Integrating the Arts into the 4th
and 5th Grade Classroom
A Primer for Classroom Teachers
Found at: http://www.aeideas.com/artsint45.html
This series of activities is the result of a two-day workshop conducted by
Dr. Sue Snyder for the Oak Grove Upper Elementary School faculty in June, 2000.
Oak Grove is just outside Hattiesburg, Mississippi, and is a participant in the
Whole Schools Program supported by a grant from the Mississippi Arts Commission.
There are about 850 4th and 5th graders, and they are just
about to move into the prior middle school facility, providing a much needed gym
and auditorium. There is no music or art specialist at this school, although
they are working very hard to get funding for these positions. They are in their
first year of implementing an arts-infused school plan modeled after the HOT
Schools program. These teachers are well versed in multiple intelligence theory,
authentic assessment, and other various contemporary trends in education. They
felt they needed some help with music understandings and skills, and also an
overview of the HOT Schools model. They also needed to begin the type of team
building that will be required to make the transitions and changes necessary
during the coming year.
Outline of Content
- Sharing personal experiences--Torn
paper quilt squares and oral history
- Sharing visions of our
school--Group responses to
topics
- The discipline of music: Building
concepts and skills through activities related to pattern
- Activity #1: Names
- Activity #2: Body
percussion sounds
- Activity #3: Paper
Plates as an example of found or environmental sounds
- Activity #4: Unpitched
Instruments
- Activity #5: Pitch
and Singing
- Activity #6: Listening
Maps
- Activity #7: STOMP
- Activity #8: Newspaper
sticks
- HOT School Pillar: Strong
Arts Programs
- Arts
disciplines and staffing
- Basic
Concepts in Music with HOT examples
- 1
2 3 4 5 6 7 8
- A
Design for Composition
- Basic
Concepts in Art with HOT examples
- Exploring
Line in Three Dimensions
- Exploring
Shape through Negative Space
- Exploring
Value through a Window
- Basic
Concepts in Movement/Dance with HOT examples
- Building
Basic Movement Skills
- Prepare the space
together
- Circle and scatter
formations
- Exploring self space
- Non-locomotor
movements
- Moving through
pathways
- Locomotor movements
- Mirroring
- Group
movement--circles
- Verbs
and adverbs
- HOT School Pillar: Arts-infused
Curriculum
- In,
about, and through the arts
- Connection,
correlation, and integration
- HOT School Pillar: Democracy
- Materials
and Activities
- Funga
Alafia
- Jacqueline
- Adapting
materials, activities, and ideas
Sharing Personal Experiences: Torn paper quilt squares and oral history.
Process:
- Guide participants to find a
memory--perhaps a musical memory from early childhood. Other possible
categories might be a happy (sad, funny, scary) experience, an object that
is meaningful, a special holiday, something you did on summer vacation.
- Guide participants to explore
that memory for details by asking questions:
- What does it look
like?
- What does it sound
like?
- What does it smell
like?
- What can you feel?
- What is near and what
is far away?
- Who else is there?
- Watch what is
happening, and collect all the details.
- How old are you?
- What are you feeling
as this is taking place?
- How might you use this
experience today? (This question is for grown-ups only, probably not for
children.)
- Instruct participants to
create a torn-paper image, using only paper and glue, to represent their
story.
- Interview one person about
their story, demonstrating interviewing techniques including:
- Eye contact
- Leaning in
- Open stance
- Ask questions related
to the story to get more information
- Paraphrase
- Listen intently
- One-way
conversation--none of your own experiences
- Wait - give speaker
time to think
- In pairs, collect each
others' stories.
- Put the torn paper images
into a "quilt" on the bulletin board or a wall.
- Optional: Do creative writing
to write the stories and add them to the display.
