The Benefits of Pairing Art with ELA Instruction
My most recent professional development involved examining the benefit of weaving visual art into English Language Arts (ELA) instruction. According to Rachel Zindler, Publisher of Eureka Math, "Close visual observation mimics early stages of close reading, drawing students in to examine and identify details and then stepping back to view the image as a whole." There are benefits to both examining existing art and creating art as supplements to content being taught.
Module 2 of 4th Grade ELA tasked students with conducting credible research and presenting findings to inform and entertain an audience. Each student wrote an original piece to showcase their research. As an extension, students were provided with canvases and paint to create visual representations of the animal body structures, habitats, predators, and defense mechanisms they researched. The conversations they engaged in while painting were thoughtful and substantial. The paintings they created were conclusive of their newly acquired knowledge about specific animals. The evidence was in the details of every brush stroke.
As a teacher I was able to use art as differentiated instruction and informal assessment of the ELA content taught. It was eye opening to witness my students producing art representative of their interpretations. As partners in education it is important to exhibit flexibility with modalities of education while fostering the learning process. It is my intention to continue connecting ELA instruction with artistic expression and exposure as a best practice in teaching.