The following articles and handouts support Arts Integration from an early childhood and Montessori perspective, in your classroom, the relation between Arts and Science, and thoughts from the developing field of Eco Literacy and Brain research. We have also included some great resources about Arts ideas, Project Approach, Poetry and examples of student work. Feel free to comment and share your thoughts and idea to expand our Thinking with your Hands conversations. Mary Lisa, Pat, Rosemary and Lisanne

Arts Integration

Direct Instruction vs Arts Integration: A false-dichotomy is a compelling article by Arnie Aprill who is the Founding and Creative Director, Chicago Arts Partnerships in Education (CAPE)

Changing lenses: It’s all about Art! by Pat Pinciotti (2006). In B. Neugebauer (Ed.), Curriculum – Art, Music, Movement, Drama: A beginnings workshop book. (pp 11-14). Redmond, WA: Exchange.

Hobbled Art Limits our Future by Robert Root-Bernstein, “Children need education in creativity; without that, there is less invention, less science and less enjoyment.”

Aesthetic Operations – work by Ellen Dissanayake (article below) who explores the birth of the arts and evolution of culture unveiled in the face-to-face exchange of mothers and children as far back as the Pleistocene era.

In the Beginning: Pleistocene and infant aesthetics and twenty first education in the arts

Handout on the AESTHETIC OPERATIONS

Brain/Body Connection: For those of you who are curious about how the brain and body work together, we offer the following articles:

It’s a Jungle in There!

Immordino-Yang+Damasio_2007_RelevanceofNeurotoEdu

Art Curriculum as Project Approach

Here are two great resources on thinking about curriculum from a Project Approach perspective. The first is Young Investigators chapter 1 in Lillian Katz’s book Young Investigators, and the second is a handout on what makes a good topic for a project katzpr98selecting topics for projects. Both are thought provoking and will help you view arts integration from a more child-centered, cognitive perspective as opposed to teacher-directed activities.