Class Meeting 5

Today we spent the first part of our time discussing arts integration as it relates to human happiness. I suggested that the number one question you should ask yourself every day is, "Will what we do today in class enhance my students' wellbeing now and long-term?" Learning can and should be a joyful experience. Yes, there are difficult things that we need to do, but usually there is an attainable and meaningful goal towards which we are working and that isn't too far in the future.

We participated in some movement activities related to social studies. All people have music, art, dance, and drama as important elements of culture and everday living, so learning about places, cultures, and time periods ought to involve the arts if students are to have a full understanding. We discussed how social studies integration ought to be authentic and appropriate.

Canoe Dance (here are some dances similar steps: Social Round Dance and Native American Circle Dance)

Favorite Resource: Moving Within the Circle by Bryan Burton

Heel-toe Polka

Virginia Reel

Favorite Resource: Chimes of Dunkirk from New England Dancing Masters

El Juego Chirimbolo

Favorite Resource: Roots and Branches: A Legacy of Multicultural Music for Children by Patricia Shehan Campbell et al.

Shake It Back to New Orleans

 

We listened to the song, Dust Bowl Refugee, and wrote information about the Dust Bowl. We made tableauxs in small groups representing the dust bowl.  Here's an article about the tableaux drama strategy.

 

We experienced a geography integrated lesson, I've Been Everywhere

 

Finally, we did a visual art and math integrated activity where we copied a portion of a picture and then put them together to see the large picture. Here are some examples of this type of project:

Mrs Brown's Art Class

Chuck Close Lesson

The math integration involves the grid coordinates, measuring, and ratios.

 

Class Meeting 4

We played a number of singing games:

• Sarasponda
• Three in the Middle
• Rig a Jig Jig
• Big Bootie (We discussed using a variety of work up games for skip counting and other applications. We also played a related drama game with all participants. Each one is an animal (or any other category) with an action. Say your animal and show the action two times--"bear bear" and then say someone else's two times "chicken chicken". Then, whoever is chicken says their animal twice followed by someone else's. All participants must maintain the steady beat throughout. If you mess up, you go to the end. Try to un-seat the person in the number one seat.)
• Chocolate (This is like Double Double. We used this game to explore four syllable words and made up new ways to play the game.)

Then we did two movement activities:

• Mirror Movement
• Flocking (This video shows the basic concept. We did it in groups of four in diamond shapes. The person at the front does the movement for the rest to copy. If that person turns 90 degrees to the right, that places a new person at the front who, of course, becomes the new leader. In the video they do this with a bunch of people and turn 180 degrees. We played slow music in the background for this activity and the previous one.)

Next, we played ocarinas. The packet of songs can be found here.

After that, we discussed forward planning. Basically, the idea is that when you have an engaging and complex activity like the flocking activity we did earlier, you can take that to your curriculum guide and see if there is some place it could fit (as opposed to backwards planning where you start with the curriculum standard and work backwards and find an authentic activity to use in order to teach the concept or skill. I recommend reciprocal planning where you work forwards AND backwards). We explored the ELA core to see if there were reading and writing standards that could be addressed somehow through the use of flocking--by adding something to or extending the flocking movement activity to include text.

Finally, we tried the Habitats lesson for music, art, ELA, and science integration.

Class Meeting 3

Music: Echo and Answer

Music: Found Sounds

Music/Dance: Four White Horses (hand-clapping games, creativity)

Music/Dance: Develop an original hand-clapping game

Break

Review the next two assignments (Plan and Text)

Music: Ocarina

Art: Jumping Frog (from written instructions, math and ELA integration)

Drama--Expressive Reading (quick integrations)

Music--Soundscapes with Literature

 

Class Meeting 2

Music--Echo and Answer (focusing and developing rhythm literacy)

Explore ways to repeat a song. Body percussion. Singing Games

Music/Dance--Rhythm Echo

Music--Down by the Bay (echoing, rhyming words)

Music/Dance--Bluebird (learn a song by identifying lyrics)

Music/Dance--Water Cycle Song (repeat a song using beat and rhythm)

Music/Dance--When I Was a Baby (science and ELA lesson)

Dance--Facilitating Movement (verbs and adverbs)

Visual Art--Foil Forms 

 

Class Meeting 1

Introduction to Elementary Integrated Arts

Music and Movement

• Name Rondo (Focus activities: Rhythmic Mirror Movement)
• Head and Shoulders (Quick groups to board brainstorm: general skills)
• Introduce 10 Ways to Repeat a Song--cumulatively add actions)  

Drama Games

• Donkey 
• Drama–Dude 
• What Are You Doing? 
• Discuss improv encyclopedia

Break and put the tables back (Discuss transitions)

Visual Art: Name tags (Watercolors, Elmers glue, Salt) Example

Introduce CORE: Qualities of Highly Effective Integrated Arts Experiences

Visual Art--Polygon Portraits (assign as homework)