Artists and Education
Grant Program
Participants:
K- teacher,
T.A., 50 students
1-
teachers,
T.A.=s, 52 students
2-
teachers,
T.A.=s, 49 students
3-
teachers,
47 students
4-
teachers,
T.A.=s, 78 students
5-
teachers, 62 students
6-
teachers,
T.A.=s, 71 students
LPSD Lead Teacher observed in a
couple classes.
Financial Report: Attached
Evaluation of the Project:
ALyle was an inspiration to the young
children. He made the recount of a
simple story from life experience come alive for them so that they were
inspired to do the same. He showed
Grades one and two how a true story could be slightly changed and embellished;
he showed and drew from them the three basic parts of a story form--beginning,
middle and end. Also they quickly
listed for him what had to happen in the beginningCcharacters introduced, setting described and an
action begun. The model of recounting a
true experience first, then drawing three basic pictures and lastly, writing
about them was a simple, basic form for them to follow. The graphic organizer of the storyboard he
presented worked well for Grade One. He
modeled a writer for them in their life choices.@ Laurie Hnatuk, Grade 1/2 Teacher
ALyle was very good with the Gr. 1
class. He was able to get their
attention through some very good story telling and explained the procedure that
he was using (storyboarding) so that they knew what he expected in their
finished project. They really enjoyed
when we asked him back last week to share their stories/pictures with him. I enjoyed working with him.@ Linda Anderson, Grade 1 Teacher
AThe students really
enjoyed Mr. Weis' writing classes. Mr.
Weis was very enthusiastic when he presented his material and the students
loved it. The students were very eager
to start telling stories and writing them down. Mr. Weis presented them with a beginning, middle, and end writing
format that worked out really well for all the students. I was impressed
with the students'
stories and I think that they surprised themselves! Because of Mr. Weis being an author and directing them through
the writing process, the students felt that they were important writers too. Mr. Weis made them feel like authors and this
has a great impact on students in grade one.
It was a great session! Not only
did the students learn from Mr. Weis but I also picked up some writing tips
that I will continue to use throughout my teaching career!@ Angie
Musyj, Grade 1 Teacher
A My grade two class
actually wrote mini-chapter books. They
were very enthusiastic, and this process was very good for my more-reluctant
writers. What I would like to see is more
time spent with Lyle. I found that we
did a lot of catching up to where he wanted us to be for the next period.@ Gina Hanson, Grade 2
Teacher
AI feel that the
objectives were met. He really kept the
children interested, especially with his story telling abilities. They liked him, and worked hard to please
him. It gave me some good strategies
when teaching story writing.@ Crystal Irwin, Grade 2 Teacher
AI think Lyle really got the children
enthused about writing their own 3-chapter story, especially by sharing his
many stories with the class. I liked
how he started with the illustrations first, before the actual writing, because
the children seemed more interested in adding details that went along with
their pictures. I also liked how he used children's examples at different
stages of the writing process. He gave
me some good ideas, definitely a worthwhile project. All of my students ended up with a 3-chapter book at the end.@
Marie Hanson, Grade 3
Teacher
ALyle Weis definitely
achieved his objective for my class as stated below.
His storytelling and
animated style was very conducive to motivating young
children to write. It was also very motivating for my students
to see a
REAL LIVE published
author. His workshop was well organized.
He is also very personable and fit in with the staff very well.@ Loretta Claire,
Grade 3 Teacher
AThe students felt Lyle
was an excellent motivator. They
thoroughly enjoyed his personal stories and great sense of humor. They felt they could relate to his stories. He helped them form very vivid
pictures. He gave clear and organized
instructions of how to write a mystery story.
It helped every child know what to do when the time came to do it. His encouragement made children want to
write more.@ Diane Beaulac, Grade
4 Teacher
AMy students really liked
him and were very captivated by his lessons.
They
listened very well and
stayed involved through questions. Many
of them were
very excited to buy his
books and I know some are reading them right now.
The only thing I would
have liked to see more of is him working with the
Student=s work. Getting feedback
from him on their work would have meant a
lot to them and, I
think, would have pushed them even farther to produce
their best work. I know
there is a time factor however.@ Jolie Flewell, Grade 4 Teacher
AI thought Lyle did a
great job in motivating the students to write; however,
I thought concepts were
rushed. He told a lot of stories that
the students
loved, but assignments
and expectations were rushed into the last 5 minutes
of his class. They could have used more guidance. He was a very good
motivation for their writing.@ Caroline Anderson,
Grade 4 Teacher
AHe was EXCELLENT. The students were very interested in the
presentations/stories that he told. He
really motivated students to write. I
liked the way he modeled the strategies for writing. He took their writing to
the next level of questioning and thinking (i.e. Rather than telling the
audience how tall the character is why don't you say, the man ducked through
the door and proceeded to the kitchen.").
It was unfortunate that he couldn't have stayed here longer because his
lessons were very fast paced. All in
all, he was excellent and the students really enjoyed having a real author in
the class. They thought that he was funny, could relate to the students, and
had great character voices when he told a story.@
Cora Gailliard, Grade 5
Teacher
AI found that the time
that we had with Lyle to be very informative and motivational for my students.
Lyle provided students with another perspective on how an author approaches
writing a story. He was a very good teacher and knew how to captivate their
attention as well as give them some useful and creative ideas. The only drawback that I could see from the
whole experience was that the time limitations meant that he could not see this
project through till the end.@ Scott Lyons, Grade 5 Teacher
AVery engaging presenter
to the students. Students were very
excited about writing because it was an actual published author. The writing process was laid out in such a
way that students were very clear as to the expectations.@ Andrea Fraser, Grade 5 Teacher
ALyle is a captivating story teller. He showed the students how to use certain
writing and story telling tools that make everyday happenings exciting and
interesting. Lyle treated the grade six
class like mature young adults by not over-censoring his stories.@
ALyle did an excellent
job of motivating the students to write.
He was able to teach them some basic techniques of writing. He showed how to use characterization, and
description of setting to make their style more individualized. Overall I
thought it was very beneficial for myself and my students.@ Brent Thomas, Grade 6 Teacher
ALyle did a very good job
of motivating students to be creative and use imagination in their writing of
the mystery story. His approach for eliciting the essential features of a story
(the mystery in particular) was well done.
His follow-up session on what worked, what didn't work, what needed
changing, in three of the stories was a valuable learning experience for the
students.@ Jerry Thompson,
Grade 6 Teacher
Lyle=s work with students and
staff throughout his residency has been a huge success! Students learned a number of techniques for
improving their writing and are demonstrating more enthusiasm due to Lyle=s captivating approach
to writing instruction. Teachers were
overwhelmingly satisfied with Lyle=s time in their classrooms, and the
numerous ideas they received through his modeling. The only dissatisfaction that was expressed was that both
teachers and students would have liked to have more time with Lyle, which I
think speaks to the success of his residency.
Teachers also suggested incorporating collaboration time with Lyle to
review student writing at the end of his sessions so that they would have the
opportunity to discuss ways in which he approaches evaluation.
We would like to thank The
Alberta Foundation for the Arts for making Lyle=s residency
possible. It has been a very positive
experience for us at Rendell Park, and we truly appreciate the support we
received through The Arts and Education Grant Program. This program is invaluable to schools
and enhancing student learning.
Pat Davidson, Principal,
Rendell Park School