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I'm not a gambling person, but if I had to place a bet on one sure-fire method for engaging students, increasing test scores, reaching students who fall below standards, challenging students who exceed grade-level standards, accessing students' creativity and originality, maximizing brain connections formed, applying concepts to new situations, and making the learning process more fun for the students and teacher, I would place that bet on . . . teaching the core curriculum through the arts.

Our Common Core Standards exist to support students' future success -- namely, college and career readiness. As a former K-12 music teacher now in charge of a music career preparation program for college students, I feel confident asserting that creativity and problem-solving skills acquired through arts training have prepared my students uniquely for their future success. I am truly honored to share with you my thoughts regarding integrating arts into your curriculum.

Why is There Resistance to Integrating the Arts?

If such seemingly guaranteed improvements exist with arts integration, why aren't all teachers using arts while teaching other standards? These are the two biggest mental blocks I see:

1. I am not a musician/singer/artist myself, so I do not feel comfortable with the art forms.

2. There is no instructional time available to do anything "extra."

Overcoming These Mental Blocks

You certainly do not have to be an "accomplished" artist to integrate the arts into your lessons. You, as a teacher, are creative and original! Teachers must think on their feet, modify plans on the spot, approach content from different angles, support uniqueness, and inspire and foster growth.

Arts integration does not take time away from required Common Core and state standards. Think of teaching standards through the arts, not independently of the arts.

Holding onto misconceptions might prevent you from unlocking your students' creativity, originality and spark for learning. You already have the skills it takes to be a great arts integrator. It's time to dive in and have fun with your lessons.

How to Plan Arts Integration Lessons for Any Teacher

When incorporating arts into lessons, where to begin is often a daunting first step. This activity guides you through that first step -- brainstorming creative, artistic lesson plans connected to your existing standards. Start with a standard or concept you need to address. Ask yourself the following questions, and jot down all ideas you can. Your creative brainstorming will take your students beyond worksheets and unlock your creativity as a teacher and your students' enjoyment of the learning process.

Brainstorming Questions for All Grade Levels

What is the related historical background? What was the prominent art, music, food, dance, literature and dress?

Can the topic be written and acted out as a skit by the students?

Can we visually draw or sculpt the topic or its history?

How can we move to recreate or interpret the topic?

Can we show cause and effect through creative movement?

Are there any related musical pieces to hear and discuss?

Are there songs we can learn about the topic?

Can students write their own lyrics about the topic and put it to music?

Can you write your own song to help students remember important facts? They can help choreograph creative movements to "show" the lyrics (and thus, the facts) through their bodies.

Example Lesson Ideas for an Elementary Classroom

Animal Identification and Characteristics: Play Saint-Saëns' Carnival of the Animals, and for each part, have students move with the music and guess what animal the composer portrayed. Then draw their favorite animal from that piece, write a poem about that animal (using characteristics, classifications, food source, habitat, etc.) under the drawing, and set the poem to music by using sounds on classroom instruments that represent how the animal might sound/move. Perform the final pieces as your own "carnival of animals."

Number Awareness: Because math can be a fairly abstract concept, why not put sound and movement to number awareness and equations? Connect math to how sound changes between a musical solo, duet, quintet, 100-piece orchestra, etc. Then, have students create music (using classroom instruments, voices or body percussion) and compare how their sound and overall movement change based on number of players (volume, different instruments heard, different parts being played at the same time, motion needed to create sound, etc.). Students visually, kinesthetically and aurally become math.

Geometric Shape Awareness and Comparing Shape Attributes: Have students "conduct" music using shapes. Listen to music and ask them to draw shapes in the air that match the music's pattern (number of sides in the shape = groupings of the musical beat). For example:

A slow waltz (try "Sleeping Beauty Waltz" or "Take Me Out to the Ball Game") has groupings of three beats which could be conducted as a triangle.

Most pop tunes and marches can be drawn as squares or quadrilaterals because they have strong groupings of four beats (try "Anchors Aweigh" or "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star").

Fast waltzes can be drawn as circles because they have a strong one-beat pattern (try "The Beautiful Blue Danube").

More advanced students could listen to music with groups of five beats and "conduct" pentagons in the air while the music plays (try "Theme from Mission: Impossible").

It is important for students (like real conductors) to show clear, sharp vertices on the actual musical beat. Students put sound and movement to shapes, taking them beyond the typical visual representation most commonly taught.

