Use Arts Integration to Enhance Common Core

Summary:
Edutopia published an article titled, "Use Arts Integration to Enhance Common Core."
This article discusses the benefits to individually incorporating arts in to the Common Core State Standards, rather than just using what the Common Core is providing to teachers. The author describes that integrating art in to other curriculums in the classroom is essential not only to keep the attention of students in a classroom, but also to help expand the thinking and learning of these students. Not only is it a positive aspect for students, but also for teachers. It makes teaching a lesson so much more fun when the teacher is doing something that he/she enjoys. The article also provides a few ideas on integration of arts in to a lesson, such as "mirroring" in to a math lesson, or using a "call and response" technique to help with memorization in reading or math.

Opinion
The author says, "Almost everyone has one art form (visual art, music, dance or drama) with which they connect and use to make sense of the world." This is essential for students to explore these different areas. For all we know, the next Van Gough or Michelangelo could be sitting in our classrooms, learning under the Common Core State Standards, and could be being deprived of their natural abilities by the absence of arts in a classroom. Some of my favorite lessons when I was a kid, were the ones where I got to do a project and work with my hands. The author uses a wonderful metaphor, "Arts integration allows us to build chefs who make choices - not cooks who merely follow the recipe." As an upcoming teacher, I am going to look for ideas like this which I can use to incorporate arts in to the Common Core, and if the Common Core State Standards allow teachers the freedom to teach HOW they want to (which is what they insist), this shouldn't be a problem at all.