What This Means for Instruction

Integrated instruction should be used as a deliberate technique for developing and fostering rich understanding and the mastery of significant skills. Teachers should develop lessons and units that take advantage of natural connections among disciplines such as visual art and language arts in picture books. They should center deeper, more significant kinds of integration on real-world problems, and scaffold integrated lessons with other effective techniques including authentic assessment. All lessons should have planned assessments with rubrics or scoring guides that reflect state standards in the arts and the other content areas (Catterall and Waldorf, 1999). Through well-integrated lessons students:

• Are able to see connections between subjects and develop expanded ideas;
• Are encouraged to see their work as serious inquiry and investigation;
• See how arts activities speak to important areas of the academic curriculum;
• Understand that arts and non-arts lessons are equally important.

At the highest level, the arts can be taught as part of a concept-based curriculum addressing life-centered themes. Teachers should use multiple content areas and perspectives and collaborate with other teachers in a team effort. This collaboration can be expanded to the entire school and carry with it professional development, alternative assessment, constructivist teaching and community connections.

For lessons that meet this standard, refer to the following lesson plans on the IMS Web site at http://ims.ode.state.oh.us/ODE/IMS/Default.asp?bhcp=1: