native American painter who believed in learning about a subject before painting it. Fritz Scholder painted his culture in a new way and then interpreted his art in poetry in his own handmade books.  To help, Educational Materials Center has a Fritz Scholder bibliography.  Then check out other Native American poetry with a CyberGuide from the California SCORE project.  Get in the mood for rodeo with the Rodeo bibliography from EMC and some cowboy poetry before you see contemporary cowboys competing in the Pro Rodeo Tour at the Fiesta de los Vaqueros.  Discovery School has lesson plan on cowboy songs and poetry and a mural lesson plan on North American cultures that ties in very well with our Fiesta de Los Vaqueros.

 

2/5/2007 Weaving is one of mankind's oldest skills and one of our strongest metaphors.  Teachers help students weave the separate strands of information coming at them into the fabric of a beautiful and useful life.  Educational Materials Center can help you weave the arts and sciences into your classroom fabric.  To add a visual and tactile element to Love of Reading "Spinning yarns and weaving a web of words", EMC has over 1300 textiles, including over 160 weavings, available for checkout.  Help weave a cloak for Ffearless Ffion at the BBC.  Look over some elementary weaving activities.  Or check out algebra applied to weaving pattern design (Grades 8-11) at PBS. See art, poetry, folklore and textiles woven together at Weaving the light.  Read The weave of the world from NWREL, describing a weaving of math and dance.

 

1/29/2007 Listen to the music   February is Black History Month.  Explore Black History with the bibliography from Educational Materials Center.  Celebrate art with the Romare Beard Integrated Art Lesson (download) or the Jacob Lawrence Lesson (Contact Carol Corvo at 225-4900 or carol.corvo@tusd1.org for a copy)  Or learn about jazz at Scholastic.  Then make a Tucson connection with In the steps of Esteban.  Then to hear music from our OMA Schools, the OMA Showcase is coming Saturday, March 24, 3-5 pm, Rincon/UHS Auditorium.  Tickets now on sale! Call 225-4900 for information. 
1/22/2007 Celebrate the diversity of Native American Art!  Educational Materials Center has story telling prints like Patrick Desjarlait's Woman with Blueberries and abstracts like W.B. Franklin's Midnight Whistle.  The bibliography on Arizona Native Americans lists just some of the Native American Art resources from EMC.  For background information, check out Surrounded by Beauty from Minneapolis Institute of the Arts. For an integrated arts lesson aligned specifically for our standards download the Fritz Scholder Integrated Arts lesson (available from a TUSD workstation.) And don't forget the All-City Dance Concert, 7:00pm, Thursday, January 25, at Palo Verde High School.

 

1/16/2007  

January is National Polka Month so polka your class out of the winter blahs!  Study dance around the world with videos, tapes, and books from Educational Materials Center.  Check the Tucson Dance Festival for square dancing, clogging and stepping.  For sheer silliniess, go to Hampsterdance.com January is also a terrific month for studying  geology, because the whole world brings their geology to Tucson for the Gem and Mineral show.  Emc has bibliographies on Rocks and Minerals, Volcanos and Earthquakes, Earth Materials, The Changing Earth, and Earth History.

 

 

 

1/8/2007 Welcome back!  Start a new year by thinking about art in new ways with Faith Ringgold as a starting point.  Educational Materials Center has prints of Ringgold story quilt paintings, including Tar Beach.  Get copies of the book "Tar Beach" from your school library.  To tie it all together, use the integrated art lesson from Fine and Performing Arts.  Call 5-4913 or e-mail carol.corvo@tusd1.org to get a copy of the lesson.  Visit the Tucson Quilt Show (Jan 12, 13, 14)  Are those quilts art or home decor?  Going to Phoenix?  Visit the Scottsdale Celebration of Fine Art (Jan. 13 - Mar. 25) to see many artists at work.  OMA Principals:  Don't forget the OMA Principals Meeting Wednesday, January 10, 7:30am - 8:15am at Lee Instructional Resource Center.

 

12/18/2006 What is this?

 

A) dryer lint, B) exploding galaxy photographed by Hubble Space Telescope, C) Mural, 1950 by Jackson Pollock.  The correct answer is C.  Now, would you like to know how to use the arts in your classroom to turn your students into 21st century learnersEducational Materials Center is offering a workshop "Murals through time and across cultures", on creating and using lesson plans that integrate art into language arts, math, science, geography, and history.  The workshop will be held Tuesday, January 23, 3:30-6:30 pm at Educational Materials Center.  The workshop is limited to 15 participants, so register now by calling Educational Materials Center at 225-4783 or email emc@tusd1.org.  Want to know more about Jackson Pollock?  Call Carol Corvo at 225-4913 or email carol.corvo@tusd1.org and she can send you a Jackson Pollock art lesson.

