UCDS Spark Magazine #11, Spring 2012

ISSUE 11 - SPRING, 2012

Specialists ART - LIBRARY - MUSIC - PE - SCIENCE - SPANISH - TECHNOLOGY

Visit us online at www.ucds.org/spark for curriculum resources and information about our summer Math and Science Workshops for educators.

BY TEACHERS FOR TEACHERS™ Spark is published by University Child Development School.

Head of School Paula Smith Assistant Head of School Teacher Education Center Director Melissa Chittenden Publication Design Jack Forman

In this Issue Sticky Curriculum Meet the Specialists 2

Contributing Writers Ben Chickadel, Lupe Galarza, Jessica Garrick, Kerrie Hecko, Drew Holloway, Nancy Kiefer, Katie Morrison, Shanthi Raghu, Martha Schwarz, Matt Swanson

Creative Fusion 12 DASH: Days of Arts, Science & Humanities

Contributing Editors Jean Bailey, Diane Chickadel, Melissa Chittenden, Jack Forman, Angie Manning Goodwill, Betty Greene, Stephen Harrison, Julie Kalmus, Shanthi Raghu, Abby Sandberg, Paula Smith, Kai Toh, Natasha Rodgers, Jesse Vohs

What Works 14 Specialists as Superheroes Making Use of Collective Strength People Who Inspire Us Finding Inspiration From Down the Hall 16 and Beyond the Walls

Photography Stephen Harrison, UCDS Faculty and Staff

In Each Issue 1 Greetings from Paula 9 Spark Plugs 22 UCDS Mission Statement

For submission information, please contact Shanthi Raghu at shanthir@ucds.org.

The editor reserves the right to edit and select all materials.

Š 2012 University Child Development School.

All rights reserved.

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What if...

What if we changed our testing paradigm? What if we could design a test that would measure more than just short-term achievement in a narrow set of basic skills? What if we designed tests using what we know from the field of brain research, psychology, and plain old data that we have gathered as children move through our schools and into adulthood? And what if we used this research and the data we gather to change the way we design the school day and the way we teach?

What if, for example, we could develop a test for student engagement? We know that, in order to really learn something that sticks, we need a lot of practice. Our brains are literally being wired with each repetition. Research also points to a level of engagement that is needed to maximize any learning experience and make it stick. It turns out that the student who is engaged literally builds neural pathways in the brain more quickly. This assessment tool could quantify…Is a student interested and motivated?

Educators know from experience that a child with a passion for learning will take every opportunity to pull information from the environment. A child who is inspired by a subject will be more likely to seek out challenges, take academic risks and share her ideas. Most importantly, they know that, in order to solve real problems, a child will need to develop the ability see the world from different perspectives. Why not then expand, rather than limit, the curriculum? If our practical experience in schools matches what we know about the brain, why not make it a priority to give all children access to an education that includes the arts, science, physical education and opportunities to create using technology?

What if we measured and tracked tenacity? We know that even talented people have had to overcome failure. We have recently learned from research that “grit” is a better predictor of success in school than I.Q. We need an assessment tool that would help clarify the elements of character that one needs to persist in the face of obstacles and failure. This test could help us know…Has the student developed a growth mindset needed to succeed?

This test could provide teachers with practical insight to support their everyday experience with children. Educators at KIPP (Knowledge is Power Program), a charter school serving children from low-income families, found that students who persisted and finished college were not necessarily the children who had excelled academically in their program.

Rather, successful students had developed the character needed to overcome obstacles and failures along the way.

KIPP has even developed their own evaluation system to measure the character strengths that they hope to develop in students. If long-term success requires grit then why not use an instructional model that includes opportunities to fail repeatedly as part of the learning process? This type of instruction is well developed in the specialist areas where children must fail repeatedly and visibly to achieve a goal. A child learning an athletic skill, for example, must often persist for a considerable time period. Children learning to play a game must work through disappointing performances, analyze mistakes and try again. Why not change the way curriculum is presented to match the opportunities children have available in specialist classes such as physical education? Why not create space in every academic area for children to fail, receive coaching and have the opportunity to persist until they succeed?

What if we could test a student’s creativity? We know that many of the world’s most successful people did not always thrive in school. We also know that standardized tests like the SAT, while measuring a particular type of analytic reasoning, do not predict the ability to deal with novel situations and to come up with original solutions. At the same time, we have widespread agreement from both business and academia that creativity is an essential skill that is needed for individuals in the 21st century. What if we adopted a national assessment tool for creative intelligence?

Teachers know from experience that children “with a high level of creative intelligence may actually give the ‘wrong’ answers because they see things from a different perspective.” It is clear to educators and policy makers across the country that standardized test scores have not increased significantly with the conventional drill type instruction that is often required to prepare children for standardized tests.

Why not elevate the importance of the arts in our school programs? We know that in art class students learn critical “habits of mind” that can translate into other areas of study. In a recent publication, researchers reported that children, in working in a studio setting, not only learned to manage the tools and became experts at the craft of producing artwork they also learned to engage and persist, to envision, express ideas, observe carefully, to reflect, to stretch and explore, and to have an appreciation of the world of art. Why not develop a tool that can help to change the way we teach and assess students so that children are required to analyze, create and apply their knowledge in every subject area?

In reality, not everything that matters in the classroom can easily be measured on a test. Data demands trials and standards, statistics and analyses. Because it is difficult to create a test that accurately reflects the growth and development of a human being – that accurately reflects the myriad of tendencies, skills, and attitudes that translate into success (even were we able to agree on a definition of the term) – we often end up testing and basing our heuristics on what appear to be the easiest metrics to identify and standardize. In our well-intentioned pursuit of feedback, we develop our tests to ask whether a child knows an answer. What if instead, we used data to drive the kind of teaching that we know will increase learning? I think we owe it to our children to meet this challenge.

