The Integrated Learning Specialist Program, a project of the Alameda County Office of Education, prepares K-12 teachers, teaching artists, and administrators to effectively plan and deliver deep, meaningful, and engaging student learning across all subject areas through arts integration, performance-based assessments, and collaborative curriculum design. As an apprentice faculty member, I gave this presentation as the culmination of several months of artistic research exploring the transdisciplinary implications of stars.

1. You’re a Shining Star
Lynn Johnson
ILSP Apprentice Presentation
February 2, 2014

2. Inspiration

3. Concept Map
Social
Studies/Social
Sciences
Physical
Sciences
ELA
Math???

4. My Creative Process

5. The Stars on Earth
An exploration of Social Studies, ELA, and Art

6. 20 Feet from Stardom

7. Jef Lee Johnson

8. Jef Lee Johnsonaka Rainbow Crow

9. The Day the Stars Fell From the Sky

10. Sun Ra & Afrofuturism

11. Make a Play. Change the World.
Understanding Goals
What are the factors that have led to the current conditions of
our community?
How might we take a role in making a positive change in our
community?
How can our play be part of making these changes?

12. Make a Play. Change the World.
Notice
Connect
Celebrate
What do we see/hear/feel
in our community?
How do these things affect me and my
relationship with you? What change
could we make to make things better?
What changed? What worked?
Why?

13. Make a Play. Change the World.
1. Design the world that you want to live in. (Where)
1. How is it similar to our “real” world?
2. How it is different?
3. Why did you make those choices?
2. Who do you want to be in that world? (Who)
1. What does she DO?
3. What does your character want and why can’t she
get what she wants? (Conflict) How are our
characters wants in conflict with each other?
4. How are we going to solve the problem? (Solution)

14. The Stars in the Sky
An exploration of Science, ELA, and Art

15. The Origins of the Universe

16. Liz Lerman

17. Embodied Knowledge

18. Embodied Knowledge & The Origins of
the Universe
Understanding Goals
What is the Big Bang Theory and how does it affect us here
and now?
Why do scientists continue to explore the origin of our
universe?
How can our dances help us to better understand our universe
and how it was formed?

19. Slow, cold start to universe suggested
Idea provides alternative to Big Bang theory of cosmic origin
The universe may have emerged not with a hot Big Bang but with a long, cold slog, a physicist proposes
in a paper posted online January 21 at arXiv.org.
Over the last half-century, most cosmologists have come to agree that all matter initially exploded from
a single point. An instant later, the hot, dense universe ballooned dramatically in an event called
inflation. A slower expansion then proceeded for billions of years.
But the Big Bang model requires the universe to start from what physicists call a singularity, a point of
infinite density at which physical laws break down. A theory that avoids a singularity without introducing
other complications would fit better with quantum mechanics and general relativity, physicists’ best
explanations of nature’s fundamental forces.

20. Create Gestures

21. Liz Lerman: Critical Response
Statements of Meaning: Responders state what was meaningful, evocative,
interesting, exciting, striking in the work they have just witnessed.
Artist as Questioner: The artist asks questions about the work. After each question,
the responders answer. Responders may express opinions if they are in direct
response to the question asked and do not contain suggestions for changes.
Neutral (or Curious) Questions: Responders ask neutral questions about the work.
The artist responds. Questions are neutral when they do not have an opinion couched
in them. For example, if you are discussing the lighting of a scene, “Why was it so
dark?” is not a neutral question. “What ideas guided your choices about lighting?” is.
Opinion Time: Responders state opinions, subject to permission from the artist. The
usual form is “I have an opinion about ______, would you like to hear it?” The artist
has the option to decline opinions for any reason.

22. Artist/Researcher Statement
“Do I really deserve this? Should
my name be on the same list as
Einstein? It just seemed
completely wrong. Over the years,
I guess I’ve come to understand
that the Nobel Prize is given for
discovering something, not for
being the smartest person around.
So, while there are much smarter
people around, we did something
significant and I feel comfortable
with it now.”