 

 

 

12/11/2006 Want to learn more about integrating the arts into your classroom lesson plans?  Educational Materials Center can help.  In addition to the exhibits, figures, prints, and library panels to use as the focus of integrated arts lessons and the wealth of professional information in the collection, TUSD Fine and Performing Arts and Educational Materials Center will be offering a series of workshops on creating your own integrated arts lessons.  The first workshop will be offered January 23, 3-6 pm at Educational Materials Center and will be using the Diego Rivera Lesson.  Don't want to wait?  Come to EMC's Art-A-Fact to look at the materials and see other lessons.

 

12/4/2006

The winter holidays are coming!  Habiri Gani!  Study the seven principles of Kwanzaa with the Kwanzaa bibliography from Educational Materials Center.  Here's a Kwanzaa mini-unit for Grades 2-3 from TeacherLink.  EnchantedLearning has a huge supply of Kwanzaa activities, coloring pages, maps and worksheets.  Read more about Kwanzaa on the History Channel.  Learning To Give has an excellent integrated arts unit covering the seven principles of Kwanzaa and how those principles relate to our own lives.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

11/27/2006

It's the season for wheels!  Youngsters and oldsters alike are dreaming of a new set of wheels for Christmas.  Bring those wheels into the classroom.  Educational Materials Center has books, videos and art to help.  Look over the FOSS Balance and Motion, Ideas and Inventions or Models and Designs bibliographies.  Be sure to visit the Exploratorium's Science of Cycling.  Take a virtual tour of bicycle history at the Bicycle Museum of America.  See Marcel Duchamp's Dada Bicycle Wheel at MoMA and then see some contemporary Bicycling Art.  Read some Bicycle Poetry

 

 

 

11/20/2006

 

Right now everybody's thinking about Thanksgiving and food.  Educational Materials Center has a bibliography on Colonial life in America.  Find out what the Pilgrims really ate.  There are some fun activities on the Enchanted Learning Thanksgiving page.  From a librarian, a fool-proof recipe for turkey.  And finally, for fun, read about the food fight potential of various Thanksgiving foods.

11/13/2006 

Opening Minds through the Arts has increased student achievement by integrating the arts into standard classroom activities.  Visit Educational Materials Center to learn more about arts integration.  Visit ArtsEdge from the Kennedy Center to see their resources on Arts Integration.  Finally, read about MIT's Picturing to Learn program which science students make drawings and use metaphors to understand major science concepts.

 

 

 

Don't forget OMA meetings!  OMA Arts Integrations Specialists – Wednesday, November 15, at Davidson Elementary.  Instructional Coaches – Thursday, November 16, 11:00-2:45 at Dunbar Center with a presentation from Deb Brzoska.  OMA Artists – Friday, November 17, 8:30-10:30, at Catalina High.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

11/06/2006

Get a grip on murals at Art-a-Fact, the new Arts Integration Area at Education Materials Center, currently studying Murals Through Time and Across Cultures.  The Siqueiros mural at the left is from the 1950's.  See contemporary local murals at the Tucson Murals Project (new location).  See the EMC materials available with the Murals bibliography.  Check out the many lesson plans at Art-a-Fact or download the Diego Rivera lesson plan

10/30/2006

This week we celebrate Halloween, All Hallows Eve, and Los Dias del los Muertos, the Days of the Dead.  Honor our ancestors and enliven your classroom with Dia de Los Muertos resources from Educational Materials Center.  North Texas Institute for Educators on the Visual Arts has a thoughtful discussion of the Days of the Dead with suggested activities. MexicoConnect has a good list of Days of the Dead webpages including one with a recipe for Pan de los Muertos, Day of the Dead Bread.  AZCentral.com has a fun Day of the Dead page with a downloadable Teacher Packet with coloring pages, word search, mask making and more. On the AZCentral page, mouse over the menu to see the picture change.  Or carve a pumpkin at http://www.cubpack81.com/images/carve_pumpkin.swf

 

 

 

10/23/2006

The Inner Connection UAPresents and The Poetry Center at The University of Arizona are bringing internationally acclaimed author and speaker, Dr. Maya Angelou to Tucson for a rare public appearance on November 5 in Centennial Hall. The Primaveras, a dance group from Rincon/UHS, will be presenting an original work inspired by Dr. Angelou's poem Equality.  In turn the work of the Primaveras supplied the inspiration for the student art, like the piece to the left that will be exhibited in the lobby.  Get your students fired up about poetry, dance, music and art with materials from Educational Materials Center.  African American Literature bibliography lists poetry, literature, videos and exhibits.  

