At UCP Charter Schools, we use a combination of arts (visual, performing, music and dance) to reinforce and enhance learning for all students!
Arts integration is an innovative teaching strategy that fuses the arts curriculum—dance, music, visual arts—with standard curricula. Visual and Performing Arts Integration Specialists work collaboratively with our education staff to develop and implement projects that utilize art to reinforce the academic core standards of the age & grade level of our students. Research shows that rich art experiences can lead to increased academic, social, and functional skill development and knowledge. For all students, knowledge and skill development gained through the arts can play a crucial role in their overall success.
Beyond skill development, arts integration is a powerful tool to help engage all learners in our learning community. Children need to be engaged in ways that can hold their attention. One effective way to do this is to make learning fun and interesting!
Our local art community also gets to interact with our students through various partnerships with local partners, VSA Arts, Walt Disney World, Universal Orlando, and other art groups! Artists-in-Residence are placed at the school to work with all students and broaden their exposure to a variety of art forms.
DID YOU KNOW?
Research shows there’s a positive relationship between arts education, particularly in drama, and young children’s literacy and language development. Dramatic play provides pre-readers and writers an active context for learning about literacy, using literacy skills, and exploring new and abstract concepts. In addition, drama instruction where students act out a structured plot increases success in measures of oral language development and contributes to word fluency - keys to early literacy.
Studies have found that music skills correlate with phonological awareness and reading development. Young children who participate in arts instruction, specifically music and dance, are better able to self-regulate their emotions compared to those who do not participate in arts programs.
*Work cited: Anvari, Trainor, Woodside & Levy ,2002 | Catterall, 2009; Deasy, 2002 | Hillier, Greher, Poto, & Dougherty, 2012 | Podlozny, 2000