How to Integrate the Arts
Objective
By the end of this unit participants will be able to...
1. Apply the steps of arts integration into their own core subject area.
Learning Activity
This video is from Wily H. Bates Middle School. It shows the benefits and how the arts can be integrated into any subject.
After watching the video click the back button to get back to my page.
Sample Lesson Plans
Look through these lesson plans to see how to integrate arts into a variety of subjects. Notice you are learning something about the art form and the core subject.
Mini Lecture
Teaching With, About, In, and Through the Arts
In a fully integrated arts design, teachers present skills and information about and from the arts and use the arts as teaching and learning vehicles. This is using the arts for art's sake and for learning's sake. There are levels of arts integration that eventually lead up to teaching through the arts, which is the ultimate goal. (Cornett,2007)
Teaching With.
This is the beginning level. Teachers use the arts casually for enjoyment and to give students the chance to work creatively. These activities are usually not keyed to standards, and arts activities may not relate at all to units in science, social studies, math, or literacy.
Teaching About and In.
Gradually teachers build an arts knowledge base that allows them to plan lessons for students to learn about and do work in the arts. The goal is to have students do creative problem solving through the arts and develop personal artistry. Students are engaged in exploration, creation, response, performance, reflection, and evaluation. Lessons are tied to district standards, and there is an effort to assess arts literacy, along with growth in linked curricular areas.
Teaching Through.
At this level the arts are prominent through daily arts routines, an aesthetic classroom environment, and as both content and means of learning in co-planned, standards-based units. Teaching through the arts seeks high aesthetic standards and involves students in significant arts experiences connected to units. The emphasis in teaching through the arts is meaning making using the arts.
Discussion Questions
- What is teaching with, about, in,and through the arts?
- Do you feel comfortable enough to develop your own arts integrated lesson plan?
Don't forget you can ask for help from teaching artists or other teachers. You can also use online resources for additional support.
You can also ask and discuss ideas in the discussion space provided
Talk:discussion page
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