Some of you were amazed at how well the art integrated with The Tale of Despereaux Novel Study. I want to tell you that I can't take credit for that - the author of the novel, Kate de Camillo, built the art references into her story and gave readers wonderful language to provoke exploration of the light and dark in the hearts of her characters and in the world. What I did is recognize a wonderful opportunity for Arts Integration and you can do that, too. I want to make sure you know that I had no idea what chiaroscuro meant before I read this book - I looked it up and made a lesson out of it! It takes some extra time to research a lesson like this but if you do it whenever you can, borrow ideas from other teachers, and collect others from books, websites, etc., it won't be long before you have many lessons/units that are engaging for you as well as your students. The art references aren't as strong in most novels as they are in Despereaux but I am excited when I find new literature that has arts integration potential. When I taught grade 7, a few of my students talked often about The Gammage Cup, a novel they had read and loved in grade 6. It is an older book but when I read it I could see why they loved it. And there is certainly a strong message about being your own unique self and doing things your own way, as well as learning to value other people who do so. I don't have a copy with me today but an image that remains in my mind from the book is an orange door. A character in the book is criticized and made fun of by everyone in her village because she painted her door orange instead of the acceptable brown. The colours of doors in this village are mentioned often, to emphasize the theme of individuality. I think the visual image of the orange door, once a student has read the book, could be a strong antidote for peer pressure!
