Description
Book SynopsisFocuses on the 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.
Table of 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
