It was a great introduction to our Thanksgiving unit. The fine arts educators introduce students to visual art and drama while teaching skills essential for meeting state standards for fine arts education. They understand and explore sound before they learn to speak. They draw pictures before they form letters. Visual arts elements included in the curriculum are color, value, line, shape, form, texture, and space as well as balance, repetition, and rhythm.
Students use the three tools of drama body, mind, and voice to tell stories.
The integration of visual arts and drama incorporate the skills of concentration, imagination, imitation, and transformation. For example, students created African-style masks for the visual art component, while they acted out characters or objects in an African tale. Another integrated lesson combines creating a line drawing of a house that shows emotion with a drama exercise asking students to show how facial expression, body language, and voice show emotion. Drama is a favorite of students. I was the fish.