What is an Integrated Arts Curriculum?

“Experiences in the arts richly augment our ordinary life experiences and by doing so, often lead us to tacit understandings of the deeper meanings of our existence, our culture, and our world. Our work in curriculum development for classroom teachers is designed to enhance reading, writing and oral language development in all children. . . . Rather than replace or diminish the value of discipline-specific education in the arts, we seek to explore ways to augment children’s education in the arts by increasing teacher interest and empowering more educators toward the delivery of integrated instruction to more children. As such, the arts can become accessible to more teachers and students and contain valuable, unique, powerful, natural, and active ways of thinking, learning and knowing in all our classrooms.”

Dr. Nan L. McDonald, Faculty, SDSU School of Music and Dance
SDSU/ City Heights Educational Collaborative
K-12 Integrated Arts Curriculum Director

"Visual and performing arts are expressions of our culture and provide insights into other cultures. How could anyone debate our responsibility to make sure the arts are taught and integrated throughout each child's public school experience? For example, one of the most important ways we help improve literacy skills is to model the strategies that good readers use.

When I read I visualize the scenes and characters and I hear each voice and sound the author presents me. In this way, when I read I make predictions, I get emotionally involved and I reflect. Integrating the arts into each subject area is not a diversion, quite the opposite it is one of our most powerful teaching strategies!"

Dr. Ian Pumpian, SDSU College of Education
Director of the SDSU/ City Heights Educational Collaborative

“The arts provide students with ways to think about the world. We also know that the arts facilitate learning and learning to read. Students who have access to the arts are much better prepared to enter the world as contributing citizens.”

Dr. Douglas Fisher, Faculty, SDSU Teacher Education
SDSU/ City Heights Collaborative Director of Professional Growth

City Heights

City Heights, only about two miles from San Diego State, is a vibrant but struggling mid-city San Diego neighborhood. Its 75,000 residents speak over thirty languages and scores of dialects, making it the most diverse and densely populated community in the county. It is also one of the poorest communities. Some call it the Ellis Island of San Diego since it has long been the first home of new arrivals to the United States.

In the last five years, SDSU has applied its diverse assets and resources—especially its invaluable human capital—to address the educational challenges of City Heights and the generations of youth who face a widening "achievement gap."

The long-term project targets three schools in the community—Rosa Parks Elementary, Monroe Clark Middle and Hoover High School—that are taking on a broad spectrum of inherent problems. Dozens of diverse initiatives involving over 100 SDSU faculty from over 40 departments have been implemented in fields ranging from counseling to cultural anthropology, and from poetry to physical education.

Equally important, the Collaborative is serving as a model for educational innovation in ethnically diverse neighborhoods that can be applied in countless other areas. The University has an ethical responsibility to seek solutions to these complex issues, but it reaps benefits as well. Students become better citizens, professors become better educators, and SDSU becomes a better university and a better community in the process. City Heights enables SDSU to improve its teaching, learning, research and service.

Rose Tanonis, Kindergarten Teacher
Rosa Parks Elementary (K Annex at Hoover High School)
Title: “Rosa Parks: Discovery through Directed Drawing and Dramatic Play Activity”
Content Areas Involved: visual art, theatre, social studies, language arts- reading, writing, and oral language development

The Story of this Integrated Curriculum Unit:
In Room 3 at the Rosa Parks Kinder Annex housed at Hoover High School, we had a discussion about “People Who Have Made a Difference”. We read the story, If A Bus Could Talk by Faith Ringgold. We learned that Rosa Parks is the person for whom our school is named. In class, we acted out the famous bus incident and realized what a great thing Mrs. Parks did so that we all could ride the bus together and go to school together.

We then did a directed drawing portrait of Rosa Parks and colored them with crayola markers. Then we wrote about Rosa Parks together by sharing the pen with our interactive writing. I really believe my kindergartners learned a valuable lesson through the course of our study about Rosa Parks and how she really made a difference for all of us. The children continue to use dramatic play to tell her story in class!

