Use Arts Integration to Enhance Common Core, 7

In November of last year, an article was written that addressed ways in which arts could be integrated to enhance Common Core.  Integration itself requires extensive research and collaboration from the teachers.  As far as for the students, it also demands creativity and collaboration.  This approach to teaching has been overlooked many times, yet it draws many parallels to the Common Core that could be incorporated in the classroom to make this implementation more beneficial.  The Arts Integration approach engages students and provides relevance to students learning.  It also opens the opportunity for students to connect their world to the classroom, making it more enjoyable.  Arts Integration could be a building block for teachers who are struggling to implement Common Core in the classroom.  The article stresses that strategies for Arts Integration can be implemented quite quickly in the classroom.  Collaboration between arts and classroom teachers, using an arts area in which the teacher is comfortable, creating a lesson that teaches to both standards, and assessing both areas equitably are some strategies this article suggests for implementing Arts Integration in the classroom.

After reading this article, I found that implementing Arts Integration in the classroom could be very beneficial.  An Arts Integration allows students not only to be creative, but also learn how to think on their own and make their own connections.  As stated in the article, “Arts Integration allows us to build chefs who make choices—not cooks who merely follow the recipe.”  I found this quotation very applicable to the Common Core’s goal of teaching students to think critically rather than spit back information.  It is essential for students to learn how to think.  Teaching students how to memorize information does not teach them anything.  It is vital to engage the student’s curiosity and encourage creativity in the classroom.  By implementing an Arts Integration, students can learn in ways that meet not only their intellectual needs, but also their cultural, social, and emotional needs.