Lessons and Rubrics for Arts Integration

Christine Y. Mason Katie S. Steedly

An Article Published in TEACHING Exceptional Children Plus

Volume 3, Issue 1, eptember !""#

Copyright 2006 by the author. This work is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution icense.

Lessons and Rubrics for Arts Integration

Christine Y. Mason

Katie S. Steedly

Abstract Seven teachers, part of an Arts Integration Co unity of !ractice, used rubrics to eas" ure student learning and artistic s#ills. $%a ples fro five sites, across a variety of aca" de ic content areas and age levels, and &ith students of varying disabilities, are included in this article. Results suggest that rubrics ay be a useful tool for easuring the i pact of arts integration, facilitating teacher planning, supporting collaboration bet&een artists and educators, and helping students conduct self"assess ents.

Keywords

visual arts, arts integration, scoring rubrics

Acknowledgments: 'he authors &ould li#e to than# the dedicated teachers &ho participated in the Co " unity of !ractice !ro(ect. 'heir #no&ledge, e%pertise, and co it ent to children ade this pro(ect possible.

S)**$S'$+ CI'A'I,-. Mason, C.Y., / Steedly, K.S. 012234. Lessons and rubrics for arts integration. TEACHING Ex$ ceptional Children Plus, 5064 Article 6. Retrieved 7date8 fro http.99escholarship.bc.edu9education9tecplus9vol59iss69art6

,ver the past t&o years, :SA arts 0:SA4 investigated the use of art to enhance acade ic, cognitive, social, and artistic s#ills of students &ith disabilities 0Mason, Steedly, / 'hor ann, in press4. :SA &as interested in learning ho& teachers e bedded the arts in lessons teaching acade ic content and s#ills and ho& teachers evaluated the i pact of such lessons 0Mason / Steedly, 12234. ;ro its bac#ground investigation, :SA deter ined that educators ight be able to use rubrics and Co unities of !ractice 0<enger, Mc+er ott, / Snyder, 12214 to a4 facilitate arts integration and b4 i prove our ability to understand the i pact of arts integration on student social, acade ic, cognitive, and artis" tic s#ills 0Mason / Steedly, 12234. Rubrics &ere chosen as the evaluation ethod due to the &idespread understanding of their fle%i" bility and usefulness &ithin the educational co unity. <ith our research, discussions &ith and surveys of participants, student &or# sa ples, and sa ples of scored rubrics fro seven sites substantiated that. = Rubrics and the Co unity of !ractice process helped teachers and teaching artists to plan, i ple ent, and evaluate lessons that integrated art into acade ics. = = Arts integration helped to otivate students.

of !ractice 0Mason / Steedly, 12234. Readers are referred to the article for bac#ground in" for ation and additional details regarding ho& the pro(ect &as i ple ented. In this article, &e present three e%a " ples of arts integration lessons. In each e%" a ple, the teacher found that rubrics &ere valuable in helping &ith both evaluation of learning, and (ust as i portantly, &ith struc" turing the art activity. 'he rubrics that partici" pants used to evaluate acade ic, cognitive, social, and artistic s#ills varied? ho&ever, each of the &as based on the odel :SA provided and included &ithin one rubric co ponents for easuring all three types of s#ills. %sin& Cla' (ith ocial tudies and cience )essons 'iffany, an art teacher fro ;lorida, i ple ented three separate lessons that de " onstrated ho& easily students can use clay to sho& their co prehension of specific con" cepts. 'he lessons she presented &ere for stu" dents in 5rd through @th grades and involved using clay slabs to create pictographs and fos" sils and to portray ani al habitats. ;or each of the lessons, students rolled out clay slabs and then, using blunt &ood do&els and toothpic#s, created sy bols in the slab and painted the &ith te pera paint that they so eti es &ashed off to create an an" tiAue effect. 'he &or#s of art &ere then fired in a #iln. Students &ere given pre and post tests on vocabulary &ords and filled out ru" brics to describe their learning. In each case, students first studied the acade ic content. ;or the lesson on $gyptian petroglyphs, for e%a ple, the teacher relied on the 5rd"grade social studies boo#, the video I* +oc,s Could Tal, by Bane Cush, and a teacher" ade handout on roc# art glyphs. 'he class co pared $gyptian &riting signs

Arts integration i proved student under" standing both of specific acade ic content and the bigger picture, including the conte%" tual variables, related to that content.