Through arts-integrated lessons, students are engaged and focused on the content because it takes them beyond the confines of "traditional" learning. They get to hear, see, and become the content through the arts. Good luck and happy planning!

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Artistic to the Core: Music and Common Core | Edutopia

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I'm not a gambling person, but if I had to place a bet on one sure-fire method for engaging students, increasing test scores, reaching students who fall below standards, challenging students who exceed grade-level standards, accessing students' creativity and originality, maximizing brain connections formed, applying concepts to new situations, and making the learning process more fun for the students and teacher, I would place that bet on .

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Article

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This page includes links to resources which may be helpful for arts educators striving to integrate Standards for English Language Arts and Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects and Standards for Mathematics into their instruction. It is important to note that while there is a shared expectation for literacy, the Common Core State Standards supplement, but do not replace, discipline-specific standards.

The National Core Arts Standards framework defines four creative practices that are used in all arts disciplines: Imagine, Investigate, Construct, and Reflect.
According to recent research of the College Board (2013), all four creative practices were referenced throughout the CCSS for ELA and Math:

The practice of reflection was the most frequently cited, appearing in every set of standards

As might be expected, the habit of investigation was referenced most frequently in the standards for reading, while construction was often referenced in the standards for writing.

The writing standards had the greatest number of connections to the creative practices.

All eight of the Standards for Mathematical Practice contained multiple references to all four creative practices.

Common Core State Standards Initiative

The home site for the Common Core States Standards Initiative (CCSSI) provides a strong baseline of information for those interested in learning more about the Common Core. Selected resources from this site include:

http://www.corestandards.org/

Video and White Paper

From Common Core to Curriculum: Five Big Ideas

"The standards are not the curriculum, they are the building code. They reflect important, desirable outcomes and we must meet them, but we don't cover them check-by-check ... we want to create an interesting, rich curriculum where teachers and students want to live," says Jay McTighe.

Visit the ASCD website to watch his video interview with Educational Leadership's Marge Scherer, during which he delves into why the standards "just make sense" and discusses key challenges.

Instructional Tool

Quick Reference Guides for the NC Standard Course of Study

Includes ALL NC standards (CCSS, NC Essential Standards, Extended Content Standards) for Grades K-8. Excellent resource for curriculum planning for teachers of all content areas.

Order at Free PDF download at: http://www.ncpublicschools.org/publications/
http://aplus.ncdpi.wikispaces.net/Reference+Guides

Teacher Uses Film to Teach Analytical Skills

As teachers work to implement the Common Core State Standards, they should consider using film to help teach students analytical skills, writes high-school language arts teacher Jessica Keigan. In this blog post, she writes about her approach to teaching students such skills, including conducting a literary analysis of a film. Students then are asked to analyze the cinematic decision-making behind the film, and to conduct a critical analysis.

Education Week Teacher (premium article access compliments of EdWeek.org) (12/12)

Meeting the Demands of the Common Core (IRA)

Mentoring Readers of Science and Technical Texts - webinar with Doug Buehl (Edgewood College); sponsored by Thinkfinity.

http://www.thinkfinity.org/docs/DOC-10646

Instructional Tool

Common Core Implementation Tools and Resource Guide

The Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) has announced the release of an updated edition of the Common Core Implementation Tools and Resources Guide. CCSSO developed this list of free tools and resources to point states, districts and educators toward promising ideas and tools to support the implementation of the Common Core State Standards. This guide is free, and educators are welcome to distribute this document widely and post it directly to their own websites.

http://www.ccsso.org/Documents/2012/Common_Core_Resources.pdf

Instructional Tool

Support Videos for the Common Core in Mathematics

The Southeast Comprehensive Center developed Common Core State Standards (CCSS) videos to support states, schools and teachers in the implementation of the new standards. The videos were created in collaboration with the states in the Southeast Comprehensive Center region based on their need for professional development support for the implementation of the Common Core. Each video is an audiovisual resource that focuses on one or more specific standards and usually includes examples/illustrations geared toward enhancing understanding. The intent of each content-focused video is to clarify the meaning of the individual standard rather than to be a guide on how to teach each standard, although the examples can be adapted for instructional use.

http://secc.sedl.org/common_core_videos/

Presentation

NCDPI CCSA Presentation

Presentation on Arts and the Common Core from the Collaborative Conference on Student Achievement (Spring 2013)

Paper

Guiding Principles for the Arts: Grades K-12

Developed by David Coleman, (one of the authors of the CCSS), this is a discussion of the ways in which arts education intersects with the Common Core areas.

