We can only hope as teachers that our students take what we teach them and apply it to real life. We hope they take away new meaning and apply it to their passions and talents. We hope that behind those sometimes blank stares that there is a pulse with a yearning for learning and a drive that motivates them to go beyond what’s taught. Ever ask your own child after a day of school what they learned or did in school and the response you get is, “nothin.” Ouch, such an insult that pierces right through a teacher’s heart. But then there is one day, that one teachable moment, where you breathe a sigh of relief and remember why you teach.
Although I have had many, memorable teachable moments, it’s not mine that I am talking about. It’s another teacher’s teachable moment that I was able to appreciate. One afternoon my 6 year old skipped off the bus in his usual, happy way, and said, “Hey mom, have you ever heard of Starry Night, by Vincent Van Gogh? You know, the guy who cut off his ear? Do you know why he actually cut off his ear? Do we have that painting in our house? Can we get one?” This little boy’s list of questions went on and on and my eyes brightened. I knew just then that his art teacher had jolted an interest in him through Van Gogh’s artwork that piqued his curiosity and made him want to learn more. So much more in fact that he and his dad created a Starry Night of their own with sidewalk chalk in our driveway. He was so excited when we took a picture of it so he could bring it in to school to show his art teacher. And then when asked to decorate a puzzle piece that reflects his interests, hobbies, talents, etc, what does he do, he draws Starry Night right at the top of his puzzle piece.
So what is it that struck a curiosity chord with this little guy? Was it his teacher’s enthusiasm toward art? Was it her love for the artist himself? Or was it a little boy’s curiosity and newfound interest in art itself? All of these questions led me to realize that teaching art and integrating it into the classroom is engaging, powerful and meaningful to students.
Why Integrate Art?
What I do know about art, and being an art enthusiast myself, is that art teaches so many valuable concepts to students. It teaches students about:
• History
• Culture
• Techniques
• Style
• Creativity
• Feelings
• Perspective
• Focus
• Perseverance
Those are some pretty important concepts that we want our students to learn not only directly, but indirectly, by integrating art into what we are already teaching. Let the kids have control of this because you know that you always get that one or two students that will take this idea and run with it. They will love the opportunity to present what they learn to teach the rest of the class. And when that happens, all of your students will benefit from it. It’s a win-win!
How Can Teachers Integrate Art?
Integrating art in the classroom is easier than you think. In fact, I’m sure most teachers do this already without even thinking about it or deliberately planning it. There are so many ways to integrate the study of art and artists.
Here are some simple ways to integrate art into your classroom and to get your students engaged:
• Do an artist study– Instead of an author study, focus on learning about one artist per month and integrate this study all subject areas. Read about the artist, write about the artist, draw/paint/sketch like the artist.
• Have an art center in your classroom? Put activities in your learning centers that give students independent time to be a practitioner. Include books and different art tools so your students can learn more and mimic the styles and techniques of the artist or artwork you are studying.
• Introduce art that goes along with your curriculum– Teach social studies? Study artists relevant to your social studies topics. For example, my 3rd graders study the Roman Empire. They studied all kinds of art through books and videos that related to the beautiful artwork of the Romans from exquisite paintings to grand sculptures. The kids absolutely love this.
Integrating art into your classroom doesn’t have to be another chore, taking hours and hours to plan. Teachers have so much on their plate already so trying to integrate art in these simple ways won’t result in extra work. But what it may result in is a little boy finding a new interest or passion in art.
Check out Scholastic’s K-12 art integration lesson plans collection too. What a great resource for teachers!
Do you integrate art into your classroom? If so, visit For The Love of Teachers and go to Forums, and then to THE ARTS, and share how you integrate art into your classroom. Let’s learn from each other. Be sure to visit the Shop for resources to support your classroom too.
Christine Weis is a passionate educator, classroom management coach, wife, and mom of two busy boys. She enjoys teaching, writing, and creating resources for teachers.
