Art in the classroom: make it part of your curriculum!

Teachers have long known that when kids delve into learning projects with their hands as well as their minds, the process promotes creative thinking, problem-solving, self-expression, risk taking, and cooperation. Studies back up their experience. Brain researcher Eric Jensen, for example, has found that the arts nourish our capacity for learning in all subject areas, and Howard Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences encourages teachers to employ varied strategies to engage all students. The teachers on the next three pages give students a big, hands-on boost by integrating colorful, imaginative craft projects with the curriculum. Try them with your own class.

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[IMMIGRATION PUPPETS]

Teacher: Jin Dorst, second/third grade, Ohlone Elementary School, Palo Alto, California 

Project: Family history study using immigration puppets

Her Philosophy "Using their lives as the impetus for learning helps students feel valued, appreciated, and safe. Art allows us to expand beyond the expected."

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What Inspires Her "When we share stories, we discover that though we come from different lives and backgrounds--common threads and themes run through."

Curriculum Connection The family history project was developed to meet the second- and third-grade history and social studies content standards, which include learning about families and ancestors.

Teaching the Project As students share stories about their own lives, they learn more about their parents' and grandparents' lives. "Every family has roots somewhere else. I share my own immigration story with the class," says Jin. Each student interviews an immigrant and writes a first-person biography from that immigrant's point of view. Then kids make an immigrant puppet in traditional clothing.

Making Puppets

SUPPLIES: scissors, glue, yarn, construction paper, crayons, markers, fabric swatches, ribbon, buttons

1. Choose construction paper to most closely match the immigrant's skin color.

2. Cut a matching front and back shape for the head and upper body.

3. Glue pieces at the edges and seal together, leaving an opening at the base for a hand.

4. Add such details as yarn hair, buttons, hats, and fabric-swatch clothing.

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[POP-UP POETRY SCENES]

Teacher: Laura Leopardo, first grade, Brooklyn Friends School, Brooklyn, New York 

Project: Poetry study using pop-ups

Her Philosophy "Children need to learn and create through a variety of ways."

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What Inspires Her "The poet's words on the page and the first-graders' potential interpretations of them! As my first graders might say, some poetry is mainly about how the poet paints pictures in your head. I have an art history background and have spent a lot of time looking at images to determine their meaning. Poetry is a perfect study to combine the written word and the visual to determine meaning."

Curriculum Connection

Kids develop a richer understanding of and appreciation for poetry by linking it with art.

Teaching the Project "We explore a variety of poems, talking about the characteristics of poetry and writing our own poems. We focus on using our five senses to help observe, describe, and write poems. We read and discuss "All the World is Full of Snow," by N.M. Bodecker. Then the students lie down on the rug, close their eyes, and try to paint pictures in their heads as they listen to the poet's words. They choose one stanza they find interesting and would like to illustrate, and then they're off to their work tables!"

Making Poetry Pop-ups

Supplies: gray construction paper for background; chalk; Cray-Pas or crayons in white, brown, or black

1. Demonstrate how to make pop-ups by attaching paper, folded accordion-style, to the back of a paper shape cut to resemble a tree, gate, or house.

2. Cut, rip, and fold paper to make other 3-D constructions.

3. Make a unique bulletin board that displays the poetry pop-ups next to the stanza that each illustrates.

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[ROLLED NEWSPAPER PYRAMIDS]

Teacher: Otak Jump, fourth/fifth grade, Ohlone Elementary School, Palo Alto, California

Project: Build math and spatial skills by constructing pyramids

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His Philosophy "Kids enthusiastically participate in projects that ask them to solve real problems and work together."

What Inspires Him "The work of my colleagues. The pyramid project came from collaboration with a veteran teacher when I was new."

Curriculum Tie-in Math standards for teaching geometric shapes and the vocabulary of geometry.

Teaching the Project "The primary goal of the project is not content but process. It gets kids used to the idea that I will give them a set of materials and an objective, and then I will allow them to figure out the intermediate steps to get the work accomplished in a given amount of time. We talk about how many rods we will need to construct pyramids of various layers. Since the base is square, each new layer shows a geometric progression, such as 1X1, 2X2, 3X3, and 4X4.

Making Pyramids

SUPPLIES: piles of newspapers that are about the same size, dowels that are slightly longer than the length of the newspaper, masking tape

1. Roll two or three newspaper sheets tightly around a dowel, tape around the middle and ends, and then pull the dowel out.

2. Assemble about 35 small pyramids. Make sure the bases are square and the sides are of equal length.

3. Using the small pyramids, start constructing the bottom layers of a large pyramid. Use a 3X3 or a 4X4 grid to plan the structure's layers.

4. Tape the corners of the bases to the apex of the pyramid below. If the joints don't perfectly match, span the gap with tape.

5. Invite a lower-grade class to help paint the assembled pyramids.