Third Graders Learn Math Through Movement: Jacob's Pillow Curriculum in Motion, 11/13

An informal sharing of the Jacob's Pillow Curriculum in Motion Residency at Conte Community School will take place this Friday, November 13 at 9:45am. Led by Jacob's Pillow Artist-Educator Kimberli Boyd, third graders will show choreography they have created during the two-week program while learning fraction-based mathematic concepts through creative movement. This year's residency program is titled FRACTIONS - DANCE Counts, MATH Moves: We are all equal parts of the whole.

Jacob's Pillow Curriculum in Motion (JPCiM), entering its 23rd year, is an arts-integrated curricular approach developed in partnership with classroom educators and administrators in three K-12 Berkshire County schools. Residencies, co-taught by Jacob's Pillow Artist-Educators with classroom teachers, engage students in the rigor of creative inquiry and choreographic process to create original movement studies expressing student comprehension of academic topics. Results have been consistent and persuasive: students score five percent and higher in conceptual testing, improve critical thinking and creativity, develop kinesthetic understanding of body-mind connections, gain physical agility, and increase communication and collaborative social skills. Effective across all grade levels and curricular areas, the program equally engages males and females, and meets national standards for dance and academic subjects. This innovative arts education approach annually advances student learning in 20 classrooms for some 400 students, and professional development for 80 educators and 4-6 dance artists

Who: Artist-Educator Kimberli Boyd is a dancer, performing artist, teaching artist, and arts in education consultant. She has toured extensively, conducting workshops and residencies for many major presenters, nationally and internationally. Boyd's work with students and educators preschool through twelfth grade integrates basic elements and principles of dance with best practices in teaching and learning. A graduate of Florida State University and a former member of the critically acclaimed Liz Lerman Dance Exchange in Washington, DC, Boyd is the Founding Artistic Director of "Dancing Between the Lines," a solo performance company and arts-as-education organization based in the Detroit metropolitan area.

About: Jacob's Pillow, celebrating its 84th Festival in 2016, is a National Historic Landmark, recipient of the National Medal of Arts, and home to America's longest-running international dance festival. Each Festival includes more than 50 national and international dance companies and 350 free and ticketed performances, talks, tours, classes, exhibits, and events. The School at Jacob's Pillow, one of the most prestigious professional dance training centers in the U.S., encompasses the diverse disciplines of Ballet, Cultural Traditions, Contemporary, and Musical Theatre Dance, as well as an Intern Program in various disciplines of arts administration, design, video, and production. The Pillow's extensive Archives, open year-round to the public, chronicle more than a century of dance in photographs, programs, books, costumes, audiotapes, and videos.

Year-round Community Programs enrich the lives of children and adults through public classes, residencies in area schools, and an extensive schedule of free public events. Through Jacob's Pillow Curriculum in Motion, a nationally-recognized program, Artist Educators work with Berkshire County K-12 teachers and students grades, transforming curricula such as biology, literature, and history into kinesthetic and creative learning experiences. Creative Development Residencies, in which dance companies are invited to live and work at the Pillow and enjoy unlimited studio time; choreography commissions; and the annual $25,000 Jacob's Pillow Dance Award all support visionary dance artists and choreographers.

The Pillow's digital initiatives are aimed at expanding global audiences for dance and offers the opportunity to experience dance and Jacob's Pillow from anywhere in the world via online interactive exhibits, global video networks, and social media. An important part of the Pillow's digital presence, Jacob's Pillow Dance Interactive is a curated online video collection of dance highlights from 1936 to today. On March 2, 2011, President Obama honored Jacob's Pillow with a National Medal of Arts, the highest arts award given by the United States Government, making the Pillow the first dance presenting organization to receive this prestigious award. For more information, visit www.jacobspillow.org.

Jacob's Pillow Curriculum in Motion is made possible with generous support from the following: Berkshire Bank Foundation, Dr. Robert C. and Tina Sohn Foundation, and Pittsfield Cultural Council.

To post a comment, you must register and login.