We believe all students can learn at high levels when they are provided the opportunity to interact with engaging, well-designed curriculum and their teachers know how to deliver that curriculum with fidelity. Our Artful Reading model provides both of those opportunities, and we want more students in this area to have access.
Artful Reading takes advantage of what we know about how people learn. We know authentic learning experiences provides powerful schema for students to wrap their learning around, and we know th
at when students are asked to create and make meaning from their learning they learn more effectively. These modules use an exceptional picture book as a springboard for arts-integrated experiences that allow students to express their learning in a variety of ways.
The looks on students’ faces when they are involved in creating their own versions of what Alexander looks like during Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day module is incredible, and the power of identifying feelings and exploring ways to react to different feelings, whether good or bad. I don’t have enough space in this column to share all of the wonderful feedback we get from students across the region when they tell us about what they did during the module, or share the incredible work they create, or share the wonderful story they were able to write at the end of the module study. We believe in the power of these modules to impact student learning!
However, we don’t work directly with students, we work with TEACHERS! We have designed wonderful resources for students and work hard to support teachers in delivering the content to students. It is our passion and a responsibility that we take very seriously. Teachers love the materials as much as the students do and our staff enjoys being able to work with the teachers who are part of our larger professional learning model for Artful Reading. Again, we use what we know about impacting instruction to design this work. Research indicates that a strong curriculum has a strong impact on student learning, but coupling that curriculum with professional learning to support the teacher implementing is MOST POWERFUL. Teachers need help when they implement something new, just like students need help when they are learning something new. Our training meets the teachers where they are and helps them understand the integration of the arts as well as the focus on a balanced approach to literacy that is embedded in each set of lessons. Teachers work to develop their own summative writing rubrics, because we know ownership is key to implementing rubrics in classrooms with students.
I want to share this one quote from Ashley Lile, a second grade teacher who has been working with CTL on Artful Reading, “My students love the hands on approach of the lessons. It sparks so much creativity
and wonder. Wonder on a child’s face is food for the teacher soul.”
Why am I sharing all of this with you today? We want to bring Artful Reading to classrooms in the Louisville area, and we need your help in making that happen. Our goal is to put 50 modules in the hands of teachers this year. With that we can impact learning for more than 1250 students across the region.
We are a small, self-funded organization and can’t do this alone. We know the power of our Artful Reading modules, and need you to help. Do you know a student who would benefit from an exciting approach to reading and learning like Artful Reading? Then help us put a module in that students’ classroom. We have lots of teachers who would like to implement modules but don’t have the funds available to purchase. You could help that teacher get a module that knows will fit perfectly into their class instruction.
Throughout the summer we will be sharing opportunities for you to find out more about CTL, Artful Reading, and the impact it has on student learning. We will also be highlighting teachers who recognize the power of well-designed literacy lessons and arts-integration and want to give their students the Artful Reading experience. Please take the time to read or listen to their story and share so we can reach our goal of impacting 1250 students through this effort.
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