Paula Smith

Daniel Coyle, The Talent Code (New York: Bantam Books, 2009).

Head of School Angela Duckworth, “What if the Secret to Success is Failure?” New York Times 14 September 2011.

3 Carol Dweck, Mindset (New York: Balantine Books, 2006).

4 Robert Sternberg and Elena Grigorenko, “Successful intelligence in the classroom,” Theory Into Practice, v43 n4 (Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc. 2004) 5 Patrick Bassett, “The Five Cs + One,” Basset Blog, 23 November 2011, last accessed 29 November 2011, http://www.nais.org/about/index. cm?ItemNumber=147270.

6 “Robert Sternberg.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia, Inc. 7 May 2012. Web. 14 May 2012 7 Diane Ravitch, The Death and Life of the Great American School System (New York: Basic Books, 2010) 8 Lois Hetland, Ellen Winner, Shirley Veenema and Kimberly M. Sheridan, Studio Thinking (New York: Teachers College Press, 2007) 1

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Sticky Curriculum

Meet the Jessica Garrick

by Ben Chickadel &

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The UCDS specialist teachers weave magic into the framework of our yearly school-wide theme.1 Their passions and expertise combined with collaborations with classroom teachers and one another add dimension to our dynamic learning community. The students at UCDS experience seven specialty areas: Art, Library, Music, Physical Education, Science, Spanish and Technology. The following is a glimpse into each specialist teacher’s individual process, passion and development of curriculum. In these vignettes, each specialist describes ways he or she integrated his or her specific content and made connections to the yearly theme and greater-school community.

1 Meg Herland and Katie Morrison, “Forming Ideas: A Journey Through a Year of Theme,” Spark # 5 (fall 2008), p. 2-7.

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Jessica Garrick -Art

During the 2009-2010 school year, our theme was Influence. It also happened to be the same year that Alexander Calder: A Balancing Act visited the Seattle Art Museum.

I was excited when I learned about the prospect to explore Calder’s work and bring students to see the exhibition.

Alexander Calder is an artist that has inspired me to explore my own personal art. His work is playful and invites kids to investigate his innovative use of line, space, movement and form. Reviewing Calder’s life and art opened the door for the students and me to explore other artists, those that influenced Calder and artists he influenced as well. After seeing the exhibition’s breadth of work that included mobiles, stabiles, paintings and viewing a documentary of Calder’s Circus, the first and second grade classes were intrigued by the Ringmaster performance. The experience broadened the students’ definition of art. Inspired by Calder’s performers, each student selected a character to create for their own circus. They constructed a three-dimensional sculpture with wire and aluminum foil as an armature and then layered it with a plaster-coated fabric.

The plaster created a sturdy surface for the students to add costumes they designed, and they made props that would be a part of each performance. The characters were staged and exhibited in a circus tent installation (above) as part of the annual art show at UCDS, First Thursday.

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Nancy Kiefer - Library

As a storyteller, I especially enjoyed our year featuring the theme Odyssey.

I found it exhilarating to present Greek myths and to find so much epic poetry from around the world that related to taking a journey. Teachers gathered during the summer to discuss Robert Fagle’s translation of The Odyssey. It was a great year to present non-fiction on adventurers, ancient history and pathways to discovery.

Our current theme, Vision, is exciting because it provides opportunities to look at illustrated books, to explore the sound of words as authors describe visual images and to help students search for information on our senses, photography and the amazing lives of artists and visionaries.

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As a Library Specialist, the school-wide theme is an inspiring way to research and cull resources for the UCDS Community, as well as create Library classes in a deeply focused way.

att Swanson - Music

I look at the school-wide theme as an opportunity to begin each year with a blank slate.

Looking back through my journal, I see a brainstorm for the theme Influence and a note scratched in the corner: “Jazz, improvisation–how musicians influence each other.” This spark of an idea, which stemmed from my own personal passions as a performing musician, prompted a study of jazz with 3rd and 4th graders that spanned several months. In addition to studying the history, styles and characteristics of jazz music, students worked in groups to compose their own jazz songs, complete with chord progressions, melodies and form. In the end, the classes taught their compositions to a professional jazz quartet and recorded an original CD with the adult performers (right). Though I could not have imagined the extent of this project when I originally scrawled the idea in my notebook, the theme-driven brainstorm offered a launch pad from which the curriculum could evolve.

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Kerrie Hecko - Physical Education I have always enjoyed studying physiology and motor control.

The capability of the human body to move and function in so many unique ways is amazing. Applying this knowledge to explore multiple ways of moving excites and energizes me and my students.

Because of this, I easily incorporated the school-wide themes of Strength and Balance into the physical education curriculum. Using equipment and physical activities to develop those themes as skills was concrete, but we also took them a step further by talking about concepts such as practicing skills to make them strengths or finding balance in daily activities.

Pulling in world events is a way to make connections to outside communities. Incorporating the Winter Olympics into the Physical Education curriculum has been a part of our program for nearly two decades, but in 2010 the games’ Vancouver location made them a tangible event for many children. Some even went to see various competitions. In the gym we used outside media, the interactive white board, still pictures and video to get a sense of the actual sports and events taking place. In the gym we used balance equipment to snowboard, springboards to ski jump, connected scooters to luge and bobsled as well as several pieces of equipment connected in unique ways to create the winter games UCDS style.

Opening and closing ceremonies, country flags and Olympics themed music also set the tone of the events. Students felt more a part of the games by gaining an appreciation of being there and participating.

