“As we started working with the dances, I realized that students were unclear of the meanings of like and unlike poles even though we had already covered this standard. For example, many groups were associating like poles with “I like you,” so I am attracted to you. This is opposite of magnetic properties. Like poles actually repel. By doing the dance, this helped me assess their understanding and clarify any misunderstandings about magnetic properties.”

“I liked creating the dance because we got to use our bodies to show magnets. Before the dance, I was confused about like poles and how they are really repelling. The dance helped me learn.”

Each time Mrs. Woodham gave a different direction, she gave students a 4-count beat to show that property with their bodies. Then, students worked with partners showing attraction, repulsion, and how the attraction strength is strongest at the poles. Students had to show like poles, unlike poles, and how they respond to one another. Finally, students worked in small groups to create a 16-count dance. Every 4-counts had to show something different about magnets. Students were challenged in using their entire body to show creativity in the dance. Each group performed two times. For the second performance, the audience was responsible for holding cards that read either ‘like poles’ or ‘unlike poles’ to demonstrate their understanding of the dance when the performers seemed to attract or repel.

Do you ever remember sitting in math class and thinking, “This is so…boring.” Well, then you haven’t experienced Mrs. Stoddard fifth-grade math class. In her geometry unit, students were expected to explore concepts like angle measurement, properties of polygons, rotational symmetry, and transformations. To give context to their learning, the teachers used artwork to teach many of these concepts. Students studied the works from artists like Matisse and Kandinsky to see how they used geometry. Mrs. Stoddard read to students how artists used certain types of lines or shapes to communicate. Students learned how to use protractors and worked in small groups to measure angles and find certain geometric features in the artwork. Throughout the unit, students created ABC books based on the concepts they studied. As a culmination of their studies, students created their own piece of art using what they learned from the unit. “This unit was so fun. We can discover more things by using artwork rather than just using the textbook. It was a creative experience for students that grabs our attention and allows us to draw and find shapes even in our own art.” 5th grade student Reading + Music + Math + Visual Art = Meaningful Learning

Mrs. Fulmer's kindergarten class infused music and art into their reading and math lessons by creating musical chants and artwork as they learned about characters, setting, plot, and geometry. To begin the lesson, the class read the book The Great Gracie Chase by Cynthia Rylant several times. Then, the students created a 3-part musical chant to demonstrate their comprehension of the story. After summarizing the story and revising their work, this is their end product. The students even added motions to their chant to match the text.  It was clear to the teacher that the students were able to clearly demonstrate their understanding of the lesson.