In my culminating project I am exploring the arts in an integrative setting

including the use of poetry (through read-a-louds and the creation of original prose),
kinesthetic movement throughout daily lessons, storytelling, and visual creative
arts.
Children learn best when they have personal interest to the subject matter.
Linda Crawford states that we need to help learners create a felt meaning, a sense
of personal relationship to the topic, and the arts provide a natural route for
connecting with the curriculum in a personally meaningful way. The arts can be
used to teach all aspects of the K-8 curriculum (2004). Crawford also states that the
arts stimulate higher-level thinking and analytical skills. Students use the arts to
build on prior knowledge and to aide in creating new meaning (2004). Movement is
essential to learning as it activates and integrates new information within our
existing schemas, and maximizes our ability to think and remember (Crawford,
2004). Movement can be used to teach content, stimulate community, and it can
help students internalize what they are learning by imprinting upon their bodies the
social and academic lessons of the day (Crawford 2004). Visual cognition is the
state by which children recognize and understand images and the words generated
by those images. From infancy young children acquire and understanding for social
referencing comprehending that objects are linked to emotional responses.
Childrens ability to see becomes more concise as they become engaged in artistic
activity. In the visual arts, students must take what they see, and the emotions they
sense, and put it to paper, pencil, paint, or photography. Perception is fine-tuned as
students make conscious and unconscious choices in line, shape, and color. In this
process emotions are increased as choices are made, artists focus our perception
and viewing, guiding the observer in where to look and what to look for because the
artist wants to lead us in ways of feeling and connecting through art (Wolf, 2006).
Poetry aims to focus the observers perceptions. Choices in words, syntax, line
breaks, rhythm, and rhyme aid to compile images that direct the mind. Poetry
captures the essence of an object, idea, or feeling. Poetry enables the mind to not
only see details, but also to envision emotional connections, images, and metaphors
(Wolf, 2006).
The theory of creative representation emphasizes the significance of giving
opportunities to young children to approach real objects, people, and places in
enhancing their thinking in and about art. The misconceptions and conceptions
about art and culture can begin during the early childhood years. In addition the
window of opportunity where young children have the cognitive capacity to learn
specific skills such as music, art, and language, leads to the notion that to become
literate in visual arts, increase the ability to produce and perceive art. Young
children that are exposed to artful experiences are supported to gain social,
cognitive, emotional, and aesthetic development (Trimis et al., 2009). Art learning
based on an in-depth approach that enables children to experiment with hands on
essential art materials in the context of chorotopos (space-place) help children to
become more situated to their own environment and enable them to understand the
expressiveness and inherent meaning of materials in their environment. The
research displays the significance of learning in, through, and about art by allowing

children to experience their personal environment through objects and materials

surrounding them, leading them to value its richness and to see themselves as part
of it. The teachers role is to provide scaffolds to extend the exploratory process in
an interactive environment of learning (Trimis et al., 2009). In presenting poetry to
children teachers do not aim to enforce the technical terms and analysis of poetry
but rather the purpose in engaging children with poetry is to encourage their
enjoyment of language and literature. Poetry can enhance learning experiences
related to any subject at all levels of education. The poet conveys a message that is
emotional, intellectual, affective, and cognitive. Poetry conveys a love of language
and introduces new vocabulary, adds creativity and humor to the learning process,
and supports students development of a sense of worth (Tiedt, 2002). The study
and use of visual arts aims to create an authentic learning experience for all
students. As students explore poetry this exploration in literacy strengthens the
relationship between students and teachers. The teacher cultivates a learning
environment where students bring their own naturally energetic exploration to the
study of new ideas. Language development shifts from learning isolated skills to
empowering students to take the lead in the process through which they learn to
critically gain knowledge outside of their immediate experience in order to broaden
their understanding of themselves and the world (Flood et al., 1996).
Poetry is a basic tool of learning. Writing is the key activity of most learning
but educators state that many children are disconnected from the joy and value of
writing. As children write poetry they find that writing can be lively and absorbing
and it can express (no matter the subject) how they see the world. Once that
recognition is internalized their sense of enjoyment in writing can hopefully be
transferred to other writing forms such as stories and school compositions. In
addition students can learn more about themselves as they write poetry. They will
encounter new thoughts and feelings they didnt know existed (Collom et al., 2005)
Children have a natural talent for writing poetry and work with children should be
aimed at letting children develop an awareness of their own capability to make
poetry and not the technical skill of teaching them how to write (Samuelson et al.,
2009).
Meta-cognition is tool educators can use to bring awareness to a specific
concept or thing. To do this the teacher has to direct childrens attention towards
the object of the learning. Having children listen to music and subsequently paint
the music they hear, can allow for rich class discussion that will ultimately
strengthen metacognition (Samuelson et al., 2009).
Students learning can best be supported when they are given experiences in which
they construct and translate meaning across sign systems through semiotic
representations. This process enables students to show knowledge of
communication systems including art, language, math, drama, and dance. The art
forms including visual arts, drama, music, and photography support literacy
learning. Learning within a semiotic approach to literacy enables learners to develop
more complex literacy practices and analytical skill (Cowan et al., 2006).

Music can enrich the learning environment for units of study in literature and
language arts, poetry, theater arts, transitions, science and math as well as help to
meet specific learner needs. Educators should strive to use high quality,
developmentally appropriate music experiences when enriching instructional
strategies (Flohr, 2006).

ED599 Annotated Bibliography

Collom, J. & Noethe, S. (2005). Poetry Everywhere. New York, NY:T&W Books.
Cowan, K. & Albers, P. (2006). Semiotic representations: Building complex literacy practices through the arts. The
Reading Teacher 60(2), 124-222.
Crawford, L. (2004). Lively Learning: Using the Arts to Teach the K-8 Curriculum. Turner Falls, MA: Northeast
Foundation For Children, Inc.
Flohr, J. W. (2006). Enriching Music and Language Arts Experiences. General Music Today. 19(2), 12-16.
Flood, J. & Heath S. B. & Lapp, D. (1997). Research on Teaching Literacy through the Communicative and Visual
Arts. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster Macmillan.
Hall, H. R. (2007). Poetic Expressions: Students of Color Express Resiliency through Metaphors and Similes. Journal
Of Advanced Academics, 18(2), 216-244.
Samuelsson, P. I, & Carlsson, A. M, & Olsson B, & Pramling, N, & Wallerstedt, C. (2009). The art of
teaching children the arts: music, dance and poetry with children aged 2-8 years old. International
Journal of Early Years Education 17 (2), 119-135.
Tiedt, I. M. (2002). Tiger Lilies, Toadstools, and Thunderbolts: Engaging K-8 Students with Poetry.
Newark, DE: International Reading Association.
Trimis, E., & Savya, A. (2009). Artistic Learning in Relation to young Childrens Chorotopos: An In
Depth Approach to Early Childhood Visual Culture education. Early Childhood Education Journal,
36(6), 527-539.
Wolf, S. (2006). The Mermaids Purse: Looking Closely at Young Childrens Art and Poetry. The Journal
of Language Arts 84(1), 10-20.