In March, Roosevelt Middle School of the Arts teamed up with the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee's Art Education program to integrate art education in a variety of classes. Three groups of UWM students visited Roosevelt to work in social studies, science and language arts classrooms. The goal was to integrate what was being taught in the classroom with the discipline of art, using a life-centered theme and essential questions.
One of the classrooms that participated in this program was Ms. Macchia's third-hour language arts class. The art education students from UWM, Ms. Gonyer, Ms. Stoewe and Ms. Dahlen worked with Ms. Macchia to support her lessons on persuasive and creative writing through art. Roosevelt students were introduced to and encouraged to explore the theme of identity. Students investigated contemporary artworks by Hank Willis Thomas, Banksy and advertisements to investigate how identity is formed and displayed to convey cultural understandings about people and groups. During lessons, students used writing to further explore the topic and describe their own identities. Once students had their own stories and messages to share, they created their own poster advertisements about their narratives, using printmaking techniques. Narratives spoke to how they could shape the world, making a positive impact on others.
Extra Credit
In March, an ordinary day almost turned tragic when a 4th-grader Jesús S. was reported to be choking in the bathroom. After hearing about the incident from another student, Kagel head engineer Robert Howell and principal Nancy Martinez ran to investigate and found Jesús unresponsive in the bathroom. [ Read more ... ]
In March, an ordinary day almost turned tragic when a 4th-grader Jesús S. was reported to be choking in the bathroom. After hearing about the incident from another student, Kagel head engineer Robert Howell and principal Nancy Martinez ran to investigate and found Jesús unresponsive in the bathroom. [ 