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atie Morrison - Science

As a former laboratory scientist I’m driven to create authentic investigations for students in the science lab.

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When concocting a topic for the science curriculum, I mix together our school-wide theme, the major domains of science and classroom studies. In particular, I find that the read-aloud novel chosen by classroom teachers, and the thematic study it inspires, often catalyzes my selection of the science content. For example, in our year of Quest, Early Elementary classrooms followed the journey of Elmer Elevator in My Father’s Dragon. I was inspired to create a materials science curriculum around the supplies Elmer took on his journey. After choosing the topic, I researched important concepts and then designed ways to illustrate these in both observational and data-collecting investigations. Some of our experiments included testing the adhesiveness of chewing gum, determining the elasticity of rubber bands, and dissolving and re-crystallizing lollipops. As Elmer used his tools to escape tricky situations, in the science lab students began to appreciate how things are made, the properties of different materials, and how to think and work like a scientist. I love the challenge of creating investigations for young children around key scientific concepts and the discoveries we make together!

Since childhood, I have been fascinated with the way things work and are made.

My interest helped guide me to learn processes to create and interpret objects, images and concepts. Still fascinated, I look around today, and I can see how almost everything has been designed or engineered. My curious nature, the school-wide theme and the constantly evolving world of technology have been inspiring starting points to develop the Technology and Design curriculum.

it to sound. Students were able to compose melodies and songs from code using a combination of simple interactive devices and then record those on iPads (below). Delving deeper into the design and theme we constructed light boxes that would dim and blink responding in sequence to their Arduino controlled melodies bringing our process full circle. Students could hear and see their efforts.

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With the theme of Vision, I wanted to concentrate on communication and individual creativity through technology and design with the fourth and fifth graders. This was a great opportunity to use some new technologies, like the Arduino board (right), an open-source electronics prototype platform, and introduce programming to the students. We started by exploring light and fiber optics, using a small device to send our voices from a microphone through a fiber optic cable to a receiver board with a speaker. Students then used the Arduino to cause an LED to fade and blink by manipulating the code uploaded to the board. They sent their blinking LED signal through the fiber optic cable to the receiver board converting

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Martha Schwarz & Lupe Galarza - Spanish

The cultural content of a language program naturally interweaves with the school-wide themes we select.

The theme opens a wide window to learn about different cultures and our selves.

Martha Schwarz explains: “El día de los muertos or Day of the Dead is a clear example of the interconnection between content and our themes, such as Layers, Influence, Design or Vision. Every year the Early Elementary and 1st, 2nd and 3rd grade students are introduced to this November holiday, as it is celebrated in Mexico and other Spanish-speaking countries, through traditional images, stories and artifacts. The older Elementary students create an ofrenda or altar to honor their loved ones who passed away. They write personal stories, bring photographs or objects, make masks and paper marigolds, decorate sugar skulls and design their individual displays. The culmination of several weeks of work is a colorful and touching presentation that celebrates the lives of many people close to the heart of our community.”

Lupe Galarza relates: “Origins was a theme that gave us an opportunity to expand our focus into a wider understanding of different cultures. La papa (potato) was the starting point to learn about origins and the journey of la papa around the world before it arrives in the United States. We used the potato to transport us back in time to the Ancient Inca Empire and help us learn about culture, legends and traditions. The Early Elementary students had a chance to taste and identify fruits and vegetables native to Latin America, culminating in creating a traditional public market at school.”

Creating these experiences allowed us to bring to the classroom both Hispanic culture and the language.

Both examples clearly reflect our own family traditions and customs growing up in Peru, and this is what makes these experiences meaningful and rewarding for students and for us.

Theme or Concept Study The specialists ask students to engage in learning using the unique lens of each of their areas of study. Through our individual interests and passions we open the door to connections throughout the community.

It’s magic!

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UCDS’ thematic curriculum takes a central, unifying concept, our school-wide theme, and uses projectbased learning as an approach to intertwine ideas and applications from the different subject areas – such as math, science, literature, art, social studies, history and physical education. When choosing a concept, the faculty looks for ideas that are broad, universal and timeless.

Concepts from past years: Interconnection Change Design Vision Layers Form Quest Balance Origins Influence Strength Elements Motion

Spark Plugs

Resources From the Specialists’ Bookshelves and Bookmarks...

Find more helpful resources at Spark online: www.ucds.org/spark Make Magazine

edited by Mark Frauenfelder (O’Reilly) For anyone interested in the Maker culture, Ben Chickadel (Technology) recommends this publication. The magazine is a great way to immerse yourself in the Maker culture, which is growing so fast. The magazine includes projects ranging from those for the complete beginner in technology to adding a jet engine to your lawnmower!

The Paper Sculpture Book

(Independent Curators International: New York, 2003) Ben Chickadel (Technology) recommends this carefully curated book. Each artist created a project using a sheet of paper. Ben writes, “It’s a great source of inspiration to see the many possibilities that can be realized from the same resource.”

Ready, Set, SCIENCE!: Putting Research to Work in K-8 Science Classrooms

by Sarah Michaels, Andrew W. Shouse, Heidi A. Schweingruber, (National Academies Press:Washington, D.C., 2007)

Katie Morrison (Science) recommends this resource, which makes the content of a major National Research Council study, Taking Science to School: Learning and Teaching Science in Grades K-8, accessible and useful to a very critical audience— science education practitioners who work with and support K-8 classroom teachers. This book represents a collective commitment among the National Academies, its Board on Science Education, the Merck Institute for Science Education, and the National Academies Press to make the products of the National Academies available in formats and language helpful to the work of practitioners.

