时间:2019-01-02 作者:英语课 分类:2017年VOA慢速英语(五)月


英语课

 


An arts program is helping 1 students at some of the lowest performing schools in the United States.


The program, called Turnaround Arts, aims to help improve low performing schools by adding music and the arts to the usual study program.


Turnaround Arts was launched by Michelle Obama, the wife of former U.S. President Barack Obama. Some money for the program comes from the federal government.


For the students at participating schools, the program offers a kind of safe haven 2 from city neighborhoods. Many of the children come from areas with high crime rates.


The Turnaround Arts program is part of the curriculum at the Florence Griffith Joyner Elementary School in Los Angeles, California. Test results showed the school performed in the lowest five percent in the state.


Florence Griffith Joyner serves families from Watts 3, an area known for gang violence. Akida Kissane Long, the head of the school, says Watts is a difficult neighborhood for students.


“High crime, high poverty, very multi-generational families in public housing. There’s gun violence,” she explained. “We see a lot of helicopters and we have lockdowns regularly and so, the thing is, all associated with poverty – that really traumatized students, so many of our students come to school with symptoms of post-traumatic stress.”


Long noted 4 how when she started working at the school five years ago, there was “willful disobedience … fighting (and) destruction of school property.” She said there were “267 suspensions on record, as well as 1,167 classroom suspensions.”


Putting what students love into the class


Turnaround Arts is a partnership 5 between the federal government and private businesses. Florence Griffith Joyner Elementary is one of 68 schools in the U.S. participating in the program.


Teachers receive special training and look for ways to add music and the arts into all the classes.


Turnaround Arts schools partner with musicians and actors who work with the students. Performers have included Yo-Yo Ma, Sarah Jessica Parker, Elton John and Cameron Diaz.


School principal Long noted “The children were so excited and have been so excited because it’s not just about – ‘Go to the board. Do the problem. Turn the page. Read the book.' It’s about acting 6 and impersonating artists and historic figures.”


She noted how some students got the chance to act out the process of a caterpillar 7 becoming a butterfly.


The program has been popular with students, too. “I like to act and I like to sing and I like to dance,” said 10-year-old Kayla Driakare.


Seeing results


Long said that Turnaround Arts is only in its first year at the school, and already teachers are already seeing results.


“We’ve probably suspended one kid this year. That’s amazing,” she said. “Parents are getting phone calls to come to… family arts night, and it’s not just the naughty calls home. It’s for them to come and learn more about what their children are learning. So our parent engagement goes up.”


Around the country, participating schools are reporting fewer disciplinary actions, better attendance and improved performance in testing. A three-year long study found that Turnaround Arts schools performed better than other schools that received special grants for school improvement.


The findings come at a time when President Donald Trump 8 is proposing to cut government spending on the arts. Some policy makers 9 are pushing for more attention to subjects like mathematics and science in U.S. education.


“Art speaks to everyone,” Akida Kissane Long said. “It is part of what makes the curriculum rich and exciting and motivating.”


At the end of the three-year program, she wants Los Angeles school officials to make Florence Griffith Joyner Elementary into a magnet school for visual and performing arts. That way the school could get financing to support its arts programs.


Words in This Story


curriculum – n. the courses that are taught by a school, college, etc.?


discipline – n. control that is gained by requiring that rules or orders be obeyed and punishing bad behavior?


engage – v. to get and keep someone's attention or interest


gang – n. a group of people who do illegal things together and who often fight against other gangs


grant – n. an amount of money that is given to someone by a government, a company, etc., to be used for a particular purpose ?


?


impersonate – v. to pretend to be another person


naughty – adj. behaving badly?


magnet schools – n. a public school offering special instruction and programs not available elsewhere, designed to attract a more diverse student body from throughout a school district.?


participate – v. to take part in an activity or event with others?


post-traumatic stress – n. a mental condition that can affect a person who has had a very shocking or difficult experience, such as fighting in a war, and that is usually characterized by depression, anxiety, etc. ?


proficiency 10 – n. someone's ability to be good at doing something ?


traumatize – v. to cause someone to become very upset in a way that often leads to serious emotional problems ?



n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的,辅助的
  • The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
  • By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。
n.安全的地方,避难所,庇护所
  • It's a real haven at the end of a busy working day.忙碌了一整天后,这真是一个安乐窝。
  • The school library is a little haven of peace and quiet.学校的图书馆是一个和平且安静的小避风港。
(电力计量单位)瓦,瓦特( watt的名词复数 )
  • My lamp uses 60 watts; my toaster uses 600 watts. 我的灯用60瓦,我的烤面包器用600瓦。
  • My lamp uses 40 watts. 我的灯40瓦。
adj.著名的,知名的
  • The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
  • Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。
n.合作关系,伙伴关系
  • The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
  • Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。
n.演戏,行为,假装;adj.代理的,临时的,演出用的
  • Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她,她只是假装的。
  • During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代,她的表演生涯黯然失色。
n.毛虫,蝴蝶的幼虫
  • A butterfly is produced by metamorphosis from a caterpillar.蝴蝶是由毛虫脱胎变成的。
  • A caterpillar must pass through the cocoon stage to become a butterfly.毛毛虫必须经过茧的阶段才能变成蝴蝶。
n.王牌,法宝;v.打出王牌,吹喇叭
  • He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
  • The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手,作为他的王牌。
n.制造者,制造商(maker的复数形式)
  • The makers of the product assured us that there had been no sacrifice of quality. 这一产品的制造商向我们保证说他们没有牺牲质量。
  • The makers are about to launch out a new product. 制造商们马上要生产一种新产品。 来自《简明英汉词典》
n.精通,熟练,精练
  • He plied his trade and gained proficiency in it.他勤习手艺,技术渐渐达到了十分娴熟的地步。
  • How do you think of your proficiency in written and spoken English?你认为你的书面英语和口语熟练程度如何?
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