• Tweet

by Alyson Atchison, Curator of Education and Capitol Galleriies

Although the concept of arts integration is not new, teachers are integrating the arts into their subjects with increasing frequency due to the continued defunding of arts programs in schools nationwide and the growing body of research that shows the positive impact of arts education. As Oklahoma State Superintendent Janet Barresi points out in her introduction to the new visual arts and music standards, "a quality arts program can contribute greatly to the development of each student's creative thinking and problem-solving skills."

Whether your school has arts programming or not, taking a few initial steps to introduce the arts into your classroom can benefit your teaching practices and your students' understanding of core-curriculum subjects. You don't have to be an expert in arts integration or have a budget for supplies to introduce art into your classroom. You can begin by simply integrating basic art literacy skills and vocabulary into your core-curriculum lessons.

First, familiarize yourself with visual arts and music glossaries in the new Fine Arts Standards for Oklahoma. These terms can easily be introduced into any classroom when analyzing source materials. For example, terms can be introduced when looking at shapes in geometry, using beakers in science, examining historical documents and photographs in social studies, reading literary works and more.

For every source material you introduce into your classroom, take a few moments to allow the students to analyze the material on their own using the terms from the arts standards. When students have time to engage their minds with source materials before being told what to think of it, they strengthen their critical thinking and problem solving skills while activating creative thought. Here's an activity for creating a descriptive journal that will help students practice analytical thought through the full spectum of curricula:

? Activity: Descriptive Journal

For this activity, have your students start a journal in which they will record descriptions of source materials introduced into all of their classes. On the first page, have the students list the elements of art and music with definitions so they can easily refer to them during their journaling. Next, the students list some basic questions to help them analyze what they record:

Describe
Be specific and descriptive. List only the facts about the object.
What colors do you see in the object?
What is the texture like? Is it smooth or rough?
What is the shape like?
Are there straight lines or curved lines at the edges of the object?
Is it heavy?
How big is it?
What does it smell like?

Analyze
Where did it come from? Did a person make it?
What kind of material is it made out of?
What kind of function does it serve?
Where can it be found?

Interpret
Make initial, reasonable inferences.
Where does this object fit into history?
What does it tell you about its environment of origin?

Evaluate
Express your opinion.
How do you feel when looking at or listening to the object?
Is it aesthetically pleasing?
Is it important?
What does it help you understand?
Do you like it? Why or why not?

Let's say you are introducing a sea sponge to your students in science class. How can art vocabulatry and elements of art be used to help the students analyze this scientific sample? Before telling your students anything about the object, give them a few minutes to answer the questions on their own.

Here, the elements of art were addressed to help students understand a scientific object. In the context of social studies, when analyzing manmade objects, such as ancient tools, the principles of design can take the analysis even further. The questions can also be adapted to help students analyze historical photographs and documents. And opinions and criticism can be included when analyzing materials of creative expression such as music and drawings.

Have the students carry their journals with them to each class and take them home with them. Set a goal for five times a day that they will spend five minutes describing what they see, hear, or read. Over time, connections can be drawn between historical context, scientific origin and artistic styles in their journals.

By adding this and similar arts activities into your classroom, you are addressing the Responding (Visual Arts) and Connecting (Music) strands from the new Fine Art Standards for Oklahoma.

? For more activities, see our Teaching with Capitol Art online resources.