The Creators Project

thecreatorsproject.com/blog Looking for a place to find some amazing innovative artists and creators using technology and digital media? Ben Chickadel (Technology) suggests you check out The Creators Project blog for inspiration.

National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) journals, information available at http://www.nsta.org/ publications/journals.aspx

Katie Morrison (Science) states, “NSTA provides a wealth of resources for science teaching” and recommends the journal Science and Children. NSTA membership includes a subscription to one of the association’s journals.

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More From the Specialists’ Bookshelves and Bookmarks...

Joanne M. Landy

http://tuneupkidz.com.au/aut.html Kerrie Hecko (PE) finds Joanne M. Landy’s books useful for developing curriculum with an emphasis on fundamental motor skills and movement concepts. In particular, Kerrie refers to Ready to Use Fundamental Motor Skills & Movement Activities for Young Children by Joanne Landy and Keith Burridge (Prentice Hall Professional Technical Reference, 1999), which explains the importance of developing a wide range of physical skills from many different approaches.

Roarr: Calder's Circus

by Maira Kalman, illustrated

by Donatella Brun, 1st edition, (Whitney Museum of Art, 1991) Jessica Garrick (Art) recommends experiencing Alexander Calder's Circus through this funny, tongue twisting story of the circus coming to town!

The Art Spirit

by Robert Henri, (Basic Books: New York, 2007) Jessica Garrick (Art) recommends this work by Robert Henri because, as he writes, "The object isn't to make art, it's to be in that wonderful state which makes art inevitable."

Smithsonian Folkways

http://www.folkways.si.edu/ Matt Swanson (Music) recommends Smithsonian Folkways, the nonprofit record label of the Smithsonian Institute, as a treasure trove of musical recordings from every musical tradition imaginable. Included are numerous lesson plans for K-12 educators and downloadable liner notes.

The American Folksong Collection http://kodaly.hnu.edu/

Drew Holloway (Music) recommends this online resource of the Kodály Center for Music Education. The database catalogs folk songs, complete with an interactive sheet music plug in and decades-old field recordings by Alan Lomax. Drew writes, “I use the ideas straight up or do a quick lyric change to fit the theme or current studies of a level.”

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Imagine: How Creativity Works

by Jonah Lehrer, 1st edition (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt: New York, 2012) Shanthi Raghu (Teacher Education Center Coordinator) recommends Jonah Lehrer’s work. His latest book entitled Imagine: How Creativity Works is a thought-provoking read.

Combining neuroscience and psychology, Lehrer’s writing makes you think more deeply about everyday processes and interactions. He is also the author of Proust Was a Neuroscientist and How We Decide, a regular columnist for Wired magazine and a guest on episodes of Radiolab and Fresh Air on National Public Radio. For more by Jonah Lehrer, see http://www.jonahlehrer.com/.

Spark Plugs Lonely Planet Peru (Country Travel Guide), 7th edition

by Carolina Miranda, Katy Shorthouse, Luke Waterson, and Beth Williams, (Lonely Planet: Australia, 2010) Martha Schwarz (Spanish) recommends the Lonely Planet’s travel guide on Peru as a good book for those interested in travel.

Martha was born, raised and lived in Peru until 1984.

The Days of the Dead

Los Días de los Muertos: Mexico's Festival of Communion with the Departed Photographs by John Greenleigh and text

by Rosalind Rosoff Beimler. (Pomegranate Communications: California, 1998) Martha Schwarz (Spanish) recommends sharing The Days of the Dead with students for its bilingual text and photographs of the celebrations.

The Kindness Of Children

by Vivian Gussin Paley (Harvard University Press: Cambridge, 2000);

The Girl With the Brown Crayon: How Children Use Stories to Shape Their Lives

by Vivian Gussin Paley (Harvard University Press: Cambridge, 1998) Nancy Kiefer (Library) believes that the work of Vivian Gussin Paley contributes to the general philosophy of listening to and interacting with children. These books offer helpful tips on working with children’s observations and combining their ideas with books shared during Library.

Marcoele

www.marcoele.com Lupe Galarza (Spanish) recommends Marcoele, a magazine about teaching Spanish as a foreign language.

Jackie Tales: The Magic of Creating Stories and the Art of Telling Them Todoele

www.todoele.net Lupe (Spanish) also looks to Todoele as a resource about teaching and learning languages. Todoele has tons of articles and links about teaching Spanish, studies about bilingualism, materials for teachers, news etc.

Anita Silvey, Children’s Book Expert

http://www.anitasilvey.com/books/books.html Nancy (Library) also recommends Anita Silvey for reviews on books and various promotions for children’s literature.

by Jackie Torrence, with an introduction by Ossie Davis (HarperCollins: New York, 1998);

Echoes of the Elders: The Stories and Paintings of Chief Lelooska

Edited by Christine Normandin, 1st edition (DK Ink Callaway, 1997) Nancy Kiefer (Library) writes, “In library, storytelling is a key activity.” Because all students listen to and tell stories based on folklore, Nancy recommends delving into the history of storytelling with students. Jackie Torrence and Chief Lelooska were two influential tellers.

Torrence told and collected African American tales and Chief Lelooska told and collected Northwest tribal stories.

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Creative Fusion

Days of Arts, Science

& Humanities (Or, W h a t D o Yo u G e t W h e n Yo u Mi x Ei g ht Sp ec i al i st s?

A n excit ing, diver se wee k o f l ea rn i ng call ed DAS H !)

By Martha Schwarz and Nancy Kiefer “Welcome to our first DASH!” echoes through the 3-4 and 4-5 classrooms, as students read the greeting aloud on a cold Monday morning last winter.