Instructional Tool

Online Writing Instruction Examples

These North Carolina writing examples are specific to the arts and are aligned with the CCSS for ELA and Literacy. (Note: you must log in to NC Education or create a free account to access this resource).

https://center.ncsu.edu/nc/course/view.php?id=1191

Learning Modules

CCSS and Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects

These online learning modules provide an introduction to the 6-12 literacy standards in the Common Core and provide examples of connections with specific content areas.(Note: you must log in to NC Education or create a free account to access this resource).

https://center.ncsu.edu/nc/course/view.php?id=1551

Blog

Artistic Literacy and the CCSS: NC's Approach

In an effort to send a cohesive message, honor the integrity of the arts discipline standards, and set the stage for the National Core Arts Standards, North Carolina has taken an approach of focusing on what it means to be artistically literate (as defined in the National Core Arts Standards) and aligning these principles with the Common Core expectations for English Language Arts and Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects.

http://seadae.org/Blog/blog/February-2013/Artistic-Literacy-and-CCSS--NC-s-Approach.aspx

Webinar

The Common Core State Standards and Its Implications for the Arts

A webinar conducted by U.S. Department of Education. Examines impact on national arts standards development and implications for arts educators.

https://educateevents.webex.com/educateevents/lsr.php?AT=pb&SP=EC&rID=49464532&rKey=a7bbf2ae37d6e2ec

Webinar

Art and the Common Core

EdWeek: Feb. 19, 2013, 2-3pm (will be archived). As educators work to help students meet the demands of the Common Core State Standards in English/language arts and mathematics, many arts education advocates are making the case that the arts can be a valuable partner. For example, some teachers are seizing on works of art as "text" to be the subject of a close reading, much like a novel or essay, as called for in the new English standards. This Education Week webinar will feature two experts to discuss the potential of arts integration with the common core and to provide practical examples of how to put the concept into practice.

http://www.edweek.org/ew/marketplace/webinars/webinars.html

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Arts and ELA, Literacy, and Mathematics CCR Standards

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This page includes links to resources which may be helpful for arts educators striving to integrate Standards for English Language Arts and Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects and Standards for Mathematics into their instruction. It is important to note that while there is a shared expectation for literacy, the Common Core State Standards supplement, but do not replace, discipline-specific standards.

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CCSS Literacy in Science & Technical Subjects

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CCSS Literacy in Science & Technical Subjects

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Common Core Standards-History/Social Studies Gr 6-8 Teacher Checklist

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A one-page freebie to help ensure you've covered the Common Core State Standards in Reading for Literacy in History and Social Studies for Grades 6-8. Part of a larger package of classroom posters, student worksheets and more! Check out the preview ---> CCS Grade 6-8 Social Studies /

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When I was a student, I pounded out papers on an electric typewriter. When I started teaching, the web wasn't an instant resource. I taught students about note cards and bibliography cards when they researched topics. Those days are long gone (and I am thrilled).

Today, our students gather and digest information via the Internet at amazing speed. I often say that the ways in which we read text, write text, use text and how text affects us has completely changed because we are in the Technology/Information Age.

Common Core State Standards recognize this change and require teachers to adapt. Here is an overview of the CCSS technology expectations and how teachers can begin integrate more technology into engaging teaching and learning activities.

In response to this reality, the authors of the Common Core State Standards clearly articulate the importance of technology in the standards. Although specific strategies for the integration of technology in curriculum and instruction are not stated, the Standards do articulate skills recognize the reality of the Digital Age.

In the introduction for the Common Core State Standards, the authors outline what college and career readiness in reading, writing, speaking , listening, and language looks like by the time students graduate high school.

Specifically the Standards indicate the specific expectations between technology and career and college readiness:

They use technology and digital media strategically and capably.

Students employ technology thoughtfully to enhance their reading, writing, speaking, listening, and language use. They tailor their searches online to acquire useful information efficiently, and they integrate what they learn using technology with what they learn offline. They are familiar with the strengths and limitations of various technological tools and mediums.

It is clear that the technology tools (that are literally at our fingertips) must be integrated into our curriculum and instruction in all grades and content areas.

As we embark on this transition between the previous generation of standards to the Common Core State Standards, we need to consider how to use all of the technology tools that are available to us. Fully integrating technology into curriculum and instruction requires careful planning to ensure that it is not an enhancement for teaching and learning, rather than a distraction.

