General Artist InformationName: Beth Olshansky
Email: Beth.Olshansky@comcast.net BiographyBeth Olshansky has spent the last 30 years developing, refining, and researching her innovative methods that place art at the heart of literacy learning. Picturing Writing: Fostering Literacy Through Art® is an evidence-based approach to teach writing and improve reading that has been proven effective for a wide range of learners. Through the Picturing Writing process, Beth has discovered the deep connection between art, reading, and writing. Even students who traditionally struggle become fully engaged in a rich reading/writing process as they create their own carefully crafted picture books aligned with grade-level standards and curriculum. Beth has trained hundreds of teachers across North Dakota both onsite and virtually as well as worked directly with North Dakota students. She has been Zooming into classrooms as an artist-in-residence since the fall of 2020. Teaching PhilosophyI believe that human beings are hard-wired to think in pictures. Evidence dates back to our earliest recorded history. When students are given engaging visual tools for thinking and expressing their ideas in pictures first before they write, and taught methods for reading their pictures to access detail and description, even those who traditionally struggle find success and confidence as artists and writers. Additionally, students discover that when they write using rich, descriptive language, they can make their paintings come alive! What student doesn’t want to learn this magic trick? Residency Description:Picture Writing/Fostering Literacy Through ArtWhether teachers have already taken a Picturing Writing Workshop or are new to the process, observe for yourself the magic of bringing words and pictures together in your classroom. Experience the simple 4-step Artists/Writers Workshop process using easy-to-manage art materials (crayons & watercolors), and specially designed brainstorming sheets to help students access descriptive language. Watch your students become enthusiastic wordsmiths as they learn how to make their paintings come alive! Work with Beth to develop a project aligned with your English Language Arts Standards and content area curriculum or choose an introductory level experience to introduce you and your students to the Picturing Writing process. Watch the magic transform your classroom! Sample Lesson Plan #1: Introductory Picturing Writing Time of Day UnitGrade level: Elementary grades or English Learners of any grade Number of Sessions: Minimum of five 60 to 90-minute sessions depending on grade level (2 art, 2 writing, and one sharing/reflective process.) Additional sessions may be required depending upon project goals. Residency Description: Changing skies through night and day is universal to all people, all cultures. This introductory Picturing Writing unit introduces Artists/Writers Workshop and the crayon resist painting process. Students learn how to create simple landscapes, paint the sky at different times of day, read their pictures to access detail and description, and craft poetry or prose to describe what is happening in their paintings. They will experience how bringing words and pictures together can make a picture appear to come alive. Learn how to conduct The Magic Trick while advancing students’ art and writing skills!
Sample Lesson Plan #2: Picturing Writing Research-Based Animal TrifoldGrade level: Elementary grades or English Learners of any grade Number of Sessions: Minimum of nine 60 to 90-minute sessions depending on grade level (time frame depending on grade level). Additional sessions may be required depending upon project goals. Residency Description: The Picturing Writing Research-Based Animal Trifold Unit teaches how to conduct visual and written research as well as how to create engaging informational text as students create their own research-based animal trifolds. While conducting visual research, students learn how to draw facts from pictures in mentor texts and conversely, how to embed facts into their crayon resist paintings. From reading the details in their own paintings, they learn how to draw out visual information to include in their fact-based poems. The research-based animal trifold is set up as a Who Am I? guessing booklet, with facts organized in such a way as to keep the reader guessing. The research-based animal trifold contains two fact-based poems and a reflective/opinion piece on the About the Artist/Writer page. Teachers may choose to include straight informational writing as well. Teachers of older students may choose to add a fourth panel to expand the content covered in this unit.
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