Three units that I have written for the Yale New Haven Teachers Institute have incorporated a major creative arts project that has far exceeded my expectations in the classroom with the at-risk high school students that I teach at the Wilbur Cross Annex. The success of each of these units has inspired me, an English teacher, to be more creative and bold in combining a significant art component with the literature and writing skills I teach. This unit exploring art as the narrative of history, or art as a
memory holder
for history, is the result of personal experiences and revelations over the past two years. It has become apparent from implementing my previous units that the students I teach respond favorably and open up creatively when studying and creating art as part of their learning experience in an academic class, where they least expect it. Hence, this unit, which explores how various mediums of art, actually tells the stories of history, many of which are about survival of one kind or another.
