Most schools just don't have the resources. This collaborative effort between the 4th grade team and the special area teachers afforded the students not only the opportunity to learn about their state, but to live it . . . So when we weave content from a variety of subjects areas together and use a theme and the arts as the vehicle for learning, there are more opportunities for children to make those connections. Elda Franklin, a music educator with the Charlotte Symphony and Winthrop University professor of music, worked with the 4th graders at Dilworth once a week for three weeks. She says music enhances learning in a variety of ways, and particularly when history is being studied.
Music is very motivating.
You can catch the kids instantly . . . grab them . . . You can read about wars and about what people did, but music lets you experience it first hand. Fourth-grade teachers Kay Pippin, Jeremy Swicegood and Christine Tymes saw their students excited about these classes with the visiting arts educators, and said the enthusiasm was carried into the rest of the school day. They also said the students talked about what they were learning at home, asking their parents about the shag, for instance. Parent cooperation was high, too, when preparation began for the final presentation.