Arts As Life!

Your students have stories to tell, as do you. In this fun and highly interactive workshop, traveling storyteller Joel ben Izzy will share top-tale-telling-tips-and-techniques that will help you to bring these stories alive in your classroom. We'll begin by touching on the basics of storytelling - just what stories are, how they work, and why. Then we'll dive into some interactive small group exercises that let participants begin to discover the rich stories they have to tell, hidden just below the surface of their lives. From there, we'll explore ways to bring this into the classroom, with a focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion, and finding ways to bring out all the voices, including those that haven't traditionally been heard.

KQED Youth Media Challenges invite middle and high schoolers to make their voices heard by creating original podcasts, dances, political cartoons, engineering projects, and election coverage. In this session, join KQED for a short media screening followed by a discussion on how to engage, elevate and celebrate student media makers. Explore how students can find their voice, including what inspires creation and how they produced media pieces.

Free your voice and play your body instrument in this fun, heartfelt workshop with Phoenix Song. Fun vocal warm-ups will help you connect to your body, emotions, and creativity. Learn basic body percussion and rhythms to sing to. Connect to intention as you sing and discover your own improvisational language and syllables. We will play with different rhythms (flowing, staccato, chaotic, lyrical, and stillness) and genres (rock, opera, punk, musical theater, country, etc).
This workshop will take you through an experiential process where you explore your body as your instrument. We will start with waking up the body by releasing noise/tension/stress with a few breaths; ground and nourish with sound, and then release the music inside ourselves. You will learn basic body percussion and a simple song you can sing over a rhythm. We'll play with intention and connecting to different emotions as you sing and then translate these words into our own natural, improvisational languages. Finally, we'll play with songs by varying up rhythms and genres by using different vocal production techniques. This workshop will be fun and connecting and give you many new musical and vocal tools for yourself and your students.

Add your voice to a song about our collective power with 3x GRAMMY-nominated Alphabet Rockers.
This interactive workshop with co-founders Kaitlin McGaw (she/her) and Tommy Soulati Shepherd (he/him/they) invites participants into a songwriting practice connecting our individual self-empowerment to a community framework of liberation. Using songs rooted in transformative justice from their upcoming album for children and families, participants will be immersed in a space of equity, belonging and radical imagination.
This workshop is for K-12 teachers and students, and requires no materials.

In this workshop, we will use visual art as a tool for exploring our own feelings and finding new connections about what we are learning at this conference. We will use the drawing process to think through issues together and we'll notice how we can make beautiful and meaningful art even if we haven't developed drawing skills.

Supplies: paper and markers, color pencils, crayons and/or any drawing supplies you have.

This workshop is appropriate for ALL grade levels, but students in grades K-3 may find some of the activities too easy (because free-form expression comes naturally to us when we are young).

For middle and high school: Editorial cartooning has a long history in the United States and draws on a rich visual and symbolic vocabulary to communicate complex ideas in an accessible way. Not just for history teachers! Visual and Media Arts teachers can also support students to share their views on issues that matter to them through political cartooning, an engaging, relevant and vital way to help students develop their voice in a democratic society. In this workshop, we'll analyze and unpack some of the "visual vocabulary" used in political cartoons and get started creating our own political cartoons by hand or using digital tools. We'll also talk more about how your students can share their voice beyond the classroom through KQED's new youth media challenge: Political Cartooning with Mark Fiore.

Get ready to explore, play, discover the many benefits of group drumming! In this "hands-on" interactive presentation, participants will learn and practice effective tools and techniques for engaging students in rhythm. No prior musical training or expertise is needed, and no special drums or instruments are required.

Research shows that drumming can help reduce stress, boost the immune system, improve mood, and encourage pro-social behaviors. Rhythmic strategies can be utilized easily in classrooms as a kinesthetic tool for facilitating learning, cooperative behavior, and a positive classroom environment. These activities are accessible and can be adapted for any age, culture, or ability. This presentation will be focusing on grades K-8.

Please bring a drum or "found sound" instrument (any kind of object that you can make rhythm with) to the presentation. If possible adjust your video camera so that your instrument will be seen on the screen while you play it.

Introducing and playing theatre games that center student voice in building classroom community and SEL. Games create low-risk opportunities for students to expand trust, communication, and personal expression skills. We will play theatre games that can evoke empathy, sympathy, affinity, compassion, civility, storytelling & writing skills. These theatre games are focused on building community to address SEL.

A visual arts workshop appropriate for teachers of upper elementary or middle school. We’ll dive into sequential art (comic books, video, and movies) to explore how we “read” the picture world through common fairytales. We’ll explore how to compose a visual story for the most impact and see how we can change the dynamics through our visual storytelling.
Materials: Please have scissors, glue and construction papers in a variety of colors (scraps are fine) plus a whole sheet of black and one white.