Teachers Brenda Taylor (Grade 1), Adrienne Laws (Grade 2), Kristen Hunter (Grade 1)
Title: “ Three African-American Musicians from Three Different Time Periods”
Content Areas Involved: music, dance, visual art, language arts, social studies

The Story of this Integrated Curriculum Unit:
In our three classes, we learned about three very important African American artists who influenced our American music and culture. These individuals all came from different eras in our country’s history. We formed book discussion groups based on books about Louis Armstrong, Aretha Franklin and the lives of members of the popular musical group, Boyz II Men.

The students worked in small groups to orally present to the entire class. In these presentations they shared a created poster, role plays of the lives of the artists, a written report, or a commercial.
The class then graded each other based on a rubric (for assessment) we developed together. The culminating project was a performance for our entire school’s Black History Celebration. In it, our students sang and danced to Armstrong’s “When the Saints Go Marching In”, Aretha Franklin’s “Respect” and Boyz II Men “Motown Philly”. This unit was an amazing success for all.

Mary Flood, Grade 1 Teacher
Rosa Parks, Elementary
Title: “Cesar Chavez”
Content Areas Involved: visual art- oil pastels, language arts: reading and writing, social studies, science

The Story of this Integrated Curriculum Unit:
In this lesson we read the book, Harvesting Hope: The Story of Cesar Chavez (Harcourt, 2003) by Kathleen Krull. As we read this story, we looked for the author’s main ideas and supporting details. The class narrowed down the main ideas to four points. Then the class divided into four groups and each group wrote details to support their main ideas. (This was their first attempt at paragraph writing.)Using the author as a model worked very well for these young writers. The students used oil pastels to create a scene of a farm worker at work.

We used the style of the book’s illustrator, Yuri Morales, as our guide and inspiration. The students enjoyed the vivid colors of the oil pastels and the sensation of using their fingers to blend the pastels. These students are planting seeds in the school garden to learn about gardening and to appreciate the farm workers who work so hard to provide our food.

Pam Pham-Barron, Grade 2 Teacher
Rosa Parks, Elementary
Title: “Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.: Martin’s Big Words” (SEE large paper mural on nearby wall)
Content Areas Involved: visual art: paper making, collage portraiture, dance: creative movement, language arts: reading biography and writing, social studies

The Story of this Integrated Unit:
I started the lesson with three poems by Langston Hughes. We did a shared reading of the poems to help the students discover and understand the meanings of the poems. After they gained an understanding of the vocabulary of the poems, the students were separated into three groups to create movement interpretations of their poem. They then performed their interpretations for the entire class. We then had a group discussion.

On the second day, I asked the children to listen to a read-aloud of the book, Martin’s Big Words: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. by Doreen Rappaport. I read the book two times and did not show the pictures to the class. Then, as an art assignment, I had the children divided in groups to create and draw their own illustrations to Martin’s Big Words.

On the third day, the students listened to the story again, but this time they saw the illustrations as we pointed out the similarities to their own illustrations. The students then reflected on and individually wrote about what the text meant to them. As a closure for the lesson, I asked the children to read the book aloud with me. I read the text, and they read Martin’s words. They then shared their own reflections for each of Dr. King’s quotes. The students completed their language arts elements in the mornings, their visual art activities in the afternoons.

The art project mimics the style of the famous children’s author/illustrator, Eric Carle. In this class project, the students created their own papers to be used to make a composite paper art quilt of Martin Luther King, Jr. and his famous words. On the first day the students painted the background paper. The second day they added texture to their art papers. The third day the students cut out the portrai t of Dr. King. This final art project includes the children’s reflections and Martin’s quotes within a quilt design. We are very proud of all we learned and created as a tribute to Dr. King’s ideas and leadership.

Aida Allen, Grade 4 Teacher
Rosa Parks, Elementary
Title: “Louis Armstrong: What a Wonderful World”
Content Areas Involved: visual art, theatre, music, dance, language arts: reading and poetry writing, social studies

The Story of this Integrated Unit:
This unit of study was done with the goal of exposing my students to Jazz music. Louis Armstrong was a key person in bringing jazz to the American culture.

My students had the opportunity to visualize and read the text to Armstrong’s recording of the song, “What a Wonderful World”. They created an illustration and cinquain (poem) of the song and created original movements to go with the song. Students also learned about Armstrong’ life through participating in a reader’s theatre created from the text of the book, If I Only Had a Horn:Young Louis Armstrong by Roxanne Orgillis. The students learned the parts of the trumpet and are currently learning to swing dance. These activities all brought Louis Armstrong and his music alive for my students.

Heather Sullivan, Grade 5 Teacher
Rosa Parks, Elementary
Title: “People Who Have Made a Difference in My Own Life”
Content Areas Involved: visual art, music, language arts: reading and writing, math

The Story of This Integrated Unit:
Towards the end of 5th Grade, we begin to prepare our students to enter Middle School and adolescence. One way that our curriculum prepares them is by teaching the students to reflect throughout the content areas.

I like to extend this idea by having the students reflect within themselves and the choices they make in their daily lives. After studying many famous people throughout the year and how they have made a difference, the students were asked to look within their own community for someone who has made a real difference in their own lives. The students wrote an essay about this person. We then took their essays and created a limerick and portrait drawing of this person. Then we learned, discussed, and sang the song, “The Man in the Mirror” by Michael Jackson. This song asks the listener to take a look within themselves and change in order to make a difference in our world. We then created limericks and portraits of ourselves. Much was learned and enjoyed within these creative and reflective learning processes.

The Story of this Integrated Curriculum Unit:
My goal for this integrated arts unit on American Presidents was for my students to not only learn the names and facts of a few influential Presidents, but most importantly to have my students internalize the vision, leadership, and fortitude these leaders must have had to overcome the considerable challenges of their time. Through integrating language arts and history, the students and I read books, magazines, and poetry on the Presidents. The students also worked in teams and presented a reader's theater dramatization to their classmates on the remarkable lives of Washington, Lincoln, and FDR. Students videotaped each other and will be able to share their performances with their parents at the end of the year exhibition. The students used their art skills to draw portraits and create models of the White House with the aid of books and magazines we had read together. The students truly enjoyed our President study. By stepping into the lives of the Presidents via books and theater, the kids gained the connection and insight they will take with them for years to come.

Alicia Oxenhandler, Grade 6 Teacher
Monroe-Clark Middle School
Title: “People Who Have Made a Difference: Past and Present”
Content Areas Involved: visual art: portrait drawing, mixed media collage, social studies, writing, genre studies

The Story of this Integrated Unit:
In this unit 6th grade students were challenged to identify and research a person whose actions have led to a positive change in the world. Over several weeks the 6th graders read a variety of books, consulted encyclopedias and performed on-line research.

The culminating activity for the unit was a written essay and a piece of art representing their figure’s life. All students received instruction in conducting biographical research and writing and the art of portrait drawing. Several students also chose to create mixed media dioramas representative of the person they felt has made a difference in the world. By choosing a person they could identify with, and through incorporation of visual art along with reading and writing, students became very knowledgeable about, as well as, bonded to their subject.

Andy Soto, Grade 8 Teacher- U.S. History
Monroe-Clark Middle School
Title: “Framers of the U.S. Constitution”
Content Areas Involved: visual art, music, language arts: reading of biography, writing, oral language development, shared reading, United States history

The Story of this Integrated Unit:
After completing this unit, students were expected to learn the political principles underlying the U.S. Constitution, the implied powers of the federal government, and biographical information about the framers of the constitution (Content Standard 8.2).
Throughout the unit, students read a wide range of literature, including our Grade 8 U.S. History Text— History Alive! The United States (Bower, Teachers’ Curriculum Institute, 2002), If You Were There When They Signed the Constitution by Fritz (Putnam, 1987), and Roots of the Republic, V.2 by Quinn (Grolier Eduational, 1996). Some of the activities the students participated in included a music activity based on the preamble of the American Constitution (“School House Rock”), an illustrated vocabulary assignment, and a jigsaw reading group assignment.
As a final project, the students created and made their own children’s books about the framers of the constitution. They then read and shared their created books as a way to teach younger children about the U.S. Constitution. My students expressed to me how much fun they had throughout this unit—especially through reading their own books to younger students.

