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Minds in Bloom welcomes Jenny, the possessor of Art with Jenny Thousand., with her post on fine art integration. We know y'all'll find information technology useful!

"The creative adult is the child that survived."

I came across this quote by author Ursala Le Guin a few months agone, and information technology has stuck with me ever since. It encapsulates why information technology is and so of import to integrate creative arts into the learning process. It is motivation for everything I do as an art educator and as a Teachers Pay Teachers resource developer. Art integration can be your best "tool" for engaging, motivating, and inspiring your students, and, most importantly, keeping creativity live. And it's easier than you recall!

Before we can talk about what art integration is, why it'south important, and how to use it, we must first talk about the about of import part—the students it serves. Imagine in front of yous is a 5-year-old. You hand him or her a marking, and he immediately takes it and begins to utilize it. He doesn't need instructions. He is not apologetic about his work. He doesn't look at you and say, "I'm sad; I tin only draw stick people." He hardly cares what you retrieve about his work. This is inventiveness and problem solving in its purest form.

Art integration is the tool we need in education to assistance us preserve the innate creativity of a child. Children come to us bursting at the seams with energy, creativity, and the desire to larn. English author and art education advocate Sir Ken Robinson is famous for saying that we actually teach creativity out of children. His TED talk on "How Schools Kill Inventiveness" is exceptional. His stories will make yous laugh out loud (LOL!)—and who doesn't demand that?!

What is Art Integration?

Art integration is easily-on, project-based learning using fine art materials, songs, poetry, plays, dance, etc., to make students learn in ways that connect to prior knowledge and brand their learning relevant to their lives through date.

In 2010, I was making a presentation to the National Council for Teachers of English (NCTE) conference in Florida describing an art integration lesson, Trading Pages, that I had published in SchoolARTS. At the cease of the session, teachers flooded my desk to see some of the fine art techniques I had mentioned in my presentation.

I realized that classroom teachers were hungry for this information and wanted desperately to apply the arts in their classrooms but fear was holding them dorsum. In talking with them, I learned why the idea was so scary. Just information technology shouldn't be. So let'due south clear up some of those things here and dispense with that airheaded notion one time and for all!

Misconceptions about Art Integration

1. "I'm non talented."

Fine art integration has nothing to do with talent on the part of the instructor or the child. I'm not a talented singer (in fact, I'm quite terrible), only my students don't care. When I sing the steps to our drawing lessons, they are completely engaged, and they sing along with me. I'd be embarrassed if my principal walked in, but the kids are forgiving and pay close attention! The students do virtually of the work anyway; you just need to provide them the ways and opportunity.

2. "I'll accept to teach everything with a messy art project."

Art integration does not supersede the importance of teaching reading, writing, math, and science in traditional ways; it simply provides a tool to brand that education more engaging to the child when it is appropriate—and it doesn't take to be messy!

3. "Art isn't important."

In his popular book, The Arts and the Creation of Mind, Elliot Eisner is famous for his listing of the 10 reasons the arts are so important. His No. 1 reason is, "The arts teach children to brand good judgments well-nigh qualitative relationships. Unlike much of the curriculum in which correct answers and rules prevail, in the arts, it is judgment rather than rules that prevails." Imagination sparks inspiration, and inspiration leads to success. Eisner'south other nine reasons why the arts are and then important build on this thought farther and are worth exploring.

4. "I don't have time to let my kids color."

This is virtually integrating to make all learning more than meaningful. It is a tool to help you, not to make more piece of work for you. The best resource is your kids—allow them dream up the projects to guide their learning.

Why Is Art Integration So Important?

"Give a man a fish; yous take fed him for today. Teach a man to fish; and you have fed him for a lifetime."

Call up of fine art integration every bit the same sort of approach. Nosotros don't know what the earth has in store for our children, simply we know that they must be prepare to face the challenges as creative thinkers and problem solvers. They must be able to remember (fish) for themselves. They must too have the confidence that comes with experience so they know that they can take risks and investigate ideas they have. Children who are only required to take tests and be either right or wrong learn to fear mistakes, which translates to fright of learning. Utilise fine art integration to engage your students again and excite them virtually the process of learning, non the answers or cease results.

