For Teachers

Big ideas and practical resources for arts and language learning in the classroom.
 
 

Why Arts for MLs?

The arts motivate MLs to find their voices – and make them heard. Art activities lower students’ inhibitions, actively engaging them in their own learning through real life problems and projects.

 
https://www.youtube.com/embed/CX9Df4sr4Rs
Why Arts for MLs?
When multilingual learners engage in an artistic process, they learn to think and work independently, take imaginative risks, discover and develop their ideas, and collaborate. Students learn to communicate through body, facial, and vocal expression, and can express complex ideas and understanding through their artmaking.
Four students are standing side by side in a school gym. Each is making a different dance shape with their body.

Dance Activity: Create a Dance Shape Chain

In this activity, students create shapes with their bodies and work collaboratively to connect those shapes together. Visual supports inspire discussion and reflection.
Try It: Dance Activity
In a classroom, a teaching artist is pointing with her left hand at three students in a theater tableau. The three students are in a line: one is seated, the next is standing behind her holding her ponytail and the third is kneeling behind. In the foreground, two students are seated cross-legged facing each other and stacking books and one student is laying on her back with a book covering her face. Additional students are seated as an audience and looking at the tableau.

Theater Activity: Creating Setting with Tableau

In this activity, students make shapes with their bodies. After creating a setting through a tableau or frozen pose, students collaboratively generate dialogue.
Try it: Theater Activity
 
 

Teach with DELLTA Resources

Authentic art-making opportunities provide a safe space for language learners to develop their voice and make meaningful choices. The structure of these opportunities needs to be supported for MLs and include appropriate scaffolds.

Tools
 
Smaller sketched images for the 8-traits. Link the learning, address a language objective, use repetition and reinforcement, be mindful of teacher input, make connections, activity before content, ample practice and appropriate expectations.
8 Traits of a ML Supportive Lesson
While good teaching practice impacts all learners, specific supports enhance instruction for MLs. Find resources created and piloted by educators in our Teach with DELLTA Toolkits and the 8 traits for an ML-supportive lesson developed by ENL Consultant Jennifer Stengel-Mohr.
Peer
Feedback
in the Arts

Supporting Peer Feedback with Criteria

Teaching Artist Shawn Williams and ENL teacher Katrina Perea use a Peer Feedback process to engage their students in deep conversation in an online film residency.

Theater Performance Criteria and Feedback Tool

This tool helps middle school students to give and receive peer feedback based on clear criteria, assess and revise their artmaking.
Crafting
Language
Objectives
 

Crafting Language Objectives in an Arts Lesson

Language objectives are essential in every lesson. Use this process to identify the language demands organically present in a task and generate language objectives for students.
https://www.youtube.com/embed/FqYhxEcVx4o

Using a Feedback Chart for Revisions in Theater

Artist Chris Heller partners with teachers to create feedback charts. This supports students in using descriptive language and retaining and applying feedback in revisions.
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