I have learned a lot about myself and art integration by working on this action research project.  As I worked my way through the MPS program at Penn State I realized I had a unique perspective because unlike many of my classmates, I was a classroom teacher who was teaching either math or language arts.  While I learned a lot about art from my fellow educators I always felt like I had to tweak what I was learning in order to apply it to my own classroom.  This constant search for finding ways to incorporate art into my daily teaching is what sparked this idea for my final action research project.  I chose to look at art integration across two content areas using the interdisciplinary theme of division.  I gathered art integrated lesson plans in math and language arts that were centered around division. 

 

This project required that I stretch beyond my comfort zone and create a website, a feat I had never before attempted.  I chose to create my website on wix.com, a website builder that was both sleek and builder friendly.  Using the apps that came with wix.com I was able to set up a message board and a place where teachers can submit lesson plans so I can post them on the website.  I was also able to incorporate an image gallery where teachers are able to look for artwork that will help them create their own lessons on division. 

 

While using wix.com was fairly easy, there was one major shortcoming, the picture layout in the image gallery.  Wix.com is not able to show landscape and portrait oriented photos the same way.  For example, the majority of the artwork on the website has a landscape orientation but for the few pieces that are portrait oriented only a portion of the image is visible.  If the viewer hovers the cursor over the image the whole image will appear but while looking at the gallery as a whole any images with a portrait orientation are cut off.  I researched the problem online and it seems that many other Wix customers have the same complaint.  Wix responded to various customers’ complaints and said they were fixing the issue but it has been over 2 years since that dialogue and the problem has yet to be fixed. 

 

One portion of my action research project was to analyze lesson plans and look at how other teachers are writing art integrated lessons about division.  I gathered lessons by posting a request on social media and by emailing arts integration coaches in Baltimore City Public Schools.  I also searched various lesson sites like John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Education Closet, and Art:21 to find lesson plans that fit my criteria to evaluate.  Upon compiling this data I then used Terry Barrett’s Principles of Interpretation to analyze the content of the lesson plans.  These principles guided me to analyze the lesson plans in response to my two focus questions, how would teachers develop integrated art lessons that include math and language arts and how would teachers contribute to and use these lessons?  

 

I read through each lesson plan and analyzed how the teacher utilized art integration to create an interdisciplinary lesson.  I rated each lesson on a scale of outstanding, above average, average, below average, and low.  Lessons that were outstanding infused art integration throughout the lesson and the transition from art to the subject matter (math or language arts) seamlessly.  However, those lessons that were rated low isolated the art portion of the lesson and never referred back to it as they taught the subject matter.  The analysis of each lesson was broken into strengths and weaknesses.  I evaluated the lesson’s strengths and weaknesses through the lens of art integration and the concept of division.  This was important to my action research project because my intention for the website is that other teachers will use the site as a resource when searching for art integrated lessons on division.  By evaluating the lessons, teachers can quickly see which lessons would work best for their classrooms. 

 

If I had to start this project over again I would leave myself more time for the collection of lessons.  I gave myself about 2 weeks to collect lesson plans using various methods of collection.  I sent an email to my fellow art integration coaches at other Baltimore City Public Schools, created a post on Facebook, and searched various websites such as educationcloset.com to find lesson plans that other educators had written.  One challenge I encountered when searching for lessons about division was the lack of language arts lessons in the grade 3-5 range.  I found many lessons on racial division for middle school and high school students but I was only able to find one that fit my criteria for grades 3-5.  One might guess that most curriculums save the more challenging discussion of racial division for the older students, however, it is important to start this discussion much earlier, especially in a city setting like Baltimore where racial division is still such a part of the culture where my students live. 

 

Overall, this has been a meaningful and memorable process that I plan to continue working on even after this class comes to an end.  In today’s world of “teaching to the test” and oversaturating students with mundane worksheets, it is more important than ever that we find a way to integrate art into our core content so students can begin to make connections between subjects that wouldn’t otherwise be made (Riley, 2012).  Art integration provides teachers with an engaging lesson that cultivates their students’ creativity while still supplying them with the core content they need (Thomas and Brown, 2011).  The beauty of using art in this way is art can be crafted and painted to become whatever the artist intends, and in this sense the teacher holds the brush.  He/she can use visual images and kinesthetic movement to interpret the content being taught in the classroom (Taylor et al., 2006) and the result is a unique learning experience that engages students and helps them become artists in their own right as they take ownership of their education. 

 

 

 

 

 

Riley, S. (2012, November 30). Use arts integration to             enhance Common Core. http://www.edutopia.org/

        blog/core-practices-arts-integration-susan-riley

 

Taylor, P. et al. (2006). Interdisciplinary approaches to

         teaching art in high school. Reston, VA: National            Art Education Association.

 

Thomas, D., & Brown, J. S. (2011). A new culture of      

         learning: Cultivating the imagination for a world of          constant change.