"It's Elementary my dear" (IEMD)– has many meanings. This time it describes the role that an individual learner can take in reaching for equity and building skills required by the common core with the help of trained educators. Proposed as a storytelling community service video where youth would tell us what works for them in classroom, the work quickly evolved to a short documentary that captures the value of professional development training at a neighborhood schools.
Released on New Year's Eve, on the Internet by New Education Options, Inc. in Sherman Oaks, California, this public service announcement describes a new video release. Students in this case investigated to find out what might matter to tell others and the film is the result.
This title is a student-produced, community service video crafted by four talented Cleveland High School Media Academy teens. Its goal: to "make a difference". It was funded by an individual donor and crafted in the Cleveland High School Media Academy.
As a community service student media project, the outcome proposed was to possibly forward the sponsoring nonprofit's mission, but to primarily open up a discussion that might be valuable to others.
It began as a vehicle to launch a discussion of literacy and its development. IEMD the film saturated down from full school remote shooting with consumer cameras to exploring one unit of musical training for staff workers in early education including language arts explorations in science through music and the arts.
Its pedagogy: to use the medium unencumbered by adult direction to voice their opinions.
The project began with a donation from David Elliott and students mentoring students.
It morphed from a short expected to impact others. The project started with a goal of 20 people impacting 200 (a part of homework in the Landmark Self-Expression and Leadership Project).
For NEO, New Education Options, Inc., it evolved to an elegant, simple and powerful presentation covering contemporary issues in PK-5 grades featuring the work of its director as a continuing education unit in review by the participants, the staff of NOBLEKids at Hamlin Charter Academy in Woodland Hills.
It documents the impact that singing can have on school culture, nonprofit community access, and student potential for social and academic improvements. It a city separated by freeways with little foot traffic and gaps in a community space, the video is a real boon in communicating what work NEO is involved in.
After exploring rough field research footage, contemplating what they wanted to say, the production team focused on organizing the content into a 2:05 short.
As a digital documentary, Lexis, Daisy, Salam, and Jeanne, chose to feature young San Fernando Valley, college educated, childcare workers who voice their enthusiasm for a professional training that embraced Science through the Common Core and the Arts.
What began as a mystery, answered by the (Leonard) Bernstein Foundation 'Artful Learning Framework' and NEA or internet researched sources, continued to inform their expanding research question "how does one combine different disciplines to improve student achievement"? "Does Art inform Science study?" "Can music positively impact informal science and at-risk learner performance?" "Is providing this kind of content vital to the age group that NOBLE serves and could this arts-science paradigm be communicated through the footage gathered?"
They edited and cut to reveal a message, choosing a continuing education unit led by California Artist in the Schools awardee, and Director, Bo Lebo, and a NEO program WaterBuddy. Although they have captured footage of Salvadore Elementary in NAPA and of Crossroads nonpublic Title 22 high school in Van Nuys, they embraced utilizing arts integration with California's AB 1548 (CalRecycle PK Education and the Environment curriculum) to remediate reading skills in Title 1 settings.
See the QVR Code (2:05 music video final release to view at
http://chart.apis.google.com/chart?cht=qr&chs=350x350&chl=http://www.teachertube.com/viewVideo.php?video_id=320527)
They focus of NEO's WaterBuddy enrichment program training teachers that work in mixed PK-3rd grade settings. The "Rainbow Song" continuing education program footage explores STEM through cameo'd interviews with participating staff from NOBLE, Inc.'s Fall childcare program (NOBLEKids-Website: www.mynoble.org)
Using state-approved content as an instructional foundation, the video captures the NOBLEKids faculty's reaction to the impact of EEI/musical linguistics pedagogy. They have been joyfully applying and discussing, demonstrating, and inventing from NEO's training workshop using elements of Songworks and MusicEdventures concepts in English Language and Reading.
Here arts integration scaffolding, applied with state and federal guidelines, was modeled for NOBLE staff who discuss with the viewer, how the Rainbow Song and arts/science training they received deepened their students' experiences.
The staff have embraced NEO's cross-disciplinary approach to core standards. The video sketches out NEO's arts in education approach seen through student art work and individual interviews. WaterBuddy (WB) uses music to drive student interest and raise professional skill sets.
By featuring WB, these lively educators, the Media Academy's young creative team, discovered that arts integration is not unique to New Education Options, the nonprofit, they were volunteering for, but is gaining in popularity and at the center of many national studies and directed philanthropy.
Lexis, Daisy, Jeanne and Salam reviewed field video shot in Napa, Oahu, Woodland Hills, Van Nuys and elsewhere and chose to feature NOBLEKids at Hamlin Charter Academy.
The video documents using music as a bridge to informal science and building student academic achievement through vocabulary.
By using the arts in their daily practice, NOBLE's professionals are discovering affirmative and brain targeted interventions that seem to increase language practice, reading skill development, student motivation and behavior, creativity, self-discovery, and even have an impact on class room management.
For more information about showing the video for educational uses or to invite Ms. Lebo to speak or present at paper, text or call 818-742-5099.
