Serendipitous Connections

 

Over the last few days, we’ve been working on collaborative renditions of the Statue of Liberty. I provided various options for the format and medium you could choose to use, depending on the message you were trying to communicate to someone who might read your visual image.

Some of you chose to create your art-piece in 2 dimensions–either using the computer and various software programs we have available in the classroom or by using digital photos, paints, markers, torn paper, colored pencil, and/or stickers, etc. Others opted for 3-dimensional versions of the Statue of Liberty using flour dough clay, fimo, paper mache, and/or found objects, etc.

We’ve learned a lot from our explorations about immigrations, our reading of The Arrival, and our discussions. We’ve learned that 1+1 does not have to equal 2. We’ve learned that questions need not be limited to one answer. We’ve learned that visual literacy is largely a matter of considering questions and the answers are made richer by things we learn from each other.

Today and tomorrow we will be finishing up our art projects, and we will be sharing them with the world via the Artsonia Kids Art Museum (http://www.artsonia.com/). 2-dimensional projects will be scanned and uploaded to the Artsonia website, and 3-dimensional projects will be photographed, scanned, and then uploaded.

By sharing your art with the world, who knows who might read it. I consider discovering Shaun Tan’s book, The Arrival a serendipitous event. Perhaps someone who discovers your collaborative and synergistic work of art in the Artsonia Museum will consider it serendipity, as well.

Homework

1. I have handed out a letter to your parents and a permission form for your participation in Artsonia (I downloaded these forms at http://www.artsonia.com/teachers/docs/.) Make sure your parents sign your permission form and bring it to class tomorrow.
2. If there are materials from home that you need to finish up your art project, please be sure to bring these to class next time.
3. Explore the Artsonia website at http://www.artsonia.com/. If a parent signs you up for an account at home, bring your log-in information to class–please still bring the permission form to class, though.
4. In the comment section below, provide 1 link to a work of art you found on Artsonia that you found compelling. Also, write 1-2 questions you asked yourself while reading this art-piece.

–Silver Lisa

P.S. Talk about serendipity! A teacher in New York (Ms. M. Edinger) decided to teacher her 4th graders about immigration and The Arrival. Somehow, Shaun Tan found out about this and visited her classroom! If you’re interested, Ms. Edinger has 2 blogs you can explore that discuss this exciting stroke of luck:

1. “Educating Alice (Search results for blog entries related to ‘The Arrival’).” http://medinger.wordpress.com/?s=the arrival&searchbutton=Go%21 and
2. “Edinger House (Results for Blog Entries Tagged as ‘The Arrival’).” http://blogs.dalton.org/edinger/category/the-arrival/.

Connection: Virtual Immigration

Today we re-visited the virtual world, Second Life. About a month ago, we had discussed SL in the context of news gathered for “current events” discussions. We had discussed the fact that SL is a virtual world where you have to be 18 or older to participate, and that there was a counterpart for teens called “Teen Second Life.” We talked about the fact that there was no way to control other people/avatars in SL, and that if I was to guide you on a tour via a projection screen, there was a chance we’d need to shut the screen down if anything risqué was about to occur. In addition, I asked you to have your parents sign a permission slip to cover all of our bases.

We had watched the YouTube video below as an introduction, and then I led you on a brief tour of Info Island.

Today, I asked everyone whether they had explored Teen Second Life on their own. A few people had, and we talked about what it was like at first. We discussed questions like:

• What did you see first?
• Were other avatars around?
• What were they doing?
• How did you learn to get around?

Of course, several of you picked right up on the fact that I was leading up to building a connection between the SL/TSL experience and the experience of real life (RL) immigrant.

To further this connection, we led you on 2 SL fieldtrips to places that were quite fantasitical compared to Info Island.

The first teleport we made was to The Gallery of Reflexive Architecture. (If you have SL downloaded on your computer at home, your parents can visit this location by linking to http://slurl.com/secondlife/Architecture/191/105/601.) Prior to this visit, we watched the YouTube video below.

This gallery was designed by Keystone Bouchard, whose goal was to make the architecture moves in response to the presense of avatars. We used visual literacy skills to speculate on what Mr. Bouchard was trying to communicate in creating this gallery. I was quite taken aback at how good you are at asking questions that help yourself and others gain a deeper reading of visual images.

Tamari pointed out the white and black background create the feeling of another world and reminded her of the lack of color in The Arrival.

Snapshot of The Gallery of Reflexive Architecture by Flickr User Bettina Tizzy

The second stop on our tour was Sl’s Imaging Place, created by by John Craig Freeman, Emerson College. Mr. Freeman created this SL simulation based on a virtual reality art project he created in real life.

Snapshot of The Imaging Place by Flickr User joannamkay

Again, we explored Imaging Place, we again used visual literacy skills to ask questions exploring the message the creator might have intended.  Afterwards, I gave you more information on this project, and we watched a video of Mr. Freeman speaking about Imaging Place.

