Integrating arts into the curriculum is a great way to add excitement into your classroom and motivate students. With different arts classes and specialties, such as theatre, music, and dance, being pulled from schools, it's becoming increasingly important to know strategies that effectively integrate arts into the core subjects. In fact, it's so important that BYU is including a new arts minor for education students at the McKay School. If you want to learn more about arts integration or the new minor, keep reading!
Arts in the Elementary Classroom Minor
This upcoming fall will be the first semester to enroll in the new Arts in the Elementary Classroom Minor. This program is for those of you who love the arts and want to use it as a tool for educating students. The minor is housed under the college of Fine Arts and Communications, so in order to enroll you must meet with their advisement center.
The minor requires:
Art Ed 326, TMA 352, Dance 326, Music 378, take two additional classes in one of those four areas (Art, Theater, Dance, or Music), and take FNART 226 (2 credit course).
Keep in mind, the minor doesn't certify you to teach arts courses (art teacher, dance teacher, theatre teacher. etc.), but equips you with methods for integration of arts in the core curriculum.
If you have any further questions about the minor, contact the college of Fine Arts and Communications by clicking HERE.
BYU Arts Express Conference
Every year, BYU holds a conference all about arts integration where professionals come and hold seminars about integration strategies. "This two-day event provides arts integration instruction in all five art forms—dance, drama, media arts, music, and visual arts—with special insights on ways to integrate the arts with core curricula. The conference is for elementary classroom teachers, administrators, and parents; we suggest that they attend together as they work to create a school rich in arts instruction and integration."
This year's theme is "Every Child, Every Art", and the conference will be held July 8-9. To learn more about the conference, click HERE.
Fine Arts Classes
In order to graduate with an EL ED or ECE degree, students are required take ARTED 326, and choose two options between DANCE 326, TMA 352, or MUSIC 378. SPED and PETE are required to take 1 arts credit of their choosing. Each of these classes teach strategies and activities for integration, and they are so much fun! Assignments include painting, ink printing, monologues, musical games, sculptures, and choreography. The professors are master artists, educators, and experts on fun, engaging, integration techniques.
Benefits of arts integration
Arts Integration into core curriculum has so many benefits for students, promoting
"healthy risk taking, helps kids recognize new skills in themselves and others, provides a way to differentiate instruction, builds collaboration among both students and teachers, bridges differences, and draws in parents and the community. Plus it's just plain fun" (Edutopia). Not to mention, there are an infinite number of ways that teachers can use fine arts, so the possibilities are endless. As a way to build confidence in students, differentiate instruction, and always have fun, teachers are even recommended to use fine arts in lessons to make learning memorable and engaging!