Silk Road Connect in New York City
Teachers and students in our Silk Road Connect partner schools in New York have had their hands full—of blue dye. Educators have also been exploring options for integrating the arts into their curricula. Indigo experiments What better way to study the cultures along the historical Silk Road than with hands-on experiences that bring both their differences and similarities to life? For the third year in a row, sixth-grade students and their teachers in our New York City partner schools conducted just such an experiment with indigo, a blue dye that has been used the world over since ancient times. In October, textile artist Linda LaBelle drove to New York City from her home in North Carolina to help students dye with indigo. In preparation, students created many different traditional styles of "resists"—cords, ties, clamps, rubber bands and jumbled objects that prevented materials from soaking up the vivid blue from the indigo dye vats. Some fabrics emerged looking like a familiar tie-dye. The result of one Japanese resist technique resembled a stormy sky. Silk Road Connect helps students and teachers make connections among all types of learning. Students prepared for dyeing by focusing on traditions, one of their learning goals. They also considered the process from a scientific perspective. After being introduced to the scientific method, students predicted how their fabric squares would turn out. And the artistic experience of creating patterns and dyeing fabric became "like a science experiment," in the words of one student in Queens. The students and teachers would be the first to point out that a recent scientific discovery had improved their own experience. Up until last year, this experiment had been, in a word, smelly. But this year Linda developed a new process for dyeing that eliminated the odor, and students were able to dye in comfort inside their schools. Professional development We recently held our first professional development session open not only to our partner schools but to all middle school educators in New York City. On November 8, 26 teachers from nine schools, including public schools, charter schools, and the UN School, gathered to focus on arts integration. All disciplines, including applied arts, were represented. Some teachers had been involving the arts in their classrooms for years, and others wanted to know how to begin. Under the rubric of Perspective-Taking, a Silk Road Connect learning goal, teachers took a turn as students, completing an arts-integrated lesson that involved photography. They also received resources on using museums, assessing student work, and aligning the arts with their required curricula. Cristina Pato, a Silk Road Ensemble member and gaita player, took part in the exercises along with teachers, performed for them, and shared her experience as a Silk Road Connect teaching artist. Silk Road Connect in Boston In addition to our involvement in New York City, we have begun working with sixth-grade educators in two schools in the Boston area: Jackson Mann K-8 School in Allston and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. School in Cambridge. In this initial phase of partnership, we are discussing the unique resources and needs of each school, as the teachers familiarize themselves with our program goals. Silk Road Connect is a flexible approach, adaptable to different state standards and individual communities, and close working partnerships with schools will help teachers make the most of teaching artist visits, which will begin in the spring semester. A professional development day on December 3 will focus on using teaching artists to foster connections in the classroom and beyond. A limited number of spaces will be available to educators from other schools in the Boston area. See our calendar for details. |