Specialists are about to start a day filled with rhythm and music. Interactive white boards in each classroom announce the performance of the day: One World Taiko, a Japanese drumming duo founded by Gary Tsujimoto and Nancy Ozaki. The students are given carefully chosen articles to read, highlight and reflect upon in their journals, and each classroom shares folk tales from Japan such as The Drums of Noto Hanto by Alison James and The Loyal Cat by Lensey Namioka. These morning activities provide an introduction to Japan’s rich traditions and awaken a curiosity about the music. At the end of the day and after an energetic performance, the students are eager to talk about what they have learned.

DASH stands for Days of Arts, Science and Humanities, or according to MerriamWebster, a dash is “a small, usually distinctive addition.” Similarly, each specialist adds their own discipline— art, library, music, physical education, science, spanish and technology— combined with their distinct passions and interests to provide these collaborative teaching days in January and May.

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Days of Arts, Science and Humanities were conceived as an innovative approach to build in time for writing student reports and to present students with in-depth experiences related to these areas and the year’s school-wide theme. Once called Specialists Days back in 1998-1999 when they were first created, the days have had different configurations through the years as they have evolved into their current form. Now, DASH allows classroom teachers at all levels to take two days in January and one in May to work on their student report narratives. To achieve this, specialists plan a week of DASH in which they spend two consecutive days with the first floor students (1st-3rd graders) and two days with the second floor students (3rd-5th graders) in January and one day with each group in May. Specialists also take report writing days at a different time during those months.

The excitement begins in the early fall as the specialists gather on Friday afternoons to plan. Ideas fly back and forth, and the search begins to find themerelated dancers, scientists, thinkers, adventurers, artists, writers, musicians, athletes and acrobats to enhance the DASH experience. The combination of so many specialized disciplines offers an opportunity for a great variety of choices.

For example, over the years, students have been introduced to Brazilian Samba, toy makers, ballet dancers, storytellers, puppeteers, dramatic theater, sciencemagician shows, authors, violinists, polar bear experts, global trekkers and improvisational comedians. Days of Arts, Science and Humanities open the school’s doors to the broader community by bringing in performers and experts and by building new connections for future collaborations.

Just as the school-wide theme gives specialists an opportunity to work with a focused concept all year long, DASH creates unique ways for them to collaborate and teach adventurously together several times a year. Thinking of the year’s theme when planning these days inspires specialists to explore beyond their own disciplines. All of them together design activities that are related to many areas of study such as art, music, literature, science, physical education and drama.

Once the DASH week is sketched out, specialists create a detailed curriculum and schedule for each day. The special schedule starts when students signin and read the morning assignment and lasts throughout the day. Every day is different and often includes regular specialist rotations, a performance or presentation by a guest, workshops run by the visiting performers and specialistled activities that carefully tie the days together. Refined planning takes place so

“Creativity is as important as literacy and we should treat it with the same status.”

–Sir Ken Robinson

that students are prepared for the special events and the designed activities will enrich their experience. For example, specialists introduced the story The Magical Monkey King several weeks before students viewed The Sichuan Opera’s magnificent performance of this epic tale. Specialists also prepared an introduction to the kind of operas prevailing in Southwestern China, known for their unique use of “face-changing masks.” For these operas, performers design and make thin gauze-like masks that layer on top of each other. When the top mask is pulled off, the identity or demeanor of the character changes in an instant. Following Sichuan Opera’s performance, students made their own face-changing masks from a wide range of translucent papers and gauze.

While there are always new performers that the whole school enjoys during DASH, there are also yearly favorites.

Book-It Repertory Theater returns to perform something new and dynamic each season. This troupe of talented actors brings new or classic children’s literature to schools, adapting the books in a unique style of unabridged text that incorporates both narration and dialogue. The three actors stay for the day and work with small groups of students on performing, adapting books or script writing. Last year, they performed their production of Henry’s Freedom Box

by Ellen Levine. Henry “Box” Brown escaped slavery by traveling in a box from Richmond, Virginia to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Specialists researched and culled historic maps of that time period for students to study and discuss. After the performance, while one group of students worked with the actors, another group worked with various specialists designing their own maps. The students started by listing the places, landmarks

and streets they wanted to incorporate in their maps. Once they had their plan, they used pencils to draw all the details.

Colorful maps showing water forms, bridges, parks, roads and specific houses came to life.

The morning Book-It was coming to perform The Secret Garden, students drew their ideas of secret gardens using pastels. After watching the play, they were given sheets of typed words: nouns, adjectives, verbs and adverbs to cut out and create word collages on top of their colorful artwork. Inspired by their creations and the wonderful play, students expressed their feelings and thoughts by making up mini-stories and poems in an artistic way. At the very end, the students chose one particular gate – out of many choices- to hide their garden of words and excitedly opened the gates during Circle to reveal their completed work.

Simultaneous to this poetry workshop, botanical flower observation took place in another room. A vase of beautiful spring flowers sat on each table. Students were challenged to observe specific parts of the flower and then draw it in a small book they had made themselves at the beginning of the class. They searched for parts of the stamen and pistil, as well as the petal, receptacle and sepal.

These rotations interconnected with the Book-it performance while inviting crossdisciplinary approaches to learning.

The human body became the centerpiece of DASH when vocal and theater artist Christian Swenson performed his Human Jazz show. To the delight of students, he used his body to tell stories, make music and improvise surprising situations using cues and suggestions from the audience. Later, the 1st-3rd grade students had the opportunity to work with him

in a movement workshop where they too transformed their bodies into many shapes and forms. Students worked in rotations that consisted of a special work out in the gym and an exploration of the human body, mainly muscles and joints, using a unique paper activity. The children cut out paper legs and arms, attaching them with brads to make an active person. They experimented with copying their partners’ poses as they pretended to run, walk, jump and stretch.

