Arts Integration – Arts in Every Subject!

According to the Kennedy Center’s Website – arts integration is an approach to learning in which students construct and demonstrate understanding through an art form. Students engage in a creative process that connects an art form and another subject area and meets evolving objectives in both. 

Traditionally arts education can act as a curricular subject – art for arts’ sake. Think of an elementary specialist rotation or exploratory wheel and elective courses in secondary settings. 

Arts-enhanced experiences offer arts as an enhancement or support with no learning objectives tied to the art form. These are often “hooks” to engage students.

Arts integration is when the arts become the approach to teaching and vehicle for learning. Students are gaining an understanding of both the art form and another subject area. The experience reinforces each content area in tandem.

Our workshop which launches on Saturday, March 25th, will guide participants to learn through the arts in math and literacy, early childhood arts integration, and ways they can build a residency for a teaching artist. 

You might be reading this and thinking – well what’s a teaching artist? A teaching artist is an artist that works with general education content teachers to use the arts to extend both the arts and general education content. For instance, Quynn Johnson is doing a residency at a Waterloo elementary school. There she will be working with a third-grade team to integrate tap dance and opinion writing. 

During this workshop, all teachers, administrators, artists, and preservice arts and education majors, will experience ways to build residencies with teaching artists, learn strategies to engage in arts integration, and build connections with colleagues from across the state that are doing the same work. 

Check out the Arts Integration Workshop Website to view featured speakers, sessions, and course information

Get registered for this opportunity using the following links!

For In-Service Educators (Course #204863)

$10 – Participant only 

$45 – Participant & Renewal Credit

$135-Participant & Graduate Credit

For Pre-Service Educators (Course #204883)

$5-  Post-Secondary Students- Participant only

For more information, contact:

Travis Gratteau-Zinnel, Instructional Coach for Fine Arts, Waterloo Community School District 

Kelsey Bowers, Literacy Consultant, Central Rivers AEA