Blog Topic #14: Portrait of Possibility--Revisited

I had actually chosen two students to use as my "portraits of possibility" because they each had such different issues that I thought VTS could help with.  Student #1 is a student who struggles both academically and socially and I thought that VTS could help draw him out of his shell and give him some confidence when speaking in front of his classmates.  And I think that I have seen evidence that he feels comfortable with the neutrality of VTS discussions.  During our last session he was one of the first students to speak up.  And even though several students subsequently respectfully disagreed with him, he still revised his first thought and later offered another possibility to the discussion.  That is definite progress!  As far as his post-VTS writing, he definitely improved by offering many more observations.  His observations are still simple--Stage 1, but he is confident enough to engage and notice everything he can.

Student #2 is new to our school and started out displaying "bullying" behavior in addition to being disruptive in the classroom.  I thought that these were his coping mechanisms to coming to a new school.  I thought this was attention seeking behavior, but unfortunately it was all negative.  I thought that VTS could help him by giving him the opportunity to contribute to the discussion in a positive way. And actually, I think it has really worked!  At least in my class, he likes to participate in a positive way.  His contributions to our VTS discussions have been very insightful.  He is a smart kid, and now his classmates are seeing that side of him.  During VTS discussions he is very focused and engaged.  I think he likes the idea of showing me and his classmates that he can figure out the image being discussed.

I'm not sure this is transferring to his homeroom class, but I think the same strategy could work in his classroom and once he realizes that he can get the teachers' attention in a positive way he will stop relying on the disruptive behavior.

From these two examples I feel comfortable in saying that VTS is beneficial to all students wherever they are on the learning curve.  This is a good example of how VTS can differentiate learning to students at both ends of the spectrum.

Blog Topic #13: VTS Through a Differentiated Lens

After reading the three articles on Differentiated Instruction I certainly see that VTS by its very nature offers differentiation for students.  My focus class of third graders is like most classes in that it is made up of students with a wide range of abilities.  Even though I only see them for Art class once a week, I am aware of those with various learning disabilities as well as those who are closer to the "gifted" end of the spectrum.  As Johnson said in his article, we tend to focus on the kids at either end of the "ability" spectrum and the average kids just roll with the punches.  But with VTS we address every student right where they are on the ability spectrum.  In my focus class I chose two students at the beginning as my "projects".  One who I knew struggled academically and the other who was more of a class disrupter.  For both of these students VTS has offered them an opportunity to shine.  My struggling student has found his voice on more than one occasion and made very meaningful contributions.  And my ****disturber just needed an opportunity to show us how smart he really is!  (He is new to the school this year).  Now, instead of seeking attention in a negative way, he gets my attention with insightful comments during our VTS discussions--(at least in Art class).  But, everybody gets a chance to shine with VTS.  The kids who are big readers bring that knowledge to the discussion; the science kids bring that, etc.  VTS addresses visual and auditory learners; the students can collaborate as they link comments in the discussion.  VTS may just be the PERFECT way to differentiate instruction!

Blog Topic #12: Assessing, Reflecting, Planning

I think that the Norman Rockwell image I chose, The Runaway, was an appropriate choice for my third graders because it fit many of the parameters Housen and Yenawine describe when choosing an image.  The image was accessible--my students were able to recognize and associate with the items in the picture based on their existing knowledge.  This image was also "open to interpretation"--my students were able to find several possible meanings;  the boy is lost; the boy ran away; the policeman and boy are father and son, the boy is a hobo, etc.  And the image also allowed my students to tell a story--it created a narrative.  My third graders who are mostly Stage 1 viewers were able to make sense of the image and tell a story with it.

I think the image offered some challenge to my students, but they probably could have handled a bigger challenge.  They seemed to have an explanation for most of the details in the image.  I don't think they were stumped by anything.  (That's not to say they were correct, but they seemed familiar with most of the details.)  The challenge came from the time period.  They knew it was different but they were not sure of how it was different.

My students pretty much figured out the narrative that Norman Rockwell painted.  Some thought he was a runaway, some thought he was lost--but they got the gist of Rockwell's intent.  Some of the period objects in the background such as the radio, pie case, and coffee maker seemed to intrigue them the most.  Also, the policeman's uniform that was different than today's uniforms.