Sharing visions of our school--Group responses to topics
Teachers at a workshop have vast information about their specific situation,
and can provide a context into which the entire workshop content will fit. In
this case, the teachers used post-its to put up responses to the following
flip-chart paper prompts:
- Our school is:
- Our students are:
- Powerful learning occurs
when:
- I am required to teach:
- Decisions in our school are
made by:
- Our school could be even
better if:
As we read the responses, we all came to a common vision of what the big
picture of the school was, what the issues and challenges were. Most responses
were very positive, and showed great respect between all participants. A
strength of this school is the principal, who participated in every activity
along with her staff. She is organized and respected. Another strength in this
school is the strong parent support and participation in the school. The
students are loved and honored. The teacher team reflects a range of teaching
experience, style, expertise, and interests. Nearly all are open to change, and
interested in what is best for the children.
The Discipline of Music: Building Concepts and Skills through Activities
Related to Pattern
Activity #1: Names
Process (Do this series of activities over several days):
- Echo say and clap names
around the circle, starting with the teacher. (We used first and last names,
but you could use just first names.)
- Repeat to get comfortable,
going around the circle the other way.
- Identify different ways to
clap, and each modify their name by changing the way they clap and say it.
Go around and echo again.
- Have students try out
combinations of two names to create longer patterns. Do this as a whole
group first, then in small groups. They might create patterns using four
names. Encourage repetition and contrast.
- Groups perform their patterns
for one another.
- It is possible to create a
composition using these patterns if they are interesting and the students
are interested.
Activity #2: Body percussion sounds
Process: (Do one activity each day, building skill and complexity over time.
Choose those that are most comfortable for you.)
- Echo clap patterns
- Add snaps, then pats, then
stamps.
- Echo patterns that include
two levels, for example: claps and pats.
- Echo patterns that include
three or four levels. (Remember that this ability occurs as a result of
practice over time. Don't overwhelm the students, but do a little each day
and build skills. As you use more levels, increase the number of beats in
your patterns from 4 to 8.)
- Around the circle, each
person create their own 4 beat pattern. Combine one pattern after another to
create 8 beat patterns. In small groups, create 16, 24, or 32 beat patterns
that can be repeated over and over. Use these as accompaniments for songs or
poems, or combine several to create an AB, ABA, or ABACA piece.
- Write out the body percussion
patterns that individuals create, using lines that label the sounds from top
to bottom, and reading from left to right, for example:

These patterns can be placed on index cards and used as flash cards as a
reading warm-up.
- Hint: Echoing patterns is
good for getting student attention, but don't bore the kids. Be inventive by
using different body sounds, incorporating mouth sounds like whistles or
shhhs. Let them lead the patterns as soon as they are able. And sometimes
clap four patterns one after the other, then ask the students to clap all
four back in order without any mistakes.
- Hint: Body percussion will
transfer to instruments, or patterns can be used to create accompaniments
for songs or poems.
Activity #3: Paper Plates as an example of found or environmental sounds.
- Each person take two plates.
- Try out some ways to make
sounds with the two plates, and share these ideas with one another.
- With march music, samba
music, a rag, or something else lively; play the plates any way you want for
8 beats and then change. Continue changing the way the plates are played
every 8 beats.
- Note: This is an exploratory
activity that leads to fluency and flexibility. No one is creative until
they've used up all the ideas they already know. Then they have to think
creatively, consult with each other, and collaborate. After a while, sit
down and discuss the process of being creative and thinking "outside
the box." Describe how to minify, magnify, adapt, vary, collaborate,
and swipe ideas from others. Enjoy the silliness of this
activity--Creativity comes from a place of childlike thinking.
- Each person choose an
instrument to play.
- Categorize the instruments
according to sound families: woods, metals, scrapers/shakers, drums.
- Echo patterns on unpitched
instruments, first from clapping, the assign the following:
Snap = metals
Clap = woods
Pat = scrapers/shakers
Stamp = drums
- Read the written pattern
cards that were created for body percussion, transferring to unpitched
instruments.
