Arts Integration in Diverse K–5 Classrooms: Cultivating Literacy Skills and Conceptual Understanding

Contents

• Contents
• 1. Deepening Understanding Through Arts Integration 1
• Understanding Arts Integration 1
• Benefits of Comprehensive Education 5
• 2. Making Meaning Through Verbal Interaction : Laying the Foundation for Literacy 11
• The Critical Importance of Oral Language Development 12
• Supporting English Language Learners 15
• Integrating Drama and Dance Activities 19
• Visual Thinking Strategies 23
• 3. Making Meaning of Narrative Text 27
• How Written Narrative Influences Thinking 28
• Deepening Children's Understanding of Narrative 32
• Classic Story Structures 42
• 4. Making Meaning from Informational Texts 45
• Using the Arts to Teach Close Reading 46
• Meeting the Challenges of Content Area Texts 48
• Using the Arts to Scaffold Science Lessons 52
• A Crucial Dimension of STEAM 57
• 5. Building Effective Oral Communication Skills 59
• Learning Oral Communication Skills Through Puppetry 60
• Introducing Children to Social Studies 61
• How Music Builds Rapport 66
• Viewing the Past from Multiple Perspectives 71
• Introducing Varied Perspectives in K-5 Social Studies 74
• 6. Expression Through Narrative Writing 77
• Combining Images and Writing in the Primary Grades 78
• Images as Inspiration for Writing 78
• Using Memories for Inspiration Within Classrooms 84
• The Poets of El Sol Academy 85
• Writing Stories from Personal Experience 89
• Skills-Based Gains in Student Writing Abilities 91
• 7. Expression Through Informational and Persuasive Writing 95
• Teaching Writing Through the Arts 97
• Responding to Literature 99
• 8. Building Executive Function Skills with Arts Activities 107
• What Is Executive Function? 107
• Evidence from Research 111
• 9. Bringing the Arts Back to the Language Arts 121
• Choosing Arts-Based Activities That Reinforce Learning 122
• Exploring Human Relationships Through Stories 123
• Teaching Abstract Concepts to Concrete Thinkers 124
• The Acquisition of Narrative Skills 125
• Making Connections and Revealing Underlying Structure 126
• Enhancing Executive Function 127
• Arts Integration Versus Transfer 128
• References 131
• Index 143
• About the Author 154