Arts Integration Studio is engaged in Action Research on socially relevant topics in education and will be developing publications on arts integrated (AI) methods and curricula, and data on the impact of AI on academic and social learning.

RECENT PUBLICATIONS

Teaching Tools

ACTIVELY ENGAGED:

Using Theater Games as a Dynamic Teaching Tool
to Activate your Students’ Learning

by Priscilla Kane Hellweg

Now available through this link!

ACTIVELY ENGAGED is a manual for teachers interested in infusing creativity into their daily classroom life. It is designed to be a practical guide for using theater games and arts-integrated activities to engage students through the creative process of learning.

Supported by evidence-based research, this book illuminates how arts-integrated experiences prepare students for academic achievement and develop their social and emotional competency.

“I learned many ways to focus children’s attention using these quick activities. I learned exciting ways to stimulate discussion and expand vocabulary and oral language skills for my ESL students.”

~ 1st-grade teacher, Holyoke, MA

“Many of the children I work with have never felt success, and you made them feel safe and empowered.”

~ 5th-grade teacher, Holyoke, MA

“I was surprised at the depth of critical thinking involved in these theater games! Development of these skills transcends all disciplines.”

~ 3rd-grade teacher, Springfield, MA

“I loved all the games and know I will play them all with my students! It is a great way to teach life skills – how to work as a team, how to focus, and how to be a generous soul.”

~ 4th-grade teacher, Springfield, MA

“Imagination is more important than knowledge, for while knowledge points to all there is, imagination points to all there can be.”
~ Albert Einstein

Action Research

On October 3rd, Priscilla and Liz MacLauchlan published An Arts-Integrated Approach to Teaching Engineering on Edutopia.

They have been working together since August 2022, exploring the dynamic synergy between Arts Integration and Makerspace Learning, through interviews with practitioners from MA, CT, and IL.

Liz is a high school physics and engineering teacher in Rhode Island and a graduate student in the Professional and Graduate Education Department at Mount Holyoke College.

Stay tuned for more publications to come!

PAST PROGRAMS

Public School Program Evaluation

Evaluation of Arts Integrated Aligned Curriculum, a program Priscilla designed for Enchanted Circle for 2nd and 3rd grade students and teachers in Holyoke Public Schools, with Karen Harrington, independent evaluator at Sebastian Management.

“These results are very promising and suggest implications for enhancing ECT’s Arts Integrated Aligned Curriculum program in association with the ELA instructional practice in the district. An arts integrated curriculum provides students with multiple ways of acquiring information and responding to content and may be an effective way to teach foundational language and literacy skills, especially for students at risk of academic failure.”
Karen Harrington, Sebastian Management, 2014