In an article in TEACHING Excep$ tional Children, >Rubrics and an Arts Integra" tion Co unity of !ractice,> &e provided sa ples of teacher opinions of arts integration and the value of the arts, as &ell as specific e%a ples of ho& the Arts Integration Co! &as structured and ho& teachers and partici" pating artists developed rubrics and lesson plans through participating in a Co unity

!igure ". #tudent $etroglyphs

!igure 2. Animal %abitats

and sy bols to pictograph &ritings found in )tah and <yo ing. 'he students studied ho& sy bols &ere used to depict hunting, religion, special events, and the calendar year. ;or the lesson on ani al habitats, the teacher introduced Denri RousseauEs FBungle

!rintsG during a discussion of different #inds of environ ents 0oceans, deserts, s&a ps, forest, fields, etc.4. 'he class discussed the &ildlife and creatures that ight live in vari" ous environ ents. 'he teacher ne%t intro" duced 5"+ and relief sculpture and provided instruction in ho& to attach t&o clay pieces together to for one solid piece. Students brainstor ed possible co ponents they could a#e out of clay to create an interesting envi" ron ent. In this case, students painted their environ ents after the clay piece &as fired. ;or the unit on fossils, students 0KHIth grade4 created fossils out of clay that had an aged appearance. 'he teacher intro" duced the lesson by sho&ing a range of real fossils and a class discussion about ho& fos" sils are ade. Students then vie&ed the video , -ill N'e the cience Gu'. /inosaurs0 After

this, the teacher e%plained ho& students could use plastic bugs and toy creatures such as sna#es, frogs, and liJards, and leaves to create fossil"li#e i pressions in the clay. ;or this pro(ect, students created fossil dishes, pen" dants, or agnets out of clay, this ti e curl" ing up the edges of the clay slab rather than leaving the flat. After the pro(ects &ere fired, students painted their pieces, and then, once again created an aged loo# by rubbing the paint off under running &ater in the sin#.

'iffany ade several acco odations for students &ho needed the , including reading aterials aloud, repeating instruc" tions, presenting instructions in seAuential steps, conducting Auestion and ans&er drills, de onstrating and odeling ho& to create the clay pro(ects, and providing art sa ples. In so e cases, peer tutors &ere provided to help students, or one"to"one teaching &as used. !igure &. Artwork 'ubric

!ro(ect. Clay !ictographs Student na e

Instructions: Circle the appropriate number Creativity @"e%ceptional idea, original I"art&or# sho&s develop ent of idea 5"art reflects proble as given 1"art&or# lac#s original thought 6"art&or# is a copy Craftsmanship @"e%cellent techniAue, no errors I"good techniAue, fe& fla&s 5"satisfactory, ore than t&o fla&s 1"&ea#9needs i prove ent 6"techniAue poor and haphaJard Following directions @"e%cellent insight, pro(ect reflected all directions I"strong insight and reflection of goals 5"pro(ect sho&s goals and ob(ectives 1"pro(ect does not reflect goals 6"goals unrecogniJable Communication of message @"art&or# e%cels in its ability to co unicate I"art&or# is strong and

co unicates &ell 5"art&or# is satisfactory 1"art&or# is hard to understand 6"no co unication or understanding <hat did you feel you did very &ellK <ould you change anything if you couldK <hyK

!igure (. #tudent )ork

'iffany indicated that &ith these les" sons, FStudents learned Auic#ly and retained ore infor ation if I continuously Auestioned and drilled students as they &or#ed, lined up, and as I passed out aterials. 'he students Auic#ly pic#ed up that I &ould be LAuiJJingE the , so they paid attention ore, and ade a conscious effort to re e ber infor ation.G 'he a(ority of students &ith special needs de onstrated #no&ledge of factual infor a" tion that &as presented to the in the lessons through this type of teacher Auestion and drill. !igure (. #tudent 'ubric

'iffany &as also able to verify their co pre" hension through the individual student ru" brics. 'iffany reported that the Ith"graders &ith special needs Fcould e%plain infor ation verbally about fossils better than actually &riting about the and that ost students have a better understanding of &hat fossils are fro actually seeing and touching real fossils, and creating one of their o&n.G 'he rubric students used to easure their perfor ance follo&s. Satisfac" tory. ,K (ob. ;e& ista#es .