- Use unpitched instruments to
highlight any concept you are working on, for example:
- Play on every noun.
- Play on every verb.
- Play different sounds
for different punctuation (Use
"Mean Soup" or another story that has plenty of punctuation.
- Play different
instrument to represent characters in a fictional or non-fiction story.
- Play the steady beat
on drums, and the rhythm of the words on sticks for poems or songs.
- Have students create a
radio script as a culminating activity to demonstrate understanding of
some concept, adding instrument sound effects.
- Use the drum to have students
walk the steady beat creating pathways through space without bumping. At
first just walk, then add jogging, skipping, and swaying.
- Tap the woodblock 5 times to
have students create statues with 5 people. Repeat with different number of
taps. This is a great experience before doing division or multiplication to
create sets and remainders.
- Note: The unpitched
instruments are chosen to represent the four sound families, but also to
represent the short vowel sounds: clatterpillar, eggs, sticks,
block, and drums. There is also the finger cymbal
for y as a vowel sound.
Activity #5: Pitch and Singing
- You are purchasing Share
the Music, Grades 4 and 5 for each classroom. There are Teacher's
Editions, Pupil Books, and CDs, plus resource materials. If you follow the
lessons in the book, you will learn musical concepts and skills along with
your students.
- When you get your books,
review them to find the following sections and features:
- Sing-along unit at
the beginning.
- Six units that teach
concepts and skills through musical activities.
- Classroom connections
for each core lesson.
- A celebrations
section that has materials for holiday and celebrations throughout the
year.
- CDs with songs,
listening selections, recorded lessons to teach concepts.
- Master index with
materials to go with specific themes.
- We did "Mango
Walk" from Grade 5, including the song and dance directions.
- "Funga Alafia" is
provided with directions in the Materials
and Activities section of this article.
Activity #6: Listening Maps
- Listening maps provide a
visual map of a piece of music. You will be receiving "Music
Memory," with 20 listening maps and selections to use during the year.
There are lessons and transparencies. Look at Listening
Maps to follow one map and see how they work.
- We also used a listening map
from "Interactive Arts for Total Literacy" in our model thematic
unit on Imitation in the HOT Schools section of our workshop.
Activity #7: STOMP
Patterns in music are the basis for the hit musical STOMP.
Process:
- Watch the video in small
bits over several days.
- Discuss the patterns that
are created through everyday sounds and objects.
- Imitate some of the patterns
using brooms, pails, cards, bouncing balls, and so on.
- Have students create their
own patterns using the same or different objects. Be sure to use a rigorous
editing process. Perhaps this would be the time to construct a rubric for
what an excellent piece and performance would entail, and work toward
excellence.
- Create your own STOMP
performance.
Activity #8: Newspaper sticks.
Process:
- Provide background on
Australia, and aboriginal dot painting.
- Create sticks using
newspaper, magazines, paper, markers, and tape. Each person should have two
sticks.
- In pairs, create patterns in
sets of 2, then sets of 3.
- Try these sets of 3
- Down, out, together
- Down, out, right (tap
partner's right stick)
- Down, out, left (tap
partner's left stick)
- Down, out, right,
down, out, left
- Down, out, both
- Down, out, toss
i.
Right toss, left toss, or both (one set goes to the inside, the other to
the outside). The toss is really a gentle arcing lift that places the stick
right where the partner can catch it.
- Create patterns of 16 beats
that both partners can do.
- Add music ("Tititorea"
is in
Share the Music Grade 3, but any music in sets of 3 that is not too fast
will work.)
- This can be done with
patterns in sets of 2 or 4, using march music, or pop tunes.
- Note: Again, the creative
process is equally important to the product. Provide time for problem
solving, editing, revision, and sharing. Help students identify the good
ideas and build on them.
The HOT Schools program is implemented through the Connecticut Commission on
the Arts in 28 Connecticut schools. The foundation is school community and
culture. The three supporting pillars are 1)strong arts programs, 2) arts
infused curriculum, and 3) democracy. For more information on HOT Schools click
on the title above.
