|
Art and Engineering Supports LanguageIncreasing and improving language skills can happen in any classroom!
Infuse art and engineering design within English Language Arts to improve:
|
Blades: Home Learn More Standards Inspiration About the Author
Are Art and Engineering Just As Important As Reading, Writing and Math?
Credit to njartsmaven.com
One of my favorite advocates for education was the late, Sir Ken Robinson. You might recognize his name or remember hearing about him. To date, even before his passing in the Summer of 2020, he held the record for the most watched
TED Talk, "Do Schools Kill Creativity?", which has been viewed over 69 million times. YES, you read that correctly...69 MILLION views!
There were many things that resonated with me from his TED talk and book. As I began my journey into conducting action research, his works inspired me. I found myself searching for solutions to a problem I felt were important for my students' growth now and into their futures.
“Creativity is as important now in education as literacy and we should treat it with the same status.” ― Sir Ken Robinson.
This quote stood out to me because over the years, art and creative outlets disappeared from my classroom and I would even say from my grade level. Sure we did a few token projects here and there, but overall, we were hyper-fixated on reading, phonics, writing and math. And at some point six years olds were being asked to take scantron tests. Where did creativity go? Why was getting art supplies now an uphill battle?
What I appreciated about Sir Ken Robinson's point of view was there was hope! His book, Creative Schools, inspired me to look deeper at why art and engineering experiences were so valuable for students' overall growth and potential. All throughout the book, there were countless examples of schools and teachers integrating skills and content that students will need for jobs that don't even exist yet. I loved what he wrote on the last page the introduction to his book, "We actually know what works. We just don't do it on a wide enough scale."
So I caught a ride on the creativity train. I wanted to test if art and engineering could improve language skills for my students. Could art and engineering be "tools" to support language? This area of focus was important to me because I teach a high percentage (70%+) of English Language Learners and serve a Title I school (80%+).
TED Talk, "Do Schools Kill Creativity?", which has been viewed over 69 million times. YES, you read that correctly...69 MILLION views!
There were many things that resonated with me from his TED talk and book. As I began my journey into conducting action research, his works inspired me. I found myself searching for solutions to a problem I felt were important for my students' growth now and into their futures.
“Creativity is as important now in education as literacy and we should treat it with the same status.” ― Sir Ken Robinson.
This quote stood out to me because over the years, art and creative outlets disappeared from my classroom and I would even say from my grade level. Sure we did a few token projects here and there, but overall, we were hyper-fixated on reading, phonics, writing and math. And at some point six years olds were being asked to take scantron tests. Where did creativity go? Why was getting art supplies now an uphill battle?
What I appreciated about Sir Ken Robinson's point of view was there was hope! His book, Creative Schools, inspired me to look deeper at why art and engineering experiences were so valuable for students' overall growth and potential. All throughout the book, there were countless examples of schools and teachers integrating skills and content that students will need for jobs that don't even exist yet. I loved what he wrote on the last page the introduction to his book, "We actually know what works. We just don't do it on a wide enough scale."
So I caught a ride on the creativity train. I wanted to test if art and engineering could improve language skills for my students. Could art and engineering be "tools" to support language? This area of focus was important to me because I teach a high percentage (70%+) of English Language Learners and serve a Title I school (80%+).
Hands-on Learning for a Win-Win!Want to improve language and literacy skills for students?
All arrows point to...hands-on learning! Research from a variety of domains points to hands-on learning as a valuable method for improving memory and language. Explore how one class of first grade students used hands-on learning with art and engineering design to become stronger speakers, readers and writers! 
|
My Digital Story!How do you summarize a year of learning into a few minutes?
|