UCI-San Diego Unified Teaching Artist Program Provides Update of Accomplishments
For Immediate Release
Center for Learning Through the Arts
Helping Children Learn English through the Arts
A partnership between UC Irvine and the San Diego Unified School District uses the arts to boost language skills of K-2 students in 15 schools located in San Diego's least affluent neighborhoods. Instead of asking children to sit quietly at desks, teachers co-teach 27 arts lessons (9 in theater, 9 in dance, 9 visual art) with teaching artists in their own classrooms. This boosts the amount of verbal interaction--a key factor in learning a new language--between adults and young English learners.
The school year following the weekly visits from teaching artists, classroom teachers use the arts lessons on their own. To assist teachers in remembering important details, video versions of the theater lessons have been made available on-line: http://www.clta.uci.edu/Theatre_1.html
In 2008-09, all K-2 teachers at 12 San Diego schools participated in the Teaching Artist Program, which is funded by an $828,000 Improving Teacher Quality grant administered by the California Postsecondary Education Commission. In 2009-10, three more schools joined the program, bringing the number of schools to 15. Enthusiasm is high as teachers who worked with teaching artists last year approach the end of their first term of teaching the arts on their own.
Over a million children who are unfamiliar with English attend California schools. English learners make up a quarter of K-12 students. If they are to achieve to their full potential, these children need direct and frequent interaction with individuals who know the language of instruction well and can provide English learners with accurate feedback.
As budget cuts force class sizes higher, one-on-one verbal interactions between teachers and individual pupils become more limited. Arts activities that allow for the use of nonverbal communication in combination with verbal interactions can be an effective way for teachers to directly interact with many children at once, providing feedback and building vocabulary.
For more information call:
Denise Lynne, Coordinator
ITQ Teaching Artist Program
Phone: 858-539-5350
E-mail: dlynne@sandi.net
Liane Brouillette, Principal Investigator
ITQ Teaching Artist Program
Phone: 949-824-4317
E-mail: liane.brouillette@uci.edu
Kindergartners enjoy a dance lesson implemented by their teacher as part of the
UC Irvine-San Diego Unified Teaching Artist Program.