 

 

 

10/16/2006

In late September, did you notice the tiny sliver of a new moon at sunset hanging in the desert sky?  That tiny sliver signaled the beginning of the month long Muslim observance of Ramadan.  Next week, Muslim families will be getting ready for the feast of Eid al-Fitr marking the end of Ramadan fasting.  Guide your class in exploring Ramadan and the rich cultural heritage of the Middle East with materials from Education Material Center.  Read Samira's Eid with your class.  EMC has bilingual copies in English and Somali, Punjabi, Gujarati, Bengali, Arabic, or Urdu.  Check out the gorgeous pictures in the Persian King's Book of Kings, available from EMC or see them on the Metropolitan Museum's website. See the lunar phenomena called Saber's beads named by astronomer and veteran moonsighter Steven Saber. 

 

 

 

10/9/2006

Visit Educational Materials Center and explore the new EMC Fine Arts Integration Area focusing on Mural Art.  Learn how to create a lesson that integrates art, mathematics, science, and social studies.  Explore the mathematics of going from a small sketch to a large painting, the science of mixing pigments, the social protest aspects of muralists like Diego Rivera and current graffiti artists.  As a start, check out the complete Diego Rivera Lesson with performance objectives.  Make a local connection to Randy Garsee's Tucson Murals Project.  Read about local muralist David Tineo in the Tucson Citizen and see examples of his artat the University of Arizona's Southern Arizona Folk Arts.

 

 

 

10/2/2006

(Project Zero Logo Here)

Calendar of OMA Meetings & Events 2006-07

 

 

 

(Project Zero Logo Here)

has selected TUSD Fine and Performing Arts to be part of a study entitled "The Qualities of Quality: Excellence in Arts Education and how to achieve it," funded by The Wallace Foundation.  The purpose of the study is to better understand what it takes to create and sustain high-quality arts learning and teaching, both in and out of school.  Out of 121 applicants, the application from TUSD Fine and Performing Arts was singled out for "its compelling perspective and thoughtful articulation on the subject of quality in arts education."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

9/25/2006 

 

Calendar of OMA Meetings and Events 2006 – 2007

 

 

 

9/18/2006

Calendar of OMA Meetings & Events 2006 – 2007

 

Did You Know?

 

 

 

  What is it?

 

  a) a prehistoric cooking utensil

 

  b) new craft supplies from the Krazy Kathy's Krafting Kloset catalog

 

  c) a water drum

 

Click here for the answer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Fine Arts Quiz of the week

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

9/11/2006

Calendar of OMA Meetings & Events 2006-2007

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Celebrate Constitution Day

 

Monday, September 18!

 

Check out the TUSD Constitution Day web site for lesson plans and activities.  You will have all this week to visit Educational Materials Center in Lee Instructional Resource Center and pick up Constitution Day materials including art prints like the Three Flags (left) by Jasper Johns.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

9/05/2006

Calendar of OMA Meetings & Events 2006-2007

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fine Arts Quiz of the Week

 

     What is it?

 

     a) petrified hairball of a Smilodon (saber-toothed tiger)

 

     b) hat for a basketweaver

 

                              c) ancient Aztec soccer ball

 

Click here to find out.  (Hint: Scroll down)

 

Don't forget the grand opening of the new Native American Artsmobile, Friday, Sept. 8, 2:30-6:00, at Lee Instructional Resource Center.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

8/28/2006

 

 

 

Impress your class with a great paper flower when you introduce them to the New Plants FOSS kit.  EMC has a bibliography to help you find related material.  What about Georgia O'Keeffe and her flower pictures?  EMC has a bibliography for O'Keeffe too.

 

 

It's the season for wheels!  Youngsters and oldsters alike are dreaming of a new set of wheels for Christmas.  Bring those wheels into the classroom.  Educational Materials Center has books, videos and art to help.  Look over the FOSS Balance and Motion, Ideas and Inventions or Models and Designs bibliographies.  Be sure to visit the Exploratorium's Science of Cycling.  Take a virtual tour of bicycle history at the Bicycle Museum of America.  See Marcel Duchamp's Dada Bicycle Wheel at MoMA and then see some contemporary Bicycling Art.  Read some Bicycle Poetry

 

 

 

 

 

Comments (0)

You don't have permission to comment on this page.