Social Studies and Arts Learning Activity
Lay1925
docx-2019-12-03T190910.944.docxINTEGRATING 2
Integrating Social Studies and the Arts
Erin McLinsky
Grand Canyon University: ELM 550
October 17, 2018
Social Studies and the Arts Learning Activity
Part 1: Social Studies and the Arts Learning Activity
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Social studies standard: Kansas Standards for History, Government, and Social Studies Standard 3: Societies are shaped by beliefs, ideas, and diversity. Arts standard: VA: Cr2.3.1 Identify and classify uses of everyday objects through drawings, diagrams, sculpture, or other visual means. Grade level: 1st grade |
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Learning objective: Students will be able to identify the different kinds of landmarks in their neighborhood. |
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Description of the learning activity that integrates social studies and the arts (100-150 words): At the beginning of the lesson, students will learn what a landmark is. I will introduce the term landmark to them and draw different types of landmarks on the board. I can also show students pictures of different landmarks through the computer. We will take a short walk around the school neighborhood and students will circle different landmarks that are in the neighborhood on a worksheet. Once in the classroom, students will be able to draw or write in their journals about the walk. They will draw or write about the different landmarks that they saw in the neighborhood and the different types of landmarks that we discussed in class. |
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Instructional strategy: I will incorporate a few different instructional strategies. At the beginning of the lesson, we will have a group discussion on the different types of landmarks. Next, we will use the strategy of field experience as we will take a walk around the neighborhood for first hand encounters with landmarks. The final strategy would be the journal/learning log where the students are able to write or draw about the different landmarks that we discussed and encountered. |
Part 2: Reflection
Integrating social studies and the arts into one lesson is easy if the teacher thinks about activities that would both be interesting and enrich the social studies lesson that is being taught. Art is a great way to allow for students’ creativity to shine through. Students often do not learn or retain knowledge if the lesson is taught strictly by the textbook. However, by incorporating arts within the lesson, students can express their creative juices and enhance the lesson. For instance, in my lesson, students are learning about the different landmarks in their community. My class will be able to take a small walk around the community that surrounds the school. They will be able to see the different landmarks that are within the area. Students will then come back to the classroom and write or draw in their journal about the different landmarks that they saw and learned about. Creative writing and drawing are different types of arts. This will allow for my class to enrich the lesson beyond what they would typically learn within a textbook. Jensen (2001) states that when a lesson incorporates the arts there is a measurable physical change in the brain. This change enhances the student’s attentional skills and their ability to make mental connections. Having a creative environment helps children in abstract and analytical thinking. It also sharpens their visual-spatial acuity and helps a child learn to think about things outside of the box. Amabile (1994) states that creative thinkers have higher degrees of autonomy, self-discipline and higher levels of self-control. With finding out how the arts help students become critical thinkers, I plan to incorporate the arts as much as possible into my future lessons. The arts may be a simple as allowing students to draw to something a bit more complicated such as creating presentations on technology, making 3-D projects, or presenting a play or script based on what they are learning. However, I know that incorporating the arts into my lessons will help my students with their critical thinking skills and engage them more into the lessons that I am wanting them to learn.
References
Amabile, T. M. (1994). Growing Up Creative: Nurturing a Lifetime of Creativity: Buffalo, NY:
Creative Education Foundation.
Jensen, E. (2001). Arts with the Brain in Mind. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and
Curriculum Development.
