Teacher Highlight: Connie Stone
An Arts-Integrated Classroom
Connie Stone is a third-grade teacher at Canyon Crest Elementary School in Provo City School District. A graduate of the Arts Leadership Academy, Connie integrates the arts into her classroom. The oil pastel student self-portraits are completed the first few weeks of school when building class unity. The witches are pastel chalk done by her third-grade students. Students write poetry about Halloween to accompany the paintings. Connie teaches the whole child and has high expectations. Students succeed in her integrated classroom environment of deep academic learning. In Connie's words: "The Halloween witches drawing and poem is one of my favorite activities to do with the students. I don't have a lesson plan for it. Students used pastel chalk to draw the witches. I showed them the samples of witches that I drew in Scott Flox's class. I show all the different ways to draw the witch. Students use their own imaginations to draw their own witches."
How to Write a Halloween Poem
Connie's students used Halloween-related adjectives, nouns, and verbs to write the poem. She explains: "Each poem begins with an expression: 'It's a wonderful night.' Then, describe the action: 'When (adjective) (noun) (verb),' 'And (adjective) (noun) (verb),' 'And (adjective) (noun (verb),' then, another expression: 'How I love it!' Then, the students create another stanza. We wrote 3 stanzas for this poem. Students then typed their poems in a Google doc, and chose their own colors for their poems."
Integrating Literary Art, Social Studies, and Visual Art
To partner his painting, one of Connie’s students, self-identified as Atticus the Great, wrote this poem about Halloween:
Tonight is the night:
When shadowy spooks snatch
And scrawny snakes hiss
And scary spiders scatter
But I'm never afraid!
It's a wonderful night:
When kind skeletons hop
And healthy monsters joke
And lucky owls
How I love it!
It's an odd night:
Sleek leaves move
Shy pirates sail
Scaly hobgoblins jump
I can hardly wait!
Another student wrote:
Tonight is the night:
When miserable hobgoblins hiss
And hairy monsters hop
And shy owls peek
My favorite holiday!
It's a horrible night:
When Vile witches brew
And magical skeletons creep
And kingly pirates laugh
It’s an unforgettable night!
It’s a sulky night:
When messy leaves blow
And misty spooks call
And odd mummies limp
How I’ve counted the days!
Written by Silvery JoJo Pate
Connie continues: "Our class did the Turkey drawings with the chalk pastel and wrote persuasive letters to the farmer not to kill them (the turkey). It was fun activity also. It is fun to integrate art with language art. It really makes the lesson come alive. Students really enjoy the art activity and they are always looking forward to doing the art. I like teaching a lot more when I add the art component to my teaching. Even though I am not a great artist, students still can enjoy the art experience in the class."
A Gallery of Third-Grade Artwork: Self-Portraits & Witches
