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Three STEM + Arts Research Participants Share Their Educational Experience and Backgrounds
Today’s guests are arts integrators in the research practice partnership through BYU and the Provo City School District: a visual art teacher, a teacher from a Title 1 school, and a teacher in a dual language immersion program (DLI). Welcome to Elicia Gray, Lisa Galindo, and Jennifer Hildebrand. To learn more about this research partnership, please listen to episode 28.
(Elicia Gray) I'm Elicia Gray, and I teach K-12. I mostly spend my time at elementary school teaching art integrated with other subjects, but visual art is my primary subject. I was interested in this research project because I seek collaboration with other teachers who know more about science than I do. I wanted to understand authentic science connections that I could make with visual art projects in the classroom.
(Lisa Galindo) I'm Lisa Galindo. I teach third grade at Provo Peaks Elementary. I just finished my masters of STEM education. I have always loved the arts, was invited to the group, and want to learn how to integrate arts with STEM.
(Jennifer Heldenbrand) I'm Jennifer Heldenbrand and I teach sixth grade at Canyon Crest Elementary. I have been teaching for several years and have always enjoyed doing art projects with my kids, but wanted to have a better understanding of how to pull art and science topics together.
(Tina McCulloch) Okay, well, what a nice diversity of backgrounds. . All of us together really do have some interesting backgrounds. But also that idea of I can take my STEM core and add some arts or as Elicia says I can take my arts and add some STEM into it. It's all for the betterment of our teaching and to engage our students. So I would just like you to share a story of an experience that you've had in your classroom where you engaged your students in an arts integration and what extra outcomes happened. Whether it was you got to know your students a little bit differently or the content really came alive.
Engaging Students in Arts Integration Creates Deeper Learning
Moon Phases Cyclical Bookmaking
(Jennifer Hildenbrand) Our class looked at the phases of the moon. One of the things that I did was show a picture of the moon, probably a vintage 1930’s or 1920’s picture of the moon, maybe with a scarf around its head as if it were not feeling very well and looking a little pensive. That visual opened the door to a lot of discussion. One student in particular said, “I think I'm seeing a crescent moon. I think it's a waxing crescent moon.” The class stopped and thought: “Where does this come from? What's giving you this idea?” There was a shadow around the edge of that picture that was able to help the student think through tha ideat. From there, we learned the moon phases; we talked about why they occur; and students’ questions became quite intricate. The students wanted to know more—they were practicing inquiry-based learning. From there, we created some lovely, cyclical books that allowed them to create their own version of the moon phases.
Create your own Bioluminescent Fish to Adapt to the Deep Sea Environs
(Elicia Gray) I think people forget that artists and scientists have a lot in common. When I was thinking about what I wanted to do with my students, I tried to approach these scientific principles the same way as I would approach art principles. For example: “Let's discover something new. Let's notice something new. Let's try to solve a problem.” Both artists and scientists are problem solvers.
During the unit on ecosystems, my students studied deep sea fish. We started with this question: “What would keep an organism alive in the deep sea?” I was really fascinated by the idea of bioluminescence. That's one of the fun things that I get to do as an art teacher: I get to just really explore something that I want to know about and then share what I find fascinating with the students. I wanted to learn about bioluminescent fish: Why do they light up in the dark? What artistic principles would be similar to or evident in that process?
We watched a lot of videos about what deep sea organisms did. We found out why they glow in the dark. Sometimes it was to attract food or to attract mates or to defend themselves. The fish had all these really interesting, different reasons why they would light up. I had the students design their own bioluminescent fish that reflected one or more of those survival adaptations. The students got to decide what parts of the fish would light up. Other considerations were the size of the fish, the environment it lived in, and how it survived.
After considering these factors and making these decisions, the students designed and painted their own fish. We painted with fluorescent things, fluorescent tempera paints, and anything that was fluorescent. We put them in a dark room and lit it with a black light, and it was bioluminescent! Just like it is in the deep sea. That was fascinating.
I loved seeing the kids' reaction to that moment when the lights went out: “Whoa!” That “A-ha!” moment of creative ownership is priceless as a teacher—”We made that! We did that!” More importantly, each artwork was completely different, because it was something that they invented. Each fish was based on scientific principles that help them understand how something would survive in an environment that the students are totally unfamiliar with. This project was a way to really just explore a different medium, try out something new, and students had a blast. Those peer-to-peer conversations were very rich, because the students had all that science evidence for the artwork they were seeing.
Students’ Showcase Substantial Scientific Learning in Art Class
(Elicia Gray) We displayed their bioluminescent fish as part of an art show. Ironically, my art classroom is completely devoid of windows. It's black, it's a deep hole. It was perfect. I put a little label outside the classroom door and we called it “The Deep Sea.” The rest of the art show was in the hallway, the gym, and other open areas at the school, and we had arrows going to the deep sea. All the overhead lights were off, and we turned on the black lights to allow the kids and their families to enter the deep sea. It was a riot, they loved it, and so did I.
Parents were genuinely surprised their kids were learning something substantial in the art classroom. We research ideas, and we talk about really important things and students are given an opportunity to solve real-world problems in a format that they design. It's a really creative space if we make room for it.
Using Music in the Classroom to Identify Animal Traits
(Lisa Galindo) As a generalist classroom teacher, I mostly focus on reading, writing, math, science, and social studies. My experience with integrating the arts is typically a culminating activity at the end of a unit to show what we have learned. After reviewing the third-grade arts standards, I found a musical standard about composers and how they paint a picture with music and sound. I thought, “How could that tie into what we're learning in science or math?”