Inco plete Many , did not ista#es and fol" lo& proble s. direc" tions -eeds i " prove ent.

,ne or t&o 'he best. ista#es. -o ista#es. :ery good.

Clay techniAue !aint techniAue Infor ation recall Muality of final pro(ect

)iterature Circles 1or,sheet Lee conducted several lessons over three &ee#s related to using literature circles &ith five reading choices in Ith"grade lan" guage arts classes. 'hese lessons addressed si% state standards, including e%pectations that students &ill. = Identify specific personal preferences relative to fiction and nonfiction read" ing. = )se #no&ledge of authorEs styles, the es, and genres to choose o&n reading. = Read and organiJe infor ation throughout a single source for a vari" ety of purposes. = <rite for a variety of occasions, audi" ences, and purposes. = Interact &ith peers in literature groups. = !repare for and give presentations for specific occasions, audiences, and purposes. 'he state standards &ere reinforced in five boo#s that Lee chose for this activity.

The )ost 2lo(er Children, 3' -rother 3ade 3e /o It, 1illi(a(, and Tales o* a 2ourth Grade Nothin&. Students read assign ents aloud in their groups and each student co " pleted his or her o&n &or#sheet. -e%t, they et in literature circles, discussed ideas, and chose a group pro(ect. A recorder &rote do&n a pro(ect description, and the groups bro#e pro(ects into steps, assigned responsibilities, and developed a ti eline of tas#s to co " plete. $ach student &rote a reflection of his or her e%perience &ith the literature circle 0see &or#sheet4. Accommodations Acco odations Lee offered in" cluded a sound a plification syste for those &ith hearing i pair ents, reading in groups &ith peer and teacher support as needed for those &ith reading difficulties, posting a(or points on the board, priority seating for des" ignated students, and freAuent feedbac# and pro pts for attention and focus. Microphones &ere available for student use for pro(ect presentations.

!igure *. Student Worksheet for The ost !lower Children +irections. After you read along &ith each part of the story, use this sheet to re ind you of parts you &ant to discuss &ith your circle. A favorite part My favorite part &as &hen they set up the table so the counterchar &ould &or#. My favorite picture My &ord favorite

My favorite &ord is counterchar because I thin# it (ust rolls off the My favorite picture is the table all set up all tongue. nice and pretty. So ething I didnEt understand My favorite character I didnEt understand &hy a lot of people ca e My favorite character &as ,livia because to the garden and even people &ho ,livia she is (ust trying to figure everything out. didnEt #no&. So ething this story re inds of 'his story re inds e

e of very, very

confusing things that are very hard to figure

out.

A student described ho& she prepared for a s#it. 1e pic,ed this part because it (as the stor' (ithin the stor' and (as the most important part o* the stor'0 1e made the mas,, the title, (e &ot the table and *lo(ers0 1e are doin& the scene (here the &reens,ins come to the part'0 The' do the countercharm that turns the people at the part' ex$ cept one little &irl, 4ara, is bein& that &irl0 I 5Courtne'6 (ill pla' the

lead &reens,in0 Alexis (ill pla' the &reens,in *ollo(er and ,'ler (ill pla' one o* the last *lo(er children0 'he rubric Lee used to easure student out" co es is presented belo&. 'he co pleted e%" a ple &as for a student &ho &as learning several of the concepts and s#ills presented in the lesson. 'he rubric indicates that this stu" dent could benefit fro additional instruction &ith si ilar types of pro(ects in the future.

!igure 6. +ntegration o, Arts with -nglish.)riting/ Art used to -0press 1nderstanding with !inal $roduct
! ;ollo&ed direction s &ith fe& errors. " ;ollo&ed +irections? no ista#es. # So e inter" pretation? advanced #no&ledge ? original thought. $ Sho&ed Appreciatio n of topic? thoughtful reflection? built on other &or#.

-eeds I prove " ent.