Art integration is so much easier than you think because it requires that the teacher simply facilitate the experience—the children themselves create and design the experience.

Means to Apply Art Integration in Your Classroom

Yous can…

• Use choice-based learning so students accept the opportunity to experiment with diverse media, like clay and pigment (the messy stuff yous don't want to practice with the entire course).
• Learn most different cultures by making the art that is popular from that region; for example, Aboriginal art from Australia or masks from Africa.
• Allow students listen to music that is related to whatever unit you are instruction. They will fight you (because initially they think that your music isn't "hip"), only do information technology anyhow—it sinks in in the cease.
• Use artists similar Monet to teach symmetry, Dali to teach telling time, Mondrian to teach math, or Escher to teach tessellations.
• Create monsters and robots using but the geometric shapes yous are studying.
• Make up songs about what you are learning.
• Let students illustrate and write a sequel to their favorite book or an alternate ending to their favorite story.
• Let students create plays about their learning.
• Sing to your children, instead of giving your students instructions in your normal voice. Try singing to them—you'll become their attention!
• Let your students take trip the light fantastic breaks when they are getting restless.
• Have your students invent games based on the learning they have washed in class.

Just allow their imaginations stir yours…

Thou.C. Escher and Leonardo Da Vinci were dandy mathematicians, scientists, and artists. But mostly, they were great thinkers! With the permission of Art Education Professor Dr. Craig Roland, I accept adapted his list, "Learning to Think Similar an Creative person," into a kid-friendly poster. Download it for FREE past clicking on the epitome beneath.

Want a lesson you tin use right at present?

Among the most useful (and most popular) art integrations lessons I have created for classroom teachers are my "Pop Art"-fashion interactive coloring sheets. All students—kindergarten to high school—honey to color, and then I designed coloring sheets that crave a lot of thinking on the role of the student and trivial to no prep on the part of the teacher (a great combination, no?!). No ii end results ever plow out same, and all the skills of a creative thinker are necessary to consummate them.

My interactive coloring sheets work like this:

I accept created a drove of outlines/shapes of symbols associated with holidays, seasons and other topics related to what you may exist teaching. All the shapes are broken upwards by black lines to create smaller shapes—which gives the images their "Pop Art" experience. At the bottom of each page are boxes with patterns in them. The students are asked to fill the shapes with these patterns. It takes a smashing bargain of thought to make up one's mind which patterns to put where, what colors to utilize and even when a infinite should exist left without patterns. The bully news is that there is no correct or wrong answer to these coloring sheets…and the more than students work on them, the more than confident they become in making decisions. I often include some writing prompts, as many of the teachers that use my coloring sheets pair them with writing assignments. Here is what one instructor said about using these coloring sheets:

I establish that my 5th/6th graders come to me and, because of the focus on testing, never played with color or pattern or patterns. Your coloring sheets requite them that opportunity, and I've seen and so much improvement in their attending to detail, besides as noticing patterns, lines, etc. It's and so much more than "merely coloring." ~E.D.

You can attempt ane of my coloring sheets now past clicking HERE to download my Gratuitous apple coloring sheet that is function of the "Run into and Teach" free ebook series.Last Thoughts

The pendulum will swing toward testing, away from testing, and back again. Anyone in education for many years tin can tell you, they have seen information technology all. Things come up in, then they become out, and the cycle repeats. Notwithstanding, one matter will never change, and that is that children need to exist able to safely and confidently brand decisions on their own. In a testing saturated world, students are used to existence identified with a score, grade, or quantitative cess of some kind. His or her "ideas" are non necessarily important to anyone. Let's change that by providing more than creative moments for our children and allow's sentry our children change forth.

Thanks for reading!

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Jenny Knappenberger is an award-winning educator who has taught art to middle school, elementary, and gifted children in Virginia and in Arizona. Jenny is also a professional ballroom dancer and instructed for over eight years in Virginia earlier committing full-time as an art teacher in Arizona. Her favorite piffling artist is her ii-yr-old girl who gets to endeavor out mommy'southward never-ending list of ideas! Jenny is the owner of Fine art with Jenny K. and is dedicated to making fine art integration easy and exciting for classroom teachers. She is too the author of www.jennyknappenberger.com.

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