Teaching Through The Arts

You bet it is! Don't believe me? Check it out. PreK-12 Standard 10: Interdisciplinary Connections Students will use knowledge of the arts and cultural resources in the study of the arts, English language arts, foreign languages, health, history and social sciences, mathematics, and science and technology/engineering. Learning Standards Students will 10.1 Integrate knowledge of dance, music, theatre, and visual arts and apply the arts to learning other disciplines Examples of this include: • using visual arts skills to illustrate understanding of a story read in English language arts or foreign languages; • memorizing and singing American folk songs to enhance understanding of history and geography; • using short dance sequences to clarify concepts in mathematics. So there it is once again. Integrating the arts across the curriculum being supported by the Massachusetts State Learning Standards/Frameworks. Still don't believe me? Then click on the link and see for yourse...

I constantly have math and science teachers tell me "this is a math (or science) class, I can't integrate the arts like they do in English and History." To that I heartily disagree. Don't believe me? Then check out this lesson on the ArtsEdge site that pairs Atomic and Molecular Structure with Dance . And oh ya, you're worried about standards right? Don't be, it covers National Standards in Dance, Physical Education, and of course Science. Here's the lesson overview: In this lesson, students will utilize their knowledge of basic physical science concepts to create movement patterns that simulate the movement of atoms and molecules. They will formulate and answer questions about how movement choices communicate abstract ideas in dance and demonstrate an understanding of how personal experience influences the interpretation of a dance. Need an example of pairing Math with Dance? Try this one for grades 1 & 2 called Shaping Patterns and Dancing Shapes . H...

Have you ever thought of integrating poetry and music into your math lessons? It sounds like a great idea to me, and I would think that students would enjoy it as well. Check out the lesson "A Geometric Song:Patterns in Math and Music" from the Kennedy Center's ARTSEDGE website by clicking on the title of this post. There are a wealth of lessons spanning all grade levels, all subjects, and all arts modalities on the site. It's worth a long look. You can also get to the site by clicking on it in the links section at the lower right side of your screen. Have fun exploring!