Title: Connecting with the arts
Description: Middle school teachers discover how to integrate the arts, dance and music with core academic subjects in this 8 one hour video workshops.

Disc 1. Program 1. What is arts integration? Presents three instructional models for integrating the arts: independent instruction, team-teaching, and collaborations with community resources. Participants will also explore informal, complementary, and interdependent curricular connections, and see examples of what these different types of arts-integrated instruction look like in the classroom -- Program 2. Why integrate the arts? Explores how integrating the arts with other subjects raises the level of student engagement, helps teachers address diverse learning styles, establishes the relevance of learning for students, and provides alternative ways to communicate.

Disc 2. Program 3. How do we collaborate? Ilustrates a variety of teaching partnerships. Participants will see how teachers integrating the arts can benefit from collaborating with fellow teachers, partnering with visiting artists, and drawing on community resources -- Program 4. What roles do students take on? Examines the artistic process of creating, performing, and responding. Participants will see students assuming the roles of researcher, writer, designer, director, performer, and critic.

Disc 3. Program 5. What are connecting concepts? Presents strategies for planning lessons that integrate the arts with other subjects. Participants will see how teachers organize instruction around themes and concepts -- Program 6. What's the big idea? ThIs program is about planning and teaching toward big ideas, important understandings that have lasting value. Participants will see how arts-integrated instruction enables students to make deeply personal connections to what they are learning.

Disc 4. Program 7. Identifying what students are learning. Investigates ways to evaluate student learning in and through the arts. Participants will see teachers using arts-based performance tasks to assess student understanding -- Program 8. Reflecting on our practice. Explores methods for assessing instructional practice. Participants will see teachers reflecting alone and interacting with colleagues to evaluate and refine their planning and teaching. To conclude, the discussion group models a protocol that allows teachers to draw on the expertise of colleagues to refine their practice.
Subjects: Arts, Study and teaching (Middle school), Arts in education, Curriculum planning, Interdisciplinary approach in education, Creative thinking in children
Places: United States