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Using the Arts in the Content Areas

Below is an inexhaustive list of ways to use art in the classroom to set the stage for learning, engage students in learning, or assess learning. The ideas have been contributed by English teachers from the engteach-talk and AP-english listserves, and from the book Planning Process Drama, by Pamela Bowell and Brian S. Heap.

Here are some concrete examples of how these might be used.
Art Form Activity Author
     
Visual and Fabric Arts 1. Find works of art that are related in theme, time period, or place and have students freewrite or write in a focused way about the artwork.  
2. Create tattoos for characters in fiction, non-fiction, or history, and write an explanation of their significance. Brenda Mahaney
3. Create illustrated maps of processes, locations, or journeys. Carla Beard http://www.webenglishteacher.com/
4. Read text and draw pictures to represent what is described.  
5. Create 3-D setting studies for fiction, history, environmental science. Karla Olson
6.Create a series of drawings of key scenes, events, or processes which can be used in subsequent lessons. Karla Olson
7.Create pop up books of stories, processes, or historical events. Karla Olson
8.Use storyboards to sequence events in fiction, non-fiction, history, and processes in math and science.  
9. Create paper or fabric 'tapestries' for representing historical events.  
10.Plan a mural for an historical or scientific event or process. What colors would predominate? Why? From what perspective would the scene be shown? Carla Beard
11. Create a poster representing concepts or processes.  
12. Draw or paint various settings.  
13. Draw a cross-section of a building or ship. Gretchen Le
14. Create Kamishibai (Japanese storytelling cards). Gretchen Le
15. Create graphic novels Gretchen Le
16. Create Vocabulary posters Gretchen Le
17.Viewing an image from an historical event, geographic place, period in time, etc., describe the scene from the point of view of various characters, animals, or inanimate objects.  
18. Draw cartoons  
19. Create a mandala Fran Claggett
20. Make graphic maps Fran Claggett
21. Create a board game Brenda Mahaney
22. Make quilt squares in math to understand geometric concepts  
23. Make a poetry poster  
24. Create a sketch/notebook in science  
     
Music 25. Create a soundtrack Brenda Mahaney
26. Imagine you were writing a symphony about an event (war, earthquake, tsunami, migration). What instruments would you use to represent different aspects of the event. Why? Carla Beard
27. Play music Ted Nellen
28. Use chants and songs to help with memorization.  
29. Use lesson plans from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (Language Arts and Social Studies)  
     
Drama 30. Create process dramas.  
31. Do staged readings of historical scenes or works of fiction.  
32. Have a student interview another student representing an historical figure.  
33. Do improv of historical characters interacting, molecules meeting, etc.  
     
Writing 34. Plan a meal based on an historical period, a story, or ingredients available in a particular natural environment.  
35. Write dialogue between historical figures, scientists, natural elements, etc.  
36. Create blog entries for an historical figure (political, scientific, etc.) or fictional character during an important period in that figure's 'story.' Carla Beard
37. Write a sonnet about DNA, algebra, or other topic in science or math.  
38. Write letters from characters in fiction or history to other characters in fiction or history.  
39. Write letters from the point of view of animals involved in the historical activities of humans. Carla Beard
40. Write essays relating a work of art to a concept in history, science or math.  
41. Write an autobiography of yourself in relation to the study of math or science.  
42. Keep a journal: write out your thought processes when solving problems in math, understanding processes or relationships in science, or studying concepts in history and social sciences.