Native Arts Updates

Connecting to Native American Heritage Month, we are highlighting updates from the Native Arts project and resources from Native and indigenous educators in this month’s newsletter! Utilize these resources to teach about Native and indigenous arts and culture year round. 

Speak/Sing Native™ Opportunities: 

Speak/Sing Native™ is a multidisciplinary K-12 music education curriculum that aligns with Oregon state standards and the Tribal History/Shared History initiative. The professional development team offers in-person workshop opportunities, a professional learning community, and educator stipends to support your growth.

Lessons are in development and will become available this school year. To learn more and schedule professional development for the Speak/Sing Native program, please email ODE.WRCoursesGrant@ode.oregon.gov

Tribal History/Shared History (TH/SH) Lessons:

In 2017, the Oregon Legislature enacted Senate Bill (SB) 13, now known as Tribal History/Shared History. This law directs the Oregon Department of Education (ODE) to create K-12 Native American Curriculum for inclusion in Oregon public schools and to provide professional development to educators. School districts must implement the curriculum for students in kindergarten through grade 12.

These lessons were designed in alignment with the Essential Understandings of Native Americans in Oregon. They embody indigenous teaching and learning opportunities specific to Native Americans. Work with educators at your school to teach all of these lessons with fidelity and ensure that the diversity of the Native American experience is taught to all of our students. Additional lessons for this K-12 series are currently in development!

For questions about Tribal History/Shared History lessons, please contact Brent Spencer at brent.spencer@ode.oregon.gov or (971)240-2910. 

TH/SH Lessons that Connect with Arts Learning: 

Poetry - Elizabeth Woody  Oregon Poet Laureate 2016-2018 - 10th Grade Language Arts

Storytelling - Oral Traditions - 4th Grade Language Arts

Dance - Are We Going to Make It To the Pow Wow? - 10th Grade Math

Tribal Specific Curriculum:

These supplementary lessons in the Tribal Specific curriculums developed by Tribes in Oregon feature the integration of various art disciplines. Check them out and integrate within your arts classroom to strengthen students' understanding of Native communities in Oregon. 

Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians - 

Dance - The Dance House 2nd Grade

Design - Not a Costume! 5th Grade

Photography - Whose Lens: Native American Photography and Representation 11th Grade 

Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde - 

Dance - A Day at Powwow - Kinder 

Fiber Arts/Quilting - Our Ancestors - 3rd Grade

Basket Making - Basketry - 7th Grade

Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians - 

Movement - Traditional Games - 5th Grade

Storytelling - Oral Tradition: The role of oral tradition in the survivance of the Cow Creek people - 9th Grade

The WRAP team is working with the Coquille Indian Tribe and the  Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua, and Siuslaw to create additional Tribal specific lessons that integrate arts learning! Stay tuned this school year for updates on their release. 

Arts, Care & Connection Featured Lesson:

Kanaka Maoli educator Kawika Kalama introduces students to themes of belonging, land stewardship, and deepening connections to our cultures and sacred spaces through sharing their work and introducing students to the art of found object sculpture.

Sacred Space Dioramas with Kawika Kalama

Arts Ed Regional Network Gatherings

Dear Arts Education Practitioners and Advocates,

We are a group of teaching artists, arts educators, arts organization administrators, and other arts education advocates who have been meeting over the last couple years to build a statewide network and creatively explore a vision for arts education in Oregon together. 

We are hosting a few meetings around the state to share what we’ve been up to and to hear about the state of arts education in different regions. We know there are lots of artists and creatives across the state with so much passion for making sure youth get to experience the transformational power of the arts.

Please join us to unite around a common passion of arts education, get creative, and dream up ideas for our future work together! This event is open to all those working in and advocating for arts education.

We hope to see you at one of the following Regional Gathering events!

• Southwestern Oregon: Saturday, November 9th, 11am-2p; Takilma Community Building, Cave Junction
• South Willamette Valley: Wednesday, November 13th, 4-7pm; Wordcrafters in Eugene, Eugene
• Portland Metro: Thursday, November 14th, 4-7pm; Centro Milagro, Portland

Two additional gatherings will take place in February to continue our reach across the state! The registration form includes an opportunity to express interest in these gatherings to get notification once details are set.