I remembered, “We're learning about animals.” I remembered listening to Peter and the Wolf as a child. The composer used music to show certain traits about the animals, a topic that fits in with our science exploration of animals: we are learning how these traits help animals survive, etc. A lot of kids aren’t exposed to classical music, so I turned it on. The students were so excited. They were so engaged. They exclaimed, “This is fun!” The video I played had orchestra members dressed up as the animal character their musical instrument was being represented by. I was surprised how excited they were to listen to it. We cut it into two days, because it was too long. The next day at the door they asked, “Are we gonna finish Peter in the Wolf?”
“Yeah!” They were really excited.
I said, “We will stop every once in a while and analyze what animal we hear.”
“Well, that's the duck.”
“What's happening?”
“He's swimming.”
“What makes you say that?”
“Because of the sounds, they were really fluid and flowing.”
“What is the bird doing?”
“Oh, he's chirping?”
“What makes you say that? How does the composer get us to think that the bird is chirping? What sounds do you hear? Or with the wolf? How do you know that’s the wolf?”
“Well, it has kind of scary low sounds, and it sounds really scary, right?”
After that, I gave them two pieces of music and had them draw a picture of what they were hearing, using visualization skills. The first one we did was the Flight of the Bumblebee. I didn't give away the title of the musical work. Next, we did the William Tell Overture. I wanted students to think of an animal that those pieces of music reminded them of.
I was really surprised that only two students drew a bumblebee for the Flight of the Bumblebee. Others drew a rabbit, or a mouse, or a squirrel, or a bird. One student said, “I couldn't think of anything, any animal, but I thought of the wind. That music made me think of a wind storm.”
I said, “Why did you think of a wind storm?”
He said, “Because it was really fast and strong.”
I said, “I can see where you're coming from. I really like your windstorm.”
I told the students, “Nobody’s ideas are wrong.” Then, we listened again. This time I told them, “The name of this piece is Flight of the Bumblebee.” They responded with, “Oh my gosh, I can hear it. I can hear the wings flapping and buzzing.”
We repeated the experience with the William Tell Overture. Several kids drew a picture of a horse. Several other kids drew pictures of other animals. I said, “You know, it's all your interpretation of what the artist is painting in your mind. Nobody's wrong.”
Seeing their engagement, excitement, and their artwork felt exciting. I thought, “Oh my goodness, there is a whole movie that deals with this! Fantasia.” Now they're really excited to see Fantasia. Maybe we'll turn off the video, just listen to the music, and students can practice more visualization through drawing pictures.
The Arts Provide Every Student Access to Learning
During these hands-on experiences in class, every student was engaged in the arts. During normal, non-integrated lessons, there are students who are not engaged. The arts allow each student an access point—there isn’t a wrong answer. Students are discovering in these learning inquiries that their opinions are valid, especially when they can point to evidence justifying their conclusions.
All three educators agree that Arts Express Summer Conference, an arts-integration professional development conference through the BYU ARTS Partnership, is the best way to get immersed in arts-integrated pedagogy. A two-day conference focused on building arts skills, collaboration, valuable keynotes, and renowned presenters make this conference the best value for summer professional development in the state. It takes place at the beginning of June. Tina explains, “As the school year winds down and you are completely out of “teacher energy,” this conference is such a good way to start off the summer and start planning excitedly for the following school year.”
(Jennifer Heldenbrand) Arts Express helps combat end-of-year rundown and gives me that kickstart to enjoy my summer.
(Elicia Gray) I feel like they pamper you. They treat you like you're a professional and they help you as an artist to really enjoy rich, professional experiences. The message and the atmosphere of the conference focuses on teachers nurturing their personal well-being through the arts as well. The conference teaches you how to teach arts integration to students and simultaneously offers teachers a really beautiful experience. It’s a personal and professional symbiosis.
Book Arts: A Tangible Keepsake to Demonstrate Learning
(Jennifer Heldenbrand) I'll give you one more that I really enjoy. One of my passions is doing book arts, and the University of Utah’s Marriott library has a book arts program with a summer intensive for teachers. Recently the structure has changed to support shorter intensives throughout the school year. Learning how to put books together is a great skill as a teacher. My experiences with my students shows when we make books, that artifact is something they're going to keep and enjoy.
How to Get Started with Arts Integration? Jump In
- Just do it: Jumping in is a great way to get started. If teachers feel daunted, ask for help. There are so many wonderful resources—arts educators are delighted to help teachers get going. But even if there isn’t an arts educator at your school, just jump in.
- Start with your interests. Whatever you’re fascinated by, that energy is going to infect your students. Find something that you really want to learn about and start there.
- Keep practicing: through the years you’ll get better and better.
- If something doesn’t work, revise! Change it! Try something else.
Jump in, and go for it. It’s normal to feel embarrassed or afraid about trying something new and not nailing it the first time. Modeling new skills is a great tool for teaching students to step outside their comfort zones and pass along our joy in learning to them. When our students succeed, we succeed.
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Don't forget to peruse the bank of lesson plans produced by the BYU ARTS Partnership Arts in dance, drama, music, visual arts, media arts, and more. Search by grade-level, art form, or subject area at www.education.byu.edu/arts/lessons.