Armando Catano, Grade 7/8 AVID (Advancement via Individual Determination (goal= college preparation) and Spanish Teacher
Monroe-Clark Middle School
Title: “People Who Have Made a Difference in Our Lives, Our Community, and our World”
Content Areas Involved: visual art: illustration and sculpture, music, language arts: reading of biography, poetry, writing, oral language development

The Story of this Integrated Unit:
The purpose of this unit was not only to encourage students to express their own artistic ideas but also to acknowledge the contributions of the people who have made a difference in the world.

In this unit the students wrote and essay about the person that made a difference in their life. They interviewed people who made a difference in their community. They also researched the life of people who have made a difference in the world.

The students used a variety of resources (books, songs, videos, internet, etc. ) and different forms of artistic expressions (drawings, posters, poems, songs, etc.) They were simply guided to create an artistic form in response to reading about or interviews with people who have made a difference.This was a whole class assignment where students presented (alone or in small groups) orally and talked about their art work and other creative work. As a writing extension the students wrote reflections and stated that they very much enjoyed the freedom of choice in how they were to respond to literature and interviews through their choice of illustration, poetry, songs, and sculpture. Their response to this unit was very positive and enriching. I enjoyed this project as much as the students did!

Betsy Taylor, 10th Grade English Resource Specialist and Teacher
Valerie Woodfill, 10th Grade English Teacher
Hoover High School
Title: “Author Study: People Who Have Made a Difference”
Content Areas Involved: visual art: illustration, computer technology, photography, music, English: reading and writing, social studies

The Story of This Integrated Unit:
The unit we developed was an author study that incorporated visual art and culminated with a speech presentation. Tenth grade English students were to choose any author who had influenced their life in some way. They then had to research the author’s life, their personal influences, and they had to choose a piece of art that they think may have influenced that author to write about the themes presented within their work. Students of all levels and varying learning abilities (including those with specific learning differences) were able to experience this in-depth study which included opportunities for visual art. The direct art activities made their entire unit of study much more influential and tied to their personal interests.

The first piece is by a tenth grade student. The student chose to study the author R.L. Stein and chose to do the project differently than most students. Instead of choosing an art form that influenced this author, the student wrote a piece of poetry that influenced her after she had read several books from this author. The student also created her won version of the illustration that “drips” down the spine of every book R.L .Stein wrote.
The second piece is by a tenth grade student. She studied the author Frank McCourt. The student chose to make a poster with pencil and black pen of everything that was symbolic in the author’s life. For example, the student included a few phrases of McCourt’s such as “Limerick Ireland: My Miserable Childhood” and “Me Father Who Drunk His Wages”.
The third piece was photographed by a tenth grade student. He was inspired by Gary Soto, a very popular author who writes about the Mexican-American experience. In many of Soto’s books, the author is influence by the tagging and graffitti he was exposed to in the neighborhoods of his own youth. Our student decided to photograph the same experience he sees in his own neighborhoods and in the neighborhoods that surround where he lives.

Norma Sandoval
English Second Language/ English Language Development Teacher
Monroe Clark Middle School
Title: "People Who Have Overcome Adversity"
Content Areas: music; visual art; performance; language arts - reading, writing, and oral language development

The Story of this Integrated Curriculum Unit:
The purpose of this lesson was to enhance the unit theme by focusing on those who have overcome adversity. The unit was centered on David Pelzer's autobiography, A Child Called It. At the conclusion of the unit, students wrote a Response to Literature Essay. Various SDAI scaffolding strategies were used to assist students in its production. The unit included: viewing two films- "Play it Forward" and "Lean on Me"; learning the song (music and lyrics) "Hero" by Mariah Carey; illustrating and recreating scenes from the book A Child Called It; and creating a book journal with reflections, poems (acrostic, found, and cinquain), quotes and word study. It's one of the best units we have completed together!

Funding for this exhibit was provided by Nokia corporation.

Many thanks to: Dr. Nan L. McDonald (K-12 Integrated Arts Curriculum Director) and Bruce Edwards (Communications Director, City Heights Educational Pilot).