Elementary teachers across all grade levels and disciplines took part in the Alliance Theatre Arts Integration Day held at the LaFayette Education Center in Fayetteville, which was made possible through a partnership between the Fayette County Public School System and the Atlanta Woodruff Arts Center.
Teachers took part in nine different workshops, all focused on how to use the elements of theatre (drama) to help teach different subjects. Workshop topics included Using Drama to Assess Reading Comprehension, Exploring Simple Machines through Drama, Movement and Music, and Drama as a Classroom Management Strategy.
The Alliance brought in Sean Layne, an arts coach with the Changing Education Through the Arts (CETA) program at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., to speak to the teachers about how they can incorporate the arts into their classrooms. He told educators that arts integration is an approach to teaching that is used in daily practice, and not once in a while. He also said that the arts allow students to construct and demonstrate understanding because they are visibly acting on what they are learning, and are engaging their creative processes to create something that is original and of value. He added that when the arts are integrated into academic subjects, instruction is likely to be more active, hands-on, and personally meaningful for students.
Teachers attending the Theatre Arts Integration Day will take what they learned and share it with other teachers at their schools.
In one photo, teachers from Crabapple Lane, Braelinn, Sara Harp Minter, Peeples, Cleveland and North Fayette Elementary schools participate in a workshop titled “Making Music from Stories” that was led by actress Tafee Patterson.
In another photo, keynote speaker Sean Layne of the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. was brought in by the Alliance Theatre to talk to teachers about arts integration, and how it aligns with current learning principles and best practice.
