NEW National Core Arts Standards

Yesterday (June 4th) at 1:00 p.m. the State Education Agency Directors of Arts Education (SEADAE) on behalf of the National Coalition for Core Arts Standards (NCCAS) rolled out the new set of Core Arts Standards for our nation. This set of standards has been a long process, a long-time in review, under the discretion of many sets of eyes throughout the country. The arts in these standards are Dance, Media Arts, Music, Theatre And Visual Arts.

The standards for general music are arranged into 3 different artistic processes--creating, performing, and responding. A 4th artistic process, connecting, is essential during all artistic processes in music, so it is used open-ended throughout all of the processes, unlike some of the other arts.Within these artistic processes there are a set of anchor standards, which each include enduring understanding statements, and essential questions, along with performance descriptors for each anchor at each grade-level (PreK-8)

Also, there are model cornerstone assessments (MCA) available at several grade levels for students. At the elementary level, these are at grades 2 and 5. These assessments include strategies for inclusion for students with disabilities, strategies for differentiation in the classroom, a variety of resources to assist in task implementation, several rubrics, and instructions with teacher checklists and materials for task implementation.

Finally, as teachers, we have the option to customize our own handbook, weeding out our "necessary" information from all of the various arts and grade levels. This is a wonderful feature! I can't wait to get started. The new website was posted yesterday on the web (link is below), and the NCCAS says they will be continuing to do updates to it as they move forward in the upcoming months. The second link (below) is for the NCCAS wikispace, which is where all of the work for this project has been done up until this point, including the original Launch Webinar from yesterday at 1:00.

www.nationalartsstandards.org
www.nccas.wikispaces.com

Just a few moments from this school year...

We had an outstanding time in the GJAL music department this school year! The year came to an end with 35 acts of talent in the GJAL gymnasium for our students, families and friends. As I have been winding down at home, I have come across and been loading some pictures to my computer, which I want to share with you!

 March is "Music in Our Schools Month"! In celebration, we had two musicians perform for our classroom in grades 3, 4 and 5. I don't have any pictures of the first group, but we thoroughly enjoyed the voices of members of the Little Egypt Barbershop Quartet. These men sang several varied pieces of music for the students, and they spoke to the kids about creating 4-part harmony in music, along with being involved in music, in school and peer pressure. The second performer we had in our classroom was local musician Chris Slone, performing a variety of styles on a variety of instruments, including voice, guitar, keys and flute. He talked to the kids about having dreams and following them. Pictures below are of Chris Slone performing with our very own Coach Harris, a close friend of Slone.

 

 

On May 24th Murphysboro had the General John A. Logan Centennial Celebration, including the dedication of 6 historical markers at the courthouse and the General John A. Logan Museum, along with a parade, ceremony and picnic. 15 members of the GJAL 5th grade chorus, along with 15 members of the MMS chorus dressed in 1914 costume and participated in the days activities. Directed by Ms. Jessica Herring and myself, the students performed two songs at the ceremony, Proud We Live in Egypt and Home Sweet Home, which were both performed at the original 1914 ceremony in Murphysboro.

All students and directors on the steps of the Jackson County Courthouse in Murphysboro,
just following the historical marker dedication.

The Logan Day Historical Marker

Students waiting for the dedication to begin

The dedication begins with Mayor Stephens

Mr. Grode, the Assistant Marshall
for the Citizens of the Parade

On Friday, May 30th, following our final day of school 17 of the GJAL 5th grade students arrived at the Murphysboro VFW for Wounded Warrior Weekend and made me such a proud teacher. We were too busy to get any pictures, but the students performed for soldiers from Ft. Knox and Ft. Campbell and they did a wonderful job! They performed selections from our 2013 Veteran's Day Concert. The soldiers who came to speak with me following the performance were so thrilled with the performance and the warm welcome and blessings they felt from being in Murphysboro and in the presence of the students. These students got to really demonstrate Murphy PRIDE and show their patriotism, even after the school year had ended! Thank you students and parents!