Visual Arts
The Arts are imperative for our children’s education and lives. They give our children a voice, a way to express themselves, they engage our students in ways many content areas cannot. They have been shown to improve learning in other contents. They provide other ways for students to show what they know.
The arts develop skills in communication, collaboration, perseverance, and concentration, They foster individual and collective creativity and enhances understanding of and respect for others. The arts have the power to engage children and give them multiple ways of learning. The arts are inclusive of all students, every child finds success in the arts. Because of the arts children stay in school and learn a variety of skills and habits they need for life. The arts help students to be innovative and creative—skills essential to our world today. Integrating the arts with other content areas in our schools engage students in rigorous, in-depth study, address reading, writing, and other fundamental skills within all subject areas, enhance critical thinking, decision-making, and creativity and as part of arts integration students reflect on their learning experiences.
Visual Art integration can include the skills of the Arts elements line, color, shape, form, value, texture and space and principles of design balance, movement, contrast, emphasis, unity and rhythm. Elementary art scope and sequence following the state arts standards can be integrated with literacy, social studies and other content areas. A variety of workshops can be designed using different mediums, and strategies and projects to integrate with literacy, a variety of cultures or social studies. Examples of workshops in visual arts include mask-making, printmaking, bookmaking and pop-ups, a variety of culture and arts topics, or aligned with specific literature or topics as needed.
In addition, the use of visual art at the text and combining with Harvard Zero’s thinking protocols can greatly improve critical thinking and can be tied to reading, writing and history as well as the arts standards.
Workshops – Examples of Visual Arts Workshops
Workshop 1 – Arts Skills in the Classroom
A series of workshops that develop art skills using the arts elements of elements line, color, shape, form, value, texture and space and principles of design balance, movement, contrast, emphasis, unity and rhythm. While learning the arts skills using a variety of mediums, projects will be integrated with reading, writing and social studies themes and standards.
Workshop 2 – Pop Ups, Mask Making and Books
A variety of fun projects that can be integrated with literacy or social studies. Simple pop up techniques can provide students with illustration techniques for their books. Simple book making options provide books for students to use with projects in reading, writing and social studies. Mask making techniques using folded paper and paper cutting provide fun projects to integrate with social studies and literacy. All projects include arts standards and examples are given of projects tied to the content areas.
Workshop 3 – Printmaking, Stamps and other fun Stuff
This workshop develops arts skills and methods with maneagable and affordable classroom projects while integrating the arts standards and literacy. Writing forms include poetry styles and stories.
Workshop 4 – Artful Thinking and Visual Art: Build Critical Thinking Skills Through the Arts.
By using Harvard’s Project Zero Thinking Protocols and Visual Art, discover ways to build thinking skills while exploring art. Through a variety of protocols students learn to draw conclusions, make inferences, provide the evidence for their conclusions, compare and contrast, sequence and categorize, all through discussions around the arts while exploring a variety of techniques and ways to improve students thinking through the arts. Students also learn the elements of art and how the artist uses them to create meaning in the painting or sculpture.