At Digicult.it, Imaging is described as follows:

Imaging Place, is a place-based, virtual reality art project. It takes the form of a user navigated, interactive computer program that combines panoramic photography, digital video, and three-dimensional technologies to investigate and document situations where the forces of globalization are impacting the lives of individuals in local communities.

The goal of the project is to develop the technologies, the methodology and the content for truly immersive and navigable narrative, based in real places…[From Jan. 5-Feb. 23, 2007] Freeman…[had] been implementing the “Imaging Place” project in Second Life. In “Imaging Place SL: The U.S./Mexico Border,” Freeman explores the issues, politics and personal memories of this contested space.

Homework

1. Take another virtual fieldtrip!  Visit  “Folk Songs for the Five Points” to virtually explore immigrants in the present day through music (get there by clicking http://www.tenement.org/folksongs/)
2. As explained on this website, “Folk Songs for the Five Points is a digital arts project that allows you to create your own “folk songs” by remixing and overlaying a range of sounds taken from New York’s Lower East Side.”
3. Create a folk song mix, save and email it to yourself.  Then, forward it to me.  Hope you have as much fun exploring this site as I did!

Making Connections with Each Other to Synergize

This photograph by Flickr User Olivier Bruchez shows the Statue of Liberty (Liberty Island) and Ellis Island.  View the photo at http://www.flickr.com/photos/bruchez/103704739/ 

Today, we reflected on the fact that so much of our reading of The Arrival was deepened because of the dialogue that was happening between each other.  When people work together effectively, each individual’s contribution adds up to something that is greater than the sum of all the parts.

WHAT!??

When people work together,  1 plus 1 can equal 3 (or 4, or 5, or 1000, or more).  The the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. 

This is called “synergy”.

To introduce today’s main activity, I asked you to think of songs in which 2 or more artists that normally do not work together collaborated on a project or song that exhibited synergy.  You had to reflect on why you thought the collaboration was especially good.

I went on to explain that the next big activity was going to be a collaborative art project where the subject matter would be the Statue of Liberty.  We had briefly touched on the fact during the virtual tour of Ellis Island that, 1965, Ellis Island was deemed as part of the Statue of Liberty National Monument.

I asked you to pair up and explore a webpage full of facts about the Statue of Liberty located at http://www.endex.com/gf/buildings/liberty/libertyfacts.htm.

Next, I had you switch partners and explore more information about the Statue of Liberty (http://www.endex.com/gf/buildings/liberty/liberty.html), including a conscious reading of the images of the statue contained in the various linked webpages.  I reminded you to look at a variety of artistic versions of the statue and talk about what concepts or emotions the artists might be trying to convey.

Tomorrow, I will have you pair up with yet another classmate, who will be your artistic collaborator in an art project where you will strive to synergize in the creation of a shared vision of the Statue of Liberty that conveys some type of intended message.

Homework:

1. Read the last section of The Arrival (Section VI).
2. Re-Visit the illustration you wrote a letter about at the beginning of our explorations of The Arrival (Blog Post:  We’ve Arrived!)
3. Now that you have a wealth of connections and new experiences about the book and the topic of immigration, write a new letter (to the same person or to someone else) about the same illustration and bring it to the next class.

–Silver Lisa

Connecting with “The Story of the Giants”

This Photo of the Hotel Ukraine (Ukraina) in Moscow (2006) was posted by Flickr User “Argenberg,” and may be found at http://flickr.com/photos/argenberg/264993696/

My audioclip from last night’s homework quoted an interview in which Shaun Tan spoke with Zack Smith, entitled “After The Arrival: Talking to Shaun Tan” (the transcript is available online at http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=134270):

[Question from Z. Smith]: While the book does do a great job of depicting the challenges of day-to-day life for someone in a new country, many of The Arrival’s most powerful sequences are the ones where the immigrant talks to fellow immigrants and sees their stories in flashback. What are some of the challenges that come with translating a historical experience into a fantastical image?

[Answer from S. Tan]: I think being careful not to get too carried away with the imaginary aspects, and making sure that every detail has some connection with familiar history, that it still feels real even though it might look very unreal.

The one I call “The Story of the Giants” is a good example, where a European-looking city (based on Florence) is being destroyed by huge figures, vacuuming everything into burning furnaces – people, buildings, birds. This was actually inspired by two things – Nazi book-burnings and industrialized genocide, and one immigrant’s description of Communism in Romania where all the life and culture seemed to have been “sucked out” of architecture, music, people’s lives and even the birdsong taken from the trees.

The reconstructed landscape ruled over by the one-eyed giants is inspired by Soviet-style architecture: concrete prisms that grow like crystals, not quite straight, culturally vacuous. Ultimately, my intention is to reflect historical events emotionally through surrealist imagery, and avoid reference to any specific time or place. Ideally, a person who knows something of persecution on any level, in any country, will be able to relate to imaginary scenes in stories such as this.