I had several opportunities to scaffold vocabulary during this discussion such as: uniform, knapsack, briefcase, pie case.  And then, one of my students offered the word "diner" to describe the setting which was one word I was wondering if I would hear.

My biggest surprise (much to my dismay) was the student who had the comment about the knapsack looking like a "giant strawberry with a marshmallow"!  I tried to handle it just like any comment but of course it brought lots of giggles from the rest of the class!  How should I have handled it?  I'd appreciate any suggestions!

I would use this image again because it does offer a good opportunity for storytelling and that's what this age student really likes to do.

Blog Topic #11: Preparing for Teacher's Choice

The image I have decided to use is The Runaway, by Norman Rockwell, painted in 1958.  I had a hard time deciding which of my possible choices to use, but listening to some of your comments helped sway me to use this image.

I think it will offer a good discussion point for my 3rd graders as some of the details are very obvious--like the policeman for instance, but some others may be harder to figure out.  I'm curious to see if any of my students have been to a soda fountain or diner like the one pictured--maybe they haven't!  And I'm curious to see if they pick up on the idea of "running away". I'm also anxious to see what clues they pick out of the image that point to the time period.  I think it is a good choice because it's familiar, but still offers the viewer "permission to wonder".

Blog Topic #10: Assessing, Reflecting, Planning

The image I used for this lesson was this Native American  Hide Painting depicting the Sun Dance.  My third grade class was very engaged and interested in this image.  Only three students did not comment at all and most of the others had multiple comments.  In fact, I had to end the lesson with hands still in the air due to the fact that the lesson had lasted almost 20 minutes!

The observations started very simply by noticing the animals and Native American aspects of the drawing.  But also, right at the beginning the students had ideas about the purpose of this drawing.  Was it a map? An image of an island? Or was it just a drawing by a Native American artist?  The discussion also focused on whether it was a drawing on an animal skin or paper from "ancient times".  And these ideas were supported by reasons like the color of the "paper" looked old; or the outline and border of the skin looked "jagged and furry like an animal".  I also had students who looked at the outline of the shape and saw animal shapes in the outline; like a "goose head", or a "bear head".  This led to an observation that the two shapes on the far left of the skin were the same but in reverse, (which of course, was the head of the elk skin). I also had students speculate on what the drawing was about--a celebration because of the dancing in the middle of the scene; a hunt for meat because of the horse and riders with weapons; a roundup of escaped animals because the animals are all running in the same direction.  One of my favorite observations was from one of my focus students who observed that the black animals were bison. This was important because I had at least two subsequent comments that disagreed with that student and thought they were buffalo--not bison.  At this point I'm waiting for someone to say that bison and buffalo are the same (which is what I thought), but no one did.  So at the end of the lesson I asked the student who had initially observed "bison" to tell us what a bison is.  He said "they are kind of like buffalo but I think they are black".  At that point I said when they get a chance to look up "bison" and "buffalo" and then tell me what they find out.  Of course they were all excited to go look it up and in less than 30 minutes I had two students (the original bison observer) telling me more than I ever wanted to know about the differences between bison and buffalo!  In case you're wondering, in North America we only have bison but early American settlers often referred to them as buffalo so that's why we sometimes use them interchangeably, but actually buffalo are only found in Africa--now you know!  That was a real learning experience for us all!

I feel my students are really Stage 2 viewers.  They are constructing a story around the image based on their previous knowledge.  They are using elements of art to help construct their story by saying "because of the color or the shape", or noticing types of lines.

I loved doing this lesson with my students!  I loved how engaged and excited they were and how they really had astute comments.  The three questions come very easily to me and for the most part I'm able to use question #2 when appropriate or leave it out if the student has given their own evidence.  I did notice at least four times when I should have offered new vocabulary in my paraphrase but didn't think of it at the time.
-I should have offered the word animal "hide" for animal "skin".
- I should have offered the word "battle" for the word "fight".
-I should have offered the word "hunt" for the word "catch".

Both of my focus students offered good comments and seemed validated by their participation.  One of them was the bison comment from my student who is new to our school and seeking attention. And the other student who lacks confidence and struggles academically spoke up early in the discussion with an appropriate comment too.

All in all, I thought the lesson went really well--I can't wait to do it with them again so I can work on offering the new vocabulary without hesitation as I paraphrase.