What will be next on the DASH agenda?

The specialists’ focus remains making sure that students enjoy a rich experience each time. This richness is also central to creating and planning the event because it forms a stronger connection among specialists based on mutual support and collaboration and helps transform this diverse group of teachers into a team.

Adding that dash of salt or herbs to bring out the flavors of the dish has made it a delicious experience as well as just plain fun!

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What Works

Specialists as Superheroes!

MAKING USE OF COLLECTIVE STRENGTH! Similar to the Marvel Comics super heroes... who are bonded together as a group melding distinct characters into a crime fighting team, specialists too are a partnership greater than the sum of their parts. Even though UCDS specialists do not leap buildings in a single bound, bear down with x-ray vision or fight crime against all odds, they are a cohesive group who draw from the knowledge, strengths and areas of expertise of each other to support and enhance the success of all.

An effectively functioning team is dependant on its shared values. These principles are the multiple threads that connect us to one another and allow us to move forward working together toward the common goal of enhancing the UCDS program and culture. The UCDS community discusses, implements and shares its values throughout the school. The same core beliefs that serve as the base layer for the school provide the foundation for specialist classes. These values include innovation, collaboration, communication, facilitation and creating balance. These are the “super powers” of UCDS. 14

As any thriving super hero will tell you, a strong foundation must be combined with a solid structure to support and encourage the development of super powers. UCDS provides such a combination. Just as the school is connected and driven by its shared values, concrete systems and supports are in place to use and develop these values. The format of the school schedule, emergent curriculum design, multiple collaborations and an underlying layer of respect are all pieces of the UCDS structure.

The specialist schedule is a form and function model. It is designed to use time rather than fill time. It supports both classroom teachers and specialists by providing opportunities for small groups, cross level collaborations, mixed groupings and collaborative planning time. The schedule changes each year to meet the evolving needs and wants of the school. For example, in 2003 our new building featured a science classroom where a full time Science Specialist would instruct all levels. When asked what the most productive way to teach science would be, she said a block schedule to allow ongoing experimentation.

By Kerrie Hecko

The content and flow of each specialist class is created by the individual specialist teacher. Specialists use many resources to develop the knowledge and skills inherent to each specialty area. The emergent curriculum is affected by the school-wide theme, events occurring locally or globally, changes in technology as well as studies within the classrooms or other specialty areas. This year’s Vision theme inspired several classrooms to look outward into space. The third and fourth grade students studied Mars in the classroom while exploring the principles of motion in Science. They combined the classroom study with their science experience to conjure up the possible types of travel to the planet and consider the feasibility of human habitation. They also looked at the forces that have shaped the landscape and the geology of Mars. Theme based explorations also exploded around last year’s theme of Design as fourth and fifth grade students helped construct a Makerbot 3-D printer, going through the design process and testing many of their inspired ideas.

Collaboration between the Science and Music Specialists resulted in students redesigning the melody from Hotel California to explain the periodic table.

Students then shared the song during the annual Grandparents and Special

Friends Day performance. Teaching multi-age classes requires innovation as some students may be at the same classroom level for two to three years.

Areas of curriculum may be revisited many times throughout a child’s time at UCDS. Engaging the students again and again while changing, growing and extending projects or activities is a daily occurrence that invigorates the content, the students and the specialists.

UCDS is similar to most schools where specialists spend most of their days working on their own with a group of students...

However, working alone does not mean thinking alone!

Specialists are connected to each other and to classroom teachers in many ways. Specialists meet formally as a team once a week to discuss upcoming projects, organize DASH (Days of Art, Science and Humanities) and share information. Throughout the week they meet with classroom teachers to discuss how to best support children as well as linking theme and curriculum across the whole school. Specialists provide a unique perspective at these meetings.

Although they see children in one specialty area for a short period of time during the week, they spend five to eight years teaching each UCDS student. This long term relationship between specialist and student over the years provides valuable insights and historical perspective.

Multiple collaborations in various forms take place daily within the school.

Many are richly planned projects that combine specialty areas or connect

to classroom studies. The Spanish and Library Specialists have combined their storytelling talents several times sharing stories such as La Cucarachita Martina (folklore) in both English and Spanish. During the school wide theme Influence the Music and Library Specialists worked in conjunction with classroom teachers to look more deeply at fairytales. In Library students read and discussed fairy tales, and then in classrooms, students rewrote and created new twists to their own fairytales. In Music students recorded their tales, looking at the protagonist that influenced the story. Students also venture beyond the walls of the school drawing from Seattle’s many talented artists and experts. Within last year’s theme of Design pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten students explored many aspects of birds in their classrooms while at the same time in science they were discovering information about the arctic. Arctic ornithologist George Divoky added depth and connection when he visited these students and shared his observations of how climate change is affecting sea birds (black guillemots) and how he collects his data. Often collaborations occur informally or spontaneously and may be harder to recognize. Inspired by the study of space and planetary orbits, students used shadow images in their artwork in the Art Studio while taking shadow pictures in Technology, connecting the shadow and sunlight effects that come from changing seasons. The culture of the school combines ongoing communication and connectedness. Classroom teachers and specialists relish opportunities to tie content to multiple disciplines, both broadening and deepening a student’s understanding of a topic.

Ah-ha moments abound during projects that connect!

