The courses I teach include art education methods K-6 and communication arts methods K-6. I also supervise field experiences during the elementary methods semester and student teaching. The supervision allows me to get into area elementary school classrooms and see that what I’m teaching in the methods courses is still current. I’ve also supervised student teachers in Norway, France, England, and New Zealand.
I graduated from Concordia College and taught elementary school five years before attending the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, for my M.A. in art education. I earned my Ph.D. in curriculum and instruction at the same university. I’ve been teaching at Concordia since 1988 and am inspired by the excellent students in my program.
My research interests include children’s drawings and literacy instruction. During a Fulbright Scholar semester in Namibia, Africa, I collected more than 1,000 children’s drawings and compared them to Lowenfeld’s developmental stage theories of art. Another research interest is a form of reading instruction known as guided reading and an assessment technique used to determine the appropriate level of instruction for guided reading known as Running Records. I collaborated with a former student, Dr. Erin Gillett, to publish an article about our use of the Running Records. More information can be found in the articles below.
Articles
Gillett, E.K. & Ellingson, S.P. (2017) “Preparing Pre-Service Teachers to use Running Records.”
Ellingson, S.P. (2005) “Namibian students’ art through American Eyes: An alternative approach to describing
Ellingson, S.P. (2000) “Conventions in children’s drawing.” Journal of Multicultural and Cross-cultural