AdeAuate planning Muality of draft &riting

,riginality, i agination, proble solving +e onstrated co pre" hension Co pleteness9 thoroughness % %

% %

% % % %

$laboration, addition of interesting detail

)se of art to enhance or co ple ent eaning 'echnical aspects of &riting9art

Muality of final product 'otal points

% %

An e%a ple of reflection fro another stu" dent on this activity follo&s. 1hen I read the 7)ost 2lo(er Chil$ dren8 I thin, o* the &arden bein& so*t and *illed (ith rainbo(s o* colors0 As i* the *lo(ers them sel9es danced upon the stars at ni&ht0 There beauti$ *ul petels *loat on a sea o* li9l' &reen lea9es0 The boo, ma,es me ima&ine o* all *antas' thin&s:0I *eel li,e the boo, brin&s me to a place (here I don;t ha9e to (orr' about an'thin& or an'one0 ometimes I *eel li,e a butter*l' (ith &orous (in&s o* man' colors, *l'in& o9er the ma&ical &ar$ den0 Actin& and Pantomime to Teach )an&ua&e Concepts and Clear Communication Bill, a teacher of children &ho are deaf or severely hearing i paired in Montana, de" scribed ho& she used panto i e and acting to teach vocabulary and co unication. 'he purpose of the activity &as to teach i provi" sation, panto i e, and clear co unication. 'he activity also provided an introduction to the s#ill of giving constructive criticis . ;or this activity, Bill divided the class into groups of 1H5 students. She gave each group three &ords 0e.g., &hy, sorry, and oh4. $ach s all group, &or#ing independently, &as tas#ed &ith preparing t&o different short scenes using only the three &ords they had been given. 'he scene could include other panto i ed co unication " other &ords could be i plied through panto i e, but the only audible &ords should be li ited to those three. 'hese should be very short scenes, and the t&o scenes should use the &ords in differ" ent &ays. ,n the follo&ing page is one of the rubrics used &ith this lesson.

Bill indicated that &ithin the i e les" sons, she is Fconstantly a&are of seAuencing. Cefore the i e, seAuencing &as not y top priority. ;or students to be successful, they need to be organiJed and seAuence their thoughts and ideas.G Conclusion Rubrics appear to be a useful tool for easuring the i pact of art integration on student learning, &hether students are partici" pating in dra a, visual arts, &riting, or usic. As the e%a ples fro three of the seven :SA Arts Integration Co unity of !ractice sites de onstrate, rubrics sho& pro ise in helping teachers evaluate the i pact of the arts on social, cognitive, acade ic, and artistic learn" ing. !articipants in our pro(ect de onstrated several &ays to design and use the rubrics, including teaching students to use rubrics to easure their o&n learning, perfor ance, or product. Moreover, as one of the participants indicated, FRubrics can be a useful tool for planning, increasing teacher a&areness of student capabilities and needs, and also fur" thering collaboration a ong artists and teach" ers.>

!igure 2. &antomime &erformance 2"1 Missing criteria poor presentation. Inclusion of story ele ents &9plot points ;acial e%pression intensity / variation Mi e ele ents9 aintains shape / space *esture9clarity CharacteriJation9distin ct, consistent ;ocus9 aintains scene o entu Creativity9e bellish es i agination $nergy9intensity All ove ent, ood / i e atch to the e
<ritten tas#

5"@ Meets ini al criteria, fair presentation.

3"N Acceptably eets all crite" ria, clear presen" tation.

O"62 $%ceeds criteria superb presenta" tion and creativity.

'eferences Mason, C.Y., / Steedly, K.M. 012234. Ru" brics and an arts integration co u" nity of practice. Teachin& Exceptional Children 3<064, 53"I5. Mason, C., Steedly, K., / 'hor ann, M. 0in press4. Arts integration. Do& do the arts i pact social, cognitive, and aca"

de ic s#illsK Teacher Education pe$ cial Education0 <enger, $., Mc+er ott, R., / Snyder, <. 012214. Culti9atin& communities o* practice. Ca bridge, MA. Darvard )niversity !ress.

About the authors/ Christine Y. Mason is an $ducational Consultant and !resident, Mason / Associ" ates, and +irector of Acade ic !rofessional +evelop ent at the Center for Student Support Services, <ashington, +C. Katie S. Steedly is +irector of $valuation and ,utco es, :SA arts, <ashington +C.