There are many resources that can support your planning for integration of technology into your classes. Here are some basic and essential tools for instruction that I usually share when teachers are ready to integrate technology into teaching and learning:

Using Blogs to Achieve CCSS Standards

Known in shorthand as blogs, weblogs are web sites that can be easily updated and highly interactive. Since the sites are highly interactive, students are able to send their ideas and work to an audience that goes beyond the classroom.

Since students are encouraged to represent what they know and understand in the CCCSS framework, blogs are a vehicle to meet those expectations.

Using Wikis to Achieve CCSS Standards

From the Hawaiian word, wiki-wiki, which means "quick" in Hawaiian, this web based tool makes it easy for people to work together online to publish and author ideas and information. The most famous example is Wikipedia.

Wikis are a tremendous tool for developing solid organization skills for 21st century researching.

Using Podcasts to Achieve CCSS Standards

There are three kinds of podcasts: audio, visual and video. Audio are similar to radio broadcasts, visual include graphics and images, and video are sometimes called vodcasts or v-casts. These are valuable technology tools in meeting the CCSS because they offer structures to represent what students know and understand through various digital genres.

We are in a new age. While I am by no means a "technology geek," I am learning how to use technology to be an even stronger and more effective literacy teacher.

Take One Tech Tool at a Time

As we transition to CCSS and the role of technology becomes more fully integrated into teaching and learning, I want to remind my fellow educators that it takes time to make this change.

Keep building your knowledge about all of the amazing tools that are available to us in "chunks." I learn a few tools each month and consider how I can use them for effective teaching and learning activities. In a short time, I know that you will become "wiki-wiki" in connecting technology effectively into your curriculum and instruction and further prepare our students for careers and college in the 21 st century.
How do you intend to use ed tech tools to help your students reach the learning goals set by Common Core State Standards? Share in the comments section!

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How to Apply Ed Tech Teaching for Common Core Standards

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When I was a student, I pounded out papers on an electric typewriter. When I started teaching, the web wasn't an instant resource. I taught students about note cards and bibliography cards when they researched topics. Those days are long gone (and I am thrilled).

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Could be adapted for any classroom

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Hi! I made these Learning Centers for next year's middle school reading and language arts class. They helped me to wrap my head around the CCSS and stay organized. The fiction components of the Common Core State Standards for 7th and 8th grade are addressed.

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Funny Video

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Enhance your study of non-fiction features using these practice pages. The sheets in this pack support CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.1.5 and CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.2.5, and could be used as a review for third grade students before moving to higher level CCSS nonfiction feature standards.

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CCSS ELA Informational Text Learning Progression K-12

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CCSS ELA Informational Text Learning Progression K-12 Teachers, parents, and students can use learning Progressions to highlight the changes in concepts, skills, and rigor of the Common Core Standards.

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Cute!

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Standards of Mathematical Practices Posters

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Eight Standards of Mathematical Practices Posters Red and Navy (with Yellow) Nautical Theme Like these but want more? Click here for more Common Core Standards Posters.

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FREE Grades K-8 MATH CURRICULUM OVERVIEW Aligned to Goals & Games

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"Math Standards Made Easy" This FREE resource helps clarify the math curriculum and has links to a suite of tools to plan, communicate, review, and track each year's math goals. The file downloads quickly, so take a look! FEATURES * You'll get an easy-to-print color-coded overview poster.

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Alignment

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Link to an Incredible Blog

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The standards for mathematical practices are the same for K-12 grade. Many times teachers need to know “How do I teach practice #1 at my grade level. The link above shows examples of the math…

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CCSS Math Practices Descriptions {kid-friendly language} FREEBIE

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This is a handout I give to students and parents at the beginning of the school year. The CCSS practices are very hard to understand, so I rewrote the descriptions using language that students and parents can understand. Enjoy :) Kendra Passarelli Visit my blog at: ThisLittleLadybug.blogspot.com ThisLittleLadybug@gmail.com

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I Can Statements

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CCSS Mathematical Practice Standards {Free Posters}

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Here are the 8 Mathematical Practice Standards for Common Core K-12 written in "I Can" statements. It includes a poster with all 8 standards on it and separate strips that can be used in a pocket chart.

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1. Continue to have students support their statements with evidence from the text*.

2. Raise the level of your DOK questioning and activities.

3. Orchestrate classroom discussions in which students can model with mathematics, construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others and attend to the precision of academic language in your class.