You are such a creative and inspiring teacher! I bet your students love to learn in your classroom! I wish more of my teachers had taught as holistically and with as much passion as you do, by incorporating art and other curiosities into the subjects they taught.
Thank you Patricia! That is so kind of you to say! 🙂 I hope I inspire teachers to do the same. I sure am passionate about what I do, as are many teachers. Thanks so much for reading!
Christine at For The Love of Teachers
This is such a great post! I couldn’t agree more that art is really important for students to learn in school and should be integrated into the classroom more!
Thanks so much for reading and commenting on this post. 🙂
~Christine at For The Love of Teachers
I love this. I live in an urban area (DC), and in similar communities, they are removing arts and music courses. Reasoning is probably due to funding. Instead of robbing our children in urban schools, funding should be pulled from some of these other unnecessary special interests.
Thanks for your comment! It kills me when I hear art and music courses are being removed in certain communities due to funding. This is why art integration is so important.
~Christine at For The Love of Teachers
Art teaches you so much. Not in school, but in college we had a class about art & culture studies and it was my favourite class. Would have loved something like that in school.
Thanks for your comment! I agree…art integration should be in all schools.
~Christine at For The Love of Teachers
Love this experience! I have a six-year-old, too and I feel his year has been full of these experiences. I also teach 8th grade where it’s content, content, content. What middle-high school teachers need is to take this post to heart. Every time I have integrated art into a lesson, final assessment, etc. it has been great. I have seen my students have deeper connections. For example, instead of just reading pieces about human rights, we studied Norman Rockwell and others who’ve covered this topic. We then found words and pictures in magazines that best represented our characters and glued them into the shape of a symbol for that character. We had student do write-ups about their art and how it connected to our theme of human rights to put in an art gallery in the hall. They critiqued the art like they did the mentor artists. They seemed to appreciate this opportunity to explore such a heavy topic. I’ve also thought about sharing dance, poetry, and exploring other art genres. 🙂
Andrea,
Thanks you for your thoughtful response. I’m so glad that your 6 year old has the same art experiences as mine. As a teacher, I could tell that you provide rich experiences for your students to connect with art. It sounds so engaging and fun. Your students are lucky! My grandmother loved Norman Rockwell so I could have definitely related to that. Love it! Thanks for your comment! 🙂
~Christine at For The Love of Teachers
Great post! I know from my own experience that I felt most accomplished when I was learning about art history or techniques. I think it’s so important at any age to be surrounded by culture and creativity!
Rebecca | morerebe.com
Enter my international giveaway here!
Rebecca,
I couldn’t agree more! Thanks for your comment!
~Christine at For The Love of Teachers
It is so great to her that your child was so inspired from his teacher. You gave me a great idea to incorporate an artist in our biography unit. Thank you!
An artist in your biography unit is a fabulous idea…an author/artist study! Perfect! Glad that I could help!
Thanks for your comment!
~Christine at For The Love of Teachers
I love this post! I’m going to share it on my Facebook page. I was an art teacher for 10 years and have created cross-curricular lessons combining art with other subject areas. I used to attend grade level meetings and tweak my teaching to include what kids were learning in their core classes.
HI Liza,
Thanks for sharing this post on your Facebook page. Sounds like you did an awesome job integrating art into your lessons, plus reaching out to homeroom teachers to integrate art as well. Kudos!
Thanks for your comment!
~Christine at For The Love of Teachers
Great Post! Art is very important though not appreciated enough. Like you said each piece has a story of history, you just need to learn to interpret it.
HI Kylie!
Thanks so much for your comment and feedback! Appreciate it!
~Christine at for The Love of Teachers
So thankful tht through it all my kids’ elementary does put so much influence on the arts in the schools walls as well as within the community.
That’s so great to hear! I love artwork all over the walls of a school. Thanks for your comment!
~Christine at For The Love of Teachers