• Northeastern Oregon: We plan to meet in La Grande
• Central Oregon: We plan to meet in Bend

PLEASE RSVP THROUGH THIS LINK!

We recognize these regional gatherings do not reach every part of our state, but we hope one of these gatherings is close enough for you to join. If you have interest in learning more, but cannot attend these gatherings, please reach out to Aimee Craig (aimee@seechange.org) or Eric Braman (eric@bringconsulting.org) and we'll be happy to connect, answer questions, and let you know how you can get involved in the year ahead!

Scholarship Opportunities from OCF

If you or your high school students are interested in pursuing a post-secondary education, the Oregon Community Foundation (OCF) may have a scholarship that can help realize that dream.

OCF scholarships support a wide variety of majors, interests and passions, including scholarships for graduates of specific high schools, current college students and graduate students. Other scholarships support students returning to their education after time away, for workforce retraining or career advancement.

Learn more about available scholarships here!

Poetry Out Loud 2025

Schools and community organizations are now able to register  for this year's Poetry Out Loud! This contest is open to all Oregon high school students, though schools must register to get their students involved. It is a free program that encourages young performers to dive into American poetry through memorization and competitive performance. Poetry Out Loud is sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the Poetry Foundation in partnership with the Oregon Arts Commission and other state arts agencies.

Learn more here. Registration deadline for schools: January 13th, 2025

Photo: Poetry Out Loud 2024 Oregon Champion Katie Lineburg. Katie lives in Hillsboro and attends St. Stephen's Academy in Lake Oswego

Games for Change (G4C) Student Challenge

G4C Learn’s flagship program, the G4C Student Challenge, is a game design competition that invites youth to create digital games inspired by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The program uses youth interest in video games to develop coding and digital design skills, as well as problem solving, collaboration, creativity, and other critical STEAM skills. The Challenge is also a platform for amplifying student voices, empowering young people to imagine creative solutions to social problems, and to see themselves as engaged citizens and changemakers. 

Educator applications for participation are now open! Learn more and Apply Here!

60th Anniversary of the 1964 Civil Rights Act Art Contest

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is sponsoring a nationwide art contest to celebrate the Civil Rights Act of 1964! All mediums - Drawing, painting, music, dance, spoken word or essays – are accepted. 

Additionally, staff are available to make guest presentations to provide context to students. Whether it’s talking about the Children’s March in Birmingham and the role of young kids in making social change to elementary students, Lilly Ledbetter’s fight for equal pay to middle school kids, or workers right to high school students entering their first workplaces, content can be tailored to teacher time constraints and student’s level and interests. 

Please contact artcontest@eeoc.gov with any questions!

Contest guidelines are available at the EEOC’s website 60th Anniversary of the 1964 Civil Rights Act Art Contest and submissions are due January 20, 2025.

Arts Care & Connection Update: New Lessons Posted!

Arts for Learning Northwest is collaborating with Oregon teaching artists on the development of a series of four arts courses designed for K-5 students called Arts, Care & Connection, with integrated social emotional learning content in the areas of dance, visual arts, theater, and music. This lesson is part of a pilot project, and will be shared in its final version in an Oregon Open Learning Lesson Collection. Oregon teachers are encouraged to provide feedback on the form included in the lesson resources, to inform the development of this project. 

Check out this new featured resource en español for an example of the Arts, Care & Connection content included in the Oregon Arts Group!

Construye un Cuento con Valentina Ortiz

The Oregon Open Learning Hub is a digital resource repository and collaboration space for educators, administrators, and other educational partners to curate, create, and remix open educational resources (OER). The Hub is a portal to over 50,000 openly licensed resources available on OER Commons, searchable by grade level, subject, and standard. 

Want to learn more about OER and the Oregon Open Learning Hub? Asynchronous learning options include the OER Professional Learning Group on the Hub and the User Guide for Oregon Open Learning.