In pairs, for about 20 minutes we explored some links that have to do with references Shaun Tan makes in his answer to Zack Smith’s question (you were invited to explore them in no particular order):

• Florence, Italy Photographic Tour (Virtual Tourist.com)
• “Book Burning” from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Website
• “Imagine Art Gallery – Student Expressions,” from Remember.org (A Cybrary of the Holocaust)
• Wikipedia Article: Communist Romania
• Wikipedia Article: Soviet Style Architecture (aka Stalinist Architecture)
• Definitions of “persecutions” on the web
• Definitions of “vacuous” on the web

After working on building more connections, we discussed last night’s homework assignment, including the process of using Meebo to dialogue about Tan’s “The Story of the Giants” illustration and new insights gained by doing a bit of in-class research today.

Homework:

1. Tonight, you will read Section IV and Section V of The Arrival.
2. In the comments section below, come up with your final ideas on the name of the man’s creature friend. Give a brief explanation on why you have chosen that name. We will choose the 5 favorites tomorrow, and vote on a final “class-agreed name” as part of your homework tomorrow night.

–Silver Lisa

Connecting with Immigration in the Present

This image is a screen shot of

FOR REAL: A Web Documentary about Immigrant Lives in NYC

The Ellis Island virtual tour and Bertha Devlin’s interview certainly helped us further our learning not only about the topic of immigration, but also about reading visual images.

The topic of immigration is one that we hear about a lot on the news, especially since the presidential election is less than a year away and this is one hot issue for a lot of voters.

For your homework tonight, you will be reading Section III of The Arrival. To help build more connections to help you read The Arrival with deeper understanding, we explored immigration in the present time through the eyes of 3 teenagers whose familes have made their homes in New York.

The website we explored for this class activity was FOR REAL: A Web Documentary about Immigrant Lives in NYC (accessed at http://www.tenement.org/foreal/). In pairs, we spent the class period exploring this website.

Homework:

For your homework, you will be working with the same partner you worked with today in class. Before class ended, I let you know that you would need to set a up a time this evening that you both could be online for an IM chat session.

1. Prior to this pre-scheduled time, you will read Section III of The Arrival at least one time, using your visual literacy skills, including a reflection on the connections we’ve been making regarding the topic of immigration.
2. Also, before the pre-scheduled meeting time, listen to the audioclip (look below the illustration) that I created to highlight the above illustration from Section III. (Shaun Tan has informally deemed this illustration, “The Story of the Giants.”) This will help you to make a deeper connection in your reading of the story, as well as in the IM chat session you’ll conduct next.
3. As requested in the audioclip, write 3 questions about “The Story of the Giants” you would ask Shaun Tan in an interview if you could. You can do this after your IM session if you like.
4. Using the Meebo IM account we used in our last unit of study, you and your partner will spend 10 minutes reading and discussing the illustration shown above from Section III. (Shaun Tan has informally deemed this illustration, “The Story of the Giants.”)
5. Each of you should then (a) copy and paste the text of your IM chat session into an email addressed to me and (b) include at least 2 additional sentences about something you personally found interesting either about the homework session or today’s class session.

–Silver Lisa

◊◊◊◊Note: The illustration above from The Arrival is directly linked to Shaun Tan’s website. You may access it at the following links: http://shauntan.net/books.html and http://shauntan.net/images/books/the-arrival8.jpg.◊◊◊◊

Connecting with Immigration in the Past

Click on the link for a Google Map of Ellis Island and the Surrounding Area: Ellis Island map – Tagzania

Today we began class with a continuation of our discussion of the immigration connection–that is, how we can connect our growing knowledge about immigration to our visual reading of the wordless book, The Arrival.

In the podcast interview you listened to for your homework, Shaun Tan and Grant Stone spoke a bit about the immigration connection. While Tan is from Australia, and his most familiar experiences dealt with immigration in his own country, he explained that he did a lot of research on immigration while writing The Arrival. This included exploring the stories of immigrants that entered America through Ellis Island.

As you hopefully recall, Ellis Island located at the mouth of the Hudson River in New York Harbor. From January 1, 1892 through November 12, 1954, this facility was the main entry point for immigrants entering America.

In 1892, Ellis Island was one of 30 federal processing stations for incoming immigrants.

Wealthy immigrants who could afford to travel in first class or second class were given automatic entry into the U.S., however, anyone who did not travel in first or second class was required to pass a 6-second physical examination.

The theory behind this was that if a person could afford to purchase a first or second class ticket, they were less likely to become a public charge in America due to medical or legal reasons.

