ORGANIZATION SPOTLIGHT
STEAM ON!
Designing Art Lessons that
Integrate with Core Curriculum
KELLY BRAVO
If your elementary school is like many in the nation, art lessons come in
the form of an occasional, isolated extra-curricular activity. But even if
your school is fortunate to have a dedicated art teacher, the lessons may
not be integrated with core subjects.
Recognizing this gap,the non-profit Art in Action recently developed a
curriculum unit with art at its center but designed with hardcore STEM
learning objectives. We documented the development process since its
focus on cross-discipline collaboration, using both internal and external
stakeholders, proved to be both highly effective and easily reproduced.
We hope you consider creating your own STEAM curriculum using our
example of Spirals in Nature as a springboard.
STEAM Curriculum Development: 6 Easy Steps
1. Collaborate
Developing an integrated, cohesive lesson works best when there is
collaboration and a shared sense of purpose among teachers, program
leaders and parent experts. To help us develop the Spirals in Nature
curriculum and create a fully-integrated lesson plan, we worked with an
elementary school that had experience utilizing Art in Action curricula
through a parent docent program and an established school gardening
program called BUGS (Better Understanding of Gardening Science).
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