The American Place Theatre

IN THE NEWS: Schools Integrating Arts into Core Curriculum get High Marks!

by Erik W. Robelen
November 17, 2010

Second grader Arielle Datnoff dances with classmates during a lesson on photosynthesis at Fort Garrison Elementary. —Christopher Powers/Education Week

Education Weekly recently featured a school that is using dance arts integration across their curriculum to discover new entry into student learning and engagement. We are thrilled to see such innovation in the classroom. It makes me think of our successes in arts integration residencies at APT partner schools this year like High School for Hospitality Management, IS 208, MS 223, City Poly HS and The Holmes School!

The Infusion of the Arts Appears to be Gaining a Stronger Foothold at a Time When Advocates Are Struggling to Ensure Time and Support for Their Disciplines

By Erik W. Robelen

Pikesville, Md.

Photosynthesis may be an unlikely topic to inspire an opera or ballet, but in a 2nd grade classroom here recently, the children were asked to use dance to help them learn about that process.

“Do you think you’re ready to use your whole body?” teacher Katie Wright-Sabbatino asked near the start of the lesson, which featured learning objectives in both science and dance.

Small groups of pupils in this class at Fort Garrison Elementary School brainstormed to come up with dance movements to convey elements of photosynthesis, including water, sunlight, carbon dioxide, and chlorophyll. They leaned, they reached, they flowed, sometimes with surprising grace.

The idea of integrating the arts, including dance, into the broader curriculum is not new, but it appears to be gaining a stronger foothold in public schools, proponents say, though national data are not available.

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