HOT Schools Pillar: Strong Arts Programs
Arts disciplines and staffing
When we speak of the arts in education, we really are discussing four
distinct and separate disciplines: music, movement, visual art, and drama.
Schools usually have music and visual arts specialists, and often the physical
education teacher focuses a portion of the curriculum on creative and structured
movement (dance). Drama is usually taught as part of the language arts
curriculum. Dance and drama are supported in arts-infused schools through
visiting artists until such time as funding is available for a full or part time
faculty member in each of these disciplines. In Oak Grove School, there is no
music or art specialist at this time, although the community is seeking funding
for these positions.
Basic Skills and Understanding in the Arts
The arts standards are published in a document, National Standards in the
Arts: What Every Young American Should Know and Be Able to Do in Music, Visual
Art, Dance, and Drama. In addition, each state and most local districts have
arts standards, guidelines, or curriculum guides. The following are the most
basic concepts in music, visual art, and movement.
Basic Concepts in Music
- Steady beat/ no beat
- High/low
- Fast/slow
- Loud/soft
- Short/long
- Tone color (different
sound sources)
- Thick/thin (texture)
- Repletion/contrast
- Style
You can use any of these to "spice up" classroom content. For
example: When a rule must be remembered, choose a musical concept such as
high/low, and have the students say the phrase high, low, in the middle, higher,
lower, half high and the other half low, half low and the other half high,
mixing up the highs and lows, all at one level. By the time they have done all
these repetitions, they will have orally rehearsed the phrase so many times it
will most likely be remembered. This works even better when you add movement for
kinesthetic reinforcement.
For an activity that allows students to explore the basic contrasts in music
through composition, see 1
2 3 4 5 6 7 8, or A
Design for Composition.
Printer-friendly
activity sheet available.
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1
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2
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3
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4
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5
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6
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7
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8
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- Circle
some of the numbers above.
- Say
1-8, clap circled numbers only.
- Say
1-8, clap uncircled numbers only.
- Divide
into 2 groups.
Count
1-8, half clap circled numbers, the other half clap uncircled
numbers.
- Transfer
to two different instrument sounds.
- Practice,
then play it for us.
- Optional:
Play your pattern with a song.
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Printer-friendly
activity sheet available.
A
Design for Composition
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Plan a piece together. Read all the directions before you start
working. Once you begin, be sure to listen, share ideas, ask questions,
and encourage each other. You're in this together.
You may not talk to the teacher unless everyone in the group has a hand
raised at the same time. Someone in the group probably has the answer you
need. Be sure to check before you ask outside the group.
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Planning
- Using your chosen or
assigned musical contrast, decide how the beginning of the piece will
introduce your opposites. What sound sources might you use?
- Plan the middle of
the piece. Something needs to happen to the opposites. Will they work
together? Will they argue? Will they take turns? Will one gradually turn
into the other?
- Plan the ending of
the piece. There usually is a solution. Make it clever or interesting, but
still connected to the piece.
Practicing
4.
Now is the time to practice. Collect the sounds you need, then only
use them to practice this piece. Time is limited, so work quickly. If you are
finished before the time limit, think about how you will perform the piece.
Standing? Sitting? In a row or circle? Will there be any movement?
Performing
5.
Perform the piece for the class. We will try to figure out your musical
concept by listening.
Evaluating
6.
How well did your group do? Discuss:
- Whether you piece met
the requirements set in the directions.
- Things you liked
about your piece.
- What could have been
better or different?
- What made your group
work well?
- What could you do
better next time?
Basic concepts in Visual Art
- Media (pencil, crayon,
craypas, paints, markers, pastels, wire/wikkis, paper, collage, clay, bas
relief, sculpture, cameras/photos, found objects, etc.
