Can Art and Pe classes be combined? What about Home economics and Social studies? or any other combination. During the summer I taught an art camp to kids. I was isolated from the other groups at a different location. One day, I decided to join the art camp with the sports camp. We set up a giant wall with white paper, as well as the ground below it, and set up a giant art project where the kids used balloons filled with paint and got to throw the balloons at the wall, letting it explode with paint. They were able to use other splatter techniques as well. The idea was for the kids to mingle, interact, and share ideas. They got to create a piece that was both active and creative, and wasn't focused on how "good" it was. We began the project, with a brief description of abstract art, and a couple throwing games to warm up. At the end, the kids each got to take a section of their piece away.
This was meant for kids, but I thought it would have a practical application in the classroom in high school as well. Too often, the classes are completely segregated. Why not mix them? Either group could have a lot to offer to the experience. I was just wondering if any of you intended on doing some interdisciplinary teaching, or have any ideas?
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I think that classes can be integrated to some extent. Being active should just be a learning outcome for PE. There is a lot of research on how young boys learn and their need to be active a classroom setting. Courses such as biology can offer nature walks to examine the different types of flora and fauna. I think that active learning is great because students are normally more engaged and excited to do something different.
ReplyDeleteThat sounds like a really cool and fun art project that I would definitely like to try sometime with a group of kids.. I think that interdisciplinary teaching is hugely beneficial as it can help students make connections and transfer their learning between different subjects. I also believe that any time you can make learning more active and interactive students will learn better and retain more information. We've all probably seen examples in math class that use sports fields diagrams to teach problems.. what about going outside and using the actual field to do this instead and then playing afterwards? Or calculating the velocity of a real soccer kick, measuring the actual time and distance the ball travelled?
ReplyDeleteWith a little bit of imagination any class can be integrated. I one had the pleasure of observing a combination art, math, geography, PE class at the elementary level.
ReplyDeleteStudents get so much more out of a lesson if they can apply it to real life situations, or even just have a reference to help them remember a concept.
It all goes to offering a variety of learning environment to provide for many different learning styles in you lessons. It take some work initialy but will pay off in the end!
It would be such a great idea to combine different teaching areas in the education system. I think it's very important for school's to have "togetherness" because how many high schools did we go to where the stereotypical phys. ed. or jocks didn't associate with art students or drama club. I realize this is totally stereotypical but even looking back i can recall some people that didn't want to take art because they felt uncomfortable. I think using teamwork and team building sort of activities, like the painting with balloons incorporated with physical activity would be a great tool for school spirit. It's a great idea and i would love to try it out.
ReplyDeleteFrom a class called Active Health at Uvic, we were to pick an academic topic and mix it with PE. It's funny, I don't remember what my group did, but I do remember what another group. They combined History with PE and it was in a situation where students were reviewing for a test. There were multiple choice questions and the four walls of the gym were either A,B,C or D. All students started in the middle of the room and then a question was said. The four possible answers were said too and the students had 10 seconds to run to a wall at which they thought was the answer.
ReplyDeleteThis way students are being active in class, and also learning and reviewing facts.
This is a great way to incorporate both topics. I really enjoyed it.
When I was in high school we had a class which incorporated english and social studies throughout 8-11 and it was only available to selected students because a lot of the classwork was more group based or activity focused opposed to a more regimented format. The class itself was twice as long as a single period and we would incorporate the two subjects together but we still took the standardized english, socials final exams, so essentially the course matter was the same just the format it was taught in was different. Often in class we would do group projects where we had to create board games based on a certain historical event or we would read a novel, such a Animal Farm and then talk about the historical implications it addresses and what was happening in the time period in which it was set in. In my opinion this was an awesome way to learn because it allowed things to make sense in context to each other opposed to us just going to class to class with ultimately no overlap. Although despite me personal attitude towards this integration it is important to keep in mind that some students have difficulties learning this way, and prefer to keep their subjects in the very structured boxes they have been placed in. So even though I am totally for this multiple subject integration and us as new educators get very excited about these new ideas, it is important that we look at this through the different student's perspectives and keep their learning styles in mind.
ReplyDeleteI believe that this integration between the disciplines is essential to helping foster life long learners. Humans have a desire to find connections in their world. These connections create meaning and deeper impact and help to make education more relevant and exciting to students. The possibilities are very exciting and allow for more creative curriculum's and learning experiences or student's. Great suggestions!
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