To give a tax exempt year-end donation today or until Valentine's Day 2014 for scholarships for arts in education programming for NOBLEKids or at other schools, go to www.letsfund.it and click on the "Aloha from the HeART" LA River campaign. NEO's goal is to underwrite services for children who otherwise might go without these kinds of programs due to budget cuts.
Each $30K will provide books and instruction for WaterBuddy. Our hope to raise the dollars required for WB to train teachers for 10 school sites, 2000 students, and classroom or after school educators/childcare staffers.
The short will accomplish its communication goals if it impacts enough funders and principals that its subject's services are underwritten providing more enrichment services for more children to receive enrichment services on LAUSD SFV school campuses in 2014-2015 providing a match for further year round services with NOBLE, Inc. (www.mynoble.org).
******************
Post Script: it is now "elementary" to the Ms. Rodriguez, Ms. Ochoa, Ms. Fernandez and Mr. Quammouh that the Arts and Sciences inform each other and really belong together in class work or daily life….. Because of their sleuthing….and generosity…more teachers, parents, administrators, and funders can reexamine the role of the arts in driving performance and raising achievement using elements insisted upon in the federal Common Core Standards.
They earned 35 hours for their service work, but they drove an old and new paradigm into discussion widening a current and ongoing conversation concerning Educational Budget Appropriations and GAO/Presidential recommendations.
************************
Thank you's abound and so does the impact:
Separately and concurrently, photographer Dana Wellborn donated her "Aloha from my Heart" calendars to underwrite enrichment, science/art programs.
NOBLE is expanding its programming in order that children are school ready and parents can go to work content their children are safe and supported.
The video has reached more than 200 people and raised spirits.
It captures NEO's valuable work at a valuable time when WaterBuddy's nonprofit became a community partner with the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California and its director received California Arts Council dollars that were provided by the National Endowment for the Arts.
Without coaching and the CHS's Media Academy, everyone might have missed this grassroots work by these two nonprofits.
The SELP project structure teamed with high school community service credits and a digital media lab allowed for the bigger vision to emerge out of incongruous disciplines and lots of interruptions.
By showing college educated professionals working in early education the film earmarks a historic moment in Southern California where literacy and supplemental educational services might become part of the national drive to find an affordable solution for our kids to excel and achieve.
While Education is at a "tipping point", this kind of enthusiasm is vital and its acquired skills are transformational for below basic students who otherwise might fall beyond our reach.
The President is an outspoken as a supporter of student graduation and including a plan that childcare providers gain higher educational degrees. Intuitively the teen producers focused on the material at hand and derived a documentary featuring what a great program would look like and how it works.
"It's elementary my dear" will be shared with Educators and those interested in this childcare and enrichment work. At last, NEO has a communications tool that can make all the difference in creating new and significant flex time or full time jobs in the San Fernando Valley.
The jobs are local, sustaining, and nearby if we create them. Wow. We travelled so far only to come home to the task at hand. Start early and practice often and make sure that music and arts can be included to build student participation, comprehension, aptitude and motivation.
____________________________________
It's Elementary my dear links:
For Fun……..BBC Series-
http://www.dailystar.co.uk/showbiz-tv/hot-tv/357886/Elementary-my-dear-Watson-Sherlock-s-New-Year-s-secret-was-two-years-in-the-making Phrase Finder-
phrases.org.uk/meanings/elementary-my-dear-watson.html
Sherlock Holmes-
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sherlock_Holmes
Did he ever say it?-
www.snopes.com › Home › Questionable Quotes › Signature
Phrases
Sharon Rutter/School House Rock-
www.youtube.com/watch?v=AilDza95hYc
Arts Integration Research-
http://www.sjsu.edu/people/susan.verducci/courses/ca177/s1/Arts%20Integration%20Framework,%20Research%20&%20Practice.pdf
http://www.education.nh.gov/instruction/curriculum/arts/documents/ilp_report.pdf http://www.cehd.umn.edu/carei/publications/documents/DoforStudents.pdf EEI- CalRecycle AB 1548 resources-
http://www.calepa.ca.gov/education/EEI/Curriculum/GradeK/K3a/K3aVA.pdf Arts in Education in Discussion-
http://artswa.org/media/dynamic/docs/One-Page-Arts-Education-Research-Initiative.pdf http://www.edutopia.org/stw-arts-integration-resources-lesson-plans Song, rhythm and music-
http://www.musicedventures.org/videos.html http://www.dcfg.net/ A Socio-Cognitive Mix- Beat the Odds-
http://www.uclahealth.org/body.cfm?id=561&action=detail&ref=2264 http://magazine.uclahealth.org/body.cfm?id=6&action=detail&ref=871 Arts Integration Model-
http://salvadorschool.com/artful-learning/ http://salvadorschool.com/what-is-artful-learning/ Juvenile Justice Model-
www.ojjdp.gov/grants/grantprograms/discr14.html
www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/ojjdp/186668.pdf
www.modelsforchange.net/
http://www.ecrossroadschool.org/ The NEO's Social Media Campaign to serve more children:
http://letsfund.it/index.php?r=campaigns/browseCampaigns&s=2&p=1