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SUAVE Newsletter
January 7, 1998 - Winter, 1998

Congratulations! Central School in Escondido was awarded a Golden Bell for SUAVE: Learning Subject Matter Through the Arts. On December 6, 1997 Central School received a Golden Bell award from the California School Boards Association. The Golden Bell awards program promotes excellence in education by recognizing outstanding programs in school districts and county offices of education throughout California.

Welcome! Grant Middle School! Grant Middle School is joining SUAVE as of January, 1988 as a result of grant money. They join Del Dios Middle School, Felicita, Miller, Rock Springs and Central (mentor site) in Escondido, Valley Center Upper Elementary, and Primary (mentor site) in Valley Center, Richland Elementary in San Marcos, and Casa de Amparo, in Oceanside (Fleet Foundation Grant).

Visit by Chinese Teacher Educators to SUAVE! In November a team of Teacher Educators from Hangzhou Teachers College including the President, an artist and a musician visited with Merryl, Eduardo Garcia, Michele Prosser, Leah Goodwin, and members of the CSUSM research team. They are extremely interested in SUAVE. Maybe we’ll go international!

Merryl in India! From December 20th to January 20th Merryl will be in India doing workshops for teachers on how to integrate the arts into curriculum. There very well could be opportunities to start a relationship/correspondence with teachers and students in India. Consider the possibilities! More information to follow in February at the inservice when she returns.

Arts License Plates/ Local Arts and Education Partnership Grant! Did you know that money from the arts license plates supports two SUAVE sites?! SUAVE is the among the top rated programs in the state of California to receive a Local Arts and Education Partnership Grant! For more information on the license plate program contact your local DMV or call the California Arts Council at 1-800-201-6201. Check out Merryl’s plate while you’re at it: 4SUAVE (no joke!).

CSUSM Library Cards are available for all teachers. Please sign up by e-mailing Merryl at: goldberg@mailhost1.csusm.edu or by faxing her: 750-4323 with the following information: Name, Address, Telephone number.

Collecting Magical SUAVE Moments! Please write your MSM down and submit to Merryl goldberg@mailhost1.csusm.edu or by faxing her: 750-4323.

Here’s our first:

My name is Cristina Cottrell and I am a Valley Center Upper Elementary School 5th grade bilingual teacher. This is my first year with SUAVE and I have had the pleasure of working with Mr. Eduardo Parra our drama coach. Mr. Parra has been assisting me with my Language Arts instruction, as well as my Spanish as a Second Language Instruction. Mr. Parra works with my English expert students for 15 minutes every Monday during their S.S.L. instruction providing enrichment activities. Also, Mr. Parra works with my homeroom class during our Language Arts instruction. Mr. Parra has concentrated on developing a program that integrates de different modalities of writing. Some of the activities we have carried out include:

1) Narrative Writing: With white tape we marked a straight line across the front of the room. In order to prompt the students to focus on narrative perspectives, the students have to improvise a silent action walk over The Magic Line to tell us a sequential story.

2) Persuasive Writing: In order to prompt the students to focus on persuasive perspectives, the students have to improvise a commercial to sell us about a product.

These and other techniques that Mr. Parra has used have been stimulating, enriching, and call for participation from the entire class. Not a single student will be allowed sit back and not join in. I have noticed that even the shiest students enjoy these activities when they are prompted to reflect and actively communicate their thoughts.

Escondido and San Marcos teachers:

Would you like to become a Distinguished Teacher at CSUSM? The College of Education is pleased to announce the opening of a search for three (3) Distinguished Teachers in Residence (DTiR) positions for Fall, 1998 through Spring 2000 academic years. The selected teachers will be assigned by their employing districts to render full time service as instructional faculty on two-year terms of assignment. For more information see position announcement at in-service day.

Arts and Learning: An Integrated Approach to Teaching and Learning in Multicultural and Multilingual Settings (1997) by Merryl Goldberg is available at the CSUSM bookstore, or by ordering from Barnes and Nobles or from the publisher Directly: Addison Wesley/Longman: 1-800-822-6339. It features many teachers from SUAVE!

Do you know of conferences, workshops or books that would be helpful to SUAVE teachers? Submit them to Michele at the CCAE or Merryl for publication in the SUAVE newsletter!

http://www.csusm.edu/SUAVE/

Spencer/MacArthur Professional Development Grant! SUAVE is the recipient of a very prestigious research grant to investigate the potential and limitations of artists as coaches as a model for other professional development programs. Not bad eh?! Some teachers and their coaches will be followed very closely. If you were not chosen, don’t fret! We’ll be gathering information from everyone at inservice days and occasional visits to your school. It’s amazing to think that SUAVE teachers and coaches will be part of a national discussion concerning what works in professional development! Congratulations to you all!

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