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Ms. Joelle’s Classroom Edit display name

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As English Language Learners, Special Education, and Language Disordered students traditional academics can be challenging for my Kindergarten and 1st Graders. Upstream Arts provides an opportunity for my students to successfully express their emotions and share their knowledge through art. Across six weeks my students will learn how to communicate and appropriately interact with peers through painting, dancing, acting, and singing. Upstream Arts is a local nonprofit that uses the power of the creative arts to activate and amplify the voice and choice of individuals with disabilities. Each week three teaching artists will come and facilitate interactive, multi-modal lessons planned around the students' individual Communication and Social-Emotional IEP goals. Students will focus on how to identify what someone else is feeling, appropriately greet one another, ask to join a play group, take turns, and how to appropriately express "big feeling" emotions such as excitement or frustration. Students will also focus on independently communicating their ideas via alternative methods such as painting, acting, or creating a rhythm. Upstream Arts allows students to who rarely stand in the spotlight to shine as they share their individual ideas in front of their peers and teachers. Many of these students require adult support to actively participate in regular-education activities. Upstream Arts encourages independence by providing each student with the opportunity to make a choice regarding the outcome of the whole-group activity, as well as the opportunity to be a model for the whole class. As an inner city Title I school, many of my students are unable to explore and develop these talents through third party lessons or clubs. Similarly, ever-decreasing school funding has lessened the opportunities for classroom teachers to include these experiences in their everyday curriculum. With Upstream Arts, my students have a chance to be the star of their own show!

About my class

As English Language Learners, Special Education, and Language Disordered students traditional academics can be challenging for my Kindergarten and 1st Graders. Upstream Arts provides an opportunity for my students to successfully express their emotions and share their knowledge through art. Across six weeks my students will learn how to communicate and appropriately interact with peers through painting, dancing, acting, and singing. Upstream Arts is a local nonprofit that uses the power of the creative arts to activate and amplify the voice and choice of individuals with disabilities. Each week three teaching artists will come and facilitate interactive, multi-modal lessons planned around the students' individual Communication and Social-Emotional IEP goals. Students will focus on how to identify what someone else is feeling, appropriately greet one another, ask to join a play group, take turns, and how to appropriately express "big feeling" emotions such as excitement or frustration. Students will also focus on independently communicating their ideas via alternative methods such as painting, acting, or creating a rhythm. Upstream Arts allows students to who rarely stand in the spotlight to shine as they share their individual ideas in front of their peers and teachers. Many of these students require adult support to actively participate in regular-education activities. Upstream Arts encourages independence by providing each student with the opportunity to make a choice regarding the outcome of the whole-group activity, as well as the opportunity to be a model for the whole class. As an inner city Title I school, many of my students are unable to explore and develop these talents through third party lessons or clubs. Similarly, ever-decreasing school funding has lessened the opportunities for classroom teachers to include these experiences in their everyday curriculum. With Upstream Arts, my students have a chance to be the star of their own show!

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About my class

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