We recently wrapped up our seventh annual Side x Side Summer Arts Institute and loved collaborating and making art for two days with our amazing classroom teachers and specialists! This year’s professional development event for educators featured art-making workshops, training, and planning in Portland (at Ocean Avenue Elementary School) and Lewiston (at Connors Elementary School), as
Collaboration with LearningWorks Continues Arts-Integrated Summer Programming
This past summer, Side x Side once again partnered with LearningWorks to bring LearningWorks students in Portland and South Portland an arts-integrated program on Building Community. With the goal of designing a dream park, students worked with Side x Side teaching artist, Sarah Boyden, to brainstorm the various elements that can make up a park,
Special Education Students Connect to a Nonfiction Writing Unit Through Collage and Illustration
Second and fourth graders in Ms. Muldoon’s classes at Reiche Community School recently wrapped up a virtual Side x Side bookmaking program led by teaching artist Leah Cross. Integrated with a nonfiction writing unit, students researched animals including their habitat, diet, adaptations, and fun facts. Through live Zoom sessions and recorded art lessons with Leah
An Animal Alphabet is Created by First Graders During Side x Side Arts-Integrated Program
First graders at Connors Elementary School in Lewiston recently participated in a Side x Side program led virtually by teaching artists Sarah Boyden and Indigo Grey.
Mural on Biodiversity Created by Students Last Year is Installed at Lincoln Middle School
Students at Lincoln Middle School have a beautiful and educational new mural hanging in their stairway! Created by seventh graders during a 2019-2020 Side x Side program, the mural, titled “What is Biodiversity?” was a collaboration between teaching artist Laurie Downey and teachers Ms. Backus, Mr. Lindsay, and Ms. Cabral. The program was integrated with
Join us for the 2021 Summer Arts Institute!
Join Side x Side for its 7th annual summer professional development program on August 18-19, 2021. This year’s Summer Arts Institute will offer a combination of in-person, physically distanced, and virtual workshop options in both Portland and Lewiston with two days of art making and time for planning and networking across districts. Our keynote speaker
Poetry and Art Integrated with Math Unit Helps Students Express Their Pandemic Experience
Fifth grade students in Ms. Harrigan’s and Ms. Tevanian’s Remote Academy classes recently participated in a Side x Side poetry and visual art program led virtually via Google Meet by teaching artists Gretchen Berg and Anne Ackerman. The program kicked off with a delivery of art kits for each student. Working with Berg, students wrote poems of things
Remote Academy Science Unit on Animals Captured in Poetry and Illustration
Third graders in Ms. Salisbury’s class at Portland’s Remote Academy recently participated in a Side x Side poetry and illustration program integrated with a science unit on animals and led by teaching artists Laurie Downey and Gretchen Berg. During the program, students learned to use Project Journals to capture their research on animals through writing
Scenes from the Civil Rights Movement are Brought to Life on Miniature Stages
Second graders in Ms. DeRice’s class at Reiche Community School have been participating in a Side x Side program led by teaching artist Nance Parker and integrated with a literacy and social studies unit on the Civil Rights Movement.
Owl Research Comes to Life During Side x Side Bookmaking Program at Lyseth
Fourth graders in Ms. St. Germain’s class at Lyseth Elementary School recently participated in a Side x Side bookmaking program led virtually by teaching artist Jill Osgood and integrated with a science and literacy unit on owls.