Each Specialist contributes a unique skill set drawing from their passion and area of expertise. Additionally, the specialists re individuals with strong ideas, differing opinions and vastly different backgrounds. This broad mix of personalities and professional fields combined with multiple years of teaching experience could be a recipe for conflict and self promotion, yet the opposite is true. The specialists at UCDS are energized by one another.

They are inspired by the knowledge, creativity and thoughtfulness each team member brings to the group. There is an underlying layer of respect that allows specialists to openly share ideas and express opinions. When together, meeting as a group or one on one, they listen to one another knowing that the contributions made by others strengthens the content and teaching for all.

Faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound, there are intriguing collaborations yet to be explored for the team of UCDS specialists. Just as Super Heroes combine their individual skills and talents together for the benefit of others, the specialists combine their areas of expertise, insights and energy. The shared values of the school and the systems in place to support these values serve as a guide to inspire collaborations and creative multi-layered classrooms. Specialists look to one another to grow and stretch themselves, appreciating the capabilities, knowledge and dedication from all.

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People Who Inspire Us

t s i l a i c e Sp s r e h c a te find curricular n w o d m o r f n o i t a r i p s n i d n a l l a h the e h t e d outsi walls.

by Katie Morrison and Matt Swanson

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UCDS parent, John Neilson loved ideas; those he found in literature and those he gained through a deep appreciation of world culture, math, science, art, music, philosophy and physical excellence.

In 1999, at the age of thirty-eight, John lost a hard fought battle against non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. In honor of John’s life, The Neilson Endowment Fund was created. Through the Teacher Education Center at UCDS, we use this endowment to create and share programs that offer children access to big ideas.

John was an inspiration to us in life and we dedicate this, ‘People Who Inspire Us’ section to him.

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Specialists at UCDS have a difficult time fitting things in boxes...

Though the school schedule has separate boxes for each specialty area, in reality it is impossible to contain each discipline in this way. A Spanish song learned in Music class takes on new meaning when the cultural tradition behind the song is uncovered in Spanish class. Though it is tempting to isolate each subject for ease of planning—allowing for a “divide and conquer” approach to curriculum design—specialists at UCDS have found it worth the extra effort to build connections outside their areas. Specialists draw inspiration from the passion and expertise of their colleagues. While these collaborations often lead to lively investigations within the school, the resulting projects often grow beyond the confines of school walls, gleaning enrichment through community resources and expertise. These collaborations allow local artists, scientists, musicians and many others to bring their knowledge and enthusiasm to the students’ learning process.

For students, engaging in a topic through multiple disciplines facilitates the kind of integrated thinking that is crucial in today’s interconnected world.

Strengthening ties between specialty areas allows students to access knowledge through different pathways and gives them multi-sided tools to solve complex problems. Specialists at UCDS have observed a positive feedback loop when they merge their curricula. For example, during the year themed Vision, students experienced “Ah Ha” moments when they applied principles of light and optics they had learned in Science to glasswork they were doing in Art. Each new window into a topic reinforces the skills developed in other areas, and as students move along an interdisciplinary thread they realize that they’ve begun to think “like the experts.” While they certainly haven’t covered every content area, they have uncovered the kind of indepth and connected thinking that is necessary to push a field forward.

For UCDS specialists, collaboration has become an engine that drives some of our most exciting curricular developments. Here we describe two examples that highlight our process and curriculum.

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From Mill to Music One year, the school-wide theme Quest launched a yearlong exploration of guitars by 4th and 5th grade students. This project brought together Music, Technology, a local sawmill and a luthier (stringed instrument builder). Initially, Music Specialist Matt Swanson and Technology and Design Specialist Ben Chickadel envisioned a fairly simple, shortterm collaboration, but as new avenues for exploration kept opening up, the scope of the project kept growing. From a technology standpoint, Ben saw an opportunity to explore the quest from raw materials to finished products. On the musical end, Matt hoped this journey could lead students on a quest to understand how instruments produce sound (and build a classroom set of guitars)!

This ambitious endeavor began with a trip to a local sawmill, where students hoisted logs in the air and watched the mill shape them into guitar necks. Back at school classes tested the resonance of the cigar boxes that would later become guitar bodies, and used Google SketchUp to plan how all of the pieces would fit together. To bring these designs to fruition students used tools such as saws, drills, hammers and more intangible tools like mathematical and spatial reasoning. Grappling with complex fractional equations, one student remarked “I’m not sure if I’m in Math, Music or Technology right now!”

With the basic shape of the guitars cut and ready, classes took a field trip across the street to visit a guitar-builder in action. Luthier Aaron Andrews explained his process for making various types of guitars and highlighted the different types of materials and tools he used. He then cut the fret slots into the students’ guitar necks—a step requiring specialized tools and a degree of precision that Ben and Matt decided was best left to a professional! Back at school, classes worked through the remaining steps, becoming experts in the specific vocabulary of the trade: Notching and gluing necks into bodies, cutting bridges and nuts out of found plastic materials, cutting and filing fret wire and installing tuning pegs. They even built, tested and installed piezo pick-ups so that the guitars could be amplified.

Students and Specialist teachers transform raw materials by hand into playable cigar-box guitars.

The project came to fruition just as classes were gearing up for the spring musical performance, and eight students took to the stage with the guitars they had made. As the “guitarchestra� performed a rousing rendition of On the Road Again, the crowd marveled at the sound of these handmade instruments. In music class students spent the rest of the spring playing the guitars, learning chords and basic technique. As the 4th and 5th graders built their set of musical skills, it was evident just how much they had taken from this project.

They had a profound understanding of the inner workings of the instruments, and when something broke they knew just what needed to happen to fix it. Their first-hand experience of the quest from raw materials to sophisticated musical instrument developed their appreciation of the interconnected nature of disciplines: music, technology, math and product design. And finally, they had a strong investment in a set of instruments that was to become part of the school’s music collection.