- Line
- Shape (2 dimensions)
- Value (contrast between
dark and light)
- Texture
- Color
- Form (3 dimensional)
Click on the following three activities to find lessons that allow students
to explore line, shape,
and value. They are
in a format that can be copied for use in the classroom.
Printer-friendly
activity sheet available.
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Exploring
Line in Three Dimensions
Task:
- Create
a three-dimensional wire or wikki stix representation of the head of
someone in the room.
- Consider
the dimensions of height, width, and depth as you work.
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Printer-friendly
activity sheet available.
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Exploring
Shape through Negative Space
Task:
- Place
two or three chairs on a table in different positions, at different
angles.
- Choose
one of the chairs.
- Recreate
it using torn newspaper to show the negative spaces.
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Printer-friendly
activity sheet available.
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Exploring
Value Through a Window
Task:
- Find
a shiny object that is large and has interesting shapes. Place it on
display.
- Use
a blank stiff sheet of paper with a 1" square hole cut in the
center. At arm's length, search the displayed object until you find a
visually interesting part.
- Using
different number pencils (soft to hard, dark to light), create a
drawing of your chosen part which fills the whole page.
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Basic Concepts in Movement/Dance
- The body
- Relationships
- Non-locomotor movement
- Locomotor movement
- Space
- Time
- Force/Quality (quality is
technically the combination of time, force, and space)
- Creative expression
- Structured dance
Building Basic Movement Skills
Many physical education teachers and classroom teachers are uncomfortable
with guiding creative movement activities rather than competitive sports.
However, the research is clear that movement is essential for learning, and
creative movement is a strong pathway to creative and critical thinking.
Therefore, begin by building basic movement skills, such as the following:
- Prepare the space
together. Either move the furniture to the edges of the room to make
open space, or find a large open space in which to work. Sometimes a gym is
too much space in which to begin, so use half the floor until students are a
little more comfortable moving through space.
- Circle and scatter
formations. Make graphics for circle and scatter formations, and have
students move between these two formations until they get a sense of the
space. You might then add a square, two parallel lines, and other
formations.
- Exploring self space.
Each individual choose a scatter formation space that can be found quickly.
Explore the space: How high is it? How low? How far to the back? To the
front? To the sides? How much of the space can you fill with your body? How
skinny can you be in your space? Remind students that when they begin moving
through space, every person takes their self space with them, and that space
needs to be respected.
- Non-locomotor movements.
Explore ways to move in one space. Try moving different body parts in the
following ways: twist, wring, float, dab, slash, push, flick, press. These
efforts were described by Rudolf Laban as combinations of direct/indirect,
strong/weak, and quick/slow. They can be done with any body part or
combination of body parts, for example: twist your head, wrist, knee, waist,
ankle, foot.
- Moving through pathways.
In scatter formation, with students sitting on the floor with legs folded
and hands in lap, have one students make a curved pathway around other
students, then stop and pat another student on the shoulder. The walker
takes the place of this new student, who then continues the pathway. Try
this activity with two walkers, four, eight, sixteen, and everyone. The goal
is for everyone to be moving through shared space without bumping.On
different days, explore straight, curved, zig-zagged, scalloped, dotted
pathways using different locomotor movements.
- Locomotor movements.
Locomotor movements take the person from one place to another. Make pathways
using different locomotor movements, such as walk, jog, skip, hop, jump,
gallop, crawl, tip-toe, clomp, walk on the insides of your feet, the
outsides of your feet, point toes in, point toes out, go backward (look over
shoulder), move sideways, crossover, move low middle and high, sneak, bound,
march, waltz, fly, mope, question, move with a partner, and so on.
- Mirroring. In pairs,
mirror one another in slow motion. Start with just hands and arms, but
eventually mirror whole body movement. Think of how slow motion works on TV.
- Group movement--circles.
In groups of 10, share a 6 yard piece of elastic with the ends tied together
to make a circle, each group member holding the elastic at "belly
button" height. Process:
- Depending upon the
group, you might give directions, or with a responsible group of students
let them just see what the circle can do.
