Acting Out Arts Integration

Posted on July 20, 2016 by Experiment Station

Teachers spent time learning about Jacob Lawrence and practicing playwriting in the galleries where The Migration Series is on view.

On July 7 and 8, teachers from schools in Washington, DC, and Prince George’s County spent two days at the Phillips working together to discuss and practice strategies for arts integration. The experience not only incorporated lesson planning, but it brought the group together to form a teacher cohort community. With a focus on Jacob Lawrence’s Migration Series, the focal point of an exhibition this fall, the cohort used playwriting to navigate Lawrence’s work. From playing theater games to writing their own monologues, the cohort practiced ways to bring stories to life for their students with the help of playwright Jacqueline Lawton.

Left: Former Phillips’s Curator Beth Turner video conferenced with the cohort to provide behind-the-scenes information about Jacob Lawrence and The Migration Series. Right: Teachers use artworks and photographs to tell stories.

The two-day institute also familiarized teachers with Prism.K12, the museum’s teaching tool to create arts integration for any subject. As they brainstormed ideas of how to incorporate Prism.K12 arts integration strategies and playwriting in their classrooms, they also used social media as a way to share their thoughts with one another and the greater educator community. Teachers are already sharing classroom tips and will document classroom process; follow along in Twitter and Pinterest with #PrismK12 and #MigrationExperience for more!

Teachers explored theater games to build community and boost creativity!

Laura Hoffman, Manager of K–12 Digital and Educator Initiatives ran a “Social Media Bootcamp” for teachers.

Tools of the Trade: Art Links to Learning

Posted on August 9, 2012 by Experiment Station

Photos of bags packed with k-12 teaching materials

Photo: Sarah Osborne Bender

Crayola’s green and yellow, Elmer’s blue and orange. Essential iconic materials await teachers attending the Art Links to Learning Summer Institute held here today and tomorrow for teachers from Takoma Education Campus, Tyler Elementary School, and the Center for Inspired Teaching.

Teachers Take a Field Trip

Posted on February 2, 2012 by Experiment Station

Teacher Mary Ellen McCabe paints in the art workshop. Photo: Sue Ahn

Teacher Karen Johnson sketches in the dining room gallery. Photo: Sue Ahn

Since 2005, The Phillips Collection has solicited k-12 educators to be part of the museum’s Mentor Teacher Program, which enables best-practice school teachers to partner with the Phillips to produce and publish inventive lessons that weave museum artwork and visual arts learning into school curriculum. This past Monday, the museum hosted 45 teachers from Stafford Elementary School in Northern Virginia. The museum experience was a professional day dedicated to learning how art can inspire learning across the curriculum. Led by a four-person cross-curricular teaching team who first worked with the museum in 2006, teachers created watercolors that combined artistic imagination and scientific observation, made sketches in the galleries, and learned how to integrate the teaching of math, social studies, and language arts into studying and creating visual art.

Karen Johnson’s watercolor on the drying rack. Photo: Sue Ahn