Notes from the School of Arts and Communication

Triad of Kayla (English), Brian (Music) and Catalina (ELL)

March 30, 2007

In order of presentation, with discussion evidencing its own recursivity:

1. Catalina Rodríguez     Taking a cue from Roger Shanley, the discussion began with a classroom activity that students really enjoyed. In my ELL class, they really loved the film The Way Home, in Korean with English subtitles, about a young boy’s cultural adjustments to life in the country with his mute grandmother. Themes addressed in this movie included those of migration/reverse migration, culture shock, generational/intergenerational relationships, dis/abilities, traditional vs. emergent values, and empathy. The film employed visual, aural, and narrative texts. Second-language learners heard only the Korean language, and so their English-language reading skills were enhanced by the rapidly floating subtitles of the film. Cross-curricular applications included social studies (world history, geography, urban vs. rural geography, immigration/refugee history), science (ecology), CTE (economics: food, jobs, income), music (Leitmotiv), English (reading, narrative, thematic standards/empathy), and ELL (model of concentric circles with the verb in the center).
2. Kayla Spies                 Kayla focused on what does (doesn’t) work with students. Using the English standard of empathy, she showed how situations of identity worked within peer groups studying transcendentalism. Her students were exposed to Frank Sinatra’s version of the song “My Way” as illustration, and upon objecting to her choice, were encouraged to provide their own examples. Drawings and competitions among the students was also encouraged. Certain physical configurations worked better than others, but collaborative learning was well received. In working on narrative, students worked on journals and essays. Character profiles were personalized by students in their MySpace blog (example: Daisy Buchanan). This led to a discussion with Brian on the cross-curricular relationships between English and English as an Acquired Language.
3. Brian Wolfe                  Brian brought valuable insights to the discussion. For the concentric circles model, he placed the music standard of Themes in the center. For example, in the Composition/Theory class, under the standard of Forms, he showed how the musical concept of tension/release was related to the linguistic concepts of expansion/contraction and differentiation/simplification. Specific examples included the Occidental musical variations upon a Korean folk song (which related back to the musical score of the film The Way Home). Other topics discussed were the concept of “high” vs. popular culture, and the standards for music standards of improvisation, technique, theme, form, levels of performance, and textures (rhythm, dynamics), as well as the writing system of musical notation as compared to alphabets.