- Add music such as
"Circle Dance" from IDEASMusic CD III.
- After once through
listen to hear the parts of the music that are the same, and agree upon a
movement all groups will do every time this A section is heard. (The form
is a cumulative rondo: A B A C CB A D DC DCB A E ED EDC EDCB A. You can
stop after any A section.)
- Have individual groups
choose a favorite circle movement for B C D or E (if there are enough
groups).
- Perform the elastic
circle dance with everyone doing the A movement, and individual groups
performing the episodes (B C D and E).
Printer-friendly
activity sheet available.
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Verbs
and Adverbs
- Make
a list of action words suggested by students. Be sure to include
locomotor, non-locomotor, and gesture words.
- In
another color, create a list of -ly words (select those that are
adverbs, such as "happily," "lazily," and
"energetically," rather than "friendly."
- Have
students try out several combinations of one verb and one adverb,
until they find three that they like.
- Each
share the three movements with a partner, having the partner guess
what combination they are doing.
- Have
the pair create a movement phrase or sentence using some of the
six movements they have shared.
- Join
with another pair, share their movements, and combine those that are
most interesting into a movement phrase or sentence.
- Optional:
Join with another foursome to create a movement piece using the best
ideas from both groups.
- Share
the products at whatever stage seems appropriate.
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Note: Verbs and Adverbs is a great activity for building collaborative
skills, and working on the editing process. Only some ideas are good ones, and
even good ideas don't always fit. Help students learn the skills of listening,
making suggestions, trying out ideas, using critical language about ideas, and
analyzing, synthesizing, and evaluating. Remember that the process is equally
important to the product.
There are lots of movement activities in Share
the Music, including a movement glossary at the back of the book that
describes terminology. If you use these books and CDs, you will have the music
to go with the activities you choose!
Also, look for the Phyllis Weikart Rhythmically
Moving series of books and CDs when you are planning to do structured
movement. She has a sequentially organized program, and uses authentic folk
dances and melodies from many cultures.
HOT Schools Pillar: Arts Infused Curriculum
In, about, and through the arts
In each of the arts, we can teach in, about, and through the art
discipline.
Teaching in the art is usually the responsibility of the discipline
based ("special") teacher, however in situations where there are no
specialists, this responsibility lies with the classroom teacher. Every child
has the right to learn the languages of the arts, regardless of staffing issues.
Teaching about the art discipline is a shared responsibility of the
arts specialist and classroom teacher.
Teaching through the arts is the responsibility of the classroom
teacher. Many classroom teachers find that they need to attend music, art, and
movement sessions with their classes for the first year of teaching in order to
gain the skills and understandings they will need.
In-service is also an important component of classroom teacher training.
Likewise, arts specialists should make time to learn the curricula of their
students in language arts, math, science, and social studies. This can often be
done through creating a schedule that allows for team teaching.
The classroom teacher needs to build understanding and skills in four arts
disciplines.
The arts specialists need to build understandings and skills in four
classroom disciplines, multiplied by the number of grade levels taught for
example: K-5 is six different levels.
Connection, Correlation, and Integration
There are three different levels of linking disciplines often utilized in
arts-infused programs.
In a connection, one discipline (usually the arts discipline) is in
the service of another, for example: Science
Through Song is a set of 15 songs developed to teach concepts in the
elementary science curriculum. They have different musical styles, and the
recording uses age appropriate models, but there is no stated musical purpose or
goal. Connections are very popular with classroom teachers, and create
motivation and interest in lessons. Students usually enjoy this type of
activity, and find it enriches their learning. Facts can be learned this way,
and adding rhythm or song to factual material makes the learning easier.
However, connections alone are not enough to constitute integrated or
arts-infused programs.
