Full Description
This practical resource emphasizes the special contribution that visual art, drama, music, and dance can make to student literacy and understanding of content-area reading assignments. Focusing on those areas where students tend to struggle, the author helps K-5 teachers provide an age-appropriate curriculum that is accessible to an increasingly diverse student population.
Contents
Contents
1. Deepening Understanding Through Arts Integration 1
Understanding Arts Integration 1
Benefits of Comprehensive Education 5
2. Making Meaning Through Verbal Interaction : Laying the Foundation for Literacy 11
The Critical Importance of Oral Language Development 12
Supporting English Language Learners 15
Integrating Drama and Dance Activities 19
Visual Thinking Strategies 23
3. Making Meaning of Narrative Text 27
How Written Narrative Influences Thinking 28
Deepening Children's Understanding of Narrative 32
Classic Story Structures 42
4. Making Meaning from Informational Texts 45
Using the Arts to Teach Close Reading 46
Meeting the Challenges of Content Area Texts 48
Using the Arts to Scaffold Science Lessons 52
A Crucial Dimension of STEAM 57
5. Building Effective Oral Communication Skills 59
Learning Oral Communication Skills Through Puppetry 60
Introducing Children to Social Studies 61
How Music Builds Rapport 66
Viewing the Past from Multiple Perspectives 71
Introducing Varied Perspectives in K-5 Social Studies 74
6. Expression Through Narrative Writing 77
Combining Images and Writing in the Primary Grades 78
Images as Inspiration for Writing 78
Using Memories for Inspiration Within Classrooms 84
The Poets of El Sol Academy 85
Writing Stories from Personal Experience 89
Skills-Based Gains in Student Writing Abilities 91
7. Expression Through Informational and Persuasive Writing 95
Teaching Writing Through the Arts 97
Responding to Literature 99
8. Building Executive Function Skills with Arts Activities 107
What Is Executive Function? 107
Evidence from Research 111
9. Bringing the Arts Back to the Language Arts 121
Choosing Arts-Based Activities That Reinforce Learning 122
Exploring Human Relationships Through Stories 123
Teaching Abstract Concepts to Concrete Thinkers 124
The Acquisition of Narrative Skills 125
Making Connections and Revealing Underlying Structure 126
Enhancing Executive Function 127
Arts Integration Versus Transfer 128
References 131
Index 143
About the Author 154
