Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Addressing the Arts in my Classroom
I feel that incorporating the arts is very important in elementary classrooms. I often use music and art in my classroom, and I try to use drama and dance when possible. At my school, art classes are only held for third through fifth grade. Since I teach second grade, my students don't get the opportunity to go with the art teacher. In an attempt to integrate the arts, I often get my students to illustrate their stories. I also get them to use art to practice their spelling words. I'll have the students write their words creatively using markers and draw pictures, if applicable. Drawings are also used in Math, Social Studies, and Science to illustrate important concepts. Our Reading series has a phonics chart for each week which includes a cd with all of the songs. The children love singing along and dancing to the music. I'll also often play classical music in my classroom while the children are working. I feel that this eliminates extra talking and helps the children focus. Last week our reading story was Stone Soup, a play. I assigned parts to the students, and if their part required actions, they had to act it out. For example, some kids had to act like they were handing another student an onion or carrot, etc. Ultimately, the arts need to be integrated into classrooms. The arts make learning more fun!
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I like the classical music idea. A fellow teacher I worked with for years played classical music each morning for her students. They whined about it, but on the mornings when they walked in and heard no music, they were upset. I hadn't thought of dance as an arts activity until I read your blog. I need to think about what I could do with dance in my class.
ReplyDeleteContinue to incorporate the arts in your lessons. Children of all ages need to see all subjects can be integrated. My students love when I play classical or jazz music.
ReplyDeleteYou always have creative ideas. I had not thought of having the students use various colors to write their spelling words. Great idea! Music is a good idea. Marie Hasty used to use it in her classroom when we co-taught. Sounds of nature I think it was. The children were used to the music. Some of the bird sounds caught me off guard. Didn't seem to bother the children.
ReplyDeleteMusic and art can be a viable tool to teach anything that you want to teach in class. I don't believe that it is used in classrooms enough.I hope you will continue to use art and music in your classroom.
ReplyDeleteI agree! Art does make learning more fun. With most of the stories we read and in centers, we USE art. Without the use of art, some of my children would be lost. For my students that struggle with reading and phonics, they use art to illistrate the beginning, middle, and end of the story. It lets me know that they comprehended the story and they do not have to sturggle through the spelling of words. Plus my kids just love art. They are more inclined to read when art is incorporated into the end products.
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