Ms. Michelle Mazan Burrows
Art-Filled Learning: A Way of Life
Posted by Mar 16, 2012 3 comments
Ms. Michelle Mazan Burrows
The school is buzzing. Classrooms are alive with children moving, singing, working together, learning.
In this room, kindergarteners are creating “movement mountains,” their growing understanding of addition facts becoming clearer with every new, non-locomotor “mountain” they create.
In that room, third graders are using iPads to film each other’s first-person perspectives, discussing things such as voice quality and communication.
Down the hall, fifth graders have created “mini Mondrians”, using the work of Piet Mondrian to discuss area and perimeter.
And over there, fourth graders are creating lyrics—chorus and verses—for their “escape” songs, modeling cultural songs of slavery.
Were those kindergarteners trying out their “mountain” dance moves in dance class? Were the fourth graders learning song writing vocabulary in music class? Were the perspective videos taking place in the drama room? Nope.
All of these art-filled lessons were taking place in the regular classroom. Arts integration at its finest. As we toured several elementary schools in the North Carolina A+ Schools Network, the value and importance of this key piece of arts education was plainly visible.
A+ Schools will tell you that there are three key parts to a true education in the arts: quality, exposure, and integration.
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