Jennifer Doster

Bringing History Alive with Art Education: Motivating Learners Through Visual and Hands-on Methods Jennifer Doster

Art in elementary and secondary schools is often tagged as a superfluous class, to be removed or restricted at the first sign of a budget crunch. The values of art are often overlooked. Art is a language that utilizes the creative parts of the brain. It stimulates and supports many other types of learning including integrated curriculum. Integrated curriculum is once again a hot topic! Teachers are increasingly encouraged to integrate their curricula with other subject matter because integration is viewed as a way to deal with increased information load, state mandates for student performance, and concern over relevancy of school curricula to the workplace. Integration has surfaced in many new programs such as service learning and authentic assessment, all geared toward making schoolwork meaningful and purposeful to students. This book reveals how art can be integrated effectively with other subjects. Specifically, a variation of integrated curriculum, known as Co-Study, uses art to enhance learning in American history. Further, educators and curriculum planners will find a Co-Study Curriculum Guide in this book to use as is or to adapt to other courses.