As a kindergarten teacher, I’m always looking for opportunities for my students to develop their writing skills by creating their own sentences. As I was brainstorming ideas for new reading centers, I remembered a collection of gallery notes I received when I interned at Artpace in 2011. I sifted through them and selected several that I knew would engage my student’s imagination. I instructed my students to make observations about what they saw and record them, sounding out each word the best they could, and writing their responses on chart paper. Each week, my students experience a different past Artpace International Artist-in-Residence project, allowing them to practice their writing and observation skills, as well as make new discoveries about contemporary art. They love this new center and can’t wait to see what work of art they will be writing about next! We don’t have an art teacher on our campus, so if I weren’t bringing Artpace into my classroom and these gallery notes, my students would not be exposed to contemporary art.
-Guest blogger Christina Zambano is a past Artpace intern and Associate Educator
To bring Artpace into your classroom visit our Educator Resources page for lesson plans and ideas. You can also get your own set of Artpace gallery notes by contacting education@artpace.org. [one-half]