This workshop shares the REACH Ashland Youth Center's Art’s & Creativity Program model for aligning T-SEL with art-making activities and the creative process. The Studio Habits of Mind guide our integration of social-emotional learning by utilizing art as an entry point to mindfulness practices and self-awareness.
At the REACH Ashland Youth Center, we have discovered how Art & Creativity can support T-SEL growth through the creative process. Creating safe boundaries for self-expression builds youth agency. With youth agency at the core of a strong foundation for social-emotional growth and transformation, this workshop shares the REACH Arts & Creativity/SEL model and framework for aligning T-SEL with art-making activities. The Studio Habits of Mind guide our integration of social-emotional learning by utilizing creativity as an entry point to mindfulness practices and self-awareness. Understanding that school educators must work to support state standards, this workshop also covers alignment and synergy with the Visual and Performing Arts Standards (VAPA).

Weaving is one of the simplest and oldest ancient technologies!  Intrinsically integrating math, science, art, and critical small motor skills, it's meditative, process-oriented, and basic to humans wearing clothing.  Some of us just rarely see or do it.  Form the cultural connections, follow the entire process, and try it yourself. We'll start with an overview of the process, from wool shearing to spinning, dyeing, and weaving in traditional textile and yarn producing communities.  Using the same but simplified ancient method you'll create a simple loom, set it up, and weave until you want to stop (but you may not want to)!

Supplies needed:
Piece of box cardboard (approx. 4 x 5 inches or larger)
Ruler
Pencil or pen
Scissors
String (optional)
Yarn
Other things to weave with (fabric scraps, leaves, twigs, ribbon, raffia)

Join us as we gather to hear from our youth! Daly City Youth Poet Laureate Madeleine Hur, Alameda County Youth Poet Laureate Zoe Dorado, and Santa Clara County Youth Poet Laureate Anouk Yeh will each share a performance of a poem and then join in a conversation with Aileen Cassinetto, Poet Laureate of San Mateo County. This will be a powerful and inspiring hour! Join us!

This arts-infused experiential 90-minute workshop provides an opportunity to learn about design abilities and how to apply them in k-12 classrooms. Participants will engage in a hands-on high-energy experience to explore varied aspects of design and how they impact classroom learning. The first part of the session is experiential and the second part of the session focuses on application in K-12 settings.

SUPPLIES: The best materials for this session are watercolor paints. You can use crayons and markers but we highly recommend watercolor paints. 

Every culture drums. It is a fundamental expression of our need to create, and drumming together builds empathy, community, and personal power. The basic technique is usually simple, lowering barriers and allowing for fuller inclusion. This interactive workshop explores rhythm activities that can be used in any classroom to help students focus, self-regulate, and connect. Activities will be presented for grades K-12, with the majority of them most suited for grades 3-7.

Taiko, or Japanese ensemble drumming, is an energetic musical genre that brings myriad educational and socio-emotional benefits. Taiko classes introduce and reinforce music fundamentals and naturally integrate with math and US history (particularly the Internment of Japanese Americans in WWII and the Asian American rights movement of the 1970s). The ensemble nature of taiko builds communicaion, collaboration, and leadership. All of that, and it’s FUN! Participants get to hit big drums with big sticks and are encouraged to be big, loud, and expressive. Activities will be presented on a taiko, but can be replicated on any playing surface, including other drums, body percussion, or even hands on desks or tables. No supplies are needed to participate but you are welcome to bring two bath towels and 2 rubber bands (to make a drum) and 12 pieces of 8.5 x 11 paper and tape (to make sticks), or any type of drum you have access to. 

Theatre in a classroom provides a base for making interpersonal connections, building community, integrated learning, and increasing language arts skills. The workshop will introduce participants to foundational exercises that can be used in and adapted to different grades and be used virtually or face to face. This is an interactive workshop and a write-up of the exercises will be provided. The activities and exercises we will be playing can be easily adapted to different grade levels, elementary, middle, and secondary. The only supplies needed are your imagination and a willingness to play!

Description: Join Book Arts Roadshow for this bookmaking workshop that focuses on making Caterpillar Books that can be made using school supplies, up-cycled materials, and student art. These books can easily be scaled up to be larger with more pages or scaled down to be smaller with fewer pages. Suggestions for uses in the classroom will be given and variations for different age groups discussed.

Supplies needed: copy paper (multiple colors works nicely), card stock (one color), scissors, ruler, pencil, glue stick

For Teachers/Grades: 1 thru 8

Learn a simple meditation with the breath, and some basic yoga poses to open, stretch and deepen -connecting mind, body, breath, and spirit. This workshop will include restorative yoga poses.