If you were unlucky enough to be be exhibiting visible health problems or diseases, you would be sent back to your home country or held in the island’s hospital facilities for long periods of time. Approximately 2% of immigrants traveling to Ellis Island were not admitted after the long transatlantic voyage–because of this, it was also known as “The Island of Tears” or “Heartbreak Island.” Still, between 1892 and 1954, more than 12 million immigrants passed through Ellis Island. (Noteworty is the fact that the very first immigrant to pass through Ellis Island was a 15-year-old girl from County Cork, Ireland named Annie Moore.)

Following a brief introduction to Ellis Island, in pairs we took a virtual fieldtrip to the immigrant processing station through Scholastic.com’s “Interactive Tour of Ellis Island” available at http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/immigration/tour/index.htm. We took notes during the tour using a form I located at http://www.thirteen.org/edonline/ntti/resources/lessons/h_goldendoor/goldendoor2.pdf.

Homework Assignment

For this assignment, I gave each of you a piece of 11 by 14 paper, and had you fold it in thirds. Then, we labeled the paper in the manner illustrated above. I told you that the paper would be used in the homework, but didn’t explain who or what “Bertha Devlin” is. To complete the assignment, you will listen to an audioclip I created using Audacity (and uploaded to blip.tv), as well as 7 corresponding audioclips that you can access by clicking on this link and looking for the audioclip links with the titles I’ve provided below under the heading “7 Audoclips for Homework Use”.

7 Audio Clips for Homework Use:

1. Bertha Devlin 1923 from Ireland – Home in Ireland – Farm life – Learning to sew
2. Bertha Devlin 1923 from Ireland – “Why did you leave Ireland?”
3. Bertha Devlin 1923 from Ireland – The crossing
4. Bertha Devlin 1923 from Ireland – More about the crossing
5. Bertha Devlin 1923 from Ireland – “What were the accommodations like?”
6. Bertha Devlin 1923 from Ireland – “coming into New York”
7. Bertha Devlin 1923 from Ireland – Arriving at Ellis Island

–Silver Lisa

The Immigration Connection

Today we discussed the PowerPoint homework. Since I hadn’t given you very much information on the terminology used in the slides, I was very impressed that everyone was able to educate themselves by using the links provided. The answers that you came up with exhibited proof that you took time reflecting on the illustration you chose from Section II of The Arrival. Learning to be visually literate is a challenge, but we are certainly learning to hone those skills.

We discussed any questions that you still had on some of the terminology, which can be a little hard to define with words. This makes sense, though, since the terms used are very connected with the visual realm of thinking rather than the verbal realm of thinking.

We had discussed the fact that Shaun’ Tan’s book, The Arrival, is about many things, but is largely the story of a man who leaves his family to go to a strange new place. The man in an immigrant.

In real life, people immigrate to new countries for many reasons. Some people come alone, and immigrate with their families.

In America, immigrants have been coming to our country ever since the United States was officially founded via the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776 (and before then, actually, to some extent).

In pairs, I asked you all to explore a ThinkQuest Website on Immigration (located at http://library.thinkquest.org/20619/Intro.html). This activity was to be exploratory, but I did ask that you pay particular attention to the visuals provided and use the visual literacy skills we’ve been practicing. We spent about half an hour navigating the Immigration ThinkQuest, and I was there to answer any questions you might have during your exploration.

For your homework tonight:

1. I’ve asked you to listen to 30 minute interview that Grant Stone (from the Australian comics website, Ozcomics.com) conducted with Shaun Tan in November of 2006. You can access this podcast here: http://www.ozcomics.com/podcast/OzComics_ShaunTan20061109.mp3.
2. Comment on the interview below. You can make an observation. You can post a question you would like to ask Shaun Tan. You can do a bit of research on one of the topics that came up during the interview and post a link for us to check out. Feel free to be creative, as there is no right or wrong way to comment on the interview. Please don’t spend a lot of time on this, however. 10-15 minutes should be sufficient.
   
3. Refer back to the in-class activity we did today with the Immigration ThinkQuest. Re-visit one of the images you explored. Below, post 2 questions you asked yourself while using your visual literacy skills. Please only spend about 5-10 minutes on this part of the homework.

Until next time,

Silver Lisa

◊◊◊◊Note: The image used in this blog entry is digital reproduction of a cartoon penned by J.A. Wales that was published in a publication called Puck on August 10, 1881. The caption of this cartoon read “Extremes Meet: Crowded by Choice. Packed by Necessity.” This image may be accessed directly through the Michigan State University Museum’s Online Exhibit, “Immigration and Caricature: Ethnic Images from the Appel Collection” at the following link: http://museum.msu.edu/Exhibitions/Virtual/ImmigrationandCaricature/7572-128.html.

According to the MSU Museum website, “An accompanying editorial [to this cartoon] argues that middle-class Americans crowded into resort hotels are no better off than the immigrants of the period, crowded into their tenements.”◊◊◊◊