Photo of K-12 Art, Poetry, and Music from Erin Berg

K-12 Art, Poetry, and Music from Erin Berg

By Erin Berg

Description

This is a collaborative VT from three different classes across the United States (2nd graders from Utah, 9th grade English students from Colorado, and 5th-6th grade music composition students from Texas). This VT is an example of the power of collaboration using technology. This encompasses art through words, visuals, and music.

Assignment

Second graders first completed a piece of artwork, depicting a place they love to visit or imagine visiting. Then, 9th graders used a Wiki to divide up the artwork. They worked on their poetry and attached it as a comment on the VT. Then, the link was sent to a classroom in Texas, where boys worked to compose an original piece of music for each picture using GarageBand. Overall, it took about 2 1/2 months to put together.

The assignment of the project was different for each class. Overall, we wanted to create a collaborative piece of artwork using visual art, audio art, and language arts. The students were given the freedom to use their creativity to express through music, painting and poetry an idea. The poetry and music were to describe what they imagined the artist was trying to depict.

Easy Parts

The easiest part of the project was uploading the art and attaching the voices. It was very easy for even 2nd graders to figure out how to attach comments. The actual VT application is very easy to use.

Challenges

The hardest part was the organization - making sure all of the pictures received a poem and a song.

Tools

Wikis, digital cameras, word-processing, and Garageband.

Tips

The key to this type of VT is to allow for creativity. Do not limit the creativity to an assigned topic. Keep the directions broad to ensure that the students have a wide range of options to complete their projects. Also, to find teachers interested in the project, you can find teachers willing to complete the project on various message boards.

Variations

This type of project can be used with any type of subject - the key is to think outside the box.