Arts Day
Art, Drama and Music in the classroom
Introduction
I really enjoyed the session today as it appealed to my interests. We explored art by printing a pattern or design of our choosing inspired by a walk through Chester. We looked at different uses of drama and made characters based on a walk through Chester. Finally, we composed a piece of music with lyrics based on a walk through Chester. These are all activities can be further replicated in my teaching as they were based on the local environment.
Art in the classroom
Danko-McGhee and Slutsky (2003) emphasise the importance of art by stating that, when properly taught, are basic to child development as they use all of the senses. This will allow the children to experience different sensations that they may not have before and start to get creative in how to use them. They go on to say that art is a good way of getting children to express their thoughts and feelings as they will interpret these to different colours and textures. This is supported by Bauerlein (2010) who states that learning through art can have social and moral benefits on the children. With this in mind, when I am teaching I will ensure that the children have access to a wide range of different materials so that can engage their senses. I will also give the opportunities to do art in their free time so that they can express what they are feeling using that technique if they wish to.
Drama in the classroom
Music in the classroom
Rogers and Woody (2007) state that music is an important part of the curriculuj and that the optimum way to teach it is to facilitate small groups. This allows the children to come up with their own ideas and build on them with their group without being told what to do by the teacher. I will consider this when teaching music in the future and make sure that I plan to split the children into small groups and to let them take charge over their own compositions rather than telling them what I want them to do. Fletcher (2014) agrees on the importance of music in the curriculum stating that it connects cultures, gives a sense of belonging and can increase math ability. I find that last fact very interesting as I had never considered maths improving as a result of music, this may be something that I try in future to see if it helps children who struggle at maths to improve. I can also use music to explore different cultures of the world, especially if there is an EAL child in the class. Through music, we could make them feel more involved in the class.