Students will learn some basic hand positions, called hastaks, used in Kathak, a Classical Indian Dance.  We will learn a poem, called a Kavita, about a river and those who dance near and in the river. In this online Zoom workshop, I will introduce you to some basic hand movements and positions from the Classical Indian Dance vocabulary that have meaning and evoke a strong sense of mindfulness.  We will practice these movements and use them to tell the story of a River.  We will also learn a poem or Kavita, that tells of dancing by the banks of the River. There will be a brief introduction to the art of Kathak dance and time for questions.  

The Beat Within constructs bridges between incarcerated (and high-risk youth) and the community that aims to support their progress towards a healthy, non-violent, and productive life. Through the arts, TBW encourages high-risk youth to reflect on behavior, explore how they have lost connection with their values, and consider the ways in which they can reconnect to positive situations.

Through nearly 25 years of experience, The Beat Within has emerged as a pillar program in the juvenile justice community with unique, one-of-a-kind youth programming. The workshop format gives youth participants, the freedom to explore language and communication, in a way that gives them ownership and allows them to interact and engage in dialogue with teachers as positive and valued contributors. TBW provides an anchor and lifeline to incarcerated (and high-risk) youth and adults. The work of Beat Within begins with a conversation on pre-selected topics ranging from those that directly affect the youth, to issues that encourage participants to draw connections between their personal life and the larger community. Writings are submitted for publication in TBW’s bi-monthly magazine, and each participant will be vetted, edited, transcribed, and receive published feedback on their work.
We work with youth as young as 12 years old to 25 years of age - free and incarcerated.  We are excited to host this special workshop at the Arts As Life event.  We ask all particpants to be prepared to have a litle conversation and do some writing. The writing that you will create during this session will be featured in a future issue of the national publication, The Beat Within.  All particpants will recieve a magazine with their work inside.  See you soon!

Ragtime To Rap is an exploration of musical genres created by and/or inspired by African Americans. Join this session to listen to notable performers and examine Black music makers from the 1900s to the present. This workshop invites participation from individuals with an interest or experience in Black musical genres in upper elementary courses through adult. It will examine the evolution of musical styles created and inspired by African Americans along with the musicians who have influenced American culture and the world.

Participants will listen to music samples, discuss parallels in African music and consider the role that appropriation has played in the process. A music playlist will be created as a culminating activity. No specific materials needed for participation, but an open heart and creative mind are encouraged. 

Body Music is using your own self as a musical instrument. Explore the percussive, melodic and harmonic sounds possible using your human instrument, while literally incorporating musical and movement concepts that stimulate your brain and body.
Using only your human instrument, explore music and movement concepts and skills with hands, feet, body, and voice. A full-body exploration of music, Body Music can be a physical "brain break" for students, or a full developmental skillset exploring the intersection of music and dance. Physicalize concepts that one might play on an instrument to understand them better, and experience the joy of making moveable music that can be played anywhere. Body Music is perhaps the oldest music, and exists in cultures around the world - from African-American Hambone to North African Rus clapping and so much more. Increase your rhythm skills, become comfortable moving in a musical manner, provide a rhythm section for your own voice, playing with melody and harmony. Body Music has many applications, from math and language development to memory skills and musical development.

In this workshop, we will engage in dialogue to explore What is community care and self-care during this time? What actions can we take as educators to nurture ourselves?
We will experience a grounding embodied practice to be present in our bodies and connected with our breath. We will create a piece to integrate the inquiry of the day.
This workshop is a space of shared leadership, shared learning around arts education. A safe and brave space to discuss opportunities and challenges as they arise in the current educational landscape. A place to build community.

You don't have to be an artist to create a quick doodle. Sketchnoting is a simple, yet effective tool that can help learners focus, engage, comprehend and recall information in any content area. Participate in activities that help students expand their visual vocabulary, increase creative confidence, then apply those skills to sketchnoting.
Sketchnoting is a visual note-taking process that can be customized to work best for any learning style. It’s not about art or who can draw the prettiest picture. It’s about focusing on content, making connections, and synthesizing thoughts in a creative way. Sketchnoting activates both sides of the brain and improves active listening and comprehension skills. Students are drawn to visual note-taking because the method recognizes that ideas can be organized and recorded in a way that is personalized for every individual. No two sketchnotes will look exactly the same because no two brains think exactly alike. That’s the beauty of a sketchnote!

This session is appropriate for grades K-12. For this session, participants will need blank paper and a writing utensil. An alternative would be a tablet and a drawing app. 

Presentation Slides: http://bit.ly/doodle101
Google Site with Resources: http://bit.ly/pacadasketch