Art breaks the language barrier - Integrating the curriculum

Arts & Activities, Jan, 2004 by Charl Anne Brew

What better way is there for students to learn than to teach other students? That is the question I asked myself when I came up with the idea for making interactive books as a teaching vehicle. The plan: high-school students make books and share them with elementary-school children.

I pitched the idea to other high-school teachers outside the art department. Teachers in the foreign-language department liked the idea, but where would the supplies come from?

The state of Virginia has a wonderful grant program for art teachers who want to do artist-in-residence projects across the curriculum, thus bringing art into the classroom. In the 2000-01 school year, I applied for and received a grant from the Commission for the Arts. My colleagues in the foreign language department, Ms. Murphy and Ms. Stover, were thrilled to participate with me on the project. When we told the students, they could not wait to get started making their books.

One of the primary book-project objectives was to aid students with language fluency. The creation of an interactive (pop-up) children's book in the appropriate foreign language facilitated our primary goal. The design problem was to construct a visually pleasing book that would relate to a younger child. Making a book appealing to a younger child combines great themes, large colorful illustrations, lots of fun pop-ups, and dynamic lettering.

Week one was spent introducing the project to the students. They selected Spanish or Italian artists as the theme for their books. The younger students with whom they would be sharing these books would not only improve their fluency with the books, but also learn some art history. The students also spent time working on the text. They were introduced to handmade pop-up books and samples demonstrating the "how-to's" of book construction.

The following week we spent in the art room creating and illustrating covers, author pages, title pages, copy write, dedication pages, and the wonderful pages of the books. While the students and I discussed some of the basic elements of design, they practiced applying those design elements to their pages. Discussions and demonstrations for using the whole space on the page, and for placement of text went on simultaneously.

In some cases, the application of collage required expanding magazine pictures or pictures scanned and printed off the computer. These extended drawings were accomplished by applying colored pencil, markers or paint. Students also used mixed-media to create a whole cover or illustration for a page. Some had never been exposed to such art techniques and they found it challenging and exciting.

The experience allowed the foreign-language teachers and I to see bits of paper and picture fragments become colorful, fun and intriguing books. The amount of apparent learning was phenomenal! A hands-on project like this really brings out the best in students. They helped and taught one another how to make pop-ups, increased fluency in their specific foreign language, and asked one another questions about color, design and layout.

Part of the design aspect of the books included pop-ups. They added the three-dimensional interactive quality to the books. Some examples include talking mouths, pop-up cubes or boxes, springs, doors that flap open, turning circles, sliding strips and more. As the group became comfortable with the process, they invented their own and sought ideas from the Internet. The resource book by Joan Irvine, How to Make Pop-Ups (William Morrow, 1988), has very clear instructions with excellent illustrations. These qualities make it perfect for any grade level.

Once the books were completed, the students had an opportunity to take them to a neighboring elementary school and share their stories with first and second graders. What an enriching follow-up to an already fabulously successful project.

We all agreed that the bigger and more colorful the illustrations and the more precise and centered the text, the more professional the books appeared. We also that the handcrafted look of the books made them endearing and intimate. The students took their newly found skills and applied them to many more projects in other classes. It was very rewarding to see how such a simple project could spread throughout the school and be enjoyed by so many people.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Students will ...

* increase fluency in a foreign language.

* learn basic elements of design.

* increase writing skills in a foreign language.

* utilize unusual techniques to create illustrations and construct a book.

* combine a variety of materials to create mixed-media work.

MATERIALS

* 18" X 24" white paper

* Pencils and erasers

* White glue and glue sticks

* Recycled magazines

* Oak tag

* Mixed media and found objects

* Scissors and X-ACTO[R] knives

* Computers, scanners and color printer

* Paintbrushes

* Watercolor

Arts & Activities Contributing Editor, Charl Anne Brew, was teaching art at Bishop O'Connell High School in Arlington, Va. Currently, she is an Adjunct at Prince George's Community College in Largo, Md.