Correlation is the next step toward integration. In a Correlation,
materials and/or activities are shared between disciplines, but there are
objectives and goals in both disciplines. For example: Imagine that teacher uses
the instrumental tracks available in "Science Through Song," to have
students create their own words to remember specific math, science, language,
social studies, or other facts. In the process of doing this activity, not only
are the facts being orally rehearsed by the children as they try to fit them
into the melody and rhythm of the song, but clapping the rhythm would be
necessary (a music objective), singing the melody without words would be
necessary (a music objective), rhyming words would need to be pointed out and
created (a language arts activity), and perhaps movement might be added (a
movement activity). These are only viable activities in a discipline if they are
made explicit to the students through labeling and assessment of their
understanding. Correlations are much more powerful learning designs that
connections, but still not true integrations.
Integration occurs when a topical or conceptual theme is chosen by a
group of teachers, and each teaches toward that theme through their own
disciplines. For example: if the theme is sequence, the language arts teacher is
using literature which allows exploration of sequence, the music teacher is
developing an understanding of sequence using a piece such as Echoes, from Interactive
Arts for Total Literacy; the art teacher is finding the sequence of tints,
shades, and shapes in From the Lake by Georgia O'Keefe; and the movement
teacher is helping students create sequences of movements using verbs and
adverbs. Together, these experiences help students understand the larger concept
of sequence.
For additional information on arts-infused curriculum designs, see either the
Integrate
with Integrity article or book.
Models are available in Interactive
Arts for Total Literacy. New models will soon be available for intermediate
elementary levels.
HOT Pillars: Democracy
Democracy is an interesting issue in education. We want our students to grow
as contributing members of society, capable of identifying problems,
brainstorming solutions, evaluating suggestions to determine which might be the
best, and collaboratively act on decisions for the community's benefit. Is this
the way the school is run, and are these behaviors and skills that are taught in
your school?
In a HOT School every effort is made to create a school culture where the
voice of the child is heard. Here are some questions to help clarify your
thinking about whether this occurs in your school, and how it can be
facilitated:
- How can we define democracy?
- Where is the power in your
school? Who does the decision making? Who assesses whether the decisions and
actions are effective?
- In your classroom?
- Among your staff?
- In the structure of
the school?
- In the community?
- Is the school for adults or
children? Or is it for all learners?
- Is the voice of the child
heard? How can the voice of the child be heard more?
- What existing structures,
rules, and systems are in the way? What alternatives might there be?
Here are some ways that democracy is growing in HOT Schools:
- The school community
includes teachers, students, administrators, parents, staff, visiting
artists, and community members. All voices are heard when decisions are
made. There is respect shown to all individuals and points of view. However,
student needs are primary, and other needs are secondary.
- All disciplines are valued
equally, and the arts are part of the core curriculum.
- There is some choice in the
content of what will be learned, although the state and district mandated
curriculum provide a lot of the "what" will be taught and learned.
- There is great choice in
"how" the learning will occur. Students are taught to honor
multiple learning styles and languages of learning, and sometimes work
through their strength, but are also encouraged to strengthen their
weaknesses.
- There is an emphasis on
going beyond rote learning to higher order thinking: application, analysis,
synthesis, and evaluation. Facts lead to concepts, and concepts to
generalizations that will last a lifetime and grow in depth over time. An
attempt is made to link learning toward generalizations across disciplines.
- There is choice in how
students will demonstrate their understanding through authentic assessment.
- There are weekly or monthly
"town meetings" during which the whole school community gathers to
celebrate successes. The student council runs these, with information
submitted by the many groups at work in the school (individual classes,
editorial board, dance troupe, music groups, principal, committees, etc.)
- The student council is run
as a representative town government, and sets its own agenda of student
issues for the session (half a year).