The legacy of the guitars lives on at the school, where they hang on a display wall next to the front office. They are still used for musical pursuits of all kinds, and they also function as a reminder of the opportunities presented by interdisciplinary, collaborative teaching.

Continued >

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Up, up and away!

It is a blustery day on the playground at UCDS and student scientists are cheering for the wind to blow even harder. They are using handheld anemometers to record wind speed, analyzing various designs for accuracy and ease of use. Later in the year they will choose the best anemometers for testing the windmill blades they have designed in Technology. Weeks earlier these same students were experiencing the effects of the wind as they soared their self-portrait kites from Art high in the sky. In these vignettes from the 2010-2011 school year, first and second grade students were swept up in a cross-curricular study of wind and weather in the Art, Science and Technology specialist programs.

In this collaborative example, the theme of Design and the topic of wind were the common thread that tied together these interdisciplinary projects. Inspired by the students’ classroom read-aloud Windblowne, a story of a young boy and his kite-flying adventures, specialists brainstormed how the separate curricula could weave together a pattern of concepts, skills and processes centering on wind and weather. The discipline-specific explorations described below also led to collaborations with experts outside the walls of UCDS. In the Science Lab students experimented with the properties of air, the principles of convection and wind and the form and function of anemometers. Two collaborations with outside experts added depth to our project. Meteorologist Kristina Katsaros (below) shared with students her design of equipment to collect wind and rain data for ocean-atmosphere interactions. She brought to life her experiences as a weather scientist and engineer: living on NOAA ships, working in the laboratory and flying into a hurricane! Classes collaborated remotely with NASA scientists by submitting data to the S’COOL (Students Cloud Observations On Line) program as students learned to identify cloud types, determine opacity and estimate cloud cover.

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Meanwhile in the Technology Lab, students immersed themselves in a yearlong project on wind and renewable energy. Focusing on wind turbines, students used computers to design and simulate tests for wind generator blades. Each student created a set of unique propellers and measured the voltage output—enough to light an LED! During this project, tools explored in the Science Lab were revisited in Technology, while the project in Technology added application and meaning to the concept studies happening in Science.

In the Art Studio, the year took flight with students designing and building self-portrait kites and overcoming the challenges of aligning a self-portrait with the parts of a working kite. On a field trip to a local park, students flew their kites high in the sky (opposite-left). They noticed the contrast of their creations against the backdrop of clouds and color. This led to a study of skyscapes, with students using oil pastels and watercolors to create resist paintings. Observation skills and cloud terminology were reinforced in both disciplines as students explored clouds and weather from multiple perspectives.

Conversations about cloudscapes and weather led to collaboration with expeditionary artist and scientist Maria Coryell-Martin(above right) who works “en plein air” and

in remote places like Greenland and Antarctica. Maria worked with students to create watercolor cloudscapes, focusing on the types of clouds they had been studying in Science.

Maria shared not only her toolbox of skills for observational techniques in the field, but also her enthusiasm and life’s work of blending art and science.

While each project in Art, Science and Technology could have stood alone as an amazing investigation of design and wind, together they harnessed the energy of collaboration and the benefits of exploring a topic through multiple perspectives and disciplines.

Lessons Learned From these experiences, as well countless other projects, we carry forward some important lessons. The key ingredient is a willingness to start fresh each year and consider new opportunities for exploring each discipline through different lenses. Specialists at UCDS have also found that it is difficult to initially map out every detail for projects of this magnitude—rather it is beneficial to let the project unfold in response to student learning, teacher collaboration and out-of-school resources. Frequent conversations are central to successful partnerships, as these provide consistencies in student experiences and reinforce concepts and ideas. These collaborative conversations revolve around big picture ideas such as themes, project direction, learning outcomes and the nuts and bolts such as tools, materials and terminology.

Collaborations can be a tight knit plan where two curricula are linked and sewn together, each depending on the others’ progress to move forward. Other times, they are strung together by a common thread or idea, each flowing freely like a kite tail but also building on one another and each adding a layer of depth to the concept study. Either form is inspiring to teachers and students alike!

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NON-PROFIT ORG. U. S. POSTAGE P A I D SEATTLE, WA. PERMIT NO. 02488

University Child Development School

UCDS Board of Trustees Officers Kate Marks, Chair Janet Donelson, Vice Chair Greg Headrick, Treasurer Julie West Prentice, Secretary Members at Large Howard Burton Michelle Goldberg Steve Hollomon Caroline Probst Peggy Rinne Eric Sanderson Jeff Taraday Faye Tomlinson Kobi Yamada Ex-Officio Members Paula Smith, Head of School David Brannon-Cirone,

Parent Association President Jennifer Vary, Faculty Representative

University Child Development School 5062 9th Ave NE Seattle, WA 98105 206-547-UCDS (8237) Fax 206-547-3615 www.ucds.org

The UCDS Mission University Child Development School is centered around the lives of children and is dedicated to the development of their intellect and character. We actively encourage, and the school everywhere reflects, the process of joyful discovery that is central to meaningful and responsible learning. Teaching is individualized and responsive to the talents of each student, and the curriculum is rigorous and integrates the concepts and skills embedded within the major disciplines. Our students are chosen for their promise of intellect and character and are selected from a crosssection of the community. Our faculty members are leaders in their fields, supported in advancing their studies and encouraged to share their knowledge widely.

In pursuit of these ideals, and in recognition of obligations beyond the school itself, we strive to be an innovative leader in education, serving as a model for others.