Supporting Teachers in Arts Integration Strategies to Foster Foundational Literacy Skills of Emergent Bilinguals

Oral language skills are essential to the future literacy of students in kindergarten and first grade, especially emergent bilinguals (EBs). Yet, U.S. teachers receive few professional development opportunities that prepare them to use effective strategies for promoting oral language development. Since teacher education is compartmentalized into curricular silos, methods for literacy instruction are taught in one course, methods for arts instruction in another, and so on. This article argues that well-designed arts integration can meet a key need of young, linguistically diverse students by providing opportunities for oral language practice across content areas. Experimental evidence that arts-based instruction benefits the speaking skills of EBs is presented; the underlying mechanisms are explored. An example of a fieldwork program that provided pre-service teachers with hands-on experience in K-1 classes is included, showing how they learned to enhance the verbal skills of EBs through integration of drama, music, and movement

Introduction to Opinion

Brouillette provides overview of new Opinion section

Arts-based experiences as preparation for future learning

We explore the learning that takes place through the inner and interpersonaldialogues students engage in as part of the creative and expressive processes common to all arts disciplines. A writing-infused visual and performing arts curriculum is described, in which students carry out brief writing assignments as a prelude to classroom discussions and critiques of artwork. Two types of data—interviews with teachers and student written work—are used to demonstrate the effects of classroom dialogues. A descriptive quantitative study, in which pre and post essays written by urban high school students are compared, supports notions that such dialogues enhance students’ abilities to think through problems and express ideas clearly

Supporting the Language Development of Limited English Proficient Students through Arts Integration in the Primary Grades

This article looks at how arts integration can boost the language development of limited English proficient students in kindergarten through second grade. I first review existing research on how young children learn and describe the special challenges faced by children who must learn in an unfamiliar language. I then identify arts-based mechanisms that boost the language development of limited English proficient students and examine strategies used by a successful urban arts-and-literacy program to enhance the language development of English language learners in the primary grades

Expanding Equity in the Early Grades through Art and Nature Study

This article reviews evidence that children in the early grades benefit from aesthetic education and encounters with the natural world. The goal of kindergarten is examined, along with how the youngest members of a kindergarten cohort can be disadvantaged by an over emphasis on reading skills. Effective ways that early elementary teachers can awaken children’s desire to learn through hands-on aesthetic and nature study projects are described

Arts-based experiences as preparation for future learning

We explore the learning that takes place through the inner and interpersonaldialogues students engage in as part of the creative and expressive processes common to all arts disciplines. A writing-infused visual and performing arts curriculum is described, in which students carry out brief writing assignments as a prelude to classroom discussions and critiques of artwork. Two types of data—interviews with teachers and student written work—are used to demonstrate the effects of classroom dialogues. A descriptive quantitative study, in which pre and post essays written by urban high school students are compared, supports notions that such dialogues enhance students’ abilities to think through problems and express ideas clearly

Help Your Child to Thrive: Making the Best of a Struggling Public Education System

Contemporary public schools focus intensely on academic success. Social-emotional development is given only incidental attention. When families are not prepared to take up the slack, emotional growth may be impeded, resulting in dimished social skills, industriousness, and ability to cope with stress. This book describes recent changes in public schools and provides parents with guidelines for helping children to thrive