- There is a central
depository, "Magic Mailbox" into which exemplary writing in words,
music, dance, drama, or visual art is placed. The "Editorial
Board" is a group of students selected by response to their submitted
portfolios and letters of application. They take the materials in the
mailbox, and respond to each piece by returning it for revision or
completion, or sending it on to the dance group, music group, etc. Certain
pieces are selected for the "Writer of the Week," "Artist of
the Week," "Composer of the Week," and/or "Choreographer
of the Week." Works are on display in the lobby of the school, and
every teacher brings her/his class to the lobby during the week to
experience these exemplary works of the week. (Music on cassette or video,
dance on video--There doesn't have to be one example of every category every
week.)
- Student art and writing is
everywhere, and there are many places for display of the school activities
and student accomplishments. The visual art is a reflection of the program's
emphasis on creativity rather than imitation.
- Explanations of the process
accompany displays.
- Rather than performances,
there are "informances," where the audience is informed about the
skills and understandings that were gained as a result of the preparation
process.
- Students are expected to
take responsibility for themselves, and for others when necessary. Freedoms
are balanced with responsibility. Rigor is expected of all participants in
the school community.
- Collaboration is encouraged,
as is community service and social action.
- Rules are kept to a minimum,
and whenever possible stated in the positive, stating what the students will
do, and what they expect from one another in order for learning to occur.
- Time is allocated for
teachers to meet and collaborate, and schedules are flexible whenever
possible to allow for spontaneous learning.
- In-service is provided for
teachers to become comfortable with those skills and understandings that
were not part of their prior experience and learning.
- There is an openness and
willingness to listen to ideas, try new things, and change when it makes
sense for the students.
Materials and Activities
Funga Alafia, the Liberian greeting dance, can be found in Share the
Music, Grade 5.
Process: A Section
- Echo-speak the words to the
song with patting.
- Echo-sing the words to the
song with patting.
- Listen to the whole A
section, then sing it until it is secure.
- In a circle, add hands going
out to sides, then clapping own hands.
- Add moving feet, once to the
left (clockwise), and once to the right (counterclockwise).
Process: B Section
- Echo each phrase with the
motions, or follow the pictures in the book.
- Practice until it is flowing.
- Perform ABA.
Process: C Section
- Practice making quarter
turns in a clockwise directions.
- Now jump and call out rather
than just turning.
- Add drummers improvising at
least a steady beat, but hopefully something fancy and fine.
- Perform ABACA, with the
drummers starting at C and continuing through the last A section.
Jacqueline, the number game is in Zing, Zing, Zing, by Avon Gillespie.
It can be ordered from West Music. Just to help you remember, it is done in
circle formation. There are 3 parts:
- Jump and say "Zing,
Zing, Zing," then the leader says "I'm Jacqueline."
- With a clap-touch pattern,
number off around the circle.
- Jacqueline begins the
"cookie jar game," with each individual speaking when their number
is called: "#1 stole the cookie from the cook-cookie jar,"
"Who me?" "Yes, you." "Couldn't be."
"Then who?"
- If someone misses send
her/him to the end, next to Jacqueline. Don't eliminate those that need the
most help.
Adapting Materials, Activities, and Ideas
This workshop, and this article, includes a lot of wonderful activities and
materials suggested, as well as ideas both large and small. However, only the
individual teacher and school community can make decisions about how to use
these ideas. You are the only ones who know your own students, their abilities,
and their needs. Use these ideas as a "guide on the side," rather than
a "sage on the stage." Then you will be modeling the higher order
thinking and risk taking you expect from your students.
You might start with the things that feel most comfortable, and for which you
can see the most immediate application to your own situation. At the same time,
you might explore some of the research behind arts infused curriculum, and
discover the process links that suggest that the arts are a lab for all
learning. Try Teaching
with the Brain in Mind, by Eric Jensen to start. As you begin to use more
music, visual art, dance, and drama, you will find yourself aware of the
languages of sound, image, and movement all around you. They pop up in
literature, and across the disciplines. They become windows to learning that are
now open wide! I can predict that both you and your students will have a
wonderful time becoming HOT through infusing the arts into and across your
curriculum!