2011-2012+Meeting+Notes


 * May 16, 2012**
 * 1) We discussed some activities that are related to language arts from a book that Deb brought in.
 * List 10+ in each column of adjectives, verbs and nouns, then roll dice to tell which adj, verb and noun to use in a sentence or story.
 * List 20 animals, roll dice twice and combine the two animals to make a new one (example get a turtle and a fish, draw a turtle-fish). Use that new animal to create a character in a story.
 * 1) We talked about using movement more in our classrooms
 * 2) We discussed having school-wide days (like Poem in Your Pocket day) where students and staff can be creative and share with one another:
 * Brain Gym Day – do movements at various times throughout the day.
 * Doodle Day - do doodles at various times throughout the day.
 * Traveling Music day – the music teacher takes a troupe of musicians and has them play around the school
 * 1) We discussed the idea of having a Lesson/Activity swap much like a cookie swap.
 * 2) Along those lines, we discussed starting an online data base that contained arts integration lessons and activities for us and anyone who wants to contribute. (I already have so many lessons from ppl who have taken my courses. I’m sure they would be interested in participating!)
 * 3) Finally, we decided to get back down to business and get focused. We would like to start looking more closely at the Common Core and see what direction we can take for next year. What will be the most helpful and practical for our group. (Hence the [|lesson data base].)

Our next meeting (and final one) we scheduled for **Monday, June 11**. We hope you can make it!!!

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 * January 18th - Writing and the Arts**
 * **[|www.biguniverse.com] Great site to build motivation in literacy. Great book selection that is searchable. Place to write ebooks and a social media section where kids interact through literature.**
 * Verbs idea - Victoria told about a lesson where she had students try out verbs before they had to complete a worksheet. Kids stood in a circle and used movement/dance/drama to showcase the verbs before sorting them on paper.
 * Lively Learning (book) was shared. Lesson on diagramming sentences using visual cues for parts of speech. Triangles for nouns, circles for verbs (show movement).
 * Deb shared an article from TESOL connections Building Literacy through the Arts.
 * Amy shared what her 3rd grade team is doing with book reports. This month they are having the kids to biographies and the project is called "Who's coming to Dinner?" Includes creating a placemant, setting the place with utensils and information, an invitation to dinner, guest list and menu. (I hope she elaborates on this. It's awesome stuff!)

For our next meeting we will continue with writing ideas. Before we left we brainstormed the areas we would like to consider.

Difficulties to Tackle: Quite a list! Bring ideas that are arts infused for these topics next meeting.
 * penmanship
 * spelling
 * parts of speech
 * caps/lower case
 * indenting
 * beginning, middle end
 * care in work
 * letter writing
 * topic development
 * paragraphing
 * sentence structure

//__Share -__// //__Discussion__//
 * November 16th - Math and the Arts**
 * Math sketchbooks - Amy
 * Students are creating a sketchbook one page at a time on 9x18 construction paper.
 * She's using stories:
 * King Parties with jewels to give away
 * Count Divide - Asked to give the jewels to the guests. He leaves the note on the roof of the castle as to how many jewels each guest will get.
 * Reader's Theatre - Victoria
 * Books are available in our CES literacy closet
 * Pet Care Kids
 * No Math Day
 * Music Notes and Money - Mary
 * 4 quarter notes make a whole
 * 4 quarters make a whole dollar, etc.
 * Gallon Guy - a good visual
 * http://www.google.com/search?q=gallon+guy&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a
 * Immersing students in Math vocab (and all vocab!)
 * Immersing students in math experiences
 * Students create a word story drama or written story
 * brainstorm operations/words in stories that are used for various operations
 * work in partners to create and publish
 * switch, do and correct

**First meeting - October 19, 2011 3:30-4:30 at CES**
Agenda: __//**Vocabulary Strategies**//__
 * Getting to Know You activity with List Poems
 * Our focus questions (from The Four Pillars of a PLC //Revisiting PLCs at Work,//p 166) - Please add to these discussion on this wiki as we will revisit and "answer" these questions in the next two meetings
 * Why do we exist?
 * What do we hope to become?
 * What can we be the best in the world at?
 * What drives our engine?
 * What are we deeply passionate about?
 * Planning for Future Meetings
 * What are topics we can discuss as a preK-12 PLC?
 * **Role play words and ideas (realism vs. fantasy)**
 * Would you like to buy a duck?' game to intro vocab terms before a unit of study
 * movement - forte and piano in music class. Make motions that describe loud and soft
 * **Type: District Sponsored Workshops/Seminars**
 * Title: Professional Learning Community Focused on Arts Integration ** ||
 * ** OPEN FOR REGISTRATION ** ||
 * Instructor: Elizabeth Peterson ||
 * Participants: Teachers ||
 * Date/Times: 10/19, 11/16, 12/14/11 01/18, 2/15, 3/21, 4/11, 5/16, 6/13/12 from 3:30 to 4:30 PM ||
 * Location: CES Art Room ||
 * Course Info Contact: Elizabeth Peterson petersone@amesburyma.gov ||
 * Course Description: Join teachers in our district as we share and discuss arts integration strategies for our teaching. Our focus is on how to integrate the arts to help student learning. We will modify and create lesson plans as well as look at assessment tools and methods for collaboration. This is a great way to connect